BARBERVILLE, Fla. - John Rankin took The Deland Truck Center Late Model Feature for his 1st in 2003. The tough field of competitors took the green running full throttle, 3 & 4 wide for position with Rankin taking the top spot.
Paul George falling into 2nd riding the bumper of Rankin as Mike Eubanks, Brent Chilson, Joe Kump and Ro Ho Sims battled side by side for positions. George drove down low taking the lead from Rankin as Chilson passed Eubanks for 3rd. George pulled away as Rankin, Chilson, Eubanks & Kump battled each other door handle to door handle continually swapping positions. George had a commanding lead running flawlessly as he maneuvered around lapped traffic as if on a Sunday drive while maintaining the top spot.
Lady Luck through in a wrench on lap 23 as George experienced engine trouble forcing him to the pits for the night. This allowed Rankin to regain the lead with Eubanks, Kump, Kent Corbin & Chuck Julien riding his bumper. Rankin held on the 1st by running full steam, gliding down low into the turns, sliding on the straight away for the victory.
George Lane jumped to the lead from green to checkered in The Action Performance Street Stock Feature for his 1st at VSP. Lane took 1st overpowering Erick Arminio for the lead as Pat Vareika, Shane Williams and Paul Shead dove down falling in line behind Lane pushing Arminio out of position. Lane was on a mission pulling several car links ahead of his competitors in hopes that Lady Luck would stay with him this time.
Several cautions allowed the hard charging field to bunch up behind Lane for restarts, but each time Lane strategically positioned his car ahead of the advances of his competitors. Lapped traffic proved no problem for Lane as he expertly maneuvered around them giving him a clean cut advantage over the remaining battling field of cars. Lane took the checkered several car links ahead of the battling Williams, Vareika and Shead for his very first win ever. Way to go, George Alan Lane.
Dennis North won The Speedway Pull-N-Save Hobby Stock A-Main. Davey Cline jumped to the lead on lap one holding off hard charging John Palmer, Richard Price,Kory Bush,Alan Peacock,& Joe Belkey. The entire field ran 3 to 4 wide, bumper to bumper fighting for position which caused a red flag on lap 2 as Palmer fell off pace was hit by Mitch McKinnon, Kenny Campbell, Rick Friend and Paul Hughart of which flipped landing upside down on his roof. No drivers were injured but some serious car damage was inflicted pitting the cars for the night. Davey Cline took the restart as Price,Bush, Belkey, Steve Bennett, David Kinsey all riding his bumper with no room for errors. Price jumped down low taking the lead over the tight running pack of cars. The top 6 cars ran full throttle continually running up high & low trying to overtake the car if front of them, as Price tried to hold onto the lead. Caution flag allowed Bennett to pass Price on the restart for the lead but it was short lived as Dennis North took the high groove over Bennett taking the top spot. North held on the lead for the win with Bush, Kinsey, Price, and John Apgar riding is bumper for the remaining top 5 finishes.
The Speedway Pull-N-Save Hobby Stock B-Main was won by Steve Oldaker from green to checkered. Philip Brown, Johnny Westfall, Bruce Martin and Philip Conner battled hard behind Oldaker for positions over the remaining field,ended up in the top 5 as none could passed Oldaker for the top spot.
Donnie Ashford took The Certified Auto World Mini Stock feature. Ryan Vansickle took the lead on the green flag as the entire field ran 3 & 4 wide, door handle to door handle for position. Vansickle held of the hard charging Ben Kadel, Drew Smith, Todd Ponce, Bobby Richardson by nailing the inside groove extremely low, sliding up into the middle of the track using it to block their advances. Ashford started last and was moving up the field quickly along with Jackie Rhames & Charlie MacNichols. A caution for on lap 18 allowed Ashford to take 1st away from from the leader Drew Smith for the lead with Ben Kadel, Charlie MacNichols and Stanton Mills on his bumper. Ashford jumped ahead on the restart to maintain the lead going from worst to first for the win.
Alli Owens, a fourteen year old, Silver Sands Middle School eighth grader won her first ever Pure Stock Feature at VSP. Owens took the lead on the green flag and held on until the checkered was thrown giving her the win. Owens held off the hard charging advances of a field of 23 pure stocks including Shawn Pawlak, John Blood, Mark Reiter, Rick Picard & Chris Heaney. Allie had no problems as she passed the lapped cars early in the race showing a fearless young driver in pursuit of her first win. Cautions bunched up the field of cars in several incidents but Owens prevailed each time. Shawn Pawlak, Rick Picard, Mark Reiter & John Blood battled door handle to door handle, bumper to bumper for the remaining top 5 finishes. Owens took the checkered with Picard, Reiter & Pawlak on her door handle but Owens coming out with the win.
