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CHRISTOPHER BELL WINS GOWLAND MEMORIAL ON FINAL NIGHT OF WORLD SERIES AT NEW
SMYRNA SPEEDWAY
ZANE SMITH, DALTON ARMSTRONG AND TIM MOORE CROWNED CHAMPIONS
Race fans finally got some warmer weather to go along with some red-hot racing
as New Smyrna Speedway wrapped up the 49th annual World Series of Asphalt
Stock Car Racing Saturday night. Both 1961 Daytona 500 winner Marvin Panch
and NASCAR Hall of Fame member Rusty Wallace (representing the sponsor for the
night, Jet Tools) were on hand to greet fans and sign autographs.
Although several teams were done for the week after crashes and mechanical
failures sent them home early, 28 Super Late Models registered for the big
finale of the week, the second annual Bruce Gowland Memorial 100. One driver
expecting big things was Thursday night winner David Garbo, Jr., but his day
and week ended prematurely with a blown engine in practice and his "Flying
Lobster" was loaded in its hauler for the long trip back to Stonington, CT.
Local driver Anthony Sergi turned a few heads in qualifying as the University
of Central Florida student from Oviedo set quick time at 17.615 seconds.
Recent Pete Orr Memorial winner Bobby Good of nearby Lake Mary was making his
only start of the World Series in this event and was second fastest at 17.624
and his lap was tied by Zane Smith of Huntington Beach, CA who came into the
evening as the Super Late Model World Series point leader. Sergi drew an
eight for the inversion placing Daniel Keene, Jr. and Drew Brannon on the
front row for the 100-lap grind.
Before the race could get started, Natalie Decker brought her car on pit road.
The 16-year-old from Eagle River, WI had been impressive, staying out of the
big wrecks and scoring several top-ten finishes, but her night would be over
before it started with a terminal mechanical issue.
Tampa, FL driver Brannon swept his way into the lead at the drop of the green
while Harrison Burton got by Keene for second at the end of lap one. Brannon
was out front but he had a loose exhaust pipe and was being black-flagged when
the pipe fell off to bring out the first caution of the race. Brannon pitted
for repairs but was now at the tail-end of the field.
Burton now had the point and he drew quickly away from Keene on the restart.
Christopher Bell was now on the charge up from his tenth starting spot and he
zipped by Spencer Davis to take over fourth on lap 17. Lap 26 saw the second
yellow flag as Gus Dean looped his car in turn four with David Rogers getting
a piece of him. Rogers pitted to check for damage while both Steve Wallace
and Josh Collins also came in for pit stops.
The restart was a wild one as Bell took second from Keene while Sergi went by
Smith for fourth. Sergi's momentum carried him into the back bumper of Keene
coming off turn two and Keene went for a spin. Both drivers came to pit road
to check for damage and returned while Rogers and Wallace also made another
pit stop. Keene would pit again just after the restart then finally retire
his mount from competition on lap 36.
As the field took the crossed flags for half-way, Denver Foran went for a spin
off the bumper of Rico Abreu to bring out the caution for a third time. At 50
laps the top ten running order was Burton, Bell, Davis, Good, Smith, Garrett
Jones, Alex Labbe, Paul Shafer, Jr., Claire Decker and Brandon Johnson.
Davis moved by Good for third on the restart just before the caution flew
again as Kyle McCallum hit the turn four wall ending his night early. Burton
continued to lead as the field only made it to lap 62 before Josh Collins' car
stalled in turn four for yet another yellow flag. Burton continued to hold
the point while Smith moved by Good into fourth on lap 70 just as Chuck Tuck
went spinning in turn four to bring out the caution one more time.
Smith was on the move and passed Davis for third on the restart. Moments
later, Claire Decker, Good and Sergi tried to go three wide going into turn
three. Both Good and Sergi spun with Sergi getting a good piece of the wall
in the process. Sergi's car was towed off while Good pitted but retired from
the event two laps later.
Bell got a good run and passed Burton for the lead on the restart and began to
set sail, quickly putting some distance between himself and second-running
Burton. Collins stalled again in turn four to bring out the yellow on lap
87.
Bell maintained his lead after the restart and was cruising until Claire
Decker spun and hit the inside wall on the front stretch four laps before the
checker was to fall. Her car was done for the night after what had been her
best effort of the week.
The final race to the finish was all Bell as he took a big win in his Kyle
Busch Motorsports/Toyota Care Camry while his car owner was undergoing surgery
to repair a broken leg suffered during a bad crash in the NASCAR Xfinity race
at Daytona International Speedway just a few hours before. The Norman, OK
driver scored his first major stock car win after a very successful career in
Sprint Cars that even saw him win a World of Outlaws feature in 2014.
Burton took second and was the only driver to score two victories in World
Series Super Late Model competition. Davis came home in third while Smith
took fourth. Smith's overall consistency, plus one win, earned him the 2015
World Series Super Late Model title. He thus became the first driver from
California to score a World Series championship. Garrett Jones finished fifth
and ended up second in points.
Wallace, despite several pit stops for adjustments, took sixth followed by
Paul Shafer, Jr., T. J. Duke, Alex Labbe and Rico Abreu.
Austin Nason of Roscoe, IL backed up his Friday night PPG Architectural
Coatings Pro Late Model victory with quick time on Saturday. Nason's lap of
18.047 seconds was just a bit faster than the 18.089 lap of Ryan Miles. Just
15 cars were on hand as wrecks and engine woes had several teams on the
sidelines by the final night. Nason also drew an eight for the inversion
putting Matt Wallace and Tyler Thomas on row one for the start of the 35-lap
contest.
Wallace jumped out to the early lead only to see Ricky Anderson go for a spin
courtesy of Todd Stone on lap three. Stone was sent to the back of the pack
for the restart. On the restart there was another tangle in turns three and
four with Anderson involved and going for a second spin with the cars of Sarah
McKay and Jordan McCallum also getting damage. McCallum was the only one who
could not continue.
Thomas got by Wallace for the point on lap five while Michael Lira was
charging and passed Dalton Armstrong for third on lap 13. As the race
remained under green, Wallace tracked down Thomas and the pair raced
side-by-side for several laps before Wallace went back up front on lap 25.
Lira got by Thomas for second on lap 27 as Wallace's car started sounding a
bit off, apparently down a cylinder. With Wallace slowing, Lira zoomed by
into the lead and went on to score an apparent popular victory only to see it
taken away in tech due to a weight infraction.
Thomas, who had crossed the stripe in second was thus awarded the win, his
second career victory at New Smyrna since he joined the Tim Russell Driver
Development team early last year. That made it an "Okie sweep" in Late Model
victory lane as Thomas hails from Collinsville, OK and SLM winner Bell is from
Norman.
Dalton Armstrong took second and, paired with his two wins and other good
finishes during the week, claimed the 2015 PPG Architectural Coatings Pro Late
Model World Series championship. Armstrong, the younger brother of NASCAR
driver Dakota Armstrong, thanked his crew in victory lane. "I wouldn't be
here if it wasn't for them. They worked so hard this week and it really paid
off. I can't decribe what it feels like to be standing here," said
Armstrong.
Spencer Davis came home third ahead of Texan Derek Scott, Jr. and Nason who
just could not muster the speed he had the night before. Sixth through tenth
were a fading Wallace, Stone, Sheldon Creed, Larry Gelinas and Grant
Griesbach.
Doug Moff of Ft. Myers topped time trials for the Florida Modified class then
went on to score his third straight win in the 35-lap feature. This one would
go green the entire distance with Kevyn Terry leading the first three circuits
before giving way to Tank Tucker who led six laps before Moff, who started
eighth, breezed by and went on to score the easy victory.
Moff had the best car all week but a series of mechanical failures early-on
doomed his shot at the World Series title. That championship went to Tim
Moore of Pinellas Park who tied Terry in points. Moore won the tiebreaker
because he claimed one win during the week while Terry was shut out of victory
lane. "I've been coming here to the World Series for several years and never
really had much luck," said Moore. "I'm really happy to get this championship
but I feel bad for Kevyn (Terry) as I know he wanted it real bad too. We're
good friends and I know his day will come. It just feels awesome to finally
do this after we've tried so hard for so long," he said.
Moore actually finished third in the race, just behind Tucker and a spot ahead
of Terry. Ricky Moxley was fifth followed by Travis Eddy, Alan Bruns, Matt
Wheeler, Matt Jarrett and Matthew Green.
The Sportsman cars made their one and only appearance of the World Series for
a 50-lap event with 20 cars checking in to do battle, seven of them owned by
Jim Daley of New Hampshire and wrenched out of the Sheppard Racing Enterprises
shop in Deland. Brandon Morris of Mulberry easily topped time trials with his
lap of 19.981 seconds the only one in the 19 second bracket. Junior Beckner
was second fastest at 20.045 followed by Sean Bass' lap of 20.095.
The top ten in qualifying were inverted placing Orlando's Derrick Wood on the
pole with Austin Howell to his outside. Howell nabbed the early advantage
while Bass was the early mover taking third on lap 11 then passing Aaron
Williamson for second on lap 19 only to find himself re-passed in lapped
traffic one circuit later before going back around Williamson again on lap 22.
By this time Morris, who had been biding his time, was up to third and coming
fast.
just as the field took the half-way signal, the first caution flew as Richard
Goodrich spun off turn two. The running order at lap 25 was Howell, Bass,
Morris, Williamson, Dave Helliwell, Beckner, Ron Gustafson, Wood, Robert Kuhn
and Austin Carr.
Morris made quick work of Bass taking second one lap after the restart then
snared the lead from Howell just before Wood and Carr both had separate
problems in turn two to bring out the caution.
Beckner took third from Williamson on lap 28 and closed on Howell. Beckner
got a bit too close on lap 32 sending Howell into a spin placing Beckner at
the back of the restart line-up while Howell got his spot back. After two
more laps of racing, caution flew yet again as R. J. Glaser slowed to a stop
in turn four and at the same time Carr, Gustafson and Helliwell got tangled up
in turn two with Carr out of the running.
Lap 36 saw both Donny Williams and Derrick Wood spin out in separate
incidents. On the restart, Howell got turned around on the front stretch and
was hit head on by Williams. Both were out as were Gustafson and Wood who
also retired during the yellow flag period.
Morris was not to be headed as he drove off for the final win of the 2015
World Series. Bass passed Williamson again on lap 37 but could not track down
the high-flying Morris as the last 14 laps were run under green flag
conditions. Williamson was third sporting a new Disney "Frozen" paint scheme.
Beckner came back for fourth followed by Kuhn, Helliwell, Kenny Dayton, Art
Chambers, Howell and Gustafson as just seven cars were running at the finish.
Full results can be found at www.newsmyrnaspeedway.org.
SMYRNA SPEEDWAY
ZANE SMITH, DALTON ARMSTRONG AND TIM MOORE CROWNED CHAMPIONS
Race fans finally got some warmer weather to go along with some red-hot racing
as New Smyrna Speedway wrapped up the 49th annual World Series of Asphalt
Stock Car Racing Saturday night. Both 1961 Daytona 500 winner Marvin Panch
and NASCAR Hall of Fame member Rusty Wallace (representing the sponsor for the
night, Jet Tools) were on hand to greet fans and sign autographs.
Although several teams were done for the week after crashes and mechanical
failures sent them home early, 28 Super Late Models registered for the big
finale of the week, the second annual Bruce Gowland Memorial 100. One driver
expecting big things was Thursday night winner David Garbo, Jr., but his day
and week ended prematurely with a blown engine in practice and his "Flying
Lobster" was loaded in its hauler for the long trip back to Stonington, CT.
Local driver Anthony Sergi turned a few heads in qualifying as the University
of Central Florida student from Oviedo set quick time at 17.615 seconds.
Recent Pete Orr Memorial winner Bobby Good of nearby Lake Mary was making his
only start of the World Series in this event and was second fastest at 17.624
and his lap was tied by Zane Smith of Huntington Beach, CA who came into the
evening as the Super Late Model World Series point leader. Sergi drew an
eight for the inversion placing Daniel Keene, Jr. and Drew Brannon on the
front row for the 100-lap grind.
Before the race could get started, Natalie Decker brought her car on pit road.
The 16-year-old from Eagle River, WI had been impressive, staying out of the
big wrecks and scoring several top-ten finishes, but her night would be over
before it started with a terminal mechanical issue.
Tampa, FL driver Brannon swept his way into the lead at the drop of the green
while Harrison Burton got by Keene for second at the end of lap one. Brannon
was out front but he had a loose exhaust pipe and was being black-flagged when
the pipe fell off to bring out the first caution of the race. Brannon pitted
for repairs but was now at the tail-end of the field.
Burton now had the point and he drew quickly away from Keene on the restart.
Christopher Bell was now on the charge up from his tenth starting spot and he
zipped by Spencer Davis to take over fourth on lap 17. Lap 26 saw the second
yellow flag as Gus Dean looped his car in turn four with David Rogers getting
a piece of him. Rogers pitted to check for damage while both Steve Wallace
and Josh Collins also came in for pit stops.
The restart was a wild one as Bell took second from Keene while Sergi went by
Smith for fourth. Sergi's momentum carried him into the back bumper of Keene
coming off turn two and Keene went for a spin. Both drivers came to pit road
to check for damage and returned while Rogers and Wallace also made another
pit stop. Keene would pit again just after the restart then finally retire
his mount from competition on lap 36.
As the field took the crossed flags for half-way, Denver Foran went for a spin
off the bumper of Rico Abreu to bring out the caution for a third time. At 50
laps the top ten running order was Burton, Bell, Davis, Good, Smith, Garrett
Jones, Alex Labbe, Paul Shafer, Jr., Claire Decker and Brandon Johnson.
Davis moved by Good for third on the restart just before the caution flew
again as Kyle McCallum hit the turn four wall ending his night early. Burton
continued to lead as the field only made it to lap 62 before Josh Collins' car
stalled in turn four for yet another yellow flag. Burton continued to hold
the point while Smith moved by Good into fourth on lap 70 just as Chuck Tuck
went spinning in turn four to bring out the caution one more time.
Smith was on the move and passed Davis for third on the restart. Moments
later, Claire Decker, Good and Sergi tried to go three wide going into turn
three. Both Good and Sergi spun with Sergi getting a good piece of the wall
in the process. Sergi's car was towed off while Good pitted but retired from
the event two laps later.
Bell got a good run and passed Burton for the lead on the restart and began to
set sail, quickly putting some distance between himself and second-running
Burton. Collins stalled again in turn four to bring out the yellow on lap
87.
Bell maintained his lead after the restart and was cruising until Claire
Decker spun and hit the inside wall on the front stretch four laps before the
checker was to fall. Her car was done for the night after what had been her
best effort of the week.
The final race to the finish was all Bell as he took a big win in his Kyle
Busch Motorsports/Toyota Care Camry while his car owner was undergoing surgery
to repair a broken leg suffered during a bad crash in the NASCAR Xfinity race
at Daytona International Speedway just a few hours before. The Norman, OK
driver scored his first major stock car win after a very successful career in
Sprint Cars that even saw him win a World of Outlaws feature in 2014.
Burton took second and was the only driver to score two victories in World
Series Super Late Model competition. Davis came home in third while Smith
took fourth. Smith's overall consistency, plus one win, earned him the 2015
World Series Super Late Model title. He thus became the first driver from
California to score a World Series championship. Garrett Jones finished fifth
and ended up second in points.
Wallace, despite several pit stops for adjustments, took sixth followed by
Paul Shafer, Jr., T. J. Duke, Alex Labbe and Rico Abreu.
Austin Nason of Roscoe, IL backed up his Friday night PPG Architectural
Coatings Pro Late Model victory with quick time on Saturday. Nason's lap of
18.047 seconds was just a bit faster than the 18.089 lap of Ryan Miles. Just
15 cars were on hand as wrecks and engine woes had several teams on the
sidelines by the final night. Nason also drew an eight for the inversion
putting Matt Wallace and Tyler Thomas on row one for the start of the 35-lap
contest.
Wallace jumped out to the early lead only to see Ricky Anderson go for a spin
courtesy of Todd Stone on lap three. Stone was sent to the back of the pack
for the restart. On the restart there was another tangle in turns three and
four with Anderson involved and going for a second spin with the cars of Sarah
McKay and Jordan McCallum also getting damage. McCallum was the only one who
could not continue.
Thomas got by Wallace for the point on lap five while Michael Lira was
charging and passed Dalton Armstrong for third on lap 13. As the race
remained under green, Wallace tracked down Thomas and the pair raced
side-by-side for several laps before Wallace went back up front on lap 25.
Lira got by Thomas for second on lap 27 as Wallace's car started sounding a
bit off, apparently down a cylinder. With Wallace slowing, Lira zoomed by
into the lead and went on to score an apparent popular victory only to see it
taken away in tech due to a weight infraction.
Thomas, who had crossed the stripe in second was thus awarded the win, his
second career victory at New Smyrna since he joined the Tim Russell Driver
Development team early last year. That made it an "Okie sweep" in Late Model
victory lane as Thomas hails from Collinsville, OK and SLM winner Bell is from
Norman.
Dalton Armstrong took second and, paired with his two wins and other good
finishes during the week, claimed the 2015 PPG Architectural Coatings Pro Late
Model World Series championship. Armstrong, the younger brother of NASCAR
driver Dakota Armstrong, thanked his crew in victory lane. "I wouldn't be
here if it wasn't for them. They worked so hard this week and it really paid
off. I can't decribe what it feels like to be standing here," said
Armstrong.
Spencer Davis came home third ahead of Texan Derek Scott, Jr. and Nason who
just could not muster the speed he had the night before. Sixth through tenth
were a fading Wallace, Stone, Sheldon Creed, Larry Gelinas and Grant
Griesbach.
Doug Moff of Ft. Myers topped time trials for the Florida Modified class then
went on to score his third straight win in the 35-lap feature. This one would
go green the entire distance with Kevyn Terry leading the first three circuits
before giving way to Tank Tucker who led six laps before Moff, who started
eighth, breezed by and went on to score the easy victory.
Moff had the best car all week but a series of mechanical failures early-on
doomed his shot at the World Series title. That championship went to Tim
Moore of Pinellas Park who tied Terry in points. Moore won the tiebreaker
because he claimed one win during the week while Terry was shut out of victory
lane. "I've been coming here to the World Series for several years and never
really had much luck," said Moore. "I'm really happy to get this championship
but I feel bad for Kevyn (Terry) as I know he wanted it real bad too. We're
good friends and I know his day will come. It just feels awesome to finally
do this after we've tried so hard for so long," he said.
Moore actually finished third in the race, just behind Tucker and a spot ahead
of Terry. Ricky Moxley was fifth followed by Travis Eddy, Alan Bruns, Matt
Wheeler, Matt Jarrett and Matthew Green.
The Sportsman cars made their one and only appearance of the World Series for
a 50-lap event with 20 cars checking in to do battle, seven of them owned by
Jim Daley of New Hampshire and wrenched out of the Sheppard Racing Enterprises
shop in Deland. Brandon Morris of Mulberry easily topped time trials with his
lap of 19.981 seconds the only one in the 19 second bracket. Junior Beckner
was second fastest at 20.045 followed by Sean Bass' lap of 20.095.
The top ten in qualifying were inverted placing Orlando's Derrick Wood on the
pole with Austin Howell to his outside. Howell nabbed the early advantage
while Bass was the early mover taking third on lap 11 then passing Aaron
Williamson for second on lap 19 only to find himself re-passed in lapped
traffic one circuit later before going back around Williamson again on lap 22.
By this time Morris, who had been biding his time, was up to third and coming
fast.
just as the field took the half-way signal, the first caution flew as Richard
Goodrich spun off turn two. The running order at lap 25 was Howell, Bass,
Morris, Williamson, Dave Helliwell, Beckner, Ron Gustafson, Wood, Robert Kuhn
and Austin Carr.
Morris made quick work of Bass taking second one lap after the restart then
snared the lead from Howell just before Wood and Carr both had separate
problems in turn two to bring out the caution.
Beckner took third from Williamson on lap 28 and closed on Howell. Beckner
got a bit too close on lap 32 sending Howell into a spin placing Beckner at
the back of the restart line-up while Howell got his spot back. After two
more laps of racing, caution flew yet again as R. J. Glaser slowed to a stop
in turn four and at the same time Carr, Gustafson and Helliwell got tangled up
in turn two with Carr out of the running.
Lap 36 saw both Donny Williams and Derrick Wood spin out in separate
incidents. On the restart, Howell got turned around on the front stretch and
was hit head on by Williams. Both were out as were Gustafson and Wood who
also retired during the yellow flag period.
Morris was not to be headed as he drove off for the final win of the 2015
World Series. Bass passed Williamson again on lap 37 but could not track down
the high-flying Morris as the last 14 laps were run under green flag
conditions. Williamson was third sporting a new Disney "Frozen" paint scheme.
Beckner came back for fourth followed by Kuhn, Helliwell, Kenny Dayton, Art
Chambers, Howell and Gustafson as just seven cars were running at the finish.
Full results can be found at www.newsmyrnaspeedway.org.