Skies Part For the Sportsman Spectacular At VSP

by VSP Media

BARBERVILLE, FL- The racers, fans, and staff, at Volusia Speedway Park spent the better part of Saturday afternoon anxiously watching as huge thunderstorms all but surrounded the area, some dropping heavy rain within a mile of the facility.  Thanks to a steady onshore wind that kept the heavy weather to the south and west of the track, and despite a persistent sprinkle or two that failed to get anything wet early on, racing went on as scheduled.  That cleared the way for fans to see the Taylor Racing Products Sportsman Spectacular, plus action from the Daytona Dodge Chrysler Jeep Late Models, the Daytona Sportswear Street Stocks, the Amsoil Synthetic Lubricants Thunder Stocks, and the UMP 4 Cylinder Challengers.

The one downside to the night was an incident during heat racing, involving Rickie Lara’s Thunder Stock car.  Lara bounced off of another car in turn three, then slid almost head on into the inside barrier in turn four.  While the impact did not appear to be any more severe than a good jolt, Lara exhibited symptoms that caused Volusia Speedway’s Rescue crews to take extra precautions while extricating the driver from the wrecked car, which created a lengthy red flag period.  Lara was transported for further examination and testing, and no updated condition report is available at this time.

The Taylor Racing Products Sportsman Spectacular dangled a $1200 cash carrot in front of seventeen talented racers who were willing to battle for 30 laps to get it, and the first part of the event featured a drag race between Stanton Mills and Aaron Barsness.  Barsness took a liking to the outside line while Mills stuck to the bottom, and lap after lap they battled side by side while Danny Vogel sometimes muscled his way into the fray to make it three wide.  Running the outside finally drained some of the handling from Barsness’ machine later in the race as the heat of the battle took its toll, as Vogel began using the same outside line to keep things close.  But in the end Stanton Mills prevailed and collected the big check, while Aaron Barsness settled for second and Danny Vogel followed in third place.  Shaun Daugherty gained five positions during the race to claim fourth place, while David Clegg rounded out the top five.

Matt Hartley has been absent from racing with the Daytona Dodge Chrysler Jeep Late Models this season.  Hartley suffered a broken leg that required extended rehabilitation, but finally has healed enough to get back into a race car and make a comeback.  But standing in his way was Donnie Chappell, who has been making a comeback of his own after mechanical issues early in the season slowed his car, and looking at the earlier heat races it appeared that Chappell might just walk away with an easy victory.  Bum leg or not, Hartley was not impressed.

The race may have been one of the best of the season so far, as battles erupted between virtually every car in the top seven or eight throughout the race.  Donnie Chappell grabbed the early lead, but had it yanked away by Matt Hartley on lap 9.  Meanwhile David Clegg had forced his way to fourth place while Joe Kump and young Christian Augspurger maintained a multi lap, side-by-side matchup for third place that eventually went to the veteran driver.  Jack Nosbisch was not satisfied to be a follower either, wrestling the fifth place spot away from Lawton Minchew and setting his sights on fourth place.  And as those battles played out behind the leaders, Hartley took advantage of a small blunder by Chappell to get position under him and retake the lead on lap 21.

The only thing that put a stop to the multiple car free-for-all in this race was the checkered flags, as Matt Hartley held on the complete his triumphant comeback to VSP.  Donnie Chappell fought tooth and nail with him for the entire race, but came away in second place.  Joe Kump had to fend off a late charge from David Clegg to take third place and Clegg settled for fourth, followed by Jack Nosbisch in the fifth spot.

In recent years the man at the top of the Daytona Sportswear Street Stocks has been Grady Christian, but the yellow number 36 machine has been a rare sight at VSP in 2010.  Yet fans know that if Grady christian is in the race, that he is going to go to the front, and probably sooner than later.  Phillip Brown held the early lead in the race, but “Shady” Grady positioned himself in second place and had the 13 car in his crosshairs when a restart on lap 7 caused Brown to leave the back door cracked open just enough for Christian’s foot to get in.  Grady Christian battled his way past Brown over the next three laps and held on for a win, while Phillip Brown had to fight off Grady’s nephew in order to salvage second place.  Bubba Christian nabbed third place, while Tim Hughes and Mick Kulak rounded out the top five.

Another feature race that provided a heated battle for the lead came courtesy of the Amsoil Synthetic Lubricants Thunder Stocks.  Scott Mooers may be in a league of his own, but someone forgot to inform Chad Scranton that Mooers is untouchable. Scranton proceeded to fight off every effort that Mooers could produce in order to seal a win for the East Palatka driver, and the fans in the grandstand apparently enjoyed watching Mooers take one on the chin as they were on their feet as Scranton blazed under the checkers with Mooers hot on his trail.  Tom Hughes battled to a third place finish, while David Whitt placed fourth and Donnie Nobles claimed the fifth spot.

Tony Laporta may have been a little slow getting out of the starting blocks this racing season, as the defending UMP 4 Cylinder Challenger Champion at VSP was sidelined by mechanical issues, but now that he is back it is likely that some of his competitors are secretly wishing that something else might break on the 3T machine.  Laporta took control on Saturday night and made it look easy, as he notched yet another victory and left the rest of the field to squabble over what was left to claim.  That win collected the $100 cash bonus from Astor Recycling for Laporta, plus gave him some more hardware to take up what shelf space may be left at home.