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| Thomas Figure 8 Winner at Sunshine | By Thom Watson
The Street Stock feature race got the night going in a good way and was a warm up for a fun night of racing at Sunshine Action Speedway. Before the first lap could be completed, a bumper had come loose from the #14 car of Terry Ralston, and this would become a theme for the night, as several other classes failed to complete their first lap. Did the orange full moon over the backstretch mean anything on this night?
The #77 car of Bryan Rogers started on the point and led laps one and two before the #65 car of Bobby Towe and the #7, Jeff Haven, decided to spin out simultaneously at opposite turns of the speedway, bringing out a caution. On the restart, the #12 of Jay Coleman dipped low in turn one to take the lead. Coleman could only hold the lead for three laps as the yellow flag was thrown on consecutive laps. His car stalled before the green could come out after the third caution and he was done for the night. On the restart, the # 1 car of Danny Reiger took one lap to move from third into first, as he passed Coleman and Rogers.
From his 12th starting position, the #61 car of Dave Ochsenwald had moved into the lead by lap six. Although he was able to hold the lead the rest of the way, it was not an easy night. The #22 of Mike Hill also made quite a charge from the rear as he was sent there after causing the first lap caution. By lap seven he was in fourth place and by lap 11 was in third place. On lap 14, as Hill continued his charge, he slipped into second place and seemed ready to mount a charge for the lead.
Coming off turn four on lap 17, the #8 car of Chris Escott lost a tire and collected in the melee was Hill. In the mean time, last week's winner, #1, Danny Rieger, had quietly taken over second. On the restart, #15 spun around on the backstretch and Ochwenwald narrowly avoided the stalled car as he made a hard left and kept his slim lead over Rieger. This set up a two lap shootout, Rieger tried everything but could not pull off his third consecutive win of the year, as he won the Winternationals and the first points race of the season last weekend. Oschenwald won by two car lengths.
The Mini-Stocks also failed to complete a lap before the caution was thrown. The #12, Eric Cuchta and the #14, Tina Reiner got together in turn 3, with Cuchta being sent to the rear. Reiner started on the pole and managed to hold the lead for the first lap only as she went very low and lost four positions. Ralph Kelly, #33 then took over the point until lap seven. On the backstretch, #16 grabbed the inside lane and took over the lead with Kelly and #65, Joey Catarelli trailing.
At the mid-point in the race, Caterelli dove low at the start/finish line to take over the point position. A lap later, #10, Mike Birk slipped into third place, trailing Caterelli and Kelly. By lap 16, Birk overtook Kelly for second and this set up a showdown in the waning laps between Caterelli and himself. With two laps to go, Birk went to the inside of Caterelli in turn two and they went door handle to door handle for the final laps. Coming off turn four, with Birk still maintaining the inside lane, the two cars touched and Caterelli was able to cross the line first, by a scant two feet.*
For the third feature in a row, the full moon played havoc with the start, this time with the Open Wheel Modifieds. The front row cars of #28, Phillip Kessler and #61, Jay Zolciak tangled in turn two. Kessler's front axle broke and he was done for the evening with Zolciak being sent to the rear. On the second lap a four-car pile up in turn one stopped the race. Steve Harbuck was slow to get out of his car and he was taken to Bayfront Medical Center as a precautionary measure, complaining of a sore neck and back.
The #8, Randy Rhodes had taken the point, with #66, John Moore and #7d, Darren Jackson trailing. Just past the halfway mark, Jackson took over second place and he and Rhodes pulled away from the rest of the pack. On lap 19, Jackson went to the high side and in a replay of the mini-stock feature, the two went side by side for the last lap, with Jackson able to edge past Rhodes in turn two on the final lap and hold on for the win.
Finally, in the fourth feature of the night, the Outlaw Late Models were able to complete the first lap without a caution. Ed Kidd, #6, took the lead from his outside pole starting position on the first lap with pole sitter, #77, Rick Haugh and #2, Robert Crisp close behind. On lap three, all three of them went side by side by side down the back stretch with Kidd able to hold onto the lead, while Crisp fell back to fourth and #56, Robby McAuliffe taking third. Just before halfway, McAuliffe was able to get to the inside of Haugh for second. The last half of the race saw the top three pulls away with Kidd winning by seven car lengths and McAuliffe pulling six car lengths ahead of Haugh.
Where was the full moon? For the second feature in a row, the first lap was completed without mishap in the crowd favorite Figure 8 race. The #40, Mark Thomas, #84, Cliff Rousseau, and #04, Ron Veller quickly settled into the first three positions. On lap five, #7, Wayne Caulkins spun with a little help of the #28, Shane Grigsby just before the intersection. With Caulkins spinning, #94, Charlie Meyer had nowhere to go and rammed Caulkins very hard. On the single file restart the front three of Thomas, Rosseau and Veller continued to set the pace. On lap 12, Rosseau and Veller tangled, spun and sent to the rear, with Art Caulkins, #11 and Ron Davis, #89 taking over the second and third positions. On the single file restart a 10-car train settled in for lots of nose to tail rubbing and bumping with no one lagging far enough behind to stretch the laggards into the intersection with the leaders approaching. And no passing was done either as Thomas, Art Caulkins and Davis finished one, two and three.
Maybe the full moon was back in vogue as the first Enduro feature of the 2001 season was run with only three cars in the field. Mike Crooks, Ashley Larsen and Scott Miser took the green flag for the ten-lap run. Larsen quickly took the lead position with Crooks and Miser trailing. With three laps to go, Crooks car engine blew on the backstretch. Even being a lap down, Miser finished second with Larsen lapping the field and taking the checkers.
*NOTE: Mini-Stock official results are still pending tech
Results:
Open Wheel Feature(20 laps)
1. 7 Darren Jackson
2. 8 Randy Rhodes
3. 66 John Moore
4. 80 Jimmy Houle
5. 5 Ron Cambpell
Outlaw Late Models 20 laps
1. 6 Ed Kidd
2. 56 Robby McAuliffe
3. 2 Robert Crisp
4. 27 Pete Coon
5. 69 Tim Henault
Street Stock Feature 20 laps
1. 61 Dave Oshenwald
2. 1 Dan Reiger
3. 98 Roger Welch
4. 77 Brain Rogers
5. 27 Harold Ashley
Figure 8 Feature 20 Laps
1. 40 Mark Thomas
2. 11 Art Calkins
3. 89 Ron Davis
4. 13 Mike Leac*ck
5. 21 JR Meyers
Enduro Feature
1. 58 Ashley Larson
2. 70 Scott Mizener
3. 81 Mike Crotts
Thom Watson
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