by Dave Westerman

Another good crowd of fans braved a somewhat chilly and very breezy night to enjoy some great action Saturday at Auburndale Speedway.

Veteran driver Dave Dunkin just seems to keep improving with age as he scored his second straight win in the Sportsman class. Heat winner Mark Medieros lined up on the pole and led the first three laps of the feature before Dunkin slipped by. Medieros never lost touch with the leader though and made a race of it as Dunkin’s car got very loose off the corners in the late stages of the race.

Dunkin’s years of experience got him to the checker first with Medieros a close second followed by Austin Carr, Chuck Harrison and Kyle Alford.
The Southeastern Champ Kart Series made its first appearance of the year with 18 karts signing it to do battle. Phil Harp led the majority of the race but some late cautions bunched up the field and made for a wide-open race to the checker.

When all was said and done, Dustin Chisholm ended up in victory lane trailed by Tim Simmons, Kenner Brown III, Dennis Mace and Romay Venta. Simmons and Joey Coaxum were the heat race winners.

The Street Stock feature was a real heartbreaker for rookie driver Matt McCrary who moved up from the Scrambler class this year. McCrary won the heat race and was running away with the feature when he spun all by himself coming off turn four on lap 14. A lap later, he got tangled up with another car and spun in the same spot.

Dave Colpritt gained the advantage at that point and held off a late charge by James Wright III to claim his first win of the year as some late-race shenanigans saw three drivers DQ’d for rough driving. McCrary managed to come back up to third at the finish while Andy Harvard sped past a final lap altercation between Jeff Waterman, Ken Lawrence and Cody McDuffie to get fourth spot. Waterman wound up fifth.

Point leader Chris Spring passed early leader Donnie Guy and sped to his second win of the year in the Mini Stocks in a race that ran without a caution flag. Fred Harrison, Jr. made a late charge to get second spot with Guy third, Randy King fourth and Tony Davidson fifth.

Once again, the apparent winner of the V-8 Bomber feature was set down in tech, this time for a controversial weight infraction penalty. Chris Narramore, Jr. crossed the stripe first after leading from lap four however the win was disallowed. The only thing different in the outcome this time was that Josh Borem didn’t win… this time it was Larry Chumney who netted the victory with Borem second. Finishing third through fifth were James Wright II, newcomer T.J. McLean and Brian Harbin.

It was quite a night for Jason Rendell in the Modified Mini Stocks. Rendell had worked it out with track owner Rex Guy to have the Mod Minis run their feature last on the card so he could run the feature at Citrus County Speedway where he was leading the points and the class was slated to be the first feature of the evening.

After finishing sixth at Citrus, Rendell made the hour-and-a-half trip to Auburndale arriving just in time to join the tail end of the feaure line-up.
Heat winner Mike Sweet led the opening five laps but Rendell was flying and took the point never to be headed in another green-to-checker race. Rendell is now two-for-two at Auburndale this year. Sweet took second followed by Scotty Sharpe, Dennis Jones and Jessica Robbins.

Scrambler action saw Reggie Ware lead all the way to take the win over heat winner Ashton Hunt, Kimberly Gullett and Dave Canfield.

Next weeks Special event will be the Fast Late Model Series. Weekend events will start on Friday Morning. Gates opening at 10AM with practice starting at 2PM. All classes are invited to practice. The Soggy Bottom Bait Shop Boys will play from 8 to 11PM. Cost is $15.00 a person and all race fans are welcome to come in the pits. There will be free Sonny’s BBQ and two kegs of beer plus sodas and water. Fans can bring their armband from Friday night back on Saturday Night for the Fast Late Model Race and receive $5.00 off general grandstand admission on March 20th only.

Also running on Saturday night will be the Mini Cups, Street Stocks, V-8 Bombers, Legends, Bandeleros, Mini Stocks and Kids Club. Racing starts at 7 PM. For more information call 863-551-1131 or log on to www.auburndaleracing.com. Lindsey’s Little Racers will also be giving away a pair of Bicycles. All kids age 10 and under will be eligible.

OFFICIAL RESULTS – AUBURNDALE SPEEDWAY – 3/13/10:

SOUTHEASTERN CHAMP KART SERIES:
1-#7 Dustin Chisholm
2-#14 Tim Simmons
3-#73 Kenner Brown III
4-#1 Dennis Mace
5-#13 Romay Venta
6-#66 Joey Coaxum
7-#33 Mitch Stevens
8-#11 Jessie Foster
9-#77 Phillip Harp
10-#30 Billy Smith
11-#93 Ryan Walters
12-#89 Caylyn Brown
13-#27 Mike Medrez
14-#47 Wesley Gonzales
15-#12 Kenner Brown, Jr.
16-#48 Sam Bowman
17-#63 Ed Brillhati
18-#71 Barry Bartlett

V-8 BOMBERS:
1-#96 Larry Chumney
2-#111 Josh Borem
3-#56 James Wright II
4-#17 T. J. McLean
5-#29 Brian Harbin
6-#0 Paul Bookmiller
7-#05 Buddy Phillips, Jr.
N/S #5 Eugene Davidson
DQ#21 Chris Narramore, Jr.

SPORTSMAN:
1-#71 Dave Dunkin
2-#13 Mark Medeiros
3-#8 Austin Carr
4-#22 Fred Harrison, Jr.
5-#51 Kyle Alford
6-#92 Ted Head
7-#60 Richard Fiore

MINI STOCKS:
1-#42 Chris Spring
2-#21 Fred Harrison, Jr.
3-#33 Donnie Guy
4-#88 Randy King
5-#5 Tony Davidson
6-#3 Chris Narramore, Sr.
7-#12 Chuck Frazier
8-#55 Steve Routt, Jr.
9-#17 Mark Nagle
10-#551 Mark Wells
11-#46 Jordan Spring
12-#40 Jason Swilley

STREET STOCKS:
1-#4 Dave Colpritt
2-#56 James Wright III
3-#5 Matt McCrary
4-#16 Andy Harvard
5-#42 Jeff Waterman
6-#25 Cody McDuffie
N/S #76 Kyle Hall
DQ#22 Chuck Harrison
DQ#89 Austin Jenkins
DQ#65 Ken Lawrence

SCRAMBLERS:
1-#66 Reggie Ware
2-#9 Ashton Hunt
3-#28 Kimberly Gullett
4-#71 Dave Canfield

MODIFIED MINI STOCKS:
1-#15 Jason Rendell
2-#55 Mike Sweet
3-#89 Scott Sharpe
4-#45 Dennis Jones
5-#09 Jessica Robbins
6-#26 Jimmy Pugh

Next weeks Special event will be the Fast Late Model Series. Weekend events will start on Friday Morning. Gates opening at 10AM with practice starting at 2PM. All classes are invited to practice. The Soggy Bottom Bait Shop Boys will play from 8 to 11PM. Cost is $15.00 a person and all race fans are welcome to come in the pits. There will be free Sonny’s BBQ and two kegs of beer plus sodas and water. Bring your armband from Friday night back on Saturday Night for the Fast Late Model Race and receive $5.00 off general grandstand admission on March 20th only. Also running on Saturday night will be the Mini Cups, Street Stocks, V-8 Bombers, Legends, Bandeleros, Mini Stocks and Kids Club. Racing starts at 7 PM. For more information call 863-551-1131 or log on to www.auburndaleracing.com.