-By Mike Smith

If you were looking for excitement Saturday, Sunshine was where you needed to be. The action started early with the #42 Open Wheel Modified slamming the wall during practice. Randy Rosenberry was not injured but the car did not fair as well.

Time trials were on time , #22 Sam Coghill posted the fast time at 14.339 with #73 Billy Mowery second, #5 Brain Leverock third. There were three heats for the Auto Trader Street Stocks, with the first rolling out with #76 Jim Altobelli on the pole and #65 Bob Patterson on the outside pole. The #76 and #65 were side by side a the drop of the green. Most of the field was two and three wide the whole race. #76 Jim Altobelli took the checkered winning the first heat with #41 Mike Kowalke second and #56 John Makula third.

Second heat rolled out with #40 "Hollywood" Ron Davis on pole and #57 Mike Cole outside. At the drop of the green the field stay tight with the #40 showing the way to the checkered to take the win with #2 Robert Crisp in second and #12 C.J. Craver in third. The final heat for the Street Stocks rolled out with #99 Steve Harbuck and 02 Richard Crisp on the front row. The #02 of Richard Crisp won the race but loss his rear tire on the parade lap, causing him to not make the feature. #9 Dan Partelo finished second with #99 Steve Harbuck in third.

The One Stop Mini Stocks had only two heats this week with the first rolling out with #56 Don Dalrymple and #5 Mike Birk Jr on the front row. The race took the green and the field stayed two wide throughout the 8 laps, with the #40 Dennis Valdez passing the #56 and #5 to take the win in the first heat with #56 Don Dalrymple in second and #69 Jay Zolciak in third. The second heat rolled out with #98 Scott Reifner and #14 Tina Rinier on the front row. From the drop of the green the #98 lead the way but with 3 laps to go #70 Marty Neikens the lead and the win with #98 Scott Reifner in second and #65 Joey Catarelli in third.

Open Wheel Modifieds had two heats this week with the first heat rolling out with #2 Jr Wade and #51 Mike Hinegardner on the front row. The #51 took the lead from the drop of the green and won the first heat with #2 Jr Wade in second and #88 Chris Robbins third. Second heat had #25 Mike Sinclair and #17 Aaron Dreher on the front row. #17 Aaron Dreher took the win with #8 Randy Rhodes in second and #99 Roger Stull in Third. That wrapped up the heats for the evening.

Feature Events

The evenings feature events started with a 24 car field for the Auto Trader Street Stock Feature. #12 CJ Craver had the pole with #98 Roger Welch outside of him. From the drop of the green the field stayed two wide from 1st to 22nd. The #2 of Robert Crisp found his way to the front after the #98 got a little sideways coming out of four. Once that happened the field got even tighter. The #41 of Mike Kowalke drilled the rear of the fifth place runner of #35 Joe "Cool" Smith. The #35 looked like it was done for the night, but the officials let him race it. One caution for the race came out on lap 10 the #76 of Jim Altobelli was leaking fluid on the track. On the restart the top four checked out, The #12 held up the rest of the field for about four laps when finally #56 John Makula and #41 Mike Kowalke got around him. While that was going on the #35 was all over the third place car #77 Rick Haugh. The #35 seem to have no problems with his car battling for third but the #77 held on. #2 Robert Crisp won the feature with #98 Roger Welch in second, #77 Rick Haugh in third, #35 Joe Smith in fourth and #56 John Makula rounding out the top five.

Open Wheel Modifieds rolled out with a 18 car field with #17 Aaron Dreher and #99 of Roger Stull on the front row. On the first lap the yellow came out for the #71 of Barry Bartlett after spinning in turns three and four. On the restart the #17 was leading with #1 Wayne Jefferson in second. Though turns one and two the #1 tapped the #17 causing he to him to lose control on the back straight and hit the turn three wall causing the second yellow. The #33 of Chico Alberto was collected in the mess but was able to continue. The #17 went a couple laps down but made it back out. The #1 was sent to the rear putting the bumper to the #17. The battle first between the #5 of Ron Campbell and #99 Roger Stull began on the restart. The #8 of Randy Rhodes was trying to hold off the #56 of Allyn Summers for fourth but the #56 got under the #8 in turns three and four, and the #8 pinched him off, still running side by side down the front straight the #56 had the bottom going into turn one. The #8 tried to pinch him again but he got side ways and the #56 got by him, coming out of turn two the #8 took out the #56 for passing him and put the #56 in the wall making hard contact bring out the the third yellow. Allyn Summers was alright but was unable to finish the race. The #8 was sent to the rear for the wreck. On the restart the #8 had his hood flip up on to the windshield and he pulled it into the infield The #5 took the lead while the #99 was on his bumper, this went on for several laps then the #51 of Mike Hinegardner spun in turn four. Things got tighten up again and on the restart the #5 and #99 were at it again but on lap 13 the #99 touched the wall causing him to lose the handling on the car. #5 Ron Campbell won with #99 Roger Stull and #1 Wayne Jefferson worked his way back up to third after being put to the rear, #57 Kenny Moore in fourth and the newcomer #99x Russell Boyd in fifth.

One Stop Mini Stocks rolled out with a 24 car field. The #40 of Dennis Valdez and the #49 of Skip Buchanan were on the front row. The race flag flew and the race stayed two and three wide. The #40 took the lead from the start with the #70 of Marty Neikens taking second from the #49. The race was spreading out with cars all the way around the race. The #40 was setting the pace with the #70 on his bumper trying to past for the lead. On lap 14 the first caution came out for the #51 of Mike Bower hitting the wall in turn four, he was unable to continue. On the restart it was the #40 in first and the #70 in second, the green flag flew on the #40 took off but the #70 broke. The #70 had to pull off into the infield and could not continue. The second yellow came out for a spin by #3 Matt Rotkis. That caution help the points leader #69 Jay Zolciak who by that time had worked his way to third. On The restart the #69 took second from the #55 Tom Zimmerman and was hunting the #40 for first, but there were not enough laps to catch him. #40 Dennis Valdez won the feature with #69 Jay Zolciak in second, #55 Tom Zimmerman in third, #30 Tim McPhail in fourth and #49 Skip Buchanan in fifth.

Late Models came out with a 15 car field for the second time in two weeks. The #18 Of Andy Werden had the pole with the #0 of "Racin" Mason Love on the outside pole. At the drop of the green the #18 and #0 battled for 6 laps one leading then the other. The #69 Johnny Stanford was spun on the second lap, there was no caution . The caution came out for the #6 of Billy Bechtelheimer spinning. On the restart the #0 was hung on the outside while the #18 took the lead. The #73 of Billy Mowery took second from the #0, then the #5 of Brain Leverock was battling for third with the #0. Even though the #0 back slid some spots he was strong than the last few race before. The #22 of Sammy Coghill had to battle the #0 for the fourth spot, then the #69 , after being spun, made his way to fifth by battling the #0 for position. That is the way they finished with #18 Andy Werden getting the win, #73 Billy Mowery in second, #5 Brain Leverock in third, #22 Sammy Coghill in fourth and #69 Johnny Stanford in fifth.

The Q Auto And Injury Figure 8 feature rolled out with a 15 car field. With the #15 of Joey Catarelli on the pole and the #8 of Ron Campbell on the outside. At the green the #8 and #15 started battling for the lead, the #8 was slamming the #15 in every corner. The #8 got the lead for a moment, a red flag came out for some bumper pieces laying on the track. On the restart the #11 of Art Calkins took the lead and held it. The #15 spun in turn two and started the action in the intersection early, cutting between the #11 and #8 for about 3 laps. The #15 was giving the #8 the your number 1 finger though the intersection. The #14 of Wayne Calkins was crossing the intersection with the #28 of Shane Grigsby, but the close calls where from the #15 crossing between cars, making for an exciting finish. #11 Art Calkins won with #8 Ron Campbell in second, #08 Dwayne Doppell in third, #89 Ron Davis in forth and #31 Donnie Thomas in fifth.

Enduro features 1 and two had 19 car fields in both. In the first, #65 and #37 held the front row. From the start of the race there were spinners in each corner, the #39 spun on the first lap, the #1, #17, #15x, #09 were all spinners. The #09 hit the #15x in front of the leader #37 on the last lap, but the #37 of Jimmy Kruse held on to win the first feature. The second had the #89 and #00 on the front row , but at the green the #27 took the lead from both of them. It looked like a clear win for the #27 Harold Ashley but #61 Dave Ochenwald beat his way into second with a couple laps to go and on the final lap beat his way for the win. #61 Dave Ochenwald won the last event.

Mike Smith

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