IT'S TIME TO RACE!!

March 14, 2009 Modified "Mayhem" Highlights Season Opener at Orlando SpeedWorld by Dave Westerman Orlando Speedworld opened its 35th year of racing on Friday the 13th and despite a wild Modified feature that took over 45 minutes to run, racing was over and done by 10:15PM and the large crowd went home happy. A good field of Modifieds turned out for opening night and before all was said and done, it took nearly an hour and nine caution flags to complete the 30 lap distance. Earl Beckner blasted from the outside pole to grab the early lead in Donnie Lewis' "Moonshine Runner" while the field sliced and diced behind him. Action was slowed five times for minor spins during the first 20 laps. The new double file restarts provided plenty of hairy action but Beckner was up to the task each and every time. Lap 21 saw three cars spin separately in three different turns for yellow flag number six. At this point, Beckner was trying to hold off both Mark Emberson and Shain Held. Emberson and Held touched wheels with eight laps to go with Emberson spinning and Held making contact with the concrete damaging the right front of his machine. Held was towed to the pits while Emberson restarted from the rear. That moved Ted Head up to second and, on the restart, he and third-running Matt Wheeler made contact causing the rest of the field to scatter. Unfortunately, rookie driver Matt Jarrett and Randy Froelich locked horns and crashed hard into the turn one wall. Froelich's car hit head-on with such force the back of his car lifted several feet off the ground. Froelich was knocked out briefly but after coming to refused medical treatment while Jarrett was unhurt. Both cars are now in need of major surgery though. During the extended caution period, Beckner's car began to run hot and he was forced to run through the infield figure eight course at a bit faster pace to keep his engine from overheating. Once the green flew, Beckner was in control even though one more spin by Mav MacDonald slowed the pace one more time. Beckner claimed the win over Head, Wheeler, Emberson and Wild Bill Gunn who survived two brushes with the wall and three spins to grab fifth. Rounding out the finishers were Chris Smyth, Rick Johns, MacDonald, Held, Froelich, Jarrett, Art Kunzeman and Bruce Packer. Beckner brought out the first caution period in the Sportsman 25 lapper when the rear-end broke on his new car sending him spinning in turn two. Justin Reynolds, who had led from the pole, saw his engine go sour on the restart as he dropped from the running putting Rapid Ron DiCandio out front. A lap eighteen restart proved Dicandio's undoing as his car also faltered and was hit solidly by third-running Derrick Wood. Dicandio dropped out while Wood continued only to be black-flagged two laps later for a hood that was flopping precariously. Defending Sportsman champion Andy Nichols inherited the lead from DiCandio and held on for the win despite sweating out the final two laps as his engine had dropped to running on just six cylinders. Following Nichols to the stripe were Jason Foster, Eddie St. Angelo, Rex "Boneman Hollinger and Steve Farris. Bill Hall was the only other car still running at the finish as Wood, DiCandio, Timmy Todd, Jr., Reynolds and Beckner were credited with 7th-11th spots. Only five Late Models showed up for action but the race was quite interesting as a pair of lady drivers finished one-two. Alexis Fenton led all the way but had Cynthia Strahley in her rear view mirror each and every lap. Together, the two lapped all the guys in the field as J.W. Douglas, David Myer and John Hanen were third-fifth, all one lap down. Fenton was making just her second start at Speedworld and it was her second career win after scoring a victory in the 2008 closer at New Smyrna Speedway. It was Strahley's first time in a race car in nearly three years and her first-ever race at Speedworld. Billy Cuddy had his new A&B Graphics Chevy running to perfection as he passed Justin Reynolds on lap 17 to capture the Super Stock feature. Cuddy, who hopes to race full-time this year, set the pace to the checker with Reynolds not far behind in second. Ron McCreary took the checker in third but was set down in post-race tech for a pair of illegal wheels. That moved David Gould up to third at the finish ahead of James Frisbee. Frisbee was running third when he brought out the only caution of the race with a spin in turn two. That spin actually enabled Cuddy to move in on Reynolds for the restart. Before then Reynolds had a very insurmountable lead. Fifth spot went to Denny Johns while John Bennett, Delaun Fifeld, Joe Bandur, Billy Belflower and McCreary completed the finishers. The Strictly Stock feature saw Jim Erb come from dead last on the grid to take the checker first. However, Erb was simply testing the car for an uncoming Enduro race at Columbia Motorsports Park and since it did not meet Strictly Stock specs for Speedworld, the win was awarded to Tim Walters Jr, in his new Ford Probe. Following Walters across the stripe were Bomber Bill Loomis, Ricky Solomon, Jr., Jessie Cuddy and Tom Rose. Rounding out the top ten were Neil Kirby, Glen Rhodes, Brian Lynch, Jr., Matt Brown and Rudy Bronson. The remaining finishers were Brian Townson, Danny Binda, William Hindman, Allen McClelland, Michael Dyer and Bruce Gayton. Next week, Orlando Speedworld hosts the re-birth of the Orange Blossom 100 for Super Late Models. This race was one of the traditional events that was held at the now-closed West Palm Beach Fairgrounds Speedway. Along with the Super Late Models, the Taylor Performance Pro Trucks will be in action plus the Mini Stocks, Super Stocks and Strictly Stocks. ORLANDO SPEEDWORLD MARCH 13, 2009 Strictly Stock - Features Finish Start Car Driver Hometown Race Points 1 3 29 Tim Walters Jr - 0 2 17 0 Bill Loomis - 0 3 6 19 Ricky Solomon Jr - 0 4 7 05 Jessie Cuddy - 0 5 10 67 Tom Rose - 0 6 9 8 Neil Kirby - 0 7 8 63 Glenn Rhodes - 0 8 13 78 Brian Lynch, Jr - 0 9 1 46M Matt Brown - 0 10 16 03 Rudy Bronson03 - 0 11 15 419 Brian Townson - 0 12 5 27 Dan Binda - 0 13 4 89 William Hindman - 0 14 2 22 Allen Mcclelland - 0 15 11 32 Michael Dyer - 0 16 14 93 Bruce Gayton - 0 17 12 82 Jim Erb - 0 Super Stock - Features Finish Start Car Driver Hometown Race Points 1 3 64 Billy Cuddy - 40 2 2 77 Justin Reynolds - 36 3 5 16 David Gould - 32 4 1 3 James Frisbie - 28 5 4 55 Denny Johns - 24 6 8 721 John Bennett - 20 7 6 45 Delaun Fifield - 16 8 7 316 Joe Bandur - 12 9 10 14 Billy Bellflower DNS 10 9 66 Ron Mccreary - DQ'D Sportsman - Features Finish Start Car Driver Hometown Race Points 1 9 66 Andy Nicholls - 40 2 2 49 Jason Foster - 36 3 11 00 Eddie St Angelo - 32 4 3 44 Rex Hollinger Titusville , Fl 28 5 5 7 Steve Farris - 24 6 10 16 Bill Hall - 20 7 7 33 Derrick Wood - 16 8 6 20 Ron Dicandio - 12 9 8 25 Timmy Todd, Jr. - 8 10 4 20X Justin Reynolds - 4 11 1 31 Earl Beckner - 4 Late Model - Features Finish Start Car Driver Hometown Race Points 1 1 11 Alexis Fenton - 40 2 4 4 Cynthia Strahley - 36 3 3 6 Jw Douglas - 32 4 2 60 David Myer - 28 5 5 04 John Hanen - 24 Modified - Features Finish Start Car Driver Hometown Race Points 1 2 51 Earl Beckner - 40 2 13 92 Ted Head - 36 3 11 96 Matthew Wheeler - 32 4 7 30 Mark Emberson - 28 5 10 13 Bill Gunn - 24 6 4 07 Chris Smyth - 20 7 12 4 Rick Johns - 16 8 8 49 Mav Macdonald - 12 9 9 55 Shain Held - 8 10 6 8 Randy Froehlich - 4 11 3 72 Matthew Jarrett - 4 12 5 9 Art Kunzeman - 4 13 1 15 Bruce Packer - 4 Have an opinion on this story? 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