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| DRAWDY WINS FLORIDA PRO 125!!! | by Ken Willis
Justin Drawdy of Ft Pierce won the Florida Pro Series Late Model event at DeSoto Speedway Saturday night when the Anderson magic blew out on lap 110 of the 125 lap race. Drawdy, who started eighth in the race, steadily worked his way into second place ahead of Jonathan Brown of Palmetto while Dick Anderson of Wildwood, a perennial winner at DeSoto Speedway, began a string of bad luck that ended against the concrete retaining wall in turn two.
Scott Grossenbacker of of San Antonio pulled the pole with Jeff Anderson on the outside, Shane Sawyer third, John Carter fourth and Anderson starting fifth. Anderson quickly moved into third behind Sawyer who had claimed the second spot then the two cars got together on lap 10, bringing out a caution flag. Both cars were sent to the rear of the field.
Drawdy continued his steady, consistent climb through the field while Anderson began a dazzling display of driving skill, weaving his way up through the 100 mph traffic and into fourth place by lap 33. Just 10 laps later Anderson took the lead. On lap 100 a caution tightened the field with Anderson in the lead Drawdy second and Jeff Anderson third. It appeared the Anderson magic had worked again but on lap 110, going into the curve between turns one and two, Anderson blew his right front tire and ricocheted off the wall then slammed back into the wall. Anderson climbed out of the crushed car unharmed and Drawdy went on to claim his first win by holding off a hard charging Jonathan Brown. "I'd like to thank God first and Pete Orr of Winner's Circle Racing School second," said the elated Drawdy who recorded his first major win . "And my dad and my crew. We had a rough time having to stay up all last night to work on the car. We happened to be at the right place at the right time."
Drawdy, who has been racing just a couple of years, credited his success to luck, training and team work. "Pete Orr has been a big plus to us," Drawdy said. "We're having more fun as a team and it makes me feel confident every time I get in the car." Drawdy was able to hold off the late race charge by Brown who finished second. "It was a real tough race," Brown said. "My car was pushing. I tried different things to make it work. It wears you down but it worked out all right. I haven't given up on myself and it'll come around." Scott Grossenbacker of San Antonio, who pulled the pole position for the race finished third, Shane Sawyer of Royal Palm Beach and Mike Bresnahan of Lecanto finished fifth.
In other races: James Glover of Pinellas Park took the pole the green and the checkered flag in the DeSoto Trucks with a hard running Todd Bontrager of Sarasota taking second place and Danny Glover Jr of Pinellas Park claiming third in the 25 lap event.
Glover also raced in the Callaghan Tire Open Wheel Modifieds and repeated his earlier success with a win over Steve Perez and D.J. Hoelzle of Dunedin who took third place. "We pulled the number one pill and the Q Auto and Injury Attorneys Chevrolet Truck ran exceptionally well," Glover said. "It was pretty much a ride in the park. The last 12 laps in the Open Wheel was harder than the truck race. I want to thank Jerry Vandermeyer for letting me drive the car. I hope we can do it again sometime."
Doug Carroll of Sarasota won the Comcast Street Stock feature event. "The car was perfect," said Carroll, who is also known for operating the Street Stock Experience which give fans a ride on the track. "I had Sue behind me and I knew she's always good so I had to stay ahead of her. I want to thank her for she helped me get an axle for the car. Now that I've won I can pay her for it." Sue Purington of Nokomis placed second. "I tried to catch Doug but my car was starting to go away there at the end," Purington said. "It was good strong running in practice Thursday but I guess I didn't do my homework. I'm thankful there wasn't any cautions or some of the cars may have gotten around me." Jamie Cassidy of Sarasota took third place in the event.
Greg Krom of Sarasota collected the win in the Q Auto & Injury Attorneys Stock Minis edging out the hard running Jesse Dutilly of Bradenton. "I just put the car back together and I want to thank all my sponsors, family and friends for their help," Krom said. "I just got out to a good lead and held it there." Jon Bailey of St. Petersburg took third place.
In the Pure Stock Mark Gill of Bradenton took his 15th win odf the season with David Yahraus of Sarasota in second and Danny Anderson of Bradenton taking third place.
TOP TEN:
LATE MODELS: 1. #72 Justin Drawdy, Ft Pierce; 2. #9 Jonathan Brown, Palmetto; 3. #09 Scott Grossenbacher, San Antonio; 4. #38 Shane Sawyer, Royal Palm Beach; 5. #3 Mike Bresnahan, Lecanto; 6. #84 David Logan, Jupiter; 7. #21 John Carter, Belleview; 8. #28 Jeff Dufresne, Baples; 9. #8 Eddie Gainey; 10. #61 Jimmy Cope, Pinellas Park.
CALLAGHAN TIRE OPEN WHEEL MODIFIED: 1. #20 James Glover, Pinellas Park; 2. #92 Steve Perez; 3. #8 D.J. Hoelzle, Dunedin; 4. #22 Caleb Reschar, Palmetto; 5. #67 Rocco Rannallo, Bradenton; 6. #7 Jimmy Cook, Sarasota; 7. #5 Eddie Hartin; 8. #2 J.R. Wade; 9. #63 Phillip Morrison; 10. #34 Teddy Nelson, Pinellas Park.
COMCAST STREET STOCK: 1. #22 Doug Carroll, Sarasota; 2. #8 Sue Purington, Nokomis; 3. #44 Jamie Cassidy, Sarasota; 4. #67 Shawn Best, Sarasota; 5. #1 Casey Hall, Tampa; 6. #69 Chet Roberts; 7. #12 Dan Hall, Sarasota; 8. #05 Bruce Sherwood, Bradenton; 9. #8 Rich Clouser, Grant; 10. #9 Ben Kelly, North Port.
PURE STOCK: 1. #54 Mark Gill, Bradenton; 2. #67 David Yahraus, Sarasota; 3. #6 Danny Anderson, Bradenton; 4. #7 Howard Higgins, Arcadia; 5. #3 Peggy Hurst, Sarasota; 6. #4 Bob Petrilli, Sarasota; 7. #52 John Clouser; 8. #3 John Bayer; 9. #20 Bobby Jason; 10. #17w Bob Watford.
Q AUTO & INJURY ATTORNEYS MINI STOCK: 1. #35 Greg Krom, Sarasota; 2. #30 Jesse Dutilly, Bradenton; 3. #14 Jon Bailey, St. Petersburg; 4. #17x Syndee Brown, Bradenton; 5. #68 Danny Poling, Sarasota; 6. #23 Mike Gayle, Sarasota; 7. #98 Arlin Pope, Bradenton; 8. #22 Shane Whitbeck, Sarasota; 9. #34 Eric Anderson, Bradenton; 10. #9 Jeanne Whitted, Sarasota.
TRUCKS: 1. #70 James Glover, Pinellas Park; 2. #8 Todd Bontrager, Sarasota; 3. #22 Danny Glover Jr, Pinellas Park; 4. #21x Brian Donahue; 5. #15 Bobby Spaeth, Madeira Beach; 6. #19 Steve Arnold; 7. #2 Mickey Kempgens, Tampa; 8. #6 Al Parr; 9. #20 Keith Warren, Seffner; 10. #50 Andy Breedlove, Sarasota.
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