| Doug Wilson Takes Race #3 of EROC Series, Kittleson, Campbell, Boyd and Bontrager Also Big Winners At USA | by Jane Smith Lakeland, FL - The sun was hot, the crowd was warm, and the action was hot and heavy. Rain dampened the open practice the night before but no rain on raceday.
Seven drivers entered the third race of the EROC Series at USA International. They were #11 Aaron Dreher from Palm Harbor, Fl, #88 Doug Wilson from Cape Coral, Fl, #18 Terry Skipper from New Smyrna, Fl (pinch hitting for his cousin), #98 Phil Little from Hanover, PA, #23 Kris Deckard from Greenwood, IN, #19 Keith Perry from Pinebrook Pines, Fl and #20 Bubba "The Love Sponge" Clem from Tampa, Fl.
Doug Wilson #88 set fast time with a 22.858 followed by #11 Aaron Dreher with a 22.863. Doug Wilson was the big winner in race no. one and Bob Skipper (his cousin raced for him) won race number two. In the field for his very first race was Bubba "The Love Sponge" in car number 20.
The thirty five lap event saw #88 Doug Wilson on the pole and winning from the pole. The #23 of Kris Deckard, the youngest driver of the bunch, quickly moved his machine from his sixth starting place to fifth putting the #20 of Bubba into the sixth position. Then Deckard set aim for the fourth position as he went side by side with #98 Phil Little taking fourth and putting Deckard fifth.
Doug Wilson #88 put a 10 car length between himself and the second place car of #11 Aaron Dreher . But Dreher had his own problems with the #19 of Keith Perry who finally got under Dreher on the front stretch and took the second position. Perry proceeded to build a good 8 car length lead over Dreher .
The #23 of young Kris Deckard moved up on the tail of Dreher , looked high and low but could not make the pass. The only caution for the 35 lap event came out as the leader, #88 Doug Wilson, spun on the frontstretch as he slightly got into the grass avoiding the lap car of #18 Terry Skipper. Wilson was given back his lead position and the race was green once again.
On the restart Wilson took the lead although his car seemed a little slower from the mishap in the grass. On lap 16, #23 Deckard was right on the rear bumper of #19 Perry and was able to make the pass for third. Coming off of two, Wilson wiggles but was able to correct and hold his lead. Then it was Wilson, Perry and Deckard nose to tail but Deckard was not able to make a pass on Perry for the second place position.
Perry inched towards Wilson on lap 25, looked high, looked low but could not pass Wilson. Deckard moved on Perry's back bumper but could not make the pass. The white flag came out for one lap to go and the sixth place car of #20 Bubba "The Love Sponge" spun going to the checkers and lost his sixth place position to #18 Terry Skipper.
Taking the checkers and winner of race number 3 was #88 Doug Wilson followed by #19 Keith Perry, #23 Kris Deckard, #11 Aaron Dreher , #98 Phil Little, #18 Terry Skipper, and #20 Bubba Clem.
SUPER LATE MODELS Travis Kittleson #88 and David Rogers #11 sat on the front row for the Racecar Engineering Sunbelt Super Late Model event. On the start, the #80 of Brian Finney pushed up and hit the #10 of Eric Black but Black saved it. On lap 3, the new #36 of Dick Anderson has made his move from his seventh place starting position to take the fifth spot over. Top five are Kittleson, Rogers, Williams, Drawdy and Anderson but on lap 13 Rogers started to slip backwards with mechanical problems and by lap 19 Rogers was in eleventh place. Rogers stayed strong and kept racing.
On lap 39, caution #1 came out for the #16K of Tommy King who spun on the backstretch. On lap 43, caution #2 came out for #23 Mike Abbott as he spun on the backstretch. Lap 45 the race restarted with Kittleson, Williams, Anderson, Sawyer and Drawdy. Lap 46 saw the #74 of Barry Willoughby go into the pits but returned to the track.
On lap 52, caution #3 for the #54 of Kevin Ingram. #23 of Mike Abbott and #38 of Kevin Dixs when they spun on the frontstretch. All were able to continue racing. Lap 55 the green was out again with Kittleson still in the lead. The #10 of Eric Black, who had gone to the rear from an incident early in the race, had now worked his way back to the seventh position. Caution #4 saw the #80 of Brian Finney hit the turn 2 wall. Finney tried to get the car to the pits but sparks flew everywhere and the tow truck came out. At the time, Finney was running in the top ten and having a very good night.
The race went back to green on lap 69 and on lap 71, Black made a move on the #14 of Aric Almirola for sixth place. Black then moved into sixth. Caution 5 came out on lap 80 as the #7 of Scott Bramlett and the #14 of Almirola touch sending them both for a spin.
Lap 82 and the #10 of Black,hungry for a top five position, moved on #12 Justin Drawdy and made the pass for fifth. Before Drawdy could adjust, Rogers moved under Drawdy and took sixth. As the cars head down the frontstretch, the #10 of Black hit the fronstretch wall bringing out the red flag. Black was okay but could not say the same for the car.
Lap 86 saw the race green with Kittleson, Williams, Anderson, Sawyer the top four cars. Caution #7 is thrown for the #42 of George Murphy, #7 of Scott Bramlett, and #22 of DAvid Forelich who had spun in turn 2.
On the restart, the #38 of Shane Sawyer looked to move on the #36 of Anderson but couldn't take the position. The #74 of Barry Willoughby, who every- one thought was running in sixth, is actually a lap down also with David Rogers who is running fifth.
Lap 100, the race returned to green. Lap 105, the #12 of Justin Drawdy went in and is done for the night. Lap 108, #38 Sawyer once again made a move on Anderson #36 and this time it sticks. Sawyer took over the third spot putting Anderson fourth.
Lap 120, the #74m of Jay Middleton squirms but Middleton did a good job of keeping control and raced on. Lap 123, the #3x of Bobby Beauchemin hit the backstretch turn 2 wall but is high and out of harm's way. The race stayed green and it was the #88 of Travis Kittleson taking the checkers. Following Kittleson was #40 Michael Williams, #38 Shane Sawyer, #36 Dick Anderson and #16k Tommy King.
GOODYEAR CHALLENGE SERIES LATE MODELS The Goodyear Challenge Late Models saw the #34 of Jeff Dufrense on the pole with the points leader for the series, #22 Larry Osteen, on the outside pole. Fast qualifier Jason Boyd #15 was in the ninth starting position. Before a lap was in the books, the race was red flagged for a massive pile-up on the back stretch which included the #07 of Wayne Morris, #13 of Robert Hight, #46 Doug Moff, #5x Jerry Artuso, #39 Mike Greenwell, #27 Richard Barr, and #31x Casey Johnson. The #31x was driveable and the #5x pits and returned. At that point, only 20 cars were left on the track. The cars were removed, repairs were made, and the race went green for a total restart.
Larry Osteen #22 jumped to the lead after Dufresne wiggled on the restart with #66 Jerry Symons, #34 Defresne, #56 Kevin Durdin and #15 Jason Boyd in the top five.
Lap 5, Durdin moved to third, Boyd went to fourth putting #34 to fifth. Then the #29 of Mike Hovis got under #34 and took over fifth. By Lap 14, the #22 of Osteen had put the #14 of Randy Davis, at the end of the lead lap, one lap down. Boyd gave Durdin a little push, Durdin corrected, and Boyd took over third. Hovis went with Boyd and Durdin now found himself in fifth.
On Lap 26 the leader #22 Osteen has a tire go down and found himself in the wall. The points leader was now done for the night. The second place car of Jerry Symons had the lead. By lap 21, only 17 cars are left in the field.
From lap 27 to lap 42, Jerry Symons #66 and Jason Boyd #15 go nose to tail with Symons holding the lead. Not until a lap car came into the picture did Symons lose the first place position to Boyd. Boyd was able to go under the lap car with Symons up high and Boyd took over. Lap 50 the #29 of Hovis and #40 of Andy Rowland brought out caution #3. Hovis was given back his 3rd place spot. Before a lap was down on the restart, the #56 of Durdin, #13 of Hight and #32 of Sean Murphy spin in turn 1.
On Lap 58 the race went back to green with Boyd, Symons, Hovis, Skinner, and Amico in the lead. Lap 63, the doorless #56 of Durdin had worked his way from the rear back to seventh position. Boyd built his lead a good half track ahead of the fourth place car of Skinner. The race remained green until lap 94 when the #24 of Jason Williamson suddenly spun taking the #14 of Randy Davis and the fourth place car of #1 Skinner. The race was red flagged for the second time.
When the race resumed, 12 cars were left with Boyd leading. Then on the restart, the #29 of Hovis spun putting him in the rear of the lead lap. On the second restart, the #5 of Sammy Grahma paid his visit to the backstretch wall getting out of his car and pointed his finger at the #56 of Durdin. Graham was done for the night. Hovis was pentalized for jumping the restart and was put back one position, putting him in fourth.
The last five laps are green. Lap 96, the #29 of Hovis went side by side with Amico for the third position and was able to take it. Taking the checkers were #15 Jason Boyd, #66 Jerry Symons, #29 Mike Hovis, #77 Tony Amico, and #56 Kevin Durdin.
In Victory Lane, Boyd said "my dad builds one hell of a motor." Symons was not able to go to Victory Lane as he had to quickly jump from his Late Model to his Open Wheel Modified.
PRO MODIFIEDS Tank Tucker sat on the pole for the 35 lap Pro Modified event. But it took two restarts before the first lap was on the books. The #99x of Jeff Anderson caused caution #1 as he spun coming down the backstretch on the start. Caution 2, which was a red flag situation, coming when the #09 of Rob Underwood shot straight into the turn 3 wall, spinning around and putting the driver's side straight against the turn wall. Luckily, after cutting the car, Underwood was able to walk from his mangled car to the ambulance. After the race, I saw Underwood who said he was fine but I am sure very, very sore today.
The race finally saw green with Tucker leading. By lap 4, the #40 of Michael Williams had moved into sixth place. Caution #3 came out on lap 3 as the #94 spun out in turn 4.
By lap 10, the #40 of Williams was in third place and the #llb of Jamie Burrows had moved into sixth. Then suddenly, Burrows slowed, pitted and was done for the night on lap 6. Lap 24, the #2x of Skip Honaker was off track and done for the night. Lap 28 caution 4 was thrown for the leader #15 Tucker and #01 J. F. McClellan. Both are sent to the rear with Tucker not so happy. This turns the race lead over to the #40 of Williams.
Tucker, moving from the rear back to the front, caused caution #5 as he tangled with the #l of Andy Saffioti ending both their night on lap 33. Williams held the lead and took the checkers with #5 Brian Campbell, #66 Jerry Symons, #7 Mark Vandevender and #32 Red Vann in the top five positions. After tech, the #40 of Williams was dq'd due to weight giving the win to #5 Campbell and moving the #98 into fifth.
FASTTRUCKS The #93 of Jeff Firestine sat on the pole for the 35 lap FASTRUCK event. Before a lap was in the book for this event, a complete restart was in order as the #22 Scot Ingold and #95 Christy Boyett got together on the front stretch but were able to continue.
On the restart, Firestine took the lead but by lap 4, the #5 Jimmy Gill had taken over. Lap 10, the #99 of Danny Foster had broken and was not able to make it to pit road. The race was yellow flagged and Foster was pushed to the pits. On the restart, Gill held his lead over Firestine and #10 Kim Scheffler. Then Scheffler pays a little visit to the front- stretch wall and the #19 of Steve Arnold was sent to the rear for spinning Scheffler. Scheffler was able to continue and given back her third place position. But on the restart, the #10 was not up to speed and she took it to the pits.
Lap 11 saw the #71 hard into the backstretch wall for the fourth caution . On the retart, Gill had the lead but on lap 12, the #8 of Todd Bontrager starting in the rear of the field since he was the last winner in the truck event, had come up from his 33rd starting spot to take second. Lap 14, the #1 of Bobby Diehl stopped between turns one and two and the yellow comes out to get him back to the pits.
On the restart, the #8 of Bontranger went side by side with Gill, who did not want to lose his lead for the top position. For five laps, they fought each other with the #8 taking the lead position on lap 19. Just as Bontrager grabbed the lead, the #3 of Donald Davis spun on the backstretch bringing out the sixth caution of the night.
From the restart on lap 19 until lap 31, the race remained green. The top runners were making their moves but no one could take the lead away from #8 Bontrager. During this period, the #10 of Scheffler also returned to the track. On lap 31, caution 7 came out as the #1 of Diehl spun on the backstretch and the #17 Johnny Mitchell had lost power and needed help into the pits.
On the restart, it was #8 Bontrager, #5 Jimmy Gill, #93 Jeff Firestine, #19 Steve Arnold, and #09 Scott O'Neil.
Following #8 Bontrager for the checkers were #5 Jimmy Gill, #19 Steve Arnold, #93 Jeff Firestine and #09 Scott O'Neil.
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