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| KITTLESON DOMINATES SPEEDWORLD SUPER LATES - ORR WINS ONE FOR DAD | by Dave Westerman
Travis Kittleson may have only been "testing" a few things on his car, but he clearly had the fastest machine in the field as he completely dominated the 25-lap Super Late Model Feature Friday night at Orlando Speedworld.
Kittleson, who is seeking sponsorship to run the full ASA series next year and certainly has the talent to be a frontrunner with that group, won his heat and then blasted away from the field at the drop of the green. Three caution periods allowed the field to close up on the 2000 SLM champion, but each time Kittleson re-opened a huge lead with his Bob Steele Chevrolet Monte Carlo.
Kittleson finished a straightaway ahead of second place Jared Allison who out-dueled Eddie King in a race-long battle. Rusty Ebersole solidified his hold on the 2001 points race by coming from the back of the 16 car field to finish fourth with Ronnie Roach completing the top five. The other heat race win went to Ebersole.
15-year-old Bobby Orr won his first career feature event by topping a strong field of Mini-Stocks driving Rick & Carla Bristol's Ugly Duckling/Alafaya Automotive/Arlyn's Race Engines machine to a hard-fought victory. Bobby's dad, Pete Orr, the veteran driver and former Governor's Cup champion who is battling cancer, and his mom Terri were also in attendance making his first win even sweeter.
Trisha Gray was also a big story in this race as the 17-year-old young lady drove her car from the rear of the starting grid to come home second in front of Tony Elrod and Tom Clark who followed her through the field but were unable to pass her. Jeff Davis led early but had to battle an ill-handling car and settled for fifth. Heat wins went to Rose Dickerson and Tom Clark.
Modified action was hot and heavy with early leaders Jon Compagnone and Jason Boyd tangling with Boyd having to pit to replace a tire and Compagnone going to the rear of the field.
Frank Polly took over at that point but the finish was a wild three-wide battle at the stripe with Polly hanging on by a bumper over Shane Held and a resurgent Boyd. Compagnone came back for fourth ahead of Bobby Blake. Modified heat wins went to Polly and Jimmy Wilkins.
Twenty-one cars started the Florida Dwarf Car Federation 25-lap feature but it was Mark Landis taking the measure of the field leading most of the way. The win made up for a feature earlier in the year where Landis was leading by a wide margin but was taken out by a lapped car.
Daniel Rene was the early leader but had to settle for second in the final rundown. Alain Paradis, Mark David, and Brian Paradis rounded out the top five. Heat races were won by Landis, Rene, and Phil Krauthoff.
Super Stock drivers passed their helmets through the stands before their feature event to raise money for injured driver Jim Winterstein. The efforts of the drivers combined with a raffle held during the evening netted around $800 to help Winterstein and his family. The Super Stock drivers apparently figured the fans had paid for a good race and they got one with side by side action for the lead all 15 laps.
Jeff Wright and Rich Clouser swapped the lead back and forth with a herd of other hungry drivers hot on their heels. As the checker flew, Wright had the win by a nose followed by Clouser and John Hodge. Big Bob Wines and Duane Freed completed the top five. Heat races were won by Wright and Clouser.
Rick Johns won his first career Sportsman feature after many wins over the years in the Bomber/Super Stock classes. The win was also a first in the class for owner Dick Owens. Johns was the best at getting a handle on the slick track as he outran Doug Samion, Kelly Jarrett, Bill Loomis and Brett Bultemier to the stripe. Loomis won the heat.
Former motorcycle racer (you could tell by the cast on his foot) John MacArthur took his first win in the Strictly Stocks leading most of the way. Barry Parks was second over heat winner Charlie "The Kentucky Wildman" Pitts, David Smith, and Paul Hudson.
Next week at Speedworld it's the opening round of the Racecar Engineering Sunbelt Super Late Model Series Florida Triple Crown. Top Super Late Model drivers from around the state will be in competition here Friday night on the three-eighths mile then move to the high banked half-mile New Smyrna Speedway Saturday night then complete a very difficult weekend by traveling to the tight, slick quarter-mile Charlotte County Speedway near Punta Gorda on Sunday afternoon. This year's Triple Crown is sure to be a major test of man and machine.
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