MONOPOLI TAKES 2019 PRO TRUCK TITLE

Auburndale Speedway returned to action Saturday night with great early fall weather and a nice crowd of fans who were ready for a pair of 50-lap contests for the Pro Trucks and the Sportsman cars. The Pro Truck event would be the season finale for the class.

Time trials for the Pro Trucks saw young Carter “Mac n’ Cheese” Brown pull off a big surprise by setting fast time for the first time in his career. His lap of 14.597 seconds topped the laps of Cody McDuffie, Brey Holmes, Becca Monopoli and Danny Anderson.

The top four qualifiers were inverted for the start placing Monopoli on the pole flanked by Holmes. Monopoli jumped out to a quick lead with McDuffie following into second only to see the yellow flag out at the end of lap one for a Bryton Horner spin in turn one. Monopoli and McDuffie took off again on the restart as Danny Anderson slipped by Holmes for third spot.

Monopoli and McDuffie broke cleanly away from the field with Monopoli eventually stretching her lead to almost a full straight over McDuffie until the next caution of the race flew on lap 39 when J. R. Garcia stopped in turn two. Garcia pitted and returned but ran just one more circuit before dropping out.

Holmes slipped by Anderson for third on the restart as Monopoli again pulled away before the final caution came out on lap 46 for a turn two spin by William Kerns. Monopoli easily pulled away to take the win over McDuffie, Holmes, Brown and Anderson. Sixth place went to Jacob Nicoletti trailed by Kristin Clements, Rodney Tower, Colt Cecil, Jody Gill, Kerns, Garcia and Horner.

For Monopoli it was her third win here in the four Pro Truck races run and it earned her the 2019 track championship. The 30-year-old now has 14 track titles to her credit in her nine year racing career.

Just eight cars showed up for the Sportsman contest and the night belonged to George Gorham, Jr. who set quick time and was slated to start fourth in the feature race. The event was red-flagged almost immediately as outside pole sitter Adam Briggs had the throttle stick on his car and he slammed hard into the turn two wall. Briggs was unhurt but the same could not be said about his racer.

With Briggs out, Gorham started from the outside pole and that was all she wrote. The 50 laps ran green to checker and Gorham was easily the class of the field winning by over a full straight. Brett Jenkins was a distant second followed by Charlie Brown. Fourth was taken by Shawn Harper who finished ahead of Ross Francisco, Jamie Kennedy, Tom Zimmerman and Briggs.

Jimmy McLeod led the first two laps of the V-8 Bomber feature before Brandon Love took over looking for his second straight win. James Wright III closed in and the pair battled for several laps before coming together in turn four during the 13th lap. Love pitted with a flat right front tire and did not return to action. Wright had the top spot for the restart and sped away for his sixth win of the season. Ronnie Abney returned from a lap one flat tire to score a second place run while McLeod earned his first podium finish of the year. Bubba Healey claimed fourth ahead of Jason Sopczak, Brian Harbin, Bud Reed, Love and Danny Burchfield. Jamie Castleberry did not start. Wright also won the heat race.

Many of the V-8 Bomber drivers also entered the Pure Stock class but no one had anything for Matt McCrary. McCrary zipped by newcomer Ryan Thompson, Jr. on lap nine the raced his way to his second consecutive victory. Thompson had a fine run for second ahead of James Wright III who put his V-8 Bomber on the podium a second time on the night. Jammie Dunnahoe, Jr. had a good late run as the “Wild Child” took the checker in fourth ahead of Aaron Holmes, Bubba Healey, Jason Sopczak, Brian Harbin and Jimmy McLeod. Holmes won the heat race.

Guy Kolmel caught and passed early leader Eli Thompson on lap ten then ran off to his fifth Scrambler win of the year. Thompson held on for the runner-up spot with heat winner Fred Wilson third ahead of 11-year-old Trenton Henick, Guy Kolmel, Sr. and Bubba Healey.

Wilson Martins, Jr. got by Russell Bush on lap seven then went on to score his 7th Mini Cup victory making him the winningest driver so far this year at Auburndale Speedway. Bush held on for second over Leandro Martins, Maria Martins and Bryton Horner.

Chris Narramore, Jr. won both the Mini Stock heat and feature. For Narramore it was win number four on the year as he led David McCaig, Tav Gary and Freddy Martin to the checkered flag.

Auburndale Speedway was back in action Saturday night and a big crowd enjoyed some beautiful breezy weather along with some very intense racing.

Headlining the bill were the Sunoco/WPCV-97 Country Super Late Models for 100 laps of competition. Thirteen teams were on hand and it was local favorite Jon Guy, driving a brand new car, who set quick time at 13.582 seconds. Auburndale’s own Chris Fontaine was second quick but his time was disallowed as his machine came up light on the scales relegating him to the rear of the grid for the start. That handed second quick time to Joe Boyd over Chase Lovelady, new daddy Matt McCrary and Daniel Webster.

The invert was a three placing Lovelady and Boyd on row one for the start. Boyd set sail at the drop of the green and began to rocket away from everybody. Boyd, Lovelady, Guy, Webster and McCrary ran 1-5 with Boyd building up over a half lap advantage by lap 40 when a “competition caution” was thrown per track rules for races of 100 laps or more. At this point Webster pitted but did not return due to what was described as a “minor part failure.” Harold Crooms, Nick Neri (driving for Bryan Dorer) and Alexa Anderson also pitted and returned.

Lovelady had been doing an outstanding job holding off Guy for second but the restart proved his undoing as Guy slid into second behind Boyd while McCrary backslid all the way to sixth. Fontaine was now on the charge as he took fourth from Roger Blevins on lap 48 then third from Lovelady three laps later.

Lap 65 saw the first “actual” caution of the race as Lovelady went for a slide on the back stretch off the front end of Blevins with both continuing. Boyd continued to lead Guy and Fontaine following the restart but Fontaine was showing his speed as he passed Guy for second on the outside lane just as lap 77 was completed then reeled in Boyd with 15 laps to go. The final caution came out on lap 88 for Alexa Anderson’s spin in turn two.

On this restart both Fontaine and Guy powered by Boyd into the front spots and that’s the way it finished with Fontaine pulling away for his second straight win here with Guy and Boyd chasing from several car lengths back. Lovelady was fourth just ahead of McCrary with Roger Blevins sixth, Alexa Anderson seventh and Nick Neri eighth and the last car running. Charles Kopach was credited with ninth trailed by Brandon Anderson, Crooms, Webster and Kendall Anderson.

Seventeen Legend Cars were in attendance for their 30-lap feature with Jarrett Wagman leading the way through several cautions. That allowed Noah Cornman to close in and grab the point on lap 26. Cornman looked to be on his way to a fourth victory on the year but he got hooked up with some lapped traffic in turn four on the final lap allowing Wagman to sneak back by and score his first career win here.

Cornman held on for second ahead of his younger brother Sam Cornman with Brandon Taylor fourth and Steve Carpenter fifth. Rounding out the top ten were Chris Stansbury, Dorsey Strickland, Ashton Chilton, Mike Verhaagh and Bryton Horner. Completing the finishers were Chase Lloyd, Jason Carpenter, Brandon Hershey, Sherri Miles, Dylan Brewer and Lee Miles. Stephen Hartley did not start.

The Modified Mini Stock feature got off to a rocky start as some three wide action going into turn one saw Bruce Cozad go hard into the wall while most recent winner Mike Rudder was eliminated as well. It was a tough break for nice guy Cozad who is moving into the class driving the car that was steered to last year’s championship by Chris Spring. Cozad should be back and will be a factor in the Mod Minis the rest of the year.

Once the race got going it turned into a two car battle between Mike Kerrivan and Rachelle Rudolph. Clint Holmes was reeling the two in by lap 16 when Rudolph looped her mount coming off turn four. Mike Prevatt was trailing not far behind and smashed into Rudolph’s car nearly head-on. Prevatt was OK but Rudolph exited her car slowly complaining of pain in her back, leg and foot. She was later taken to the hospital for precautionary X-rays but appeared to be only badly bruised up.

The race was called official at that point with Kerrivan scoring his first win of the year over Holmes as they were the only two cars left in competition. Rudolph was awarded third ahead of Prevatt, Richard Brown, Rudder and Cozad.

The V-8 Bomber feature was a wild one that produced some awesome racing and a bit of a controversial finish. Jimmy McLeod led the opening seven laps before Ronnie Abney took the point for one circuit. James Wright III then powered to the front on lap nine and looked to be on his way to yet another win but Brandon Love had other ideas. Love tried an inside move in turn two during lap 24 and both cars half spun as no caution was needed. With Abney and Bubba Healey now in the mix, Wright stormed back out front only to see Love come flying back to pass him on the final lap as all heck broke loose coming to the checker with one of Healey’s tires riding along the catch fence at the end.

As the dust settled Love had his second win of the year with Wright second and the three-wheeling Healey third. Victory lane resembled a boxing ring after a close match with plenty of shouting and a bit of shoving but cooler heads finally prevailed. Fourth place went to Abney followed by Jimmy Castleberry, Jason Sopczak, Dave Canfield, McLeod, Walt Kirk and Jammie Dunnahoe, Sr.

Veteran Mini Cup racer Russell Bush topped the field for the second time this year and halted a six race win streak by Wilson Martins, Jr. Martins would come home third behind older sister Maria Martins in this one with their cousin Leandro Martins fourth ahead of Bill Rychell, Hunter Strickland and Rick Kase.

Tav Gary became a first time winner in the Mini Stocks as he out-ran Chris Narramore, Jr., David McCaig and Freddy Martin to the checker.

Guy Kolmel won his fourth Scrambler feature of the year ahead of Chuckie Harrison and Guy Kolmel, Sr.

Rain tried its best to dampen the spirits of everybody Saturday at Auburndale Speedway but track owner Rex Guy would stick a dagger in Mother Nature and the show went on despite a late start in front of a very good crowd… and it would be a long night.

Persistent rain, heavy at times, fell at the track off and on between 2 and 5 pm as everything was put on hold.  Just after 5, the skies began to clear and it was time to dry the track and get to the business of racing.

The big event of the night would be a 50-lap point race for the Florida Pro Truck Challenge Series and the pits were crowded as 32 Truck teams showed up to do battle.  Qualifying was held almost two hours late from its scheduled time with 31 of the Trucks getting laps in as Jacob Nicoletti’s team was thrashing on his machine after hitting the turn four wall in hot laps.

Quick time would again go to Derek Pugh who seems to have a handle on how to get around Auburndale Speedway all by himself.  Pugh’s lap of 14.364 topped the laps turned by Cody McDuffie, Jason Lester, Becca Monopoli and Brent Huber.  The top 16 in time trials were locked in to the big show with everybody else relegated to a pair of 15-lap B-Main qualifiers including Huber who had to run one of the B’s after being set down in post-qualifying tech.

The top four in each race would move on to the 50 lapper that would start a field of 24.

Huber worked his way through the field to claim the first B-Main trailed by Adam Briggs, Shea Montgomery and Dodge Carlbert as those four moved on to the feature.  The night ended early for Bryton Horner, Carter Brown, Dave Fewox and Nick White.

Leroy Moore, celebrating his birthday, led all the way to claim B-Main number two with Billy Carlbert second and Jeff White third.  Dylan Martin spun on lap three but drove like crazy to grab the final transfer spot.  Martin was making his first start in his Pro Truck since a near-fatal motorcycle accident several months ago.  Failing to transfer were Nicoletti (who did a great job considering his big wall hit in practice), Johnny Marra, Mark Kemick and Josh Haranda.

The top six qualifiers were inverted for the start of the 50-lap contest placing young Brennon Pletcher on the pole flanked by veteran Truck racer Steve Darvalics who quickly powered his way to the lead at the drop of the green.  Caution was out quickly on lap five as Colt Cecil bit out a chunk of the back stretch wall.  Cecil pitted and was able to return to action.

Darvalics continued to set the pace but McDuffie was on the move taking second from Monopoli on lap eight then blasting his way to the lead two laps later.

Pugh moved by Pletcher into fourth as McDuffie was already in lapped traffic by the 16th circuit.  At that point McDuffie was in a class of his own as he had opened up a full straight lead by the half way mark.  The top ten at lap 25 consisted of McDuffie, Darvalics, Monopoli, Pugh, Lester, Mike Kohut, Pletcher, Rich Clouser, Danny Anderson and Richard Griffis.

Everything would change big time on lap 26, though, as the trucks running 3rd thru ninth would all end up with damage after an altercation off turn two with several lapped trucks.  Pugh and Lester pitted as did Kohut who did not return.  Other machines with damage included Clouser, Pletcher, Shea Montgomery and Jeff White.  Both Pugh and Lester made it back out for the restart which saw another multi-truck melee on the front stretch that ended the night for Kristen Clements.  Also receiving damage were the trucks of Danny Anderson, Adam Briggs and Brent Huber although all would eventually continue.  Rich Clouser pitted his machine during the caution and did not return.  At this point 19 trucks were still in the running.

McDuffie continued to lead easily as Monopoli forged here was by Darvalics into second on lap 29 only to see that pass negated when Martin spun around in turn two.  Jason Lester pitted to try and fix damage and returned minus his hood and fenders but the right front of the truck had gone askew and he went to the pits a final time and was later DQ’d to the rear of the field for an undetermined issue.

McDuffie continued to overwhelm the field as the drivers managed to get all the way to lap 36 before Jeff White spun in turn two.  Three laps later the red flag was out as Huber climbed over the left side of Anderson’s truck in turn four, nearly getting on his side.  Anderson was out of the event while Huber returned briefly only to drop out soon after.  Quite a bit of fluid and debris littered the turn four area and it took close to 15 minutes to clean up, adding to the long night.

Once the green flag came back out, the final 11 laps ran off without a hitch other than a late front stretch spin by Billy Carlbert that starter Julian Mullis was not about to throw another caution flag for.  McDuffie took the checker well ahead of Darvalics who had to hold off a hard-charging Monopoli over the final laps.  Pletcher held on for fourth while Brey Holmes had the best race of his career, staying out of trouble all the way to score a fifth place finish for a team that has been plagued with mostly mechanical issues during the past year.

Pugh held on to finish sixth with Leroy Moore, Griffis, Briggs and Shea Montgomery rounding out the top ten.  Completing the finishers were Dodge Carlbert, Martin, Cecil, Billy Carlbert, Jimmy Frazier III (who had a top ten run end late when he hit the wall), Anderson, Huber, Colt Hensley, Jeff White, Kohut, Clouser, Clements, Big Donnie Burkhalter and Lester.  Burkhalter had a tough weekend, blowing an engine in Friday practice then losing his brakes early in the race.

Immediately after the Truck race finished, Dodge Carlbert climbed in his Pure Stock car… then he went out and won the 20-lap feature after starting scratch on the field.

Wild Child Jammie Dunnahoe, Jr, won the Pure Stock heat and had the pole for the feature but broke a transmission coming off turn two on the opening lap, scattering the field.  Chuck Mathias held the top spot for ten laps but could not hold off Carlbert who scored his second victory in a row.  Aaron Holmes was back behind the wheel on this night and he made a late pass to claim second over Mathias, James Wright III, Kate Clouser (making her very first start here), Matt McCrary and Dunnahoe.

Jason Bartram got a huge monkey off his back as his new car performed flawlessly for once and he led start to finish to claim the 25-lap Sportsman feature.  Jamie Kennedy charged up to run on Bartram’s bumper over the final laps but had to settle for second over Charlie Brown, Tom Zimmerman, Alexa Anderson and Steven O’Steen.  O’Steen was driving a car that he’ll be taking to Bristol, TN in a few weeks and was doing a “shake down” run.

In other action, James Wright III led all the way to claim yet another V-8 Bomber victory trailed by Travis Todd, Bud Bronson, Ronnie Abney, Brian Harbin, Brandon Love, Jimmy McLeod and Jason Sopczak.  Wright also won the heat.

Wilson Martins, Sr. topped the Mini Cup action over heat winner Maria Martins, Leandro Martins, Bill Rychel and Russell Bush.

Chris Narramore, Jr. topped both the heat and feature in the Mini Stocks outgunning Chuck Frazier, David McCaig, Freddy Martin and Tav Gary.

Guy Kolmel won his first career feature in the Scramblers leading Donnie Mosman and Trenton Henick to the checker.  Kolmel also was the heat race winner.

Again it was “just one of those nights” Saturday evening at Auburndale Speedway that saw plenty of great racing, some wild action and some “hurt feelings” along the way as the show wrapped up just 20 minutes shy of finishing on Easter Sunday.

All in all it was a great night for the kids and they were out in force for a big Easter egg hunt that was sponsored by PB of Central Florida (a demolition contractor in Winter Haven) and Kitto Sheds & Equipment of Dundee.  Several of the eggs contained special gold tickets and those kids got new bikes, scooters and games courtesy of the sponsors.  After the egg hunt, the drawings were held for a large number of Easter baskets donated by race teams, track staff and fans.  Needless to say, the kids all left the track very happy.

The headliner for the night was the Easter Bunny Special for the Super Late Models.  Scheduled for 100 laps, the race was trimmed to 50 laps due to the lateness of the hour, among other things.

Just ten cars signed in but it was a stout field as Michael Atwell made the trip up from Naples and set quick time at 13.661 seconds with Chris Fontaine second fastest at 13.792 followed by Matt McCrary, George Gorham, Jr. and Jon Guy.  The top six in time trials were inverted for the start of the feature placing Ft. Pierce driver David Green on the pole and Guy on the outside pole.

Green jumped out front but the overall complexion of the race would change on lap three.  Gorham hit the back of Guy’s car going into turn two as Guy checked up briefly.  Gorham then spun collecting most of the field.  When all was said and done both Gorham and Kendall Anderson were done for the night while Guy and Charles Kopach pitted to make repairs but returned to action.

Other cars also had minor cosmetic damage but were able to stay on the speedway.  At this point, with just 8 cars left and the time closing in on 11 pm, track officials decided to cut the race to 50 laps.

Green continued to set the pace after the restart just ahead of Fontaine who lost second spot to McCrary on the tenth lap only to return the favor two laps later bringing Atwell with him into third spot.  Fontaine, who was driving very aggressively, forced his way by Green in turn one and grabbed the lead on lap 19.  Two laps later Atwell got by Green for second just as Guy fell out of the event as the earlier damage had hurt the performance of his racer.

McCrary also called it a night during the 29th lap.

Atwell began to really put the pressure on Fontaine who was doing all he could to hold on to the top spot.  With five laps to go, Atwell slammed his way by Fontaine coming off turn four and took the lead… a move that did not set well with Fontaine.  Fontaine stayed right with Atwell then turned him around in turn three during the final lap.

Although Fontaine crossed the stripe first, he got the black flag instead of the checker.  Green, running third when the white flag flew, was thus awarded the victory, his first ever at Auburndale Speedway.  Atwell got his car going and finished the race but was also placed at the rear of the finishing order for aggressive driving.  That allowed Roger Blevins to take home the runner up spot followed by Brian Dorer.  Charles Kopach was a lap down but took fourth as credited as being the last car running after the DQ’s.

“We don’t get to race as often as we would like to,” said Green in victory lane.  “I just want to thank the Drawdy brothers for giving me the opportunity to drive their car and it’s great to get them a win tonight.”

Although he fell out just past half way, McCrary was credited with fifth spot followed by Guy, Gorham, Anderson, Atwell and Fontaine.

The Legend Car brought 17 machines to the track and the twin heat races were won by Seth Adams and Sam Cornman.  Several drivers were making their Legend Car debut including former TBARA Sprint Car champion Bo Hartley who was “testing” a car that will eventually be driven by his son Stephen. Adams started on the outside pole for the feature and led every lap to score the win in a race that saw a few cautions but only for minor incidents.  It would be the last race here for Adams as he’ll be going into the ranks of the U. S. Army in just a few days.

Noah Cornman, winner of the last two Legend Car races here, was the driver putting on a show in this one as he methodically drove his way to the front and “Little Gator” was right behind Adams at the finish with Adams’ teammate Kyle Pitts holding on for third over Jarrett Wagman and Dennis Misuraca.

Completing the top ten were Jojo Viverito, Mike Verhaagh, Brad Perez, Derek Stansbury and Hartley.  Rounding out the finishers were Jason Carpenter, Dylan Brewer, Bob Wilson, Logan Misuraca and Sam Cornman.

Mike Rudder and Jeff Firestine topped the heat races for the Modified Mini Stocks but Rudder had problems during the pace laps for the feature and fell out before the green flag flew.  Kenny Uhl, Jr. grabbed the lead at the start and never looked back taking his first win here in some time.  Ken Nurse, Jr. held off Firestine for second with Chris Spring fourth and Clint Holmes fifth.  Mike Kerrivan, Richard Browm, Rachelle Rudolph, Mike Prevatt, Dalton Williamson and Rudder completed the finishing field.

The best race of the night was the V-8 Bomber feature.  Just six cars were in the field but they put on quite a show.  Heat winner James Wright III was getting plenty of pressure as he led the way after starting on the pole for the feature.  Ronnie Abney, Jr. had his new car handling well and he went to the outside of Wright with three laps to go as Wright was battling an engine that was beginning to “lock up.”  Despite bouncing off the wall at one point, Abney was able to make the outside pass stick and he took a very popular win, the first of his young career at Auburndale Speedway.

Brandon Love came through to claim second trailed by George Gorham, Jr. and Wright, who faded to fourth on the final lap.  Brian Harbin was fifth and Bud Bronson sixth.

A wild and wacky Mini Stock feature saw for drivers – Fred Martin, John Cummins, Jr., Matt Cummins and Steven O’Steen – all disqualified for rough driving and unsportsmanlike conduct.  Things got so out of hand that the race got the checker three laps early just to calm things down.  That did not matter to Chuck Frazier as he led every lap to claim his first win of the year after also winning the earlier heat race.  Chris Narramore, Jr. outlasted the rest of the field to claim second over David McCaig, Devin Brown and Guy Kolmel.

Heat winner Maria Martins dominated the Mini Cup feature taking the lead from Russell Bush on lap three then streaking away for a very easy win.  Bush took second ahead of Clay Samuels, Bill Rychel, Leandro Martins (Maria’s cousin who was making his first start here), Wilson Martins and Douglas Herrin, Jr.

There was a scary moment during the Daytona Antique Auto Racing Association (DAARA) Sprint Car feature when heat winner Robert Campbell slammed hard into the turn one wall.  His immaculate Sprinter was badly damaged but Campbell emerged unhurt.

Duane LeCornu went on to win the race taking the measure of Chris Hahn, Josh Rynd, Dave Cash and Campbell.  Merle Strickland did not start.

Cush Revette, Jr. drove his “Crown 7” 1957 Chevy convertible to the win in the DAARA V-8 Stock Car feature ahead of heat winner Dr. Carl Doughty.  Steve Slaughter was third ahead of Darren Nichols and Tommy Gamble.

The DAARA 6-Cylinder Stock Car feature was claimed by Richie Gomes who also won the heat race.  Dave Davis trailed in second ahead of Steve Parrish, Rocky Buckles and David Glenn.

It was a chilly night for race fans at Auburndale Speedway Saturday but some good, hot racing kept most of them from thinking just how cold it was in the grandstands.

The Super Late Models were the feature attraction and, although just eleven showed up to do battle, battle they did in a race that had several twists and turns.

Palmetto’s Nick Neri led a very close field in time trials with a lap of
13.629 seconds just ahead of the 13.656 lap of Jon Guy and Jesse Dutilly’s lap of 13.685. Neri drew a six for the inversion placing Becca Monopoli on the pole for the 100-lap chase flanked by local shoe Ron Lofquist.

The start would not be a good one, though. Going into turn one, Dutilly had to check up a bit and was hit by third starter Steven King sending Dutilly’s machine hard into the turn one wall. Dutilly was none the worse for wear himself but his car was badly damaged and he actually walked the full length of the track from turn one to turn four where King was parked under the red flag. Dutilly had some “choice words” for King then walked back to the pit area.

When the race finally got started, Monopoli zipped out front only to see the caution fly on lap three for a Paul White spin off turn four. King got the jump on Monopoli after the restart, took the top spot and began to pull away from the field. Lofquist began to fall back losing third to Guy on lap six and fourth a lap later to George Gorham, Jr. Neri was moving forward after a slow start taking fourth from Gorham on the 18th lap while Guy breezed by Monopoli for second on lap 22. By now King was racing in a different zip code and looked to have the field covered. King’s big lead was erased on lap 45 when the caution came out although there was no incident or debris on the track.

During the driver’s meeting the competitors had been told that if 40 green flag laps were run consecutively that a “competition caution” would be thrown.
This would prove to be King’s eventual undoing after his early dominant performance. Guy blasted to the front on the restart while Neri got by Monopoli for third. The lead trio then began to put on a great nose-to-tail show for the fans with no one willing to give an inch while Matt McCrary charged by Monopoli (who was out of brakes) for fourth on lap 74 just before the two leaders, Guy and King, got together coming off turn two with both being sent to the rear for the restart.

Neri was now the leader and he clearly had the fastest car on the speedway as he pulled away from now second place McCrary. The final yellow flag flew on lap 88 as White went into a spin courtesy of King while Guy also spun to keep from being involved. King dropped out at this point.

Neri easily led the final 12 circuits to score his first career Auburndale Speedway victory while McCrary’s steady driving netted him a nice runner-up finish. Despite running most of the race with no brakes, Monopoli took third spot followed by Guy and White. Lofquist was sixth and Charles Kopach seventh, the last two cars still running as all seven finishers were on the lead lap at the end. King was credited with eighth ahead of Gorham, David King and Dutilly.

Chris Spring began defense of his 2018 Modified Mini Stock title by winning a hard fought 25 lap feature. Spring won the first heat but it was second heat winner Mike Rudder who took the early lead before he and Spring bounced off each other and spun out on lap 16. Spring continued but Rudder was done for the night.

Bryton Prevatt took over the lead and the race would then become a great battle between Prevatt, Mike Kerrivan and Spring who made a late charge to put his “Black Duece” in victory lane. Kerrivan was a close second over Prevatt, Kenny Nurse, Jr. and Clint Holmes. Jimmy McLeod took sixth with Jimmy Wood seventh and the last car still running. Rachelle Rudolph was eighth, victim of two blow right rear tires. Rudder was credited with ninth and Kelly Hahn was tenth after dropping out early. Mike Prevatt and Donnie Ezell did not start.

2018 V-8 Bomber champion James Wright III won the heat race which earned him pole position for the 25 lap feature. That was pretty much all she wrote as Wright led all the way to take the win and start defense of his title. “We are going to try and take another championship although I will probably miss a couple of nights this year,” said Wright in victory lane. “I was in Alabama working all week and my dad worked on this car all week and it was really running great in the cold weather,” he said.

Jody Gill debuted his new “K-9” Camaro with a fine second place finish. Gill, who is a local K-9 police officer, had been credited earlier in the week as he and his dog captured a man suspected in a string of local bank robberies.
Danny Burchfield took home third spot ahead of Phil Ellis and Roy “Bubba”
Healey. Ronnie Abney, Jr, was sixth followed by Brandon Love, Jimmy McLeod, Kyle Case, Jesse Killinger and Travis Todd who was the only driver unable to finish.

The 25 lap Legend Car feature was a real barn-burner that saw several cautions and numerous lead changes before Noah “Little Gator” Cornman took over on lap
22 and raced to a popular victory. “That was an awesome race,” said Cornman in victory lane and his comments were echoed by second place Jarrett Wagman who also led many laps before having to settle for the runner-up spot.
Defending track champion Jim Smith claimed third spot while Brandon Taylor took fourth ahead of Ryan DiVagno and Brandon Hershey. Seth Adams was running third as the white flag came out but his car developed problems and he ended up seventh. Kyle Pitts took over Bob Wilson’s car for the night but he dropped out early and was credited with eighth. Wagman won the heat race.

Maria Martins took the lead on lap ten and went on to win the 20-lap Mini Cup feature race. The young lady driver also won on opening night last year then was shut out the rest of the season, mostly due to a series of mechanical failures. “I don’t want a repeat of last year,” she said after taking the victory. “We want to win more races this year and hopefully the championship too,” she said.

Veteran Russell Bush came home second followed by 2018 Mini Cup champion Douglas Herrin, Jr. who came back from a big heat race wall-banger to get a podium finish. Heat winner Bryton Horner was fourth followed by Clay Samuels and Wilson Martins, Jr.

Driving a “throw-back” Dale Earnhardt black #3 Mini Stock similar to the one his dad drove in the class a few years back, Chris Narramore, Jr. won the Q Mini Stock heat then easily captured the feature race that was combined with the Scrambler class. Freddie Martin kept things close but had to settle for second over David McCaig, Oscar Coulter, Colin Hardin, William Kerns and Guy Kolmel.

The Daytona Antique Auto Racing Association was also in the house and the DAARA Sprint Cars put on their usual great show with Robert Campbell of Tarpon Springs leading most of the way to score the victory in his beautiful midnight blue creation. “My uncle Steve Campbell restored this car from the ground up and boy is it a pleasure to drive,” said Campbell. “My dad (long-time Sprint Car owner Harry Campbell) never let us kids drive his cars since he had some really good drivers in the seat (the likes of Dave Scarborough, Frank Riddle and Jan Opperman), so it’s really cool to get to be behind the wheel of one of these things now,” he continued.

Duane LeCornu made his Sprint Car debut in a “new” restored car and drove to an impressive second over veteran Sprint Car shoe Stan Butler. “Guess we are gonna have to get some new tires to keep up with these guys,” joked Butler after the race. Merle Strickland took fourth with Chris Hahn, Bob Wolpert, Louis Brashear and John Parrish rounding out the finishers.

The DAARA Stock Car feature fell to Cush Revette, Jr. of Tampa who was driving his Bobby Allison tribute car 1955 Chevy #312. Heat winner Steve Slaughter brought his coach-bodied Modified home a close second. Steve Parrish took third in a six-cylinder-powered Modified ahead of Darren Nichols, Richie Iversen, David Glenn, Ken Jeffres and Dan Hayes.