| Lee Collins Claims 2006 GulfCoast Modifieds Championship! | Robbie Cooper Grabs Win in Last Race of Season
by Rick Warren
The Open Wheel Stars of the Gulfcoast Modifieds rolled into Bronson Motor Speedway Saturday night, set to do battle for 50 laps of Green flag Action. At stake was not only the top prize for the night, but the winner of the tight points race would be decided.
Qualifying showed how close this race would be, as the top 4 qualifiers were within ¼ second of each other. Lee Collins posted the quickest time of the day, at 13.750 seconds, with an average speed of 98.18 MPH. Second quickest was Sean McLaughlin at 13.810 seconds, followed by Cooper, Mike Hinegardner and Chris Escott rounding out the top 5 qualifiers. After clearing tech inspection, Collins reached into the “pill bag” and drew a 4, inverting the first two rows on the starting grid.
The line up was set with Hinegardner and Cooper on the front row, McLaughlin and Collins in row two. They were followed by Escott, Andrew Alderman, Danny Partelo, Shane Grigsby, Perry Brown, and Gary Southard filling the top ten starting positions.
After an on track autograph session, it was time to race. The field of 16 Modifieds took several warm-up laps and prepared to take the green flag. When the green flag waved, Hinegardner raced side by side with Cooper into turn 1. The two racers continued side by side with Collins right behind, looking for an opening. Cooper led the first lap by a bumper, and before lap 2 could be completed, the caution flag was displayed for a spin in turn 4.
The field was quickly reset with Cooper in front, followed by Hinegardner, Collins, McLaughlin, Alderman, Escott, Partelo, Southard, Brown, and John Godwin rounding out the top ten. The top 3 resumed the battle when the green flag waved, with Cooper getting his mirror filled by Hinegardner. By lap 10 the 3 leaders started encountering lapped traffic, and the racing was tight and exciting. The battle for positions behind the leaders was no less intense, with close racing thru the entire field.
Lap 14 saw the car of McLaughlin get turned around in turn 4 after being tagged by a lapped car. McLaughlin was returned to his fourth place spot, while the lapped car was relegated to the rear of the field for the restart.
The front three continued to put on quite a show for the fans. It looked like Cooper was getting off the corners a little better than Hinegardner, but HineGardner appeared to be able to drive in the corners a little harder, and roll up on the leader thru the center of the turn. Meanwhile, Collins was all over Hinegardner, looking for a spot to make a move. By lap 35 Cooper had opened about a 2 car length lead, while Hinegardner and Collins fought for second spot.
Lap 41 action got a little too close for Alderman and Escott, bringing out the caution flag as Alderman spun. Both cars were sent to the end of the lead lap for the restart, which had Cooper holding the lead, still followed by Hinegardner, Collins, McLaughlin, Southard, Brown and Godwin.
The battle continued for 9 more laps, with Cooper taking the win. Cooper has had a great deal of success at the Bronson track, winning Multiple Championships in the Sportsman division, and quite a few feature wins in the Modifieds.
Collins third place finish was enough to clinch the points championship for the popular driver from Immokalee, Fl.
After the top finishers cleared tech, the results were declared official.
Final Results
Gulfcoast Modifieds - Bronson Motor Speedway – 11/04/2006
Fast Qualifier: Lee Collins
Hard Charger: Perry Brown
Most Laps Led: Robbie Cooper
1. #98 Robbie Cooper Bronson, FL.
2. #1H Mike Hinegardner Largo, Fl.
3. #89 Lee Collins Immokalee, Fl.
4. #99 Sean McLaughlin Port Charlotte, FL.
5. #39 Gary Southard Bronson, FL.
6. #83X Perry Brown Riverview, Fl.
7. #83 Andrew Alderman Pinellas Park, Fl.
8. #8 Chris Escott St. Petersburg, FL.
9. #22 John Godwin Zephyrhills, Fl.
10. #23 John Kahl Orange Springs, Fl.
11. #55 Arnold Hughes Jr. Newberry, Fl.
12. #12R Rikk McMehan Hudson, FL.
13. #D51 Kevin Breslin Clearwater, Fl.
14. #9 Danny Partelo St. Petersburg, Fl.
15. #71 Jacob Parmenter Defuniak Springs, Fl.
16. #23X Shane Grigsby Pinellas Park, Fl.
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