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| THORNTON ROLLS ON TO BRONSON SOUTH 40 CLASSICS WIN | by Dave Westerman
Who can stop Eddie Thornton? That's the question being asked by drivers in the South 40 Motorsports Classic Auto Racing Series as the Orlando driver drove his AMSOIL coupe to his fourth consecutive victory Saturday night at Mike Cope's Bronson Motor Speedway.
Everyone expected Thornton's win streak to be history after two-time South 40 Classics champion Rodney Eary won his heat and earned the pole for the 20-lap feature driving Jim Rahman's Magic Electric coupe. Dan Hammerbeck dominated the other heat race while Thornton could do no better than third setting himself up for a seventh starting position in the main event.
Eary quickly took over the top spot at the drop of the green but nobody was able to get into a groove as caution flew early on lap two for E.T. McGhee's spin on the frontstretch.
David "Fudd" Nunes moved up to challenge Eary after the restart and had his car dialed into the racetrack where he won earlier this year. However, Nunes drove a little too deep into turn one on lap five and bumped Eary sending Eary into a spin. When Eary spun, the cars of Mike Albert and Ricky Wood got together as the rest of the field slowed with both machines having to retire for the evening.
Track officials sent Nunes to the rear of the field and placed Eary back at the head of the pack. Eary again set the pace on the restart but only two laps could be run before Danny Shearer and Dan Hammerbeck tangled coming out of turn four to bring out the third yellow flag. With both Shearer and Hammerbeck going to the rear of the field, Thornton, biding his time and staying out of trouble, found himself in second spot and ready to challenge.
Eary's lead lasted only two more laps as Thornton had his car dialed in and made the pass for the lead. Only one more caution slowed his pace as McGhee and Al Hagan tangled on lap 12 with both able to continue.
Thornton raced to the win and padded his new-found points lead followed by Eary and Ed Yates. After replacing a rear-end assembly between his heat and the feature, Bud Spencer drove from 11th on the starting grid to fourth and earned the Action Performance Hard Charger Award. Nunes, despite suffering from the flu, drove back from the rear of the field to round out the top five. Jacksonville's Russ Antonucci was the FASTWAX Rookie of the Race with his seventh place finish.
Harvey Ewing, a 17-year veteran of the Eastern Pennsylvania sprint car wars, made his debut in the Series driving a car he'd never been in before to a 12th place finish.
During intermission, several of the South 40 Classics drivers went through the grandstands and collected just over $250 for veteran Florida racer Pete Orr, who is being treated for cancer. Track owner Mike Cope then doubled that amount and a total of $506 was raised.
During an interview for the South 40 Motorsports Classic Auto Racing TV show, Cope said that the track will be dug up and completely repaved for 2002 including the addition of a figure-8 track. New lighting, new grandstands and other major improvements will be made to the Bronson facility during the off-season before the South 40 Classics return in 2002.
The South 40 Classics are back in action again this coming Saturday night at Ocala Speedway.
OFFICIAL RESULTS - BRONSON MOTOR SPEEDWAY - 10/6/01:
1. Eddie Thornton, Orlando #4
2. Rodney Eary, Orlando #5
3. Ed Yates, Orlando #74
4. Bud Spencer, Palm Harbor #7
5. David Nunes, Orlando #54
6. Dan Hammerbeck, Orlando #2
7. Russ Antonucci, Jacksonville #46
8. Danny Shearer, Melbourne #77
9. George Hall, Jr., St Petersburg #32
10. E.T. McGhee, Deland #1
11. Al Hagan, Merritt Island #6
12. Harvey Ewing, Brooksville #77X
13. George Hall III, St. Petersburg #9
14. Ricky Wood, Orlando #21
15. Mike Albert, Winter Springs #24
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