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CLOUSER BREAKS STREAK WITH PRO LM WIN SATURDAY NIGHT AT NEW SMYRNA SPEEDWAY
There had been a different winner in each Pro Late Model race held so far this
season at New Smyrna Speedway... until this Saturday night when Rich Clouser
drove to his second consecutive victory on the high-banked half mile.
A nice field of Pro Lates were on hand including Wellington's Garrett Jones
who was making his first appearance here since the World Series in February.
Jones appeared to have the car to beat as he set quick time at 17.990, the
only driver to break the the 18 second mark as qualifying was held while
temperatures were still close to 90 degrees. Anthony Cataldi was second quick
at 18.036 seconds followed by Clouser's 18. 048 lap. Jones drew a four pill
for the inversion placing fourth fast timer Ricky Anderson on the pole and
Clouser on the outside of row one.
Clouser quickly made his way to the lead as the green flag flew and began to
build up a substantial lead while Anderson held tough in second. Jones never
seemed to show the speed he did in qualifying and he began to fall back before
pulling off the track with mechanical problems on lap 18.
The man on the move in the early going was David Rogers who came from his
seventh starting position to second and was closing on Clouser when the first
caution flag of the event flew on lap 30 as Clayton Castetter spun into the
turn one wall. Rogers' car failed top come up to speed on the restart and he
fell back to fourth as Anderson was still looking good but being challenged by
both Tyler Thomas and Will Carroll who was up from ninth on the grid.
A spate of yellow-flag-itis began on lap 36 as Cataldi spun in turn two with
out hitting anything, pitted for a quick check and returned to the back of the
restart line-up. Only one more lap could be completed before Jarrett Snowden
found himself hard in the turn three wall backwards and the damage was enough
to put him out of the running. The final caution came out on lap 39 as Cody
Blair ended his evening up against the turn one wall.
Clouser easily led the remaining eleven laps as Thomas, the young driver from
Oklahoma driving the Tim Russell Driver Development car, ran a solid second
over the final few laps but had nothing for Clouser's Sanford Auto Dealer's
Exchange special. Car owner Bobby Sears, despite winning here two weeks ago,
said before the races began that the team had made wholesale changes to the
car and apparently they worked just fine as the Deland driver became the first
to wheel into victory lane for a second time in the Pro Late Model division
this year.
Rogers came back to nab the final spot on the podium with Anderson steady in
fourth ahead of Chad Pierce who made a late charge to grab fifth place. Sixth
through tenth were Daniel Miller, Michael Lira, Carroll, Zach Jarrell and
Ricardo Flores. Completing the finishing field were Cataldi, Blair, Snowden,
Castetter, Jerry Symons, Noah Cornman and Jones.
Jarrett Korpi took the lead from Junior Beckner following a lap 11 restart and
raced to his seventh E-Modified feature win of the year along with padding his
already big points lead. The race was a bit "choppy" with four cautions over
the 25-lap stretch but nothing bothered Korpi as the young driver from Deltona
dominated the second half of the event as he took the checker in front of
Beckner who posted his best E-Mod finish of the year. Chris Brannon took
third spot while Cody Blair ended up fourth despite numerous pit stops while
the caution was out after he himself brought out the first yellow flag when
his car stalled on the fourth circuit.
Matt Wheeler took fifth at the checker trailed by Jim Higginbotham, Jon
Compagnone, Mike Dahm, Matthew Green and George Dahm. Matthew Green won the
heat race but spun twice during the feature as his car appeared to just "lock
up" and it would not fire back up after the second spin.
When drivers hit the wall at New Smyrna Speedway, the wall always wins the
battle but don't tell that to several Mini Stock drivers who gave it a try
and, as usual, lost the contest.
The Mini Stock 25-lap feature was a crazy one from the get-go as David Russell
led the first four laps before heat winner Jason Reynolds took over and led
three laps before a high-flying Tyler Simpson breezed to the point. Lap nine
saw Daniel Brown go for a spin to bunch up the field for a restart. The field
continued to dice it out with Simpson holding the lead until Reynolds spun
coming off turn four on lap 19 and pounded the inside wall on the front
stretch doing some major damage to his machine.
On the restart Simpson and second-running Pat Well made contact coming off
turn two sending Wells hard into the back stretch wall in what was the worst
hit of the night. Point leader Wells was OK but none to pleased with Simpson
who also was forced out of the event with damage including a busted radiator.
That returned Russell to the lead and he held on the remaining five laps to
post his first win since opening night despite a car that was pushing badly
off the corners.
Reid Christiensen appeared to have turned what has so far been a dismal season
around by finishing second but he was set down in post race tech for having
too much left side weight. Brad Blanton, despite spinning out to bring out
the final caution of the race with two laps to go, still ended up in second
place after charging hard from the back of the field and taking advantage of
Christiensen's DQ. Jeff White, Daniel Brown and Mark Broat were third through
fifth and the only other cars running at the end of the race other than
Michael Seay who was testing an SCCA-legal car and was placed at the tail end
of the cars that started the race. Simpson was credited with sixth ahead of
Wells, Reynolds, Seay and Christiensen. Jeff Firestine and Ted Vulpius were
unable to start the feature.
Butch Herdegen finally had a chance to wheel his own car in the Super Stock
feature and came home the winner after his machine had already picked up two
victories this year with veteran Mike Trocki at the helm.
Heat winner Jeff Colburn got tapped from behind going into turn one on the
initial start triggering a melee that saw both Michael Bedient and Mike Dahm
hit the wall eliminating both. Colburn made a quick pit stop to check on
damage as well. Herdegen jumped out front on the start and led all 25 laps
slowed only by a lap four caution for a spinning Justin Spears. Shannon Kelly
came home second while Colburn rebounded for third in front of Mike Amato and
Preston Hunt. Becca Samsoe, George Dahm, Spears, Mike Dahm and Bedient
rounded out the top ten. Zachary Curtis did not start the feature after
suffering engine failure in the heat race.
Warren Howie of Pompano Beach won his third Strictly Stock feature of the year
outrunning heat winner Jimmy Barron and Aaron Overman.
Next Saturday night the Open Modifieds and E-Modified classes will combine to
run the Billy Gunn Memorial, a 50-lap event. Also on the card will be the
Sportsman Cars, Mini Stocks, Super Stocks and Strictly Stocks.
There had been a different winner in each Pro Late Model race held so far this
season at New Smyrna Speedway... until this Saturday night when Rich Clouser
drove to his second consecutive victory on the high-banked half mile.
A nice field of Pro Lates were on hand including Wellington's Garrett Jones
who was making his first appearance here since the World Series in February.
Jones appeared to have the car to beat as he set quick time at 17.990, the
only driver to break the the 18 second mark as qualifying was held while
temperatures were still close to 90 degrees. Anthony Cataldi was second quick
at 18.036 seconds followed by Clouser's 18. 048 lap. Jones drew a four pill
for the inversion placing fourth fast timer Ricky Anderson on the pole and
Clouser on the outside of row one.
Clouser quickly made his way to the lead as the green flag flew and began to
build up a substantial lead while Anderson held tough in second. Jones never
seemed to show the speed he did in qualifying and he began to fall back before
pulling off the track with mechanical problems on lap 18.
The man on the move in the early going was David Rogers who came from his
seventh starting position to second and was closing on Clouser when the first
caution flag of the event flew on lap 30 as Clayton Castetter spun into the
turn one wall. Rogers' car failed top come up to speed on the restart and he
fell back to fourth as Anderson was still looking good but being challenged by
both Tyler Thomas and Will Carroll who was up from ninth on the grid.
A spate of yellow-flag-itis began on lap 36 as Cataldi spun in turn two with
out hitting anything, pitted for a quick check and returned to the back of the
restart line-up. Only one more lap could be completed before Jarrett Snowden
found himself hard in the turn three wall backwards and the damage was enough
to put him out of the running. The final caution came out on lap 39 as Cody
Blair ended his evening up against the turn one wall.
Clouser easily led the remaining eleven laps as Thomas, the young driver from
Oklahoma driving the Tim Russell Driver Development car, ran a solid second
over the final few laps but had nothing for Clouser's Sanford Auto Dealer's
Exchange special. Car owner Bobby Sears, despite winning here two weeks ago,
said before the races began that the team had made wholesale changes to the
car and apparently they worked just fine as the Deland driver became the first
to wheel into victory lane for a second time in the Pro Late Model division
this year.
Rogers came back to nab the final spot on the podium with Anderson steady in
fourth ahead of Chad Pierce who made a late charge to grab fifth place. Sixth
through tenth were Daniel Miller, Michael Lira, Carroll, Zach Jarrell and
Ricardo Flores. Completing the finishing field were Cataldi, Blair, Snowden,
Castetter, Jerry Symons, Noah Cornman and Jones.
Jarrett Korpi took the lead from Junior Beckner following a lap 11 restart and
raced to his seventh E-Modified feature win of the year along with padding his
already big points lead. The race was a bit "choppy" with four cautions over
the 25-lap stretch but nothing bothered Korpi as the young driver from Deltona
dominated the second half of the event as he took the checker in front of
Beckner who posted his best E-Mod finish of the year. Chris Brannon took
third spot while Cody Blair ended up fourth despite numerous pit stops while
the caution was out after he himself brought out the first yellow flag when
his car stalled on the fourth circuit.
Matt Wheeler took fifth at the checker trailed by Jim Higginbotham, Jon
Compagnone, Mike Dahm, Matthew Green and George Dahm. Matthew Green won the
heat race but spun twice during the feature as his car appeared to just "lock
up" and it would not fire back up after the second spin.
When drivers hit the wall at New Smyrna Speedway, the wall always wins the
battle but don't tell that to several Mini Stock drivers who gave it a try
and, as usual, lost the contest.
The Mini Stock 25-lap feature was a crazy one from the get-go as David Russell
led the first four laps before heat winner Jason Reynolds took over and led
three laps before a high-flying Tyler Simpson breezed to the point. Lap nine
saw Daniel Brown go for a spin to bunch up the field for a restart. The field
continued to dice it out with Simpson holding the lead until Reynolds spun
coming off turn four on lap 19 and pounded the inside wall on the front
stretch doing some major damage to his machine.
On the restart Simpson and second-running Pat Well made contact coming off
turn two sending Wells hard into the back stretch wall in what was the worst
hit of the night. Point leader Wells was OK but none to pleased with Simpson
who also was forced out of the event with damage including a busted radiator.
That returned Russell to the lead and he held on the remaining five laps to
post his first win since opening night despite a car that was pushing badly
off the corners.
Reid Christiensen appeared to have turned what has so far been a dismal season
around by finishing second but he was set down in post race tech for having
too much left side weight. Brad Blanton, despite spinning out to bring out
the final caution of the race with two laps to go, still ended up in second
place after charging hard from the back of the field and taking advantage of
Christiensen's DQ. Jeff White, Daniel Brown and Mark Broat were third through
fifth and the only other cars running at the end of the race other than
Michael Seay who was testing an SCCA-legal car and was placed at the tail end
of the cars that started the race. Simpson was credited with sixth ahead of
Wells, Reynolds, Seay and Christiensen. Jeff Firestine and Ted Vulpius were
unable to start the feature.
Butch Herdegen finally had a chance to wheel his own car in the Super Stock
feature and came home the winner after his machine had already picked up two
victories this year with veteran Mike Trocki at the helm.
Heat winner Jeff Colburn got tapped from behind going into turn one on the
initial start triggering a melee that saw both Michael Bedient and Mike Dahm
hit the wall eliminating both. Colburn made a quick pit stop to check on
damage as well. Herdegen jumped out front on the start and led all 25 laps
slowed only by a lap four caution for a spinning Justin Spears. Shannon Kelly
came home second while Colburn rebounded for third in front of Mike Amato and
Preston Hunt. Becca Samsoe, George Dahm, Spears, Mike Dahm and Bedient
rounded out the top ten. Zachary Curtis did not start the feature after
suffering engine failure in the heat race.
Warren Howie of Pompano Beach won his third Strictly Stock feature of the year
outrunning heat winner Jimmy Barron and Aaron Overman.
Next Saturday night the Open Modifieds and E-Modified classes will combine to
run the Billy Gunn Memorial, a 50-lap event. Also on the card will be the
Sportsman Cars, Mini Stocks, Super Stocks and Strictly Stocks.