IT'S TIME TO RACE!!

August 2, 2004 FSCR Conrad tops Legends at SpeedWorld by Dave Westerman Needless to say, it had been a rough couple of weeks for RE/MAX Legends car standout Patrick Conrad, but he put all that behind him leading wire to wire to score his 13th win of the year Saturday night at Orlando Speedworld. Conrad was driving a car completely rebuilt from a horrific crash during the Regional Qualifier weekend. Conrad was also dealing with a situation that occurred the previous night where it appeared he had won his first Super Late Model feature race despite a bit of controversy on the final lap. Howver,an altercation in victory lane saw Conrad disqualified. He was able to brush off the incident though and place himself right back at the top of the heap in the RE/MAX Legends car field. Despite threatening weather conditions, 19 Legends made it to the track with Wesley McLeod topping heat race number one over Kevin Howard and Jeremy Colangelo out-running Conrad to win heat two. Luck of the draw saw Conrad get the pole starting position for the 25 lap feature but it would not be easy for the young Clermont driver. Conrad assumed the early lead but had Colangelo right on his tail. Colangelo nearly got underneath Conrad several times during the event, but could never get the run he needed to make the pass as he would have to settle for his eighth second place finish of the year. The race was slowed by only two caution flag periods. Doug Hall had to have his mount towed to the pits after a turn four altercation with Spike Sabo who tried to continue but also had to retire pit side. Near mid-race, Brandon Thomson and Kevin Howard got together while battling for third place with Thomson getting a pretty good "piece of the rock" in turn one. Both drivers were OK but out of the race. A.J. Fulgenzi put a spate of bad luck behind him with a good run to third while Wesley McLeod nabbed fourth spot. Masters driver Mike Verhaagh made a late charge to grab fifth while Jared Cawley, Mitch Verhaagh, Bobby Byars, Derrick Wood and Kyle Dombeck rounded out the top ten. Bradenton's Paul Reschar, a former Super Late Model driver, made his debut here in a Legend with a good 11th place finish and raw rookie Bryan Silas came back from a bad practice crash on Friday morning to get 13th in his back-up car. The Florida Mini Cup Racing Association put on their usual good show with cars racing three and sometimes four wide the entire 25 laps. When all was said and done, Mini Cup veteran Doug Smith of Lakeland came back from a penalty for passing cars using the flat part of the race track to make a pass for the lead with two laps to go and score his second win of the weekend. Bobby Payton followed Smith and took second while David Taylor nipped Frank Pfister at the line for third after Pfister had led most of the race. Heather Suggs backed up her second place finish on Friday night with a fifth on this night. Young Eric Cunningham took a hard shot into the turn one wall late in the race, but despite a badly damaged car Cunningham was shaken but not hurt. That incident was a blessing for Smith as his penalty was imposed at that point giving him another shot at the win. Had the race continued the entire distance under green, Smith would have been scored fourth. Gerald White, Jr. continued his dominance of the Bandolero Bandit class winning his fifth feature in a row and 13th on the year. Blake Eden came home second in front of Ryan Rust, Donovan Ponder and Roger Benton, Jr. Scott Jarrett took the win in the Bandolero Young Guns, his third of the year but his first visit to victory lane since mid April. Brandon Thomson chased Jarrett to the flag followed by Chelsea Schillig and Scott's younger brother Matthew Jarrett. Kara Clarke powered by Evan Russell with just two laps to go and scored her third straight Bandolero Outlaw win. Russell looped his car just after Kara made her pass allowing Dave Jarrett to take second while Russell claimed third spot. Forty-seven FAST Series Karts took part seven classes of racing however the final four feature events fell victim to a late rain shower. Winners of the other three events were Brandon Foslison (Pro Stock), Corey White (Junior Sportsman Champ & Blue Plate), and Cody Moist (Junior Restricted). The Race Cars of Yesteryear based out of the Tampa/St. Pete area made their first ever visit to Speedworld and showed up 21 strong despite the unfavorable weather conditions. The old cars were a big hit with the fans and put on quite a show as quite a few of these drivers get down to some serious racing despite the age of their machines. A special "run whatcha brung" Strictly Stock race was held during intermission and was won by the Ford Escort of Brian Bleau. Next week, the Hurricanes return to Saturday racing action along with the RE/MAX Legends cars and Bandoleros. The Florida Open Wheel Lites and Florida Welterweight Racing Association Mod Lites will combine for a special tribute to Wayne DeClerck, one of their drivers who passed away suddenly last month following a race night at Desoto Super Speedway. All of their winnings will be donated to the DeClerck family. RESULTS - ORLANDO SPEEDWORLD - 7/31/04: RE/MAX LEGENDS CARS (25 Laps): 1) Patrick Conrad #2 2) Jeremy Colangelo #05 3) A.J. Fulgenzi #33 4) Wesley McLeod #22 5) Mike Verhaagh #7 6) Jared Cawley #31 7) Mitch Verhaagh #9 8) Bobby Byars #12 9) Derrick Wood #33jr. 10) Kyle Dombeck #20 11) Paul Reschar #55X 12) Bob Wilson #27W 13) Bryan Silas #57 14) Tom Clarke #66 15) James Rodriguez #19 16) Brandon Thomson #29 17) Kevin Howard #129 18) Doug Hall #55 19) Spike Sabo #5X BANDOLERO BANDITS (15 Laps): 1) Gerald White, Jr. #38 2) Blake Eden #71 3) Ryan Rust #18 4) Donovan Ponder #8 5) Roger Benton, Jr. #41 BANDOLERO YOUNG GUNS (15 Laps): 1) Scott Jarrett #97 2) Brandon Thomson #54 3) Chelsea Schillig #75 4) Matthew Jarrett #9 BANDOLERO OUTLAWS (15 Laps): 1) Kara Clarke #21 2) Dave Jarrett #9 3) Evan Russell #37 FLORIDA MINI CUP RACING ASSOCIATION (25 Laps): 1) Doug Smith #17 2) Bobby Payton #22 3) David Taylor #15 4) Frank Pfister #66 5) Heather Suggs #48 6) Daniel Zukowski #1 7) Dan Suggs #29 8) Carlos Gonzales #19 9) Ed MacKenzie #20 10) Mark Blair #5 11) Steve Hardy #47 12) Francois Pelletier #3 13) Burke Bomar #40 14) Rick Blair #60 15) Eric Cunningham #83 Have an opinion on this story? 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