Orlando SpeedWorld was back in action Friday night with six classes putting on some great racing for the fans.  Headlining the show were the Open Wheel Modifieds and it was veteran driver Ricky Moxley of Hobe Sound taking his first win of the year in fine fashion by leading every circuit of the 25-lap feature.  Mosley breezed to the front on
the opening lap trailed by heat winner Zach Harris who stayed close for awhile before Moxley steadily began to pull away.  The race ran the full distance under green and Moxley took the checker in front of Harris and Travis Roland.  Earl Beckner was fourth ahead of Alan Bruns, Matt Wheeler and Austin Howell.

Becca Monopoli of Lakeland won her second straight Pro Truck feature leading all but the opening lap.  The only slow-down of the race came on lap seven when the engine expired in Whitney Poole’s truck while she was running second.  Eddie Lichtenberger would end up finishing in the runner-up spot ahead of Kelly Ross and Poole.  Monopoli also won the heat race.

Young Charles King, Jr. passed Shane Sutorus on lap four of the Four Cylinder Stock main event and never looked back in winning  the first-ever feature race of his brief career.  Driving a Chevy Cavalier, King easily outdistance the Saturn station wagon of Sutorus to take the victory.  Zachary Curtis, also in a Saturn, was third ahead of Paul Cornelius and John Gross.  Damien Kwaak, Jeff Gross, Red Ryder and Kendra Reynolds rounded out the finishers.  King was also the heat race winner. (more…)

Orlando SpeedWorld was back in action with six divisions taking part as Lakeland’s Becca Monopoli got a good weekend off to a winning start by dominating the Pro Truck feature.  Kelly Ross led the opening lap of the Pro Truck 25-lap finale but Monopoli grabbed the lead and never looked back.  Whitney Poole moved up to second early on but was unable to chase down Monopoli as the lady drivers finished 1-2. Brian Lynch came home in third spot ahead of Rich Cordis, Ross and Randy Poole.  Heat wins went to Whitney Poole and Lynch.  On Saturday night, Monopoli would go on to win the Joey Coulter Florida Pro Truck Series race at Citrus County Speedway.

Michael Held led every lap of the Super Stock race then was able to pass tech this time, taking his first win of the young season.  The only caution of the race came when Bobby Cuddy spun on the front stretch on lap 13.  Held’s teammate Brandon Christian finished a distant second trailed by Jeff Cuddy.  Bobby Cuddy recovered to take fourth in front of John Bennett and Ernie Stickle.  Held also won the heat race. (more…)

There was no full moon Friday night at Orlando SpeedWorld but it sure seemed like it as the fans saw plenty of slam-bang action that kept wrecker driver Tim Cordell busy most of the night.  A very nice field of Sportsman cars saw their pair of heat races won by Richard Fiore, Jr. and Daniel Conlin, Jr. but it would be pole sitter Ron Gustafson jumping out to an early lead in the 25-lap feature.  Gustafson would lead the first five circuits before Earl Beckner got by to assume the point as he was looking to make it two wins in a row.  Timmy Todd, Jr. spun his brand-new mount coming off turn four to bring out the first caution flag on lap seven.  Beckner continued to set the pace until yellow flag number two was thrown for debris on the track at the completion of lap ten.  On the restart, Gustafson found himself in the backstretch wall, coming to rest in turn three with a badly crunched car and out of the event.  By this time Derrick Wood, who started deep in the 14 car field, had worked his way to second place and looked like he might have something for leader Beckner.  However, Wood’s car suddenly slowed coming off turn two during the 12th lap and he coasted to the infield.  Two laps later Fiore and Roger Blevins collided going into turn one with Blevins’ car in the wall and ultimately done for the evening.  On the restart Conlin, now up to second, got into the back of Beckner’s car going down the backstretch sending Beckner’s machine hard into the wall.  A not so happy Beckner walked back to the pits, done for the night.  It was even more frustrating for the Orlando driver as he and his crew had to thrash for several days just to get here for the action after blowing an engine and crashing the car badly at Auburndale Speedway two weeks ago. (more…)

Week number three of the 2014 season saw plenty of action at Orlando SpeedWorld as the weather finally felt more “Florida like” than the first pair of race nights.

Darin Coker made the trip up from the Southwest part of the State along with teammate Keith Sinkula and they ended up one-two in the 25-Lap Legend Car feature.  Robbie Lyons, the previous weeks’ winner, grabbed the early advantage and did everything he could to hold off an early charge by Sinkula who took second from Dave Gleason on lap four.  David Owen looped his car to bring out the caution on lap seven and was sent to the rear of the field for the restart.  As the field took the green flag again, Coker slipped by his teammate and took off after Lyons.  After some really good racing, Coker pulled ahead on lap 14 bringing Sinkula with him.  A lap 17 caution for a Mark Bibeau spin didn’t slow Coker as he became the third Legend Car feature winner in as many weeks.  Sinkula came home second with Lyons third and Bibeau recovered to take fourth spot ahead of Whitney Poole, who made her first Legend Car start a good one driving Owen’s back up car.  Bob Lyons took sixth with Gleason and Owen rounding out the finishers although neither was still running at the end. (more…)

Dave Westerman, Bithlo, FL – Orlando SpeedWorld began its 40th racing season with some brisk weather that kept fans huddled up all night, but the action they got to see was hot all night long as five racing classes were in action. The Pro Trucks headlined with several new faces in the field that also featured some veterans too. Whitney Poole and Michael Burns grabbed the heat race victories to set the stage for the headliner that would see some great action. Tyler Lau led the initial three circuits before being passed by Becca Monopoli. Burns, who started at the back of the field, worked his way up to challenge and, after some super side-by-side racing, grabbed the lead from Monopoli on lap 12. Becca came right back to lead a pair of laps before Burns used some superior handling in the center of the corners to nab the lead for good. A lap 18 caution for a Kelly Ross spin could not slow Burns as he cruised to the win despite a late charge from veteran Scott Reeves. Monopoli held on for third over Poole and Lau. Rounding out the finishers were Vince Keeler, Eddie Lichtenberger, Ross and Richard Griffis.

The Super Stock feature race was about as crazy as you could get in the late going after young Michael Held led the opening 17 laps and looked like he might be in line for his first big feature win. But veteran shoe Rich Clouser, driving one of three Sanford Auto Dealers Exchange entries, had other ideas as he zipped out front for three laps only to be re-passed by Held, who again led a pair of laps before Clouser regained the lead. With a handful of laps to go, the pair tangled headed into turn one to bring out the caution. After a lengthy discussion, track officials put both to the rear of the field for the restart handing the lead to David Gould. Gould would go on to lead the remaining laps to score yet another SpeedWorld victory as he has been competing here for about 30 of the track’s 40 years. Clouser bounced back to claim second trailed by Brandon Christian, Gino Tuminello, Adam Soukup and Ted Head. (more…)