by Dave Westerman

 Auburndale Speedway will see plenty of great racing action this week as the Open Wheel Modifieds return for a 40 lap feature along with six other classes including the Legend Cars, Sportsman, Street Stocks, Mini Stocks, V-8 Bombers and Bandoleros.

The track has adopted a new policy allowing the Modifieds to time trial and set their feature race line-up just as the Late Models do. Thus the Modifieds will run qualifying at 6:30PM to set the starting grid for their 40-lap headliner later in the evening. Big Wayne Morris continues to head the OWM point standings by just 12 over James Wright III. Bobby Blake, a two-time winner this year, now sits third in points trailed by Kevin Macy and defending champion Von Pope. A stellar field of cars is expected to be on hand this week.

Several of Auburndale Speedway’s Legend Car drivers made the trek to Charlotte Motor Speedway last week for the “Legends Million” but are back “home” ready to begin the second half of their racing season. Drivers not only compete for Auburndale Speedway points but also nationally through INEX against drivers from all over the U.S.

Gerald White, Jr. leads the point chase at Auburndale by just eight markers over Jake Perkins. Justin Brown and Mason Ketterman are now tied for third while Masters Division (over 40) driver Dave Gleason is fifth.

Dave Dunkin and Mark Medeiros continue to pull away from the competition in the Sportsman class. Dunkin has an 18 point edge on Medeiros with Austin Carr and Bart Weatherford quite a ways back in third and fourth. Brandon “I’ll drive anything with wheels” Duchscherer has moved to fifth in the standings on the strength of his win two weeks ago.

The Street Stock point battle continues to be a two man show as Matt McCrary holds a miniscule two point advantage on Jeff Waterman. Dave Colpritt is third, 60 tallies back of Waterman while James Wright III and Kyle Hall sit fourth and fifth in Street Stock points.

Although Chris Spring had his win streak stopped by young Gary Brown, Jr. last week, he still put more distance between himself and second place Fred Harrison, Jr. and now has a 34 point lead. Chris Narramore, Sr. is still third in points but is no longer active in the class as is fourth place Donnie Guy. Fifth place Jason Swilley should move past Guy into fourth spot this week.

Josh Borem has sat out two weeks repairing his race car but still holds a 112 point lead over Buddy Phillips, Jr. in the V-8 Bombers. In the Bandoleros, Cameron White has already wrapped up the Bandit title but things remain close in the Outlaw Division with Teddy Lively holding a 36 point edge over Andy Metz.

This Saturday pit gates open at 2PM, grandstands open at 5PM, Open Wheel Modified time trials take place at 6:30PM and racing begins at 7PM. Adult admission is just $12, seniors get in for $10, kids 5-12 are $5 and children 4 and under are free. Family packs (two adults – two kids 5 and over) are just $25.

NOTES:

Four Auburndale Speedway “regulars” made the journey to Charlotte Motor Speedway in North Carolina last week to take part in the “Legends Million” events. The big race was the Legends Million 100-lap race that paid an incredible $250,000 to win. Point leader Gerald White, Jr. and second place Jake Perkins both made the trip. White attempted to make the big race but did not make it after finishing 15th in the 4th B-Main. Perkins was running in the Semi-Pro/Young Lions portion of the program but did not make the A-Main after a 10th place finish in the 2nd B-Main. Brandon Thomson, who is at the track most every week but mainly to help out other drivers, just missed qualifying for the big race by one position! The only Florida-based driver to qualify for the headliner was Apopka’s Kory Abbott, a former competitor here at Auburndale. Abbott won his B-Main but had problems in the big show finishing 29th. Still, just making the race meant a huge payday.

The “over 40 set” had their own special race at Charlotte as a huge group of Masters Division drivers attempted to make the field for a $30,000 paycheck. Dave Gleason squeaked into the A-Main with a fifth place finish in his B-Main, then drove steadily to a 13th place finish finishing ahead of such Masters Division “stars” as Clay Hair, Buddy Goudy and Hoyt Demis. Plant City’s Lynn Wiles had to battle back from a Thursday weight infraction incident and finished 18th in his B-Main on Saturday, missing the big race. Veteran Will Cagle of Tampa, who lives in North Carolina during the summer, finished third in the Masters A-Main. Not bad for the 72-year-old who made his mark running the Modifieds throughout the Northeast in the 60s and 70s.

Next week will be quite a night of action at Auburndale Speedway. “Family Fun Night” will have a little something for everyone including a Demolition Derby, Figure 8’s and Enduro racing. Both the regular Pro Figure 8’s will be in action along with a Four-Cylinder Fugure 8 race. The Enduro will go for 100 laps and is open to all STOCK V-8, V-6 and four cylinder cars. No V-8 Bomber or Scrambler-type cars will be allowed. All cars must be completely stock. The Demo Derby rules are pretty much “run whatcha brung” but no plating will be allowed. All cars will be checked for plating. Also on the card will be the Legend Cars, Street Stocks, V-8 Bombers, Scramblers, Bandoleros and Kids Club.

Once again “Lindsey’s Little Racers” will be giving away a pair of bicycles this week. All kids age 10 and under will get an extra ticket when they enter the grandstands and will be eligible to win the bikes. Thanks to “super-fan” Roger for purchasing one of the bikes this week.

Current Points as of July 17, 2010:

LATE MODELS:

1-#07 Jeff Scofield 483

2-#21 Kevin Ingram 382

3-#50 Perry Lovelady 369

4-#17 Ryan Lisak 348

5-#407 Jason Vail 339

6-#49 Ron Lofquist 332

7-#36 Tim Russell 303

8-#33 Daniel Webster 301

9-#47 Chris Fontaine 284

10-#22 David King 277

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OPEN WHEEL MODIFIEDS:

1-#98 Wayne Morris 715

2-#56 James Wright III 703

3-#75 Bobby Blake 640

4-#19 Kevin Macy 598

5-#01 Von Pope 548

6-#87 Keith Lilley 542

7-#00 Shawn Harper 526

8-#03 Kyle Bookmiller 499

9-#35 Ron Abney, Jr. 406

10-#10 Travis Roland 397

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SPORTSMAN:

1-#71 Dave Dunkin 404

2-#13 Mark Medeiros 386

3-#22 Austin Carr 276

4-#1 Bart Weatherford 236

5-#8 Brandon Duchscherer 224

6-#89X Brett Jenkins 170

7-#19 Chris Lewellen 166

8-#92 Ted Head 152

9-#51 Kyle Alford 146

10-#60 Richard Fiore, Jr. 114

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MODIFIED MINI STOCKS:

1-#89 Scott Sharpe 334

2-#15 Jason Rendell 322

3-#44 Mike Sweet 320

4-#45 Dennis Jones 232

5-#07 Bruce Anderson 190

#37 Brandon McSwain 190

7-#26 Jimmy Pugh 186

8-#38 Burt Morse 170

9-#77 Lee Davis 118

10-#85 Drew Carter 90

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TRUCKS:

1-#16 Tim Sozio 150

2-#1 Tommy King 148

3-#2 Jim Cowhey, Jr. 134

4-#15 Roger Blevins 130

5-#37 Nick Hernandez 118

6-#99 Brent Tyler 110

7-#72 Keith Lilley 100

8-#54 Zach Harris 98

9-#18 Cheyne Hammond 80

10-#13 J.R. Garcia 60

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LEGEND CARS:

1-#38 Gerald White, Jr. 612

2-#59 Jake Perkins 604

3-#8 Justin Brown 512

#71 Mason Ketterman 512

5-#07 Dave Gleason 504

6-#31 Lynn Wiles 402

7-#4R Zach Napoleon 356

8-#7 Dakota Baggette 314

9-#21 Devin McLeod 264

10-#4 Tyler Smith 236

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STREET STOCKS:

1-#5 Matt McCrary 582

2-#42 Jeff Waterman 580

3-#4 Dave Colpritt 520

4-#56 James Wright III 436

5-#17 Kyle Hall 362

6-#29 Bobby Mobley 318

7-#53 Kyle Peters 276

8-#48 Eddie Hartin 234

9-#65 Ken Lawrence 226

10-#52 Mike Rowland 224

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MINI STOCKS:

1-#42 Chris Spring 818

2-#21 Fred Harrison, Jr. 784

3-#3 Chris Narramore, Sr. 532

4-#33 Donnie Guy 470

5-#40 Jason Swilley 466

6-#4 Marilyn McCrary 346

7-#88 Kevin Steadman 326

8-#46 Randy King 302

9-#551 Mark Wells 276

10-#2 Dwight Ryals, Jr. 210

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V-8 BOMBERS:

1-#111 Josh Borem 670

2-#05 Buddy Phillips, Jr. 558

3-#56 James Wright, Jr. 428

4-#0 Paul Bookmiller 352

5-#89 Preston Davis 344

6-#88 Gene Harrison 288

7-#96 Larry Chumney II 248

8-#105 Jeff Lacey 210

9-#96 Larry Chumney, Sr. 204

10-#42 Brandon Duchscherer 178

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SCRAMBLERS:

1-#28 Kimberly Gullett 462

2-#66 Brian Tyre 426

3-#00 Chad Cutting 402

4-#62 Richard Brown 358

5-#71 Dave Canfield 270

6-#4 Scott Russ 220

7-#51 Matt Johns 216

8-#8 Richie Acres 200

9-#42 Mike Bauer 198

10-#9 Ashton Hunt 194

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MINI CUPS:

1-#21 Rick Ragan 186

2-#74 John Beach 156

#7 Harold Crooms 156

4-#07 Tyler Scofield 154

5-#14 Sam Scott 112

6-27X Dale Pulst 106

7-#22 Rick Cline, Sr. 102

8-#9 Cole Partelo 98

9-#2 Skip Baird 96

10-#47 Brandon Beach 94

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BANDOLEROS:

BANDITS:

1-#38 Cameron White 664

2-#5 Derek Sobel 148

3-#11 Coty Bibeau 94

4-#30 Noah Cornman 42

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OUTLAWS:

1-#96 Teddy Lively 376

2-#48 Andy Metz 340

3-#1 Mark Bibeau 174

4-#11 Daniel Conlin, Jr. 156

5-#13 Ryan Shattuck 146

6-#16 Nick Baluch 34

6-#65 Daniel Conlin, Sr. 32

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FIGURE EIGHTS:

1-#0 Jimmy Thompson 40

2-#14 Wayne Calkins 38

3-#89 Rodney Davis 36

4-#31 Wayne Whitehead 34

5-#34 James Crawford 32

6-#891 Ricky Todd 30

7-#35 James Newton 28

8-#A6 Justin Meyer 26

9-#89X Josh Hall 24