| Wayne Anderson Wins Coca Cola Late Models at Bronson Motor Speedway | By Rick Warren
 Saturday afternoon brought Thunderstorms and rain to Bronson Motor Speedway, and not many people thought there would be any racing.
However, track owner Mike Cope and Promoter Tommy Dunford, after watching the Doppler Radar reports, making several calls to the weather service, and rubbing there lucky rabbit foot, decided to wait out the weather.
The skies finally cleared, the JetDrier was put on the track, and the evenings activities began, with the start of racing delayed only 1 hour.
First out of the gate were the Super Late Models for their Qualifying Runs, trying to take the $200 prize for being fastest of the fast. The stands were buzzing, as during practice earlier in the week, some very quick times were shown. Maybe this would be the night that the elusive 12 second barrier would be broken.
After all cars had given it their best shot, top spot went to Wayne Anderson, with a time of 13.290 seconds. A very close second was James Powell III, with a time of 13.374. After the top 3 qualifiers cleared tech inspection, Anderson pulled the “pill” for starting inversion. After pulling a 7, another wrinkle was added.
The top 7 qualifiers were called to the front straight where 7 frisbees were waiting. Each Frisbee had a number written on the back, and the drivers made a random draw to determine where they would line up for the start.
The drivers signed their Frisbees, and tossed them into the grandstands, and 7 fans got cool souvenirs. The Frisbee draw put Kevin Durden on the pole in his new Hamke built ride, with Powell on the outside pole.
Anderson started in third, with Scotty Crockett in fourth. Brock Oglesby, Brian Finney, and Herb Hoeffler rounded out the top 7.
After the Bronson Racing Series regulars had finished their round of heat races, it was time for the Super Lates to take to the track. The first attempt at a start was unsuccessful , as Powell and Durden got together in the fourth turn.
The race was restarted, with Durden taking the early lead, with Powell, Anderson and Crockett all on his bumper. Caution was out again on lap 2 for Brian Finney, spinning in turn 3.
On the restart, Durden was trying to stretch his lead, but Powell and Anderson were having none of it. Powell was trying high and low to find a way around Durden, all the while trying to hold off the repeated challenges of Anderson.
With battles for position taking place all thru the field, the race for the lead was heating up. On lap 8, Powell got into Durden, with Durden spinning. Caution was displayed again while the field was reset.
Durden was returned to the lead, with Powell restarting from the rear of the field. Under Green again, Anderson went to work on Durden, and was trying to figure which line was fastest. Caution again was out on lap11 as the cars of Scotty Crockett and Herb Hoeffler made contact with both cars spinning and receiving damage.
Hoeffler was forced to got to the pit area due to extensive body damage. The race was restarted, but the caution was back out immediately, as the cars of Finney and Danny Johnson made contact, with Johnson hard into the wall, and coming off the wall , collecting the cars of Michael Haigh and Donny Parkinson.
The race was red flagged while the track was cleared, and of all the cars involved in the crash, Finney was the only one able to continue. The delay for the red flag allowed Hoeffler enough time to make repairs to his racer, and rejoin the field.
When the race was restarted, many of the cars looked like OWM’s,
with various body panels left by the wayside. When the green was displayed once again, Anderson went to work in the outside lane, and on lap 14, made it stick and went by Durden for the lead.
The race stayed Green until lap 23, and during that time the race behind Anderson was very competitive, with Powell, Crockett, and Finney all working back toward the front. A brief caution was out for debris, at lap 23.
The race finished with no more incidents, with Anderson staying out front for the win. Durden held on for second, with Brock Oglesby running a smart race to finish in third. Fourth went to powell, followed by Crockett.
After such a good Late Model race, the Sportsman class did not want to be out done, and they gave us a great show as well. Randy King took the early lead, and had his hands full with Doc Batson and Rob Cooper filling his mirror.
Batson and Cooper were racing side by side for several laps, allowing King a little breathing room, until Cooper made his way past Batson, and went to work on King. Midway thru the race , Cooper and King made contact, with King spinning.
The race was restarted with King on the front, while Cooper restarted from the rear. When the race was restarted, King was able to hold off Batson, and take the win. Doug Anderson took third, followed by Dwight Pinner. Heats were won by Cooper and Doug Anderson.
The Mini Stocks also put on a great show, with Billy Smith leading wire to wire, to claim his victory of this season. He didn’t have it easy, as Clint Foley, Rick Sirmans, and Dave Westrich were all trying to overtake him. Sirmans took the first shot, then Foley took a turn, then Sirmans again.
All the while, Westrich was in the thick of it, trying for a shot at the lead. Smith held on for the win, followed by Sirmans, Foley and Westrich.
The Pure Stock Division was next on the track, and once again these racers had a good race. Wesley Keller took the lead when the green flag waved, and Arthur Conquest was right on his bumper.
Keller and Conquest put on quite a display of racing, as they were never more than inches apart for the entire race. Keller was up to the task, and managed to hold Conquest at bay for the win. Third went to Tommy Ausburn, followed by Bobby Johnson and Jeff Tillman. Heat races were won by Ausburn and Conquest.
Kevin Hodge made it 3 in a row in the V-8 Bombers, as he was able to hold off a hard charging Charlie Kennedy for the win. Third went to Michael Holbrook.
The four cyl. Bomber win was taken by J. DeGeorge, followed by Jeff Pittsley.
Final Results.
08/02/2003
SUPER LATE MODELS
1. #84 Wayne Anderson
2. #56 Kevin Durden
3. #88 Brock Oglesby
4. #37 James Powell III
5. #28 Scotty Crockett
6. #80 Brian Finney
7. #22 Herb Hoeffler
8. #47 Keith Zavrel
9. #28x Danny Hitchcock
10. #96 Danny Johnson
Sportsman
1. #54 Randy King
2. #4 Doc Batson
3. #30 Doug Anderson
4. #40 Dwight Pinner
5. #98 Rob Cooper
Mini Stock
1. #00 Billy Smith
2. #05 Rick Sirmans
3. #7 Clint Foley
4. #38 Dave Westrich
5. #13a Rick Partridge
Pure Stock
1. #34 Wesley Keller
2. #78 Arthur Conquest
3. #69 Tommy Ausburn
4. #16 Bobby Johnson
5. #95 Jeff Tillman
V-8 Bombers
1. #37 Kevin Hodge
2. #34 Charlie Kennedy
3. #00 Michael Holbrook
4. #96 Emmitt Bottoms
5. #08 Willy Baker
4 Cyl. Bombers
1. #11 J. DeGeorge
2. #20 Jeff Pittsley
3. #78 Heather Stalker
4. #23 John Hagans
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