IT'S TIME TO RACE!!

November 15, 2009 Rogers tops Super Lates, Boyd takes Modifieds at New Smyrna Speedway by Andy Sandall - FASCAR Media The 2009 season may be winding down, and both fans and racers alike may have their eyes firmly on the upcoming Governor's Cup weekend, but there was no shortage of action, incidents and controversy at New Smyrna on a long Saturday night that saw twin 50 lap races and a surprise celebrity cameo in one division. A field of 80 cars split across 6 divisions ensured there was plenty of on-track action for the hardy spectators who braved the cool evening to see the division championships slowly beginning to work themselves to a conclusion. Those that managed to make it through to the end of the night had seen some exciting, door-to-door racing, but mainly a night punctuated by some big wrecks leaving a number of cars needing serious rebuilds before their next trip to the track, and leaving the clean-up and wrecker crews thoroughly deserving a long, relaxing Sunday to recover from their exertions the night before. The opening Modified division race gave little indication of the incidents to come, being completed without a caution after an initial false start for the #22 of Jason Boyd getting an absolute flyer coming out of turn 4 to take the hastily recalled green flag having already blown past the front row of cars. With a proper restart achieved at the next attempt Boyd was able to repeat his feat without much resistance, sailing into the lead by the exit of turn 2, and brining #4B Alan Bruns and #15 James Tucker with him. This lead pack of 3 cars soon raced into a healthy lead over the field and managed to navigate through the slower traffic with few problems, giving Boyd a comfortable win by the whole length of the straights, followed by Bruns who managed to gain the advantage in his race for 2nd spot with Tucker. The Pro-Truck race raised interest once it was announced that it featured radio celebrity Bubba ‘The Love Sponge' Clem, piloting Anthony Sergi's spare truck and running as the #20x. It was the truck's regular driver, Anthony Sergi in the #20, who would eventually be the story of the race, but not before he had joined a lead group of trucks that also featured #11K Dennis Gardner and #17 Colby Clements in the battle for the lead up at the front. Clements made most of the early running, with Sergi tightly behind him on his rear bumper, and when the first caution of the race came out for a spun-out truck right at the halfway point in the race the restart gave Sergi the chance to out-drag his rival in the #11K for the green flag and take what would be a decisive lead. In the middle of the field, Clem was proving he was more than just a novelty in this race, driving competently to hold his position at the back of the lead group in 7th place, but as the race began to reach its final laps, and the racing for places became a little more desperate and with more contact, he noticeably pulled back to avoid trouble and would finish in last place having more than held his own for a large portion of the race's 25 laps. Up at the front the checkered flag was taken by Sergi, winning comfortably ahead of Gardner in the #11K. Last up before the interval and the burrito eating contest on the start line came the Super Late Models, running out for a 35 lap feature race and a last chance to tune up and get some meaningful track time before the coming week's Governor's Cup race weekend. Right from the start the drivers showed that saving their cars for the upcoming big show wasn't on their agenda as they went three-wide into turn, seeing #34 Shaughn McCormick spinning out and being narrowly missed by the pursuing cars. Once restarted the field settled down with the fast group of #11 David Rogers, #9 Rich Clouser and #38 Kevin Dicks building a healthy lead over the field out at the front. A restart for an incident between McCormick and #02 Mike Finn bunched the field back together and gave Rogers the jump over his rivals and a chance to drive in the clean air and build a commanding lead to leave Clouser and Dicks fighting hard for second. With no more cautions to restack the field Rogers was able to take the checkered flag for the win without further incident, Clouser following behind after winning the battle for the runners-up spot. Three divisions down and three more to go, including back-to-back 50 lap features for the Mini-stocks and Super Stocks, and as things were going so well surely the evening was set-up perfectly for a swift, incident-free race night? What followed tested the limits of the fans and drivers alike, saw the wrecker and clean-up crews spending nearly as much time on the track as the drivers themselves, and saw the evening's final division, the Strictly Stocks, battling to complete their feature race on the same day as it started. First up after the break came the Mini-stocks, an often overlooked class on an evening's racing schedule but one that regularly provides great entertainment with evenly matched fields rarely giving a predictable finish. A big field of 20 drivers made it out for this rare chance to take the spotlight, and it took just one lap for the race to erupt. Racing three wide down the front straight the contact between the pack of cars was obvious to the fans in the main stand, and could only lead to one outcome, which duly played itself out as #20 Jefferson Pittsley, #0 Chad Rose and #55 Greg Kopp all got way too close as they maneuvered for position into turn 1. With all four cars getting badly out of shape it was Rose who went hard into the pit-lane wall, taking Pittsley with him and seeing Ervin slamming into the outside wall and rolling into the entrance to turn 1. Other cars had to take emergency avoiding action, with Seay's #10 spinning out and managing to avoid further contact. Ultimately this involved 7 cars with 3 needing rides on the back of the wrecker, their evening's racing done without a single lap on the books, and a 4th car -the #4 of Dennis Colletti - not managing to survive the long caution period and pulling off just before the restart in a cloud of smoke. As the contact that caused the incident was ruled to have started on the exit of turn 4 of the opening lap a full restart was called for, but with so many of the lead cars now out of the picture the front rows had changed to put pre-race favorite #81 Cody Blair on the second row, alongside the #85X of Rex Hollinger, and needing to find a way past #3 Buddy Sizemore and #37 Brandon McSwain if he wanted to go for the win. Blair was soon able to find the speed to make his way into the lead, and aided by a further caution and restart was able to pull clear of the chasing pack, although most eyes by this point were noticing the #8X of Robbie Yoakam. His red #8X was now quickly moving up through the field, having started back in 15th position but was already in a position to challenge for the minor placings with Hollinger, #19 Rick Maguire and #31 David Russell. A long green flag run allowed Yoakam to work his way out of the midfield and cement himself firmly into 2nd position, but with Blair so far ahead it looked like an impossible task to get anywhere near close enough to be considered in a race for the lead. Meanwhile the 50 lap format and the long green flag run was contributing to the relative pace of the cars to be showing, and as the cars began to string out all around the track the race moved into its main phase with small battles for places developing and lapped traffic becoming the main concern, keeping flagman Ralph Miller and his blue flag busy. With an obvious pace advantage over the rest of the remaining cars it was Blair and Yoakam who put on a show by overtaking the slowed cars using both the inside and outside lines, and the leaders had soon lapped the entire field and were overtaking some for a second time. This disparity was demonstrated perfectly with 15 laps to go as Hollinger, Seay and #11 Ray Puglisi went three wide into turn 1, but this overtake comprising of Seay lapping Puglisi, while Hollinger was lapping the #11 for a second time, and the throwback #10 Ford Pinto of Seay for the first time. A scorer's nightmare this may have been, but it gave the spectators small battles to watch being played all over the track for out the remainder of the race. With 5 laps to go only Blair and Yoakam were left on the lead lap, and Blair would take the checkered flag by over half a lap from his nearest rival. James Dixson in the #8 finished comfortably in 3rd place, and the battle for the minor placings that had provided the only closes racing for the majority of the 50 laps saw Sizemore beating out Maguire and Hollinger. Another 50 lap feature to follow in the shape of the Super Stocks, and it was this race that was to provide the biggest hits of the night, seeing less than half of the starters managing to finish the race, and leaving several of the drivers with bent and battered cars needing considerable repairs with just one more week of the points championship left. Right from the green flag the racing was hard, and with plenty of fast cars from the regular New Symrna championship being joined by two of Orlando Speedworld's regulars, #16D David Gould and #52 Bobby Cuddy, the race at the front was packed with fast, experienced racers. From the off it was the #86 of Richard Goodrich, who had shown considerable improvement in recent weeks to run at the front with confidence, battling hard to keep his lead over #16 David Russell, but with the ominous shapes of Jarret Korpi's #211 and Bobby Holley's #56 already working their way through the field from the rear. With 8 laps of the 50 completed the key moment of the race came, with the faster cars now racing hard at the front and jostling for position. By now Holley and Goodrich were up at the front, Goodrich's higher line giving him the speed he needed to keep up alongside Holley on the inside, but the addition of #51 Butch Herdegen into the mix on the exit from turn 4 meant something had to give. It did - contact between the lead three cars saw Goodrich push hard into the front straightaway wall, riding up high onto the wall in a shower of sparks, his momentum carrying him all the way into turn 1. The safety crews rushed out after what was one of the hardest hits the track had seen in a number of weeks, and a lengthy caution followed that saw Goodrich needing an ambulance ride back to the pits to be checked out, his car wrecked, and a major clean-up needed along the front straight before racing could continue. Thankfully Goodrich was soon back in the pits and walking around, albeit with a very sore neck and a badly wrecked front end to his #86 car. After such a long caution the reliability of the Super Stocks became a factor, and right from the restart another long stoppage followed when the #52 of Bobby Cuddy, making the trip north just one night after being driven to a 50 lap win and the division championship at Orlando by brother Billy Cuddy, suffered a mechanical failure going into the first turn, riding high up and into the wall in turn 2. Another long yellow flag caution period was needed to remove the orange Monte Carlo from the wall, with still just 8 laps in the books. Finally the green flag was again waved and the race settled down for something of a calm period, but with a large group of fast cars up at the front seemingly evenly matched for speed. Korpi in the #211 and Holley were able to get out in front and develop something of a lead over the others, but behind them the battle was still raging for the 3rd place and, more importantly, a clear track to chase down the leaders. The calmness surely couldn't last long, and inevitably by lap 22 an attempt to lap slower traffic by #15X Cody Blair saw the #29C of John Cummins Jr spin out and be hit hard in the door by David Russell Sr in the #61. Another caution whittled the field down even further as the long night and endless slow laps behind the pace truck saw cars going up in smoke and developing all manner of mechanical issues, and so by the time the half-distance flags were waved only 10 cars were left on the track, 2 of which had spent long spells in pit lane for running repairs. With ten laps to go the race was entering its final stages, but there was still all to play for as the lead group of 6 cars had all proven they had the ability to win races around the New Smyrna track. Korpi was still holding on for the lead ahead of Herdegen, with Holley and Scott Smith in the #01 close behind in a battle of their own, before a spin on what was now a slick surface by #16 Russell put all the main contenders back together for should have been a short sprint for the checkered flag. Of course, on this night that just wasn't going to happen and the restart lap saw Holley and Smith spinning out in turn 4, thankfully catching their cars before they could hit the walls, but scattering the field behind them as they took avoiding action. Another green flag and by now cars were slipping and sliding all over the track, Holley in particular getting sideways out of every turn, clipping #15 Michael Wooford with 6 laps to go, sending him down into the inside wall, and bringing out the pace truck yet again. Now with only three laps remaining the race finally played itself out to a conclusion, but again the scarcity of grip on what was now becoming a dangerously slippery track thanks to the cold weather and moist nighttime air played a major role in the finish of the race. After leading for much of the race Korpi got badly out of shape in turn 2, letting Herdegen, Holley and Smith slip under him and relegate him to 4th place. Herdegen was able to ride out the late challenges to deservedly take the win in what had been a long, hard race, with Holley beating out Korpi in a drag race to the finish line to take 2nd place. By now the time was well past 11 o'clock and with one race still to go the few remaining spectators who had decided to stay right until the bitter end really needed a quick, incident-free Strictly Stock feature race. Anyone who knows this class and how they race knew how unlikely that truly was, and as night inevitably follows day it took just half a lap for the #88 of Robert Pence to fail to cope with the pressure being exerted by William Hindman's #89x and straight-line across turn 3 up into the high-banked wall. Thankfully this proved to be the last major wreck of the night, although it wasn't the end of the action for this division as Hindman and Team Hit-N-Run colleague #59 Chris Brannon raced side-by-side for the lead. Brannon would get the advantage over Hindman but with 5 to go being shown from the flag-stand the slick track would claim another victim as Brannon turned himself around in turn 3, forcing the #54 of Cody Whitley to spin himself to avoid the stranded car. The resulting caution saw Hindman and his championship rival Whitley face-to-face on the front row and with the white flag being waved Hindman was holding firm under pressure to stay in the lead. But on a night like this just one lap left meant there was still plenty of time for another incident, and so it was that Hindman was left to take the checkered flag and the win uncontested after Brannon's late charge saw him apparently touch Whitley in turn 3, spinning out the #54 to leave Brannon in 2nd place and relegating Whitley all the way back down to 5th. Miraculously the race had ended and just managed to complete the whole evening's racing before Saturday night turned into Sunday morning, even if Hindman's trademark post-race burnout did take place as the clock's ticked over to midnight. OFFICIAL RESULTS NEW SMYRNA SPEEDWAY NOVEMBER 14, 2009 Super Late - Features Finish Start Car Driver Hometown Race Points 1 6 11 David Rogers Orlando , Fl 40 2 5 9 Rich Clouser Palm Bay, Fl 36 3 3 38 Kevin Dicks Lake City, Fl 32 4 4 34 Shaughn Mccormick Oviedo , Fl 28 5 10 75 Don Keithley St Cloud, Fl 24 6 2 02 Mike Finn Jupiter , Fl 20 7 1 68 Russell Shaw Lakeland , Fl 16 8 9 47 Davey Gibbs Deltona , Fl 12 9 7 13 Frank Alberson Lakeland , Fl 8 10 8 13X Bob Greene Port St., Fl 4 Strictly Stock - Features Finish Start Car Driver Hometown Race Points 1 4 89 William Hindman Orlando , Fl 40 2 10 59 Chris Brannon - 36 3 8 60 Ernie Tumeinello - 32 4 2 21M Maureen Dahm Deltona , Fl 28 5 3 54 Cody Whitley Deltona , Fl 24 6 7 95 Chuck Hill - 20 7 9 13 Tony Candalino - 16 8 6 24 Dalton Strehle Deland , Fl 12 9 1 3 Dustin Higdon Edgewater , Fl 8 10 11 9 Curt Steer - 4 11 5 88 Robert Pence Deltona , Fl 4 Modified - Features Finish Start Car Driver Hometown Race Points 1 3 22 Jason Boyd - 40 2 4 4B Alan Bruns Clermont , Fl 36 3 5 15 James Tucker New Smyrna, Fl 32 4 9 8 Edward Nevin Gainey Ft White, Fl 28 5 7 1 Andy Saffioti - 24 6 6 29 James (joe) Yarborough Apopka , Fl 20 7 8 40 George Murphy Mims , Fl 16 8 2 330 Joe Gerard, Sr. Orlando , Fl 12 9 1 97 Dennis Wheeler New Smyrna, Fl 8 10 10 51 Daniel Webster - 4 11 11 59 Chris Brannon - 4 Trucks - Features Finish Start Car Driver Hometown Race Points 1 8 20 Anthony Sergi Geneva , Fl 40 2 7 11K Dennis Gardner Palm Coast, Fl 36 3 6 17 Colby Clements Vero Beach, Fl 32 4 9 9Z Zachary Donatti Edgewater , Fl 28 5 4 11 Robert Strader Jr Longwood , Fl 24 6 3 24 Bruce Bennett Orlando , Fl 20 7 2 7 Thomas Warnick Ormond Beach, Fl 16 8 5 9 Martin Wolf Jr Edgewater , Fl 12 9 10 32 William Stacy Port Orange, Fl 8 10 1 18X Jason Rosarius Oviedo , Fl 4 11 11 20X Bubba Clem - 4 Super Stock - Features Finish Start Car Driver Hometown Race Points 1 11 51 Butch Herdegen - 40 2 8 56 Bobby Holley Deltona , Fl 36 3 12 211 Jarrett Korpi Deltona , Fl 32 4 13 15X Cody Blair Winterpark , Fl 28 5 1 16D David Gould Melbourne , Fl 24 6 6 53 Charles Kopach Minneola , Fl 20 7 2 15 Michael Wofford Edgewater , Fl 16 8 16 21D Mike Dahm New Smyrna, Fl 12 9 4 16 David Russell Enterprise , Fl 8 10 3 61 David Russell Sr Debary , Fl 4 11 7 29C John Cummins Jr - 4 12 15 14 Geno Smith Deltona , Fl 4 13 10 86 Richard Goodrich New Smyrna, Fl 4 14 17 52 Bobby Cuddy Oviedo , Fl 4 15 14 31 Jt Tippins New Smyrna, Fl 4 16 5 44 Jason Pick Chuluota , Fl 4 17 9 01 Scott Smith Orange City, Fl 0 Mini Stock - Features Finish Start Car Driver Hometown Race Points 1 1 81 Cody Blair Winterpark , Fl 40 2 11 8X Robbie Yoakam Hernando , Fl 36 3 5 8 James Dixson Titusville , Fl 32 4 15 3 Buddy Sizemore - 28 5 10 19 Rick Maguire Williston , Fl 24 6 3 85 Rex Hollinger Titusville , Fl 20 7 18 31 David Russell - 16 8 9 V3 Rex Christensen Port Orange, Fl 12 9 4 10 Michael Seay Longwood , Fl 8 10 14 24 Andy Giammalvo Oviedo , Fl 4 11 20 77 Randy Blakeslee - 4 12 17 11 Ray Puglisi Daytona Beach, Fl 4 13 7 6 Mark Broat Sanford , Fl 4 14 8 37 Brandon Mcswain Auberndale , Fl 4 15 2 32 Jesse Powers Edgewater , Fl 4 16 16 55 Greg Kopp Sanford , Fl 4 17 19 20 Jefferson Pittsley Umatilla , Fl 4 18 12 0 Chad Rose - 4 19 6 4 Dennis Colletti Bradenton , Fl 4 20 13 53 Glen Ervin Williston , Fl 4 Have an opinion on this story? 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