BARBERVILLE, FL-  The two night “Feud In The Forest” continued on Saturday night as the Top Gun Sprint Car Series and the Florida Mini Sprint Association, made the roughly 50 mile trek through the Ocala National Forest to Volusia Speedway Park, after a competitive and exciting Friday night at Ocala Speedway.  Also on the card for Saturday were the Budweiser Modifieds, as they made up the $1200 to win Mod Mania that was postponed by weather, and the always exciting Amsoil Thunder Stocks.

As is the case in duel night events, things that happen on the first night may have an effect on what transpires on the second, and Friday’s visit to Ocala’s tough 3/8ths mile layout claimed a few victims from the ranks of the Top Gun Sprint Car Series.  But despite those setbacks, Volusia Speedway Park awoke to the sounds of repairs being made on Saturday as teams hammered out the dents and replaced broken equipment in preparation for Saturday’s race, and a solid field of top sprinters took the green flag on a quest to flatfoot their way around the south’s fastest half mile.

Friday’s victory by Danny Martin could have been a runaway affair had it not been for some late race cautions, but on Saturday night the caution flag was not to be found as the Top Gun Sprints battled from green to checkers with no interruptions.  And with nothing but traffic to hinder his progress, Danny Martin was out to prove that he could make his success on a so called “driver’s track” translate into a second win on a wide open speedway, and as Ocala’s Rich Pratt led the field to the green flag Martin launched his rocket ship and began his mission to win the double.

Harley Zimmerman controlled the early laps of the Top Gun feature before Tony Agin was able to grab the lead, but mechanical woes would park Agin later as Martin picked his way forward into the top three.  That put Zimmernan back in the lead just in time for Martin to take it away again, and from there no one had anything that could touch the 24 machine.  Danny Martin lapped the field up to the fourth spot in securing his second win in two nights, while Harley Zimmerman held on for a respectable second place finish.  Tim George took advantage of a night where points leader Ryan Partin was struggling to snatch away the Top Gun Sprints Series points lead with a third place finish, while Shawn Murray was fourth.  And Rocky Sullivan recovered from a rollover on Friday to round out the top five at VSP on Saturday night.

The Florida Mini Sprints brought 27 cars through the forest to Barberville on Saturday, and Friday’s winner, Gavin Thomas, looked to be ready to repeat the feat on Saturday.  But after problems on Friday resulted in a 25th place failure to launch at Ocala, Chris Pacetti had something to prove to Thomas and the rest of the FMSA, while Thomas would be battling an engine distraction as well as the competition.

Brett O’Donnell led from the pole as he defended his FMSA points lead, but on lap 10 Pacetti slipped by as the field clicked off 15 consecutive laps without a caution.  A two car tangle in turn 2 slowed things down and regrouped the field on lap 16, allowing the racers to catch their breath and giving the leaders a clear track to race to the checkers.  That caution also put Gavin Thomas on Brett O’Donnell’s rear bumper, but a slight miss in the 7 car held him back just enough that the pass could not be made.  Chris Pacetti scored the win as Brett O’Donnell claimed second and Gavin Thomas placed third.  2009 FMSA Champion, Tim O’Donnell, climbed to a fourth place finish, while Steve Wheeler was fifth.

 

The Budweiser Modifieds were happy to have the opportunity to race for the $1200 that nature took way from them last month, and Jeff Mathews was pleased to have the chance to make a statement as to who he thinks should be on top of the 2010 Budweiser Modified points heap at Volusia Speedway Park.  But if Mathews was going to prove anything, he first had to figure out how to hold off a hard charging Kyle Bronson, who found that his fastest line around the circuit was high on one end and low on the other.

Mathews had the early lead while points Jamie Carter attacked him from second place, but Bronson began three wheeling the high side of turns 3 and 4 to gain momentum, propelling him past Carter and Mathews by lap 9.  Jeff Mathews never flinched, then stuck to his line and made it beat Bronson down low to retake the lead and hold on for the win.  Kyle Bronson took the second spot as Jamie Carter followed in third place, with Wayne Hammond and James Smith rounding out the top five.

Chad Scranton has been dominating the Amsoil Synthetic Lubricants Thunder Stocks lately, and most observers thought that with a little controversy as a motivator last week that Scranton would be unbeatable this Saturday night.  Sure enough, Scranton jumped out in front and began putting real estate between himself and the others, but the 13 car was not going to let anyone start signing a check to Scranton just yet.

Philip Brown had climbed into David Whitt’s ride and took it, “For Sale” sign and all, past Scranton and to the front of the pack, while Scott Mooers looked on in disbelief from third place.  As Scranton loves to tell anyone who will listen, the Cheater Racing team does not come to lose, and he kept the heat on Brown the entire race, sometimes swapping positions or racing side-by-side until a caution for debris on lap 9 forced a momentary truce.

The battle for the lead was intense, but the racing was clean as both racers wanted to achieve a victory in the correct way instead of beating each other up.  Scranton and Brown continued their tussle as Luke Sadler battled with Matt Schell for third place and Scott Mooers held onto second.  Philip Brown would have to dodge a lapped car coming to the finish, but he managed to force Chad Scanton to settle for second place and get the win.  Scott Mooers continues to be one of the top Thunder Stock racers nationally in the UMPDIRTcar rankings as he claimed the third spot, and Luke Sadler overcame Matt Schell for fourth as Schell wound up fifth.

Volusia Speedway Park will give the Daytona Sportswear Street Stocks a moment in the spotlight next week as the Street Stock Sensation has the racers going for a $1000 check.  The Daytona Dodge Chrysler Jeep Late Models will be back in action, plus fans will see more racing from the Budweiser Modifieds and the 4 Cylinder Challenger Division, and the kids will get a chance to go racing as Box Car Racing highlights the intermission activities.  For more information, please visit www.VolusiaSpeedwyPark.net.

 

Volusia Speedway Park Results for 7/17/10

Top Gun Sprint Car Series

1- 24 Danny Martin
2- 21 Harley Zimmerman
3- 1 Tim George
4- 22 Shawn Murray
5- 15 Rocky Sullivan
6- 14 Ryan Partin

7- 2 Rich Pratt
8- 8 Rich Alexander
9- 6 Mike Schroeder
10- 21M Darrin Miller
11- 19 Dakota Stevens

12- 30 John Crowder
13- 6X Brandon Grubaugh
14- 02 Gene Lasker
15- 38 Tony Agin
16- 27 Troy Knowles
DNS- 13H Howard Harris

 

Florida Mini Sprint Association

1- 16 Chris Pacetti
2- 11 Brett O’Donnell
3- 7 Gavin Thomas
4- 28 Tim O’Donnell
5- 26 Steve Wheeler
6- 8 Eddie Moss Jr.
7- 5 Steve Crabtree
8- 2 Mark Ryder
9- 83 Justin Kolves
10- 711 David Pleaugh
11- 6 Andrew Kurjack

12- 34 Pete Smith
13- 1M Eddie Moss Sr.

14- 61 Walter Arnold
15- 92 Darrin Davis
16- 23 Rae Lynn Moss

17- 81 Chris Partin
18- X59 Austin Jackson
19- 99 Lenny Dallman
20- 14D Brian Penrose
21- 31 Tommy Bowden
22- 68 Dirk Miller
DNS- 30 John Crowder
DNS- 24 Ken Penta
DNS- 15 Paul Lanza
DNS- 82 Dominic Lanza
DNS- 71 John Craddock

Budweiser Modified (25 laps/$1200 to win)

1- 33 Jeff Mathews
2- 40B Kyle Bronson
3- 15 Jamie Carter
4- 66H Wayne Hammond
5- 40 James Smith
6- 7 Kent Corbin
7- 54 Larry Burkins
8- 00 Buzzie Reutimann

9- 66 Dale Murray
10- 41D Scott Steed
11- Z06 Larry Mott
12- 11P Michael Phillips
13- 7P Matthew Permann
14- 7S Ronnie Chance
DNS- 67 Garrett Stewart

 

Amsoil Synthetic Lubricants Thunder Stock

1- 13 Philip Brown
2- 27 Chad Scranton
3- 10 Scott Mooers
4- 15 Luke Sadler
5- 57 Matt Schell
6- 114 John Thorpe
7- 17 D.J. Nobles
8- 6 Wally Douglass

9- 4 Richard Calmes Jr.
10- 9R Robert Donaly
11- 03 Robert Shrunk
12- 22 Kelly Snyder
13- V1 Delbert Moyer
14- 36 Austin Stamper
15- 29 Tom Hughes