Jason Boyd Wins Carquest Road to Charlotte Goodyear Challenge Race
by Jane Smith
Samsula, Fla - Jason Boyd of Orlando, Fla. not only set fast time of 18.684 but also lead 87 laps for the win of the Carquest Road to Charlotte Goodyear Challenge Late Model 100 lap event at New Smyrna Speedway on March 22.
Twenty three Late Models made their way to New Smyrna Speedway for the first Goodyear Challenge Late Model season opening race each hoping for that first win of the season.
Five drivers made the 18 second bracket for qualifying but Boyd set the fastest time. Larry Osteen of Clermont, Fla set a 18.763 followed by Jerry Symons with a 18.918, Tim Russell 18.987 and Bobby Orr 18.994.
Bobby Orr, after the pill was drawn, found himself on the pole with Tim Russell on the outside. Jerry Symons, the 2002 Goodyear Challenge Late Model Champion, had problems and was not able to start the race watching it from his pits, not a happy camper at all.
Orr and Russell were eager as the race went green, going side-by-side for the lead. But it was Russell who took the early lead followed by Larry Osteen, Jason Boyd, Bobby Orr and Jerry Artuso.
Lap 4 saw Tim Clark of Cocoa, Fla. all the sudden have smoke from the rear-end. He is able to get around the track and pit but as Russell comes off turn 4, he hits some of the oil from the Clark car and spins. The officials give him back his spot due to track conditions and the race restarts on lap 8.
On the restart, Osteen takes his Florida Auto Express Chevy to the point putting Russell to third. Boyd holds on to Osteen's coattails and follows thru to second place. Orr and Artuso continue fourth and fifth.
Osteen lead five laps before Jason Boyd powered by him and took the lead and never looked back. On lap 14, Tony Amico III spins going into turn 1 and with no where to go Tony Amico clips the stalled car and backs into the turn 2 wall. Amico is able to pit and bring his car back but Amico III is done for the night.
The race restarts on lap 24 with Boyd, Osteen, Russell, Artuso, and Sean Murphy. During the caution, the Orr machine is stopped on the frontstretch for a leak. None was seen and he continued on. Lap 18, A.J. Curreli hits the turns 3 and 4 wall hard but is fine. Not how Curreli wanted the opening race to go.
On the restart on lap 34, Orr finds himself battling Brad May side-by-side for the sixth place spot. By lap 36, May has made the pass and taken sixth putting Orr seventh.
May sets his eyes on Sean Murphy who is running fifth when he gets a flat on the right rear on the backstretch. The caution is brought out and May limps to the pits for a new tire. The race restarts on lap 41.
May is working his way back from the rear of the field after pitting when he and Tony Amico tangle. Amico has gone in many times trying to fine tune his hurt racecar but this time has done it in. He retires for the night. During the caution, Orr is checked again for a leak and this time it is found. He takes his machine in to the pits.
Lap 54, the race restarts with Boyd, Osteen, Russell, Artuso, and Sean Murphy. On lap 58, Mike Murphy makes his presence known as he takes fifth from Sean Murphy who slides back to seventh. But Mike Murphy now finds the sixth place car of Chris Lawrence challenging him for fifth. Murphy is able to hold and Lawrence keeps sixth with Rich Clouser now in seventh followed by Sean Murphy in eighth.
Lap 68, May retires to the pit. On lap 80, Sean Murphy and Rich Clouser are going at it side-by-side for the seventh place spot which Clouser holds. Both race hard, never touching, with Clouser keeping the spot.
Lap 95, Don Hess spins on the backstretch bringing out the last caution of the race. The cars are realigned and Boyd takes the checkered followed by Larry Osteen, Tim Russell, Jerry Artuso, and Mike Murphy.
In Victory Lane a very happy Jason Boyd said, "I have to thank my crew and my dad for helping me get this win. The car ran good down the backstretch but I was struggling on the frontstretch. Larry was right there but raced me clean."
Sportsman division saw Ron Lufcy on the pole but it was last week's winner Earl Beckner who took the point and never once was threatened for the lead. On lap 9, Dale Clouser brought out the caution as he spun on the top of turns 1 and 2. During the caution, Mike Trocki, who was running second, pits and is done for the night with mechanical problems.
Beckner holds the point on the restart with Ron Lufcy, Bill Spade, Chris Pedulat, and Bill Love in the top five. Spade puts the pressure on Lufcy and takes over second. Beckners takes the checkered for the second week in a row keeping the points lead for the Sportsman division with Bill Spade, Ron Lufcy, Chris Pedulat, and Bill Love in the top five.
Brad May set on the pole for the Open Wheel Modified division and lead every lap. Before a lap was in the books, Justin Henderson spun on the backstretch and the race was restarted.
May took the lead followed by Jerry Artuso, Bobby Blake, Skip Honaker, and Mark Vandevender. Honaker was able to pass Blake and take the third spot but Artuso could not catch May for the lead.
May took the checkered, with no cautions, for the win followed by Jerry Artuso, Skip Honaker, Bobby Blake, and Mark Vandevender.
In the field was the new modified of the 2002 Mini Stock Champion at New Smyrna David Castello. Castello will run a very Mini Stock races but mainly his new modified in 2003.
Bruce Lawrence Jr. set on the pole for the Super Lates but it was the 2002 Super Late Model Champion David Rogers who showed the field the way to the checkered flag. Lawrence, Jr. lead the first 5 laps making Rogers work for the lead but on lap 5, Rogers took over.
Lap 8 saw a red flag when Mike Finn spun going into turn 2 and Mark Vandevender, having no place to go, hit the driver side of the stalled Finn car hard. Both Finn and Vandevender were fine but both cars were towed into the pits, done for the night. Speedy Dry was put down to soak up the fluids from both cars and the race was restarted.
Rogers held the point on the restart followed by Lawrence, Jr., Ricky Wood, George Murphy, and Guy Thomas. Wayne Parker puts on the steam and takes over the fourth place spot of Murphy putting Murphy fifth with Thomas sliding backwards and settling down in the seventh position.
Following Rogers to his first win of the 2003 season was Bruce Lawrence, Jr., Ricky Wood, Wayne Parker, and George Murphy.
Ben Hutto had the pole for the Mini Stock division but it was Wayne Clark who jumped to the early lead followed by Ted "Mr Mini Stock" Vulipus, Rex Christensen, Tim "Missileman" McPhail and Rex "Boneman" Hollinger.
McPhail, who had hit the wall hard in practice due to a broken axle, was able to repair the "Missile" in time for the feature event. The fans in the stands were amazed to see the car back on the track but McPhail was determined to race.
Vulipus was able to take over the lead putting Clark second with McPhail third, Hollinger fourth and Christensen fifth. They crossed the checkered in that order with Vulipus the winner.
Chuck Smith sat on the pole for the Super Stock division but it was last week's winner Josh Wronkowski who jumped to the lead. The caution was brought out on lap two for two cars that spun in the bottom of turns 1 and 2.
Wronkowski holds the point on the restart with Charlie Collins, Bob Riley, Chuck Smith and Ted Head in the top five. Head passes Smith taking over fourth when on lap 4, Jim Dyson, a new driver making his first appearance in 2003, hits the frontstretch wall but is able to right the car but with oncoming traffic the yellow comes out.
Wronkowski still holds the lead on the restart with Collins, Head, Ron Whaley and Mike Soukup in the top five. On lap 11, Head goes up in smoke while running in the third place position. The track is cleaned and the race is restarted.
On the restart, Collins is able to outpower Wronkowski and takes the lead and the checkered. Following Collins over the finish line were Josh Wronkowski, Ron Whaley, Mike Soukup and Bob Tromley.
The Super Stocks were teched again this week but Soukup refused to tear down and was disqualified making the final finish Collins, Wronkowski, Whaley, Tromley, and Colburn.
Michelle Dyal had the pole for the Strictly Stock feature but it was James Smith Sr. who took the lead and the win. Steven Metts brought out the first caution when he hit the inside frontstretch wall. Smith holds the point on the restart followed by Steve Sanlopietro, Kerry Payne, Tim Edmundson, and Jason Clarette.
Lap 6, Michelle Dyal gets turned around on the backstretch bringing out caution two. Smith holds the point on the restart but just one lap later, the yellow comes out again when Metts spins out again and goes into the mud.
James Smith, Sr. holds the point and takes the checkered followed by Kerry Payne, Steve Sanlopietro, Tim Edmundson, and Robert Ward.
Next week at New Smyrna Speedway, Hooter's ProCup racing with the FASTRUCKS.
OFFICIAL RESULTS
Goodyear Challenge Carquest Road to Charlotte - 100 laps
1. #15 Jason Boyd, Orlando, FL 2. #22 Larry Osteen, Clermont, FL 3. #36 Tim Russell, Longwood, FL 4. #5 Jerry Artuso, Ontario 5. #26 Mike Murphy, Clermont, FL 6. #9 Rich Clouser, Palm Bay, FL 7. #32 Sean Murphy, Ft. Lauderdale, FL 8. #63 Chris Lawrence, Deleon Springs, FL 9. #28 Steve Smith, Lakeland, FL 10. #10x Steve Dorer, Lakeland, FL 11. #08 Jimmy Castleberry, Connersville, FL 12. #64 Don Hess, Geneva, FL 13. #01 Robert Newton, Astatula, FL 14. #26x Dan Crowe, Lantana, FL 15. #24 Dennis Williams, Zephyrhills, FL 16. #10 Brad May, Orlando, FL 17. #46 Richard Parks, Cornelius, NC 18. #30 Bobby Orr, Clermont, FL 19. #77 Tony Amico, Clearwater, FL 20. #2 A.J. Curreli, Daytona, FL 21. #76 Tony Amico, III, Las Vegan, NV 22. #8 Tim Clark, Cocoa, FL
#66 Jerry Symons DNS
OPEN WHEEL MODIFIEDS
1. #00 Brad May 2. #05 Jerry Artuso 3. #2 Skip Honaker 4. #75 Bobby Blake 5. #7 Mark Vandevender 6. #97 Matthew Wheeler 7. #16 Justin Henderson 8. #31 John Zidak 9. #1 David Castello 10. #51 Chad Pierce 11. #9 David Hite 12. #1w Jim Coverdale
SPORTSMAN
1. #3 Earl Beckner 2. #15x Bill Spade 3. #07 Ron Lufcy 4. #28 Chris Pedulat 5. #2 Bill Love 6. #40 Dennis Gilliam 7. #55 Jim Snyder 8. #48 Butch Yancey 9. #70 John Nusbaum 10. #46 Mike Trocki 11. #30 Dale Clouser
SUPER LATES
1. #11 David Rogers 2. #116 Bruce Lawrence Jr. 3. #33 Ricky Wood 4. #3 Wayne Parker 5. #40 George Murphy 6. #63 Joe Fritos 7. #8 Brent Hobbs 8. #2 Guy Thomas 9. #6 Mike Finn 10. #7 Mark Vandevender 11. #9 Joey Rowe
MINI STOCKS
1. #71 Ted "Mr Mini Stock" Vulipus 2. #15 Wayne Clark 3. #7 Tim "Missileman" McPhail 4. #85 Rex "Boneman" Hollinger 5. #v3 Rex Hollinger 6. #31 Chad Carpenter 7. #38 Ben Hutto
SUPER STOCKS
1. #23 Charlie Collins 2. #21 Josh Wronkowski 3. #2 Ron Whaley 4. #8 Bob Tromley 5. #3 Jeff Colburn 6. #17 Rob Watford 7. #01 Chuck Smith 8. #57 James Smith 9. #74 Jason Dryer 10. #20 Justin Reynolds 11. #28 Henry Rader 12. #92 Ted Head 13. #46 Bobby Riley 14. #72 Adam Bertleimer 15. #22 Jim Dyson 16. #21 Becky Dyson 17. #64 Billy Cuddy
#45 Mike Soukup DQ'D
STRICTLY STOCKS
1. #65 James Smith, Sr. 2. #11x Kerry Payne 3. #58 Steve Sanlopietro 4. #66 Tim Edmundson 5. #27 Robert Ward 6. #10 Roger Ladeau 7. #21 Jason Clarette 8. #15 Mike Wofford 9. #88 Nick Baley 10. #37 Steven Metts 11. #13 Ralph Jones 12. #26 Michelle Dyal 13. #39 Jeremy Hovencamp
