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| Valeo takes Pure Stock Special - Robinson Tops Mods at Ocala | by Dave Westerman
Ocala, Fla. - For once, bright sunny early-evening skies
greeted fans and competitors Saturday night at Ocala
Speedway as the Ford of Ocala Pure Stock class was in
the spotlight with a 30-lap event.
Point leader Darren Dukes led the way in time trials and
drew the number three pill for the start. Mike Fiddia
drew the pole and took an early lead, but the car to
beat on this night was Bobby Valeo. Valeo, who timed
second quick, swept past Fiddia on lap seven and was
never seriously challenged from that point despite
several caution periods that allowed the field to catch
up to him.
Fiddia held off a hard-charging Kyle Maynard at the
checkered for second. Maynard had trouble with his car
during qualifying and had to start deep in the pack
and did the passing job of the night to end up third.
Darren Dukes never really got on track and settled for
fourth spot just in front of Bobby Carter. Michael
Rosa, James Cook, Rick Bass, David Danielson and Rick
Hart rounded out the top ten.
Troy Robinson topped a somewhat strange and wacky Diamond
H Air & Heat Modified 20-lapper that no one seemed to
want to win.
Alan McCafferty appeared to have the horses under him as
he led easily from the drop of the green, but numerous
caution flags kept the field close and David Baxley was
able to move in on McCaffery's back bumper.
After Marlon Durbin tagged the turn four wall following
a tangle with Rick Brewer with two to go, McCafferty
and Baxley were set for green-white-checker dash to the
finish. But they tangled just after the restart with
both going to the rear of the field for the next restart.
This time, Brewer had a problem coming out of turn two and
spun. McCafferty, with nowhere to go, hit Brewer's car
with both machines done for the night.
At this point, Troy Robinson had inherited the lead despite
being involved in two incidents earlier in the race.
Robinson easily led the final two laps to score the victory
while Baxley raced back to nab second spot. John Foerg,
making his first start of the year here after winning
at Orlando Friday night, held on for third followed by
Kevyn Terry and Jeff Markison. Every car in the field
was sent to the back of the pack at least once during
the crazy affair.
The Coca-Cola Four Cylinder Bombers ran two features.
The first was to make up the 20-lapper that was fogged
out the week before and it was all A.J. Schreier as the
point leader made quick work of the field. Ric Fort
checkered in second spot ahead of Joey Durbin, Dan
Sanderson and Steve Gallagher.
Schreier's evening would take a turn for the worse in
his heat as he tangled with another car and plastered
the infamous turn four concrete.
Undaunted, Schreier left the track, picked up another
driver's car that wasn't being used, and made it back
in time to start the feature. Meanwhile, Joey Durbin
and Steve Gallagher won the heats.
In the regularly scheduled 15-lapper, Durbin and Gallagher
put on a show, trading the lead as they ran well ahead
of the field. Durbin held onfor the win, just ahead of
Gallagher. Behind them, it was an all-out war for third
among eight cars with Ric Fort finally moving through to
finish third just in front of Dan Sanderson and Rocky
Bowden. Schreier drove his borrowed car up to ninth at
the finish, but saw his slim point lead over Fort slip
away.
For the second week in a row, Tom Posevac led every lap
of the Steven A. Bagen Sportsman feature. Posevac had
things pretty much his own way but did get a pretty
decent fight from eventual second place finisher William
Edwards. Bob Masciarelli came across the stripe in third
followed by Michael Mennenga and Big John Smith.
Pete Close, Jr. had a nasty encounter with one of the
tractor tires lining the infield during the feature
receiving a nasty cut over his eye. Despite that,
Close made an attempt to finish the race, but the car
just wasn't up to par. The new track management plans
to replace those large tires and build rumble strips
in the next few weeks.
The Florida Super Mini-Cup Cars were the special
added attraction and things got off to a rough start
for them with a practice tangle that sent one car
into a series of rollovers. No one was hurt, but
both drivers involved were done for the night.
Mike Sweet and Terry Tullis took the heats, but it
was Brett Jameson who moved out to the lead early
and never looked back. One red flag was needed
when Bob Struyk rolled his car on its roof in turn
two but he crawled out unhurt.
Tullis made a late charge but had to settle for second
behind Jameson. Sweet, Mark Ross, and Eryk Hardwick
completed the top five. Thirteen-year old David
Pollon, Jr. earned the young gun award with a seventh
place finish.
Tommy Roberts dominated the Thrifty Nickel Hobby Stock
Main event finishing so far in front of second place
Mark Mitchell that one of the scorers thought he
was a lap down. Moose Alderman grabbed third spot
ahead of Paul Gladdin and Frank Buchanan.
Roberts then took over as the "guest" flagman for a
special "mechanics" race. "Bucko" the head wrench
on Kenny Abney's Sportsman, had the race won but
spun on the last lap handing the win to Jason Gamble
who was driving Jeremy Finegan's Sportsman. The
track's assistant flagman, Dave Dinehart, drove Frank
Buchanan's Hobby Stock to second. Oddly enough,
Buchanan was assisting Roberts in the flagstand for
this race. Steve Mooers drove Paul Gladdin's Hobby
Stock to third place.
It was a wild three car finish in the ladies Powder Puff
race with Holly Abney claiming the win as Allysia Davison
spun and smacked the front stretch wall at the checker.
Other than a sore arm, Allysia was OK, but the car she
was driving, Michael Mennaga's Sportsman, was pretty
badly crunched.
Next Saturday night, the Limited Late Models return
for a 30 lap feature along with the Classic Auto Racing
Series. Sportsman, Pure Stocks, Hobby Stocks, and
Four Cylinder Bombers are also on the card.
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