IT'S TIME TO RACE!!

February 10, 2009 Kyle Beattie tops Legends Pro on Day 1 at Orlando SpeedWorld by Dave Westerman Bright sunny skies and balmy temperatures in the mid 70’s greeted competitors for the opening round of the INEX/600 Series Winternationals Tuesday afternoon. Despite the huge field, the entire race program was run in exactly three hours with no major incidents. The Legend Car Charger division was first up for the first of five 20-lap Legend Car features. Heat winner Blake Jones in his Mountain Dew machine grabbed the early lead and began to pull away. On lap five, second-running Ted Ruffo got loose coming off turn two and was run over by the cars of Josh Morris and Evan Finley. Ruffo’s car slid to the infield and he was out of the event while Finley and Morris continued. Just after the restart, it was Andy Yoder’s turn to bring out the yellow as he spun after contact off turn four. From that point it was clean and green. Matt Wallace was having a good run in fourth place but dropped out on lap nine with a flat rear tire. Tennessee driver Jones scored an easy win trailed by a resurgent Morris and Dave Simile. Finley and Chris Young were fourth and fifth. Rounding out the finishers were Zach Harris, Tyler Mullins, Roger Englund, Andy Yoder, Dylan Barbosa, Matt Wallace and Ted Ruffo. Heat race winners Alex Kempf and Tyler Kivett raced for the lead all the way in the Legends Semi-Pro feature with Kempf out front for 18 laps before getting a solid shot in his rear bumper in turn three from Kivett just before taking the white flag. Kivett jumped out front and took the white flag but before the final lap could be completed, Cullen Camasta and Brandon Huff collided and came to a stop in turn four. On the restart, an obviously upset Kempf gave Kivett a solid shot going into turn one but Kivett held his ground while Kempf nearly spun but recovered losing only one spot. Kivett, from Prince Frederick, MD, took the win over Oklahoma’s Kenzie Ruston as the young lady driver looked very good in her Winternationals debut. Kempf held on for third followed by Zach Alspach and Cameron Michael. Completing the finishers were George Cushman, Michael Lester, Cullen Camasta, Todd Eury, Brandon Huff, Drew Higginson, R.S. Senter, Zach Weaver and Michael Edwards. Things were pretty wild all throughout the Legends Car Masters division feature but produced nowhere near the carnage that the opening day feature did last year. A multi-car tangle after the drop of the green accounted for a complete restart but once things got going it was all Hoyt Demis from green to checker. It wasn’t exactly easy for the Archdale, NC driver as he had to weather a trio of caution flags for minor incidents and plenty of pressure from another trio of drivers, Tim Brockhouse, John Sossoman and Clay Hair. A late race bumping incident allowed Demis to pull away as Brockhouse and Sossoman got together allowing Sossoman to race to the checker in second followed by Brockhouse and Hair. Larry Friddle was fifth with Ira Laughey, Darrell Vance, Gary Bursey, Chris Weddle and Cy Harvey rounding out the top ten. Harvey actually won the first heat and would have had the pole for the feature but failed to take his car to tech after the heat and was disqualified. The remainder of the finishing field was Doug Dugger, Carlos “Mercury” Moore, Roger Austin, Bob Merino, Scotty Edwards, Marty Griffin, Dean Kretschmar, Jackie Ryan, Joe Graf, Kevin Foisey and Rick Wetmore. The Legend Car Young Lion race saw a crazy ending as Dale Dodge,, Jr. took the front spot from Justin Grimes who had led the first 17 laps. Dodge couldn’t hold on as Chad Finchum made a move on the final lap to take the win despite a smoking race car. Finchum, who hails from Knoxville, TN, grabbed the win after being quite successful in the Bandoleros in past Winternationals. Austin Leitner moved up to second in the wild finish ahead of Harrison Rhodes, Trevor Alspach and Grimes. Chase Elliott was sixth and was trailed to the checker by Scott Hensley, Travis Braden, Cody Humphreys, Jake Morris, Tyler Lester, Brian Kolb, Dodge, Jr., Evan Swilling and Cody Blackburn. Grimes and Leitner were the heat race winners. The Legends Car Pro Division feature was the expected barn-burner. With heat winners Kory Abbott and Kyle Beattie on the front row, it was defending Winternationals Pro Champion Abbott grabbing the early lead and staying out front through the only caution of the race for Dylan Ames’ stalled car. After the restart it was Justin Swilling taking the top spot for a pair of laps before Abbott raced back to the front. But the Apopka, FL driver could not hold off North Carolinian Beattie as he snatched the point away with a pair of laps to go. Beattie claimed the win in a wild finish over a fast-closing Casey Roderick, Abbott, Daniel Hemric and Brad Hancock. Currie Pierce was sixth while Swilling faded to seventh with Craig Goess, Jr., Andrew Smith and Ronnie Bassett, Jr. completing the top ten. The remaining finishers were Mike Alcaro, Dusty Davis, Nick Pistone, Jimmy Norman, Will Prance, Cameron Patrick, Daniel Sossoman, Rette Causey, James Edsall, Darren Sherwood, Jimmy Heavlow, Dylan Ames and Chris Lemonds. Heat winner Kyle Weatherman led the opening 14 laps of the Bandolero Bandit feature but lost the lead to Brady Boswell. Boswell got stuck in some lapped traffic which slowed his momentum allowing Weatherman to zip back around him for the lead on the next to last lap. Weatherman scored his first-ever Winternationals win ahead of Boswell, Tanner Rumberg, Clayton Weatherman, Brandon Bassett, Payton Ryan, Joseph Graf, Macy Causey and Jonnie Varga. Dillon Bassett won the heat then looked to have an easy victory in the Bandolero Young Gun feature but his engine went sour late in the going and he headed for the infield. That gave Justin Thomas the lead but he could not hold off a late charge by Luke Demis who took the win giving both father and son a checkered flag on the day. Thomas was second with Jesse Little third and Bassett fourth. Jim Fluharty was the Thunder Car winner. OFFICIAL RESULTS ORLANDO SPEEDWORLD WINTER NATIONALS - FEB. 10, 2009 BANDOLERO BANDIT 1. #6 Kyle Weatherman 2. #2x Brady Boswell 3. #15 Tanner Rumberg 4. #18 Clayton Weatherman 5. #44 Brandon Bassett 6. #13 Payton Ryan 7. #12 Joseph Graf 8. #33 Macy Causey BANDOLERO YOUNG GUN 1. #03X Luke Demis 2. #99 Justin Thomas 3. #03 Jesse Little 4. #44 Dylan Bassett THUNDER CAR 1. #5 Jim Fluharty YOUNG LIONS 1. #19 Chad Finchum 2. #05 Austin Leitner 3. #36 Harrison Rhodes 4. #76 Trevor Alspach 5. #63 Justin Grimes 6. #9 Chase Elliott 7. #5 Scott Hensley 8. #A1 Travis Braden 9. #43 Cody Humphreys 10. #99 Jake Morris 11. #1 Tyler Lester 12. #29 Brian Kolb 13. #8 Dale Dodge, Jr. 14. #1 Evan Swilling 15. #71 Cody Blackburn SEMI-PRO 1. #66 Tyler Kivett 2. #39 Kenzie Ruston 3. #99 Alex Kempf 4. #67 Zack Alspach 5. #32 Cameron Michael 6. #31 George Cushman 7. #13 Mike Lester 8. #20 Cullen Camasta 9. #19 Todd Eury 10. #21 Brandon Huff 11. #02 Drew Higginson 12. #10 R.S. Senter 13. #166 Zach Weaver 14. #9E Michael Edwards PRO 1. #96 Kyle Beattie 2. #148 Casey Roderick 3. #5 Kory Abbott 4. #21 Daniel Henric 5. #17 Brad Hancock 6. #16 Currie Pierce 7. #38 Justin Swilling 8. #81 Craig Goess, Jr. 9. #62 Andrew Smith 10. #04 Ronnie Bassett 11. #88 Mike Alcaro 12. #66 Dusty Davis 13. #99 Nick Pistone 14. #2 Jimmy Norman 15. #9 Will Prance 16. #20 Cameron Patrick 17. #41 Daniel Sossoman 18. #33 Rette Causey 19. #28 James Edsall 20. #111 Darren Sherwood 21. #48 Jimmy Heavlow 22. #77 Dylan Ames 23. #11 Chris Lemonds MASTERS 1. #1 Hoyt Demis 2. #14 Johnny Sossoman 3. #00x Tim Brockhouse 4. #29 Clay Hair 5. #8 Larry Friddle 6. #17 Ira Laughy 7. #87 Darrell Vance 8. #65 Gary Bursey 9. #00 Chris Weddle 10. #81 Cy Harvey 11. #20 Doug Dugger 12. #9 Carlos Moore 13. #29N Roger Austin 14. #42 Robert Merino 15. #8E Scotty Edwards 16. #15 Marty Griffin 17. #21 Dean Kretschmar 18. #13 Jackie Ryan 19. #16 Joe Graf 20. #55 Kevin Foisy 21. #06 Rick Wetmore CHARGERS 1. #80 Blake Jones 2. #95 Josh Morris 3. #33 Dave Simile 4. #97 Evan Finley 5. #49 Chris Young 6. #54 Zach Harris 7. #81 Tyler Mullins 8. #51 Roger Englund 9. #17 A.J. "Andy" Yoder 10. #777 Dylan Barbosa 11. #4 Matt Wallace 12. #50 Ted Ruffo Have an opinion on this story? Post a message on our Message Board! or Email KARNACto send a letter to the editor!