IT'S TIME TO RACE!!

November 16, 2009 Orlando Weekly Recap by Andy Sandall - FASCAR Media A perfect evening for racing saw a small but appreciative crowd in the stands to see the final act of an eventful 2009 Championship Season that had seen to biggest winner being Mother Nature after the summer’s heavy rainfall had effectively split the year’s racing in two. With several of the division championships still up for grabs there was plenty to race for, be it the championship itself or just the opportunity to serve notice of intent to challenge in what will hopefully be a coming 2010 season with less interruptions and rain-outs. A good car count contributed to a fine night’s racing, and the end of season atmosphere saw some interesting additions to the fields of some divisions. William Hindman ended his Orlando season by putting a set of slick tires on the #89x that regularly runs in the Strictly Stock races to see how it would fare with the big-boys of the Super Stock division. In the tight Mini-stock division there was also a rare appearance by Late Model driver Michael Seay who literally blew the cobwebs off his rarely seen Ford mini-stock, sporting a rear spoiler that looked like he’d borrowed the take-off ramp from a US Navy aircraft carrier, to put in a creditable performance in a tense, championship-deciding race. As always the evening started off with the combined Bandolero race, and this fittingly ended with the #17 of Mark Hooven taking the checkered flag ahead of the #54 of Tanner Cornwell, a result that confirmed the two drivers as champions of the ‘Young Gun’ and ‘Bandolero Bandit’ divisions respectively. Qualifying for the night’s main event, the Super Stock 50 sponsored by Mannheim Central Florida, came before the racing proper began, and this was enough to provide some of the intrigue and controversy that was to follow later as the drivers jostled for grid position in this highly competitive division. With qualifying, the parade lap and national anthem out of the way the first feature race of the evening was soon upon us as the Legends Cars made their way out onto the track. Despite the #99 of Alex Kempf having seemingly visited the winner’s circle in every race this year his championship lead was just 20 points over #54 Zach Harris, who had done a great job in securing second place in most of the races to never let Kempf get too far ahead. Starting back on the 3rdthst turn. Despair turned to hope as a glance around the track showed the #99 had met a similar fate, and having made it around the first corner was now cruising down the back straightaway, rolling to a halt going into turn 3. Both cars managed to get a push back to the pits and were able to take the green flag but again the #54 car failed to respond and retired to effectively end Harris’s bid for the title as Kempf sailed away through the pack and up into 3rd. and 4 row respectively the two points leaders were soon in the middle of the action and giving an indication of the race to come as Kempf turned Harris from the start, bringing everyone back to try again. A second attempt met with more success but with just one lap completed the #54 lost power as he tried to accelerate through the start line, grinding to a halt on the bandolero track in the 1 With the championship now in the bag, Kempf and his silver #99 were still at the center of the action – and the controversy – as the race played itself out to a conclusion for the season. Maybe it was the number on the car he was chasing down that inspired him to race so hard, but as Kempf closed in on the leading #54B of Brandon Thomson he made hard contact and turned the race leader going into turn 4, spinning him out. Obviously unhappy with what he saw as a deliberate move, the #54B raced around to hit Kempf hard in the door under the caution, only succeeding in pushing the #99 straight into the hapless #4 car that was going low on the track to avoid the fracas – a car that was ironically being driven by Russ Thomson, the father of #54B’s driver! The impact saw #4 rise up over the wheel arches of #99 and land so hard it needed a tow off the track, its racing finished for the season, while both the #54B and #99 would play no further part in the race, Thomson being DQ’d for the deliberate hit and Kempf being black flagged for his part in the incident. With the mess on the track sorted out and the culprits back in the pits the race ran to its conclusion with the #12 of Critter Saille getting out at the front and never looking back, although if he had he would have seen a good battle in his mirrors between the chasing cars. Saille would take the checkered flag with a handy lead over the pack, with the #06 of Rick Wetmore pulling away in the closing laps to take 2nd and secure 3rd place in the points championship. The Sportsman cars were next up in the packed program for the evening, This race saw some of the hardest driving of the night, with the #61 of Bobby Simcox receiving a warning midway through the race to tone his driving down a little or risk a black flag, but not before the crowd had been treated to some bumper-to-bumper and door-scraping action as the evenly matched lead group of cars put on a show. With all the cars seemingly struggling for grip the racing was close, and saw Simcox, #4 Timmy Todd Jr and #20 Justin Reynolds running each other hard and pushing the limits of the traction that was available. And so it was that an inevitable caution flag came out when Reynolds pushed just too hard on an attempted overtake of Simcox, resulting in the #20 spinning out and being sent to the back. With the cars bunched back up for the restart Todd was left trying to get past the #20S of Ron DiCandio to reclaim a place, but an attempted slide up the inside going into turn 3 saw both cars hook together and drive each other onto the infield before separating and bringing out the yellow flag. DiCandio was able to restart, albeit with massive damage to his bodywork, while Todd was able to rejoin the race after a quick trip to the pits to replace a damaged tire. The green flag saw Simcox and the #66 of track champion Andy Nicholls away at the front and racing hard, and although Nicholls was able to apply plenty of pressure on the remaining laps, his attempts to finish his season with a win were denied by Simcox’s blocks. The #61 was able to cross the finish line to take the win with the #66 finally settling for a well-earned 2nd place. The tightest championship race of the season was without doubt in the Mini-stock division, with last week’s race putting the #31 of David Russell and the #92 of Pedie Allison level on points and leaving them with a single, winner-takes-all shootout race to decide who would be the track champion. The potential spoiler for the race came in the shape of Rex ‘Boneman’ Hollinger, who both points leaders needed to get around once he was confirmed as the pole-sitter for the race, and who had proven in recent races had the pace in his #85 car to take the checkered flag himself. From the green flag the Boneman showed he would be no pushover and that the cars behind him would have to earn their points if they wanted to take home a trophy, with the #85 getting out to small lead ahead of Russell’s #31 before a spin-out at the rear brought the pace car out to bunch the cars back up. An aborted attempt at a restart was followed by a green flag that saw Russell taking the outside line and slowly pulling his way past Hollinger into the lead, with the #92 of Allison pushing hard from behind. As the race developed it was Allison who began to see his championship dreams fading as he struggled to find the pace to overtake the #85, but knowing that both cars were keeping pace with Russell’s #31 at the front and that his lead was far from unassailable. As the laps began to count down Allison pushed harder and harder, before one last attempt to dive down the outside of Hollinger saw him get out of shape down the front straight and drop back far enough to know his championship ambitions were over. The #85 began to claw back the lead of #31 in the closing laps, getting his nose alongside the rear quarter of his rival in the race for the checkered flag, but Russell was not to be denied and took the division championship with a measured, tactical drive in the final race of the year. A small field of Late Models came out for their season’s finale, seeing a good 4-car race up at the front to end the year for this division. The early action saw the #111 of Donny Williams and the #55 of Todd Allen racing for the lead, with the #19 of Bobby Good and the #4B of Alan Bruns having their own battle for 3rd. It was this secondary battle that provided the first incident of the race as contact between Bruns and Good saw the #19 spin out down the front straight, skid across the infield grass and come to rest just inside the 1st turn. These four cars continued to race hard in their last outing at Orlando of the year, seeing Allen leading from the front and Good slowly working his way past Bruns and Williams into 2nd place, getting right onto his rear bumper by the 5-to-go signal. As is often the case it was left to the lapped traffic to have one final say in the result, and so it was with this race as the leaders came across a slower car with 3 laps to go. Facing one last back-marker to deal with, Allen managed to get past with no problems, but Good lost just enough time in getting past to allow the #55 to take the win by a couple of car lengths, confirming his 2nd place in the division championship behind Bruns. One more race before the interval and this saw the Pro-Trucks out on the track for a short blast sandwiched between last week’s 100-lapper at New Smyrna Speedway and the upcoming 200 lap Charity Truckers race at Orlando. The early running was made by the #63 of Zach Curtis, with the #20 of Anthony Sergi coming strongly through the pack to race hard with the #00 of Whitney Poole and take the 2nd spot. Sergi was soon pushing for the lead, and saw his chance to move inside and take the front spot coming around turn 1, making contact with the #63 as they powered out of turn 2. This contact obviously dislodged something in the engine compartment of the #63 as flames suddenly leapt from under the hood of the overtaken truck, seeing Curtis scrambling for safety as the fire crew raced to the scene. Curtis was OK, and the race was able to resume after a lengthy caution period to clear up the fluids dropped onto the track in the fire. From the restart the #20 pulled away, followed by the #96 of Ben Kennedy and the #37 of Nick Hernandez, and with 10 laps to go it was Kennedy right on the rear bumper of Sergi at the front of the race, with Poole’s #00 racing hard with #55 of Scott Reeves in the middle of the pack to add to the excitement for the fans. This fight for 5th place erupted when the #55 touched the wall down the back straight, pushing his car into Poole and leaving her no option but to straight-line across the bandolero track in turn 3, taking out the unfortunate #18 of Jason Rosarius as she scooted across and back up onto the track. All the trucks involved were able to continue, and the race played out with Kennedy chasing Sergi hard up at the front, but being unable to make a move stick and leaving Sergi to take the win by a couple of car lengths. The interval gave the fans a chance to stretch their legs and get themselves refreshments ready for the drama that was to follow in the Super Stock 50 immediately after the break. With the qualifying complete and a complete field invert announced, fans were surprised to see the #52 of points leader Billy Cuddy still at the front of the field, having put in a couple of qualifying laps that were well off the pace of the rest of the cars, and particularly compared to the cars he usually runs with at the front. Regardless of whether this was a deliberate tactical interpretation of the rules or not, it really made little difference as the race would ultimately see the cream of the division soon racing at the front for the vast majority of the laps, and the final results being decided as much in the tech shed as they were out on the track. With the #52 up at the front and the field inverted it took little time for the faster cars to carve their way through the field, and by the first caution of the race it was championship rivals Billy Cuddy and the #16D of David Gould up on the front row, with the #211 of Jarrett Korpi and #64 of Bobby Cuddy already up close behind them. The restart saw the #51 of Butch Herdegen and the #01 of Scott Smith joining the party up at the front, and further cautions in quick succession saw the lead group of cars all pushed together to battle at the restarts while the #316 of Joe Bandur was black-flagged and sent to the pits for being the cause of 3 cautions in quick succession. Plenty of racing to go, and with Billy and Bobby Cuddy making up the front row it was left to Korpi to work his way past the #64 and start to claw into the lead of the #52. With the half-distance flags displayed the lead group of five cars were battling hard up at the front, and with lapped traffic beginning to get in their sights it was obvious that the race was moving into a key period. And so it turned out, as the #211 went around a lapped car but with the #64 trying to steal a march by going underneath and using the bandolero track as way to reclaim a place. This attempted move saw the #64 spin out and bring out a caution that put the #211 and #52 up on the front row for the restart. With the green flag waving it was Billy Cuddy who pulled away, leaving Korpi chasing hard but watching his mirror for Herdegen and Gould who were both chasing him down hard and looking for any opportunity to get past. Gould’s evening, and season at Orlando, would soon be over as with 15 laps to go his #16D began to smoke from the engine down the back straight, taking himself and Bobby Cuddy into the wall in turn 4 and picking up a couple of lapped cars for good measure. Both Cuddy and Gould were able to get back onto the track after quick repairs, but an overheating engine meant Gould’s night was finished and he was quickly back in the pits and loading his car on his trailer. Just 15 laps left and again the #52 of Billy Cuddy was able to get away from the restart and leave the chasing pack in his wake, with the action now right behind him in the form of Herdegen and Korpi battling for 2nd place, and with Smith and the crafty veteran Ron McCreary in the #14 having avoided trouble and slowly moved up into contention should the front-runners get into difficulty. Cuddy continued to lead, but made the race much more interesting when he lost grip coming out of turn 4 with 5 laps to go, getting out of shape and catching his car before it went around, but giving the chasing pack an opportunity to regain some ground on him. As the race entered its final two laps it really was everything to play for, and it was here that Billy Cuddy produced the maneuver of the night – knowing Korpi was looking down his inside and with Herdegen pushing hard from behind, Cuddy took his line coming out of turn 2 to pull alongside a lapped car, leaving Korpi no choice but to back off the gas and lose revs and momentum. The genius of the move was for Cuddy to also blip his throttle just enough to force Herdegen behind him to do the same as they came alongside the lapped #23, and effectively create his own restart for the last lap and a half. With their momentum gone and a lapped car blocking the inside line for him, Cuddy was able to blast away and leave his rivals behind, taking the checkered flag and leaving Korpi to beat Herdegen in a straight drag race for the line to take 2nd place. As always, the night wasn’t over for the Super Stock cars and a lengthy tear-down and tech inspection ensued, which ultimately confirmed Billy Cuddy as the winner of both the race and the points championship for the year. Things didn’t go as well for the #211 of Korpi as he was disqualified to give Herdegen the 2nd place, and pushing Scott Smith and Ron McCreary, who had both provided plenty of entertainment during the race, into the 3rd and 4th places. Still two classes to go before the Orlando season came to an end, and so next out on track were the Open Wheel Modifieds. Just taking the green flag was enough to confirm #30 Mark Emberson as the division champion, and he was soon pushing for the lead right from the start by overtaking the #4B of Alan Bruns. With regular driver Chad Pierce unable to drive due to a hand injury, the #38 car was handed over to SLM points leader Jared Allison, and he was soon able to show the car’s speed by racing through the field and getting up into 2nd place, chasing down the #55 of Shain Held that had led from pole position. Taking the 5 laps to go signal inspired Allison to try the high line and see if that gave him the pace to challenge for the lead, and this proved a wise move as he pulled alongside Held, making contact in turns 1 and 2 before getting open track in front of him to bring the #38 car back to it’s regular place in victory lane, with Held in 2nd and Emberson underlining his championship with a 3rd place ahead of Bruns. Just the Strictly Stocks left, and as always they provided more than enough entertainment for the crowd who stayed on to watch them race. With the whole race taking place in a shroud of smoke provided by the constantly rubbing rear tire of #19 Ricky Solomon Jr, it was the #8 of Neil Kirby who was able to get his Ford Probe out to the front and make the early running, although the real action was taking place at the back of the field as William Hindman’s #89 Lincoln began to reel in the slower cars, and the #6.7 of Todd McCreary expertly picked his way through the pack, using every inch of the track to make his overtakes. Once Hindman and McCreary got alongside each other the fun really began, with both cars looking for a way around the #93 of Bruce Gayton. Hindman was the first to profit as Gayton moved low to block McCreary, leaving the outside line open to the #89. Gayton would soon bring out the caution flags for turning the #24 of Tony Bandur, bunching up the pack and putting the battling McCreary and Hindman up at the front of the field with Kirby. A door-to-door battle saw McCreary getting the advantage by going three-wide into turn 3 and moving into 2nd place with Kirby well and truly in his sights. Now there was a real chance that the final race of the year at Orlando Speedworld could go down as a classic, but with just two laps to go Kirby’s #8 lost grip in turn 2, span out, and left McCreary with nowhere to go, taking both cars up the bank and to the wall. Kirby managed to get clear, but before the #6.7 could restart he was rear-ended by Hindman, sending McCreary back to the pits for a quick repair and leaving Hindman out of the race despite his desperate attempts to prove that he could complete the race even with his hood popped up and totally blocking his windshield. The track officials weren’t convinced, and Hindman was ushered into the pits and wouldn’t return. The crash put the leaders to the rear for the end of the race, which allowed the #9 of Chris Brannon to take advantage and claim a win over the #93 of Gayton with a last lap pass for the checkered flag. OFFICIAL RESULTS ORLANDO SPEEDWORLD NOVEMBER 13, 2009 SUPER STOCK 50 presented by Manheim Central Florida 1. #52 Billy Cuddy 2. #211 Jarrett Korpi 3. #51 Butch Herdegen 4. #01 Scott Smith 5. #14 Ron McCreary 6. #721 John Bennett 7. #57 Woody Strickland 8. #64 Bobby Cuddy 9. #23 Shannon Kelly 10. #7i Scott Edwards 11. #16 David Gould 12. #14x Geno Smith 13. #89 Tim Gallucci 14. #16x David Russell 15. #89x William Hindman 16. #316 Joe Bandur LATE MODELS 1. #55 Todd Allen 2. #19 Bobby Good 3. #111 Donny Williams 4. #4B Alan Bruns 5. #7 Dillon Jackson 6. #1 Zach Harris OPEN WHEEL MODIFIEDS 1. #38 Jared Allison 2. #55 Shain Held 3. #30 Mark Emberson 4. #4B Alan Bruns 5. #72 Matthew Jarrett 6. #8 Randy Froehlich 7. #59 Chris Brannon 8. #97 Kelly Jarrett 9. #05 Mike Murphy TAYLOR RACING PRODUCTS PRO-TRUCKS 1. #20 Anthony Sergi 2. #96 Ben Kennedy 3. #37 Nick Hernandez 4. #00 Whitney Poole 5. #55 Scott Reeves 6. #18x Jason Rosarius 7. #57 David Groah 8. #407 Norman Agostino 9. #63 Zach Curtis SPORTSMAN 1. #61 Bobby Simcox 2. #66 Andy Nicholls 3. #49 Jason Foster 4. #57 Eddie Furtak 5. #20s Ron DiCandio 6. #4 Timmy Todd Jr 7. #44 Ed Michalak 8. #20 Justin Reynolds 9. #14 Billy Bellflower MINI-STOCKS 1. #31 David Russell 2. #85 Rex Hollinger 3. #92 Pedie Allison 4. #15 Casey Loeffler 5. #10 Michael Seay 6. #77 Randy Blakeslee LEGENDS CARS 1. #12 Critter Saille 2. #06 Rick Whetmore 3. #17 Dave Gleason 4. #71 Mason Ketterman 5. #50 Ted Ruffo 6. #51 Roger Englund 7. #6 Jim Rix 8. #99 Alex Kempf 9. #4 Russ Thomson 10. #54 Zach Harris DQ #54B Brandon Thomson STRICTLY STOCKS 1. #9 Chris Brannon 2. #93 Bruce Gayton 3. #00 Steve Daniels 4. #8 Neil Kirby 5. #19 Ricky Solomon Jr 6. #6.7 Todd McCreary 7. #37 Art Hendren 8. #8x Luis Guillen Jr 9. #24 Tony Bandur 10. #89 William Hindman BANDOLERO BANDITS 1. #54 Tanner Cornwell 2. #2 Jonnie Varga 3. #30 Noah Cornman 4. #55 Michael Held BANDOLERO YOUNG GUNS 1. #17 Mark Hooven Have an opinion on this story? Post a message on our Message Board! or Email KARNACto send a letter to the editor!