LAKE CITY, FL (6/3) - North Florida Speedway took a solid shot from the weather but rose from the canvas to go the distance last Saturday night. A sudden downpour that struck while practice sessions were taking place caused a delay in the racing action as the track crew worked feverishly to restore order to the surface, which had been rendered slippery and mucky from the attack from above. The crew's work was rewarded and the fans and racers were treated to a fast surface that never lost its bite.
Hobby Stocks were the first cars to attempt the surface for heats and the first feature of the night. Timmy Roach started this race on the pole but gave that spot up immediately to David Dowling Sr., who has had the hot hand in Hobbies as of late. Roach was not to be left behind, however, and kept pace in the early laps. On lap six, Roach moved inside of Dowling coming into the third corner and successfully pulled off a slide pass to regain the throne. The third position was also up for grabs with Sammy Hatcher holding off Heath Walker for several circuits before Walker drove by at the midpoint. Dowling threatened Roach's hold on the lead spot several times in the open track, but could not overcome Roach's superiority in traffic and had to settle for watching Roach take the win by a scant few lengths. Walker maintained third with Hatcher and Tim Nolan rounding out the top five.
Michael Smith overcame polesitter Mark Ruel to earn the early Sprint Car lead. Tommy Denton obliterated the field during his heat race and once he worked free of traffic from his mid-pack starting spot, Smith could do nothing to stop the inevitable. There was much excitement generated throughout the field as several of the faster cars such as Bruce Durden, Otto Scrape, Matt Kurtz, and Wes Scrape all attempted to climb through the field with very mixed results. While everyone else was slicing and dicing, Denton ran off with the show and lapped every car from fifth place on back in the 20-car starting lineup. Denton took the checkers approximately one half lap and one zip code ahead of Smith, who may have won on any other night. Third place Durden and fourth place Allen Kaluzniak were the only other competitors who finished on the lead lap. Bill Daugherty finished fifth.
Kelly Philman performed well in Street Stocks as his orange #83 started from the pole and assumed the lead. Unfortunately for him Dean Sands' #44 performed better and raced past Philman on the fourth go-round to seize a lead he would not relinquish. The battle that kept the fans watching was waged between Philman and hard-charging Nick Reid. Both gave as good as they got and continued to go door to door and bumper to bumper until the checkered flag dropped. The finishing order was Sands, Philman, Reid, Dewey Hall, and Cliff Crawford. This was Sands' third win of 2006 and it added some padding to a narrow points lead over Hall.
Pure Stocks saw sixteen cars take the green flag. Wayno Risner ran off with the lead and ran uncontested for the first half of the event. Michael Havard was buried in the field early, but came on to challenge Lee Brinkley for second, win that battle, and then take on Risner. The thirteenth lap proved unlucky for Risner as Havard carried great momentum out of turn two and pulled alongside Risner on the backstretch to establish a beachhead and then catapult past to lead the remaining laps and take his fourth win. Risner hung on to second ahead of Frank Premorel, Brinkley, and Shawn Creech.
Racing will return to North Florida Speedway on Saturday June 10. For more information about starting times, admission, and schedule, log on to www.northfloridaspeedway.com.
