IT'S TIME TO RACE!!

June 11, 2007 Grand Opening Night At NEW Auburndale Speedway Most Fans Thought it Grand Indeed By Jack Smith Four hundred laps of racing with the faster divisions racing later in the night was the show presented by the new ownership and management for its Grand Opening. An estimated 2000 fans and drivers and their crews packed the pits and the grandstands, and everybody we talked with was impressed with the new direction. Many improvements have been made in the last month among them all new west side grandstand bleachers. The speedway was very clean, plenty of staff, and the "friendly factor" was A+. Eleven feature races were run and the program was concluded about 11:45 PM, even with the fact that after every race kids and family members were allowed (even encouraged) to come onto the track for a photo with the top three drivers. Larry Chumney II and admirers get a photo taken after a race. The Scramblers, Mini Cup Jr's and Pro divisions raced early and then the heat was turned up a little with the Strictly Stocks race. Larry Chumney II had James Wright III on his rear bumper, a half lap ahead of the rest of the field for the entire feature and though there was a lot of beating and banging neither car wrecked. The top three finishers in the Strictly Stocks were dq'ed in tech with #119 Eddie Davis being declared the winner. The Kids Truck race, a 35 lap affair was led for most of the race by Casey Caudill from Daytona, Florida. Ross Chastain had his winning streak broken when his truck didn't hold up. His number 36 machine started smoking and he was black flagged by a very patient veteran flagger Laverne Patrick. In the closing laps Stephen Nasse, driver of the number 69 truck, got by Caudill and took his first checkered flag. Seth Greco also was able to pass Caudill. Caudill was spun by a competitor on the last lap, and officials awarded him third place. Post race inspections reuslted in Nasse beijng dq'ed and the win awarded to Seth Greco. --Advertisement-- Sixteen Pro Trucks took the green flag, and though Mike Powers, perhaps predictably, led all 75 laps the trucks running in the back of the pack provided some good entertainment for the fans even with the cautions they caused. David Hartin brought the #25 home second but the big surprise was veteran driver "Big Al" Newman Newman with a new spotter for this race, drove to a third place finish. Jessica Green, a youngster who grew up racing at Auburndale and also races trucks, was Al's spotter for the race. "She is the best spotter I have ever had, somebody trained her good", Newman said after the race. That says a lot, as "Big Al" Newman has had a lot of spotters over the years. The scariest wreck of the night happened when the eighteen street stocks took to the 1/4 mile track. As the cars were battling two and three wide for early position the 68 repainted the front straight wall before coming to a rest in turn one. Surprisingly he was able to drive the car away after some care from officials. Chris Narramore Jr. and Bubba Edwards were the class of that field on this night, with Narramore getting the win. Jamie Kennedy held off Brian Dorer to win the Modified Min Stock race, always a solid field at Auburndale The last two events of the evening were dominated by longtime Auburndale racer Wayne Morris. In the Sportsman race he took the lead on lap one and was never seriously challenged, although Aaron Williamson kept up the pace most of the race. In the Sportsman race the real test was for Shawn Harper. He managed to fight off Dave Duncan to capture a third place finish. Duncan, a living legend at Auburndale, gave Harper a very tough time but couldn't make the pass. In the 100 lap finale Morris build up a 1/8 mile lead, with a few late race cautions adding some suspense. Wayne said after the races, "It is just awesome, I heard there was no place to park out front, they were parking them in the baseball field. They just had tons of fans here tonight and I am glad to see Auburndale Speedway turning things around and getting things back on the right track." Morris also acknowledged Smith Drywall as one of the companies that stepped up to help get things going in the right direction for the new owners of the speedway. Hooters Restaurant was also involved, doing some give aways for the kids and other promotions at the track. Auburndale Speedway amazingly has been a 'dry' race track for the last few years under the past ownership. The ladies taking care of the brisk business at the beer pub said "By far, by way far, this is the best night for beer sales at the speedway." Plenty of security was on hand in the form of Polk County Sheriff's deputies in both the pits and front grandstand areas. Former Sunshine Speedway flagman Laverne Patrick, one of the state's best, makes the calls from the flag stand with assistance as needed by Race Director Ronnie Sims, and together the track is right now as efficient as any we've seen recently. A PHOTO GALLERY FROM SATURDAY NIGHT IS AT THE KARNAC PHOTO GALLERY Ronnie Sims, Rex Guy and Howard Crooms discuss the future of Aubunrdale Speedway -Download Now! [Editors Note: According to Auburndale Officials the top three Strictly Stock finishers were disqualified for reusing to pull springs. Stephen Nasse was disqualified in the Fast Kids race for a illegal control arm] OFFICIAL FINISHING ORDER FROM AUBURNDALE SPEEDWAY Scramblers 1-#96 Reggie Ware II 2-#70 Bobby Kelley Jr. 3-#89 Derek Gray 4-#71 Dave Canfield 5-#71 Mike Kehoe Jr. Fast Mini Cups 1-#00 Daniel Miller 2-#8 Alana Cohen 3-#08 Aaron Irish 4-#73 Blaise Greco 5-#05 Cindarae Irish Sr. Fast Mini Cups 1-#45 Jason Schroader 2-#13 James Irish 3-#6 Jerry Parker 4-#67 Zach Hoyt 5-#27 Don Mays Strictly Stocks 1-#119 Eddie Davis 2-#07 Bobby Kelley 3-#01 Jason Miller 4-#28 Steve Bacon 5-#1 Kyle Pitts Fast Kids Trucks 1-#74 Seth Greco 2-#33 Casey Caudill 3-#7T Chase Hoffman 4-#46 Matt Cohen 5-#77 Lance Daubach Mini Stocks 1-#42 Chris Spring 2-#33 Donnie Guy 3-#44 John McQuillen 4-#64 Robert Bryant 5-#22 Fred Harrison Intermission 8:45-9:15 Fast Trucks 1-#05 Mike Powers 2-#25 David Hartin 3-#4 Al Neuman 4-#407 Jason Vail 5-#87 Keith Lilley Street Stocks 1-#21 Chris Narramore Jr. 2-#42 Bubba Edwards 3-#40 Kyle Cooper 4-#3 Kevin O'Quinn 5-#80 Dustin Breeden Modified Mini 1-#99 Jamie Kennedy 2-#97 Brian Dorer 3-#25 Eric Wawrzyk 4-#18 Jason Bertsch 5-#32 Brandon McSwain Sportsman 1-#56 Wayne Morris 2-#13x Aaron Williamson 3-#00 Shawn Harper 4-#71 Dave Dunkin 5-#95 Harold Crooms 100 Lap Late Model 1-#56 Wayne Morris 2-#49 Ron Lofquist 3-#42 Brandon Duchscherer 4-#9 Levi Hobbs 5-#156 Aaron Williams Have an opinion on this story? 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