Moff does it again in Goodyear Challenge at Bronson
by Jane Smith
Bronson, Fla. (April 7, 2007) The temperature dropped fast as the Easter Bunny made his way to Bronson Motor Speedway for the Goodyear Challenge Late Model 100. Seventeen drivers were on hand to help the kids celebrate Easter and watch a huge egg hunt.
Travis Cope of Bronson set fast time with a 13.034 followed by Doug Moff, Daniel Keene, Jr., Rich Clouser, and Jonny Kay. Pulling the number 0 pill in front of the top five, Cope set the field to start straight up.
But the cold track and the cold tires did not help the start as it took three starts to ge the race underway and even then, disaster was immenent and ended the night early for Jason Boyd and Drew Brannon who had to watch the race from the stands. Rich Clouser and Travis Cope both had to go in for quick repairs as well as Dustin Chisolm. The race went red for the clean-up with Cope and Clouser on the tail end due to pitting for repairs.
On the restart it was Doug Moff on the point followed by Daniel Keene, Jr., Jonny Kay, J.R. McMickel, and Justin Larson. Cope is in a hurry to get back to the front and hits Greg Kaouk on the way but Kaouk did a great job of saving his car in turn 1. Larson challenges McMickel for fourth and takes it on lap 14. The caution then comes out for Kaouk who has spun in turn 3. Moff holds the point on the restart followed by Keene, Kay, Larson, McMickel, Winchell, Watts, Burkhalter, Cope, Goddard, Clouser, Brown, Chisolm, Kaouk and Grosswiler.
Jeremy Goddard, who loves to race at Bronson, saw his night end on lap 31 when his transmission blew a hole and ended his night joining his fellow racers Boyd and Brannon in the stands. .
In the meantime, Cope is on a march to the front hitting Sam Watts and causing Watts to spin on lap 34. Both cars are sent to the rear for the restart as Moff leads the pack.
McMickel and Larson are doing some hard racing for the fourth place position when Larson spins and McMickel is sent to the rear and Larson retains his position.
But it is a short night for Larson and Burkhalter and they are off the track on lap 56 The field is getting smaller and smaller by the lap with Moff, Keene, Kay, Winchell, Clouser, Cope, Watts, Chisolm, Kaouk, McMickel, and Brown left for the restart.
Cope is wanting that top spot back bad and taps Clouser in fifth but Clouser does a great job of saving the car as Watts passes Cope for sixth making Cope seventh now and not the position he wants. Lap 70 Kaouk gets under Chisolm causing alot of front end damage to his car. Kaouk pits for damage repairs and comes out for a lap but must resign himself also to the pits for the night on lap 76.
Cope, who was rough driving trying to get back up front, hits Watts once again and spins him on lap 78. Watts, who was showing alot of patience and trying to have a good race, finds himself pinned against the wall by Cope during the caution as the crowd runs to the fence to see the two cars having a duel. Cope has major front end damage and almost hits a Bandolero waiting in staging for the next race as he exits to boos in the crowd. Watts also goes in to the cheers of the crowd who have had enough of rough driving for the night. The race is red flagged to check on both drivers but both are fine just done for the night.
Moff, who has lead all but three laps, holds his position on the restart followed by Keene, Kay, Winchell, Clouser, Chisolm, McMickel, Brown and Grosswiler. Kay is looking to pass Keene but Keene holds fast and maintains second.
Then it was the Kay and Winchell show as they race each other hard. Winchell gets under Kay who does a little slide but Kay does not loose his position. Kay and Winchell know each other well and are friends from Hialeah Speedway and neither would purposely wreck each other. They just love to race each other hard when they can.
Lap 95 sees the caution flag out for Darren Brown who spins on the frontstretch. Brown is fine and able to continue when the caution comes out again for Chisolm who spins but is fine. Only five laps left, can Moff hold the point??
Moff did get the point and took the checkers for his second win in the Goodyear Challenge Late Model Series followed by Daniel Keene, Jr., Jonny Kay, Joe Winchell, and Rich Clouser. Moff now leads the points in the Goodyear Challenge Late Model Series.
The next race for the Goodyear Challenge Late Models will be April 27th at Orlando SpeedWorld. For more information on the Series please visit www.fascar.org.
OFFICIAL RESULTS BRONSON MOTOR SPEEDWAY APRIL 7
1. #46 Doug Moff, Ft. Myers 2. #16 Daniel Keene, jr., Weekie Wachee 3. #48 Jonny Kay, Deerfield Beach 4. #57 Joe Winchell, Dade City 5. #9 Rich Clouser, Palm Bay 6. #53 Darren Brown, Ormond Beach 7. #7 Dustin Chisolm, Seminole 8. #119 J.R. McMickel, Davie 9. #31 Greg Kaouk, Penbroke Pines 10. #1x Chuck Burkhalter, Clermont 11. #88 Justin Larson, Safety Harbor 12. #23 Dave Grosswiler, Margate 13. #40 Jeremy Goddard, Naples 14. #26x Jason Boyd, Orlando 15. #08 Drew Brannon, Miami 16. #73 Sam Watts, Winter Springs 17. #26 Travis Cope, Bronson
