Keith Butler tops Central Florida Wingless Sprints at SpeedWorld
by Dave Westerman
The Central Florida Wingless Sprint Cars made their first-ever trip to Orlando Speedworld Friday night although the mood throughout the pits was considerably somber as most of the drivers and crews arrived at the track after attending the funeral for 32 year old Rusty Dixon. Dixon, the 2006 CFWS Rookie of the Year, had lost his life the previous Sunday in a motorcycle accident near his home in Ocala.
Keith Butler and Dude Teate captured the twin heat races for the Sprint Cars to earn front row starting spots for the 30 lap feature. Dixon's #48, driven by rookie Mike Elder, Jr., paced the field for two laps in honor of their friend and fellow competitor before the start.
Once the green flag flew the fans had little time to catch their breath as Butler and Teate sped quickly away from the field using incredible moves to slice their way through lapped traffic. Butler would pull slightly ahead on a clear track but Teate used the lapped cars to keep the pressure on the leader all the way to the checker as the two lapped everybody but third and fourth place finishers Charlie Ladner and Troy DeCaire. The 30 laps were run in an astonishing 7 minutes and 45 seconds.
Keith Butler's brother Shane took the fifth spot, the first car a lap down. Sixth went to former Speedworld Super Late Model racer Dennis Misuraca followed by Ernie Teed, Jr., Richard Waddell, Elder, Bob Bradley and Curtis Carter.
Before the race, the drivers passed their helmets among the fans, taking up a collection for the trust fund that has been set up for Dixon's two young sons. Almost $750 was raised.
Shane Held is really on a roll in the Modifieds. The Orlando driver took his second straight win at Speedworld Friday night and along with his three recent wins at New Smyrna Speedway, Held now has five consecutive FASCAR victories.
The Modified feature got off to a rough start as several cars got tangled up on the back stretch and that ended the night for defending Modified champion Alan Bruns. Despite heavy damage from the opening lap incident, Art Kunzeman was able to lead the first five laps before Held took over and set sail.Kunzeman's car began to fade and he pulled off the track a few laps later.
Held was in a different zip code as he won easily but the battle for second was a dandy as Doc McKinney did a great job as he held off a big group of cars to take the runner-up spot. Mark Emberson came home third ahead of Bobby Joe Woodley and Jimmy Winks. Rounding out the top ten were Gary Fountain, Sr., Chuck Burkhalter, Glen Castro, Joe Guzzo and Terri Bryant. Held and Winks won the heat races.
Josh Hermann looked to be well on his way to a big win in the Mini Stock feature but his transmission broke on lap 12. Hermann, who seems to have a monkey on his back the size of King Kong, pulled off the track allowing Pedie Allison to take over the lead and cruise to his fifth win in six starts this year. Kelly Jarrett held off R.J. Arnone for second with Richie Laszlo, Kenny Padgett, Mickey Wright, Hermann and Bob Kelchner rounding out the finishers.
Allison also won the heat.
When Ron McCreary came to the sign-up window he said he wanted to start in the rear of the Super stock feature. "If I win, I want to know I've passed lots of cars to do it," said McCreary who definitely comes from racings "old school."
With only one minor caution, the Super Stocks put on their usual awesome show as Bobby Simcox set the pace. If the race had gone the usual 15 laps, Simcox would have won. But, due to the large field, and extra five laps were added to the main event and that was just what McCreary needed to slip by Simcox on lap 17 and go on to his first win of the year.
Lee Wagner followed McCreary by Simcox and he took second while Simcox ended up third. James Frisbie was fourth and Roger Benton fifth. Completing the top ten were Matt Jarrett, Jeff Parrish, Jack Kennedy, Tobi Smith and Geno Smith.
Heat wins went to McCreary and Wagner.
Sporting a new paint job on his car, David Leeper II grabbed the top spot from early leader Steven Streight to take his second career Strictly Stock win.
Todd McCreary, also driving a Ford Probe just like the winner, closed late but was unable to make a pass for the win. The Mazdas of Rob Reynolds and Neil Kirby were third and fourth while Streight held on for fifth in his Oldsmobile. Rounding out the top ten were William Hindman, Miguel Barrenchea, Gary Thomas, Denny Johns and Glen Rhodes. Justin Curtis topped the Junior Stocks taking his Mustang to the win over first-time driver Anthony Pelican, Wes Railing, Jr. and Dillon Curtis.
OFFICIAL RESULTS ORLANDO SPEEDWORLD - MAY 4, 2007
CENTRAL FLORIDA WINGLESS SPRINTS
1. #55 Keith Butler 2 . #0 Dude Teate 3. #39 Charlie Lander 4. #68 Troy Decaire 5. #14 Shane Butler 6. #3 Dennis Misuraca 7. #87 Ernie Teed, Jr. 8. #47 Richard Waddel 9. #48 Mike Elder Jr. 10. #11K Bob Bradley 11. #2c Curtis Carter
Jr. Stocks (12-15)
1 - 18 Jason Rosarius 2 - 1X Anthony Pelican 3 - 6 Dylan Curtis
Jr. Stock (8-11)
1 - 51 Wes Railing
Strictly Stock
1 - D2 David Leeper Ii 2 - 1.3 Todd Mccreary 3 - A1 Rob Reynolds 4 - 8N Neal Kirby 5 - 80 Steven Streight 6 - 89 William Hindman 7 - 22 Miguel Barrenechea 8 - 76 Gary Thomas 9 - 55 Denny Johns 10 - 63 Glenn Rhodes 11 - 66 Tom Stewart 12 - 7 Jimmy Scripter 13 - 10 Sebastian Pulido 14 - 41 Amanda Carr 15 - 24 Brenda Taylor 16 - 28XXX Kenneth Baillargeon 17 - 28.5 Chris Ellis 18 - 20X Richard Barraechea 19 - 45 David Czerwinski Jr. DNS
Mini Stock
1 - 92 Pedie Allison 2 - 97 Kelly Jarrett 3 - 30 R.j. Arnone 4 - 07XX Richie Laszlo Jr. 5 - 16 Kenny Padgett 6 - 9XX Mickey Wright 7 - 98 Josh Hermann 8 - 09 Bob Kelchner DNS
Super Stock
1 - 24PK Ron Mccreary 2 - 74 Lee Wagner 3 - 92 Bobby Simcox 4 - 3X James Frisbie 5 - 14 Roger Benton 6 - 98 Matthew Jarrett 7 - 05X Jeff Parrish 8 - 79 Jack Kennedy 9 - 8 Tobi Smith 10 - 25 Geno Smith 11 - 721 John Bennett Ii 12 - 29 Alaine Grogan 13 - 43 Cara Wells 14 - 7i Scott Edwards 15 - 72 Nathan Haystead 16 - 11S Dennis Snyder DNS 17 - 1C Austin Carr DNS 18 - 316 Ray Mullis DNS 19 - 12OZ Jim Flynn DNS 20 - 15 Billy Bellflower DNS
Modified
1 - 55 Shain Held 2 - 31 Doc Mckinney 3 - 30 Mark Emberson 4 - 98X Bobby Joe Woodley 5 - 2X Jimmy Winks 6 - 33 Gary Fountain Sr 7 - 1X Chuck Burkhalter 8 - 7 Glen Castro 9 - 58 Joe Guzzo 10 - 08 Terri Bryant 11 - 9 Art Kunzeman 12 - 4B Alan Bruns 13 - 9 Scott Bramlett DNS
