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MAY AND REYNOLDS BEAT THE RAIN ON SATURDAY NIGHT AT NEW SMYRNA SPEEDWAY
Week number 11 of the NASCAR Whelen All-American Racing Series at New Smyrna
Speedway started out with absolutely gorgeous weather as a large crowd
gathered for Sanford Auto Dealers Exchange (SADE)/Sunbelt Rentals night. As
the night wore on, the increase in the humidity and a brisk east wind brought
showers to the race track that forced the final two events of the evening for
the Sunshine Seamless Gutters Mini Stocks and the Bombers to be canceled. The
Bomber feature will be made up this coming weekend while double features for
the Mini Stocks are slated for June 6th.
The Pro Late Models and Super Stocks both got their feature races run before
the intervention of Mother Nature, though, and the big crowd was treated to
some very good racing.
The initial start of the Pro Late Model 25-lapper was aborted when newcomer
Joey Sims spun his mount off turn two during the opening lap. The second
start was nice and clean and Cody Blair, running a new teal paint scheme on
his car, blasted into the early lead while a quartet of cars started to battle
for second behind him. By mid race, Brad May had scooted into second and was
chasing down Blair before the caution waved on lap 14 for a hard tangle in
turn four between Blaise Hetznecker and Daniel Miller who had been putting on
a show battling for fifth spot. Both cars were eliminated from further
competition.
During the caution period leader Blair took his car to his pit stall handing
the lead to May. Blair returned for the resumption of the race but had to
restart from the back of the grid. The rest of the event ran caution-free and
May easily scored the win, his second in two starts in the class this year in
the Bobby Sears Racing Special.
Zach Jarrell had his best run of the year taking a solid second ahead of point
leader Rich Clouser who saw Jarrell trim his point lead to just two markers
going into the next event for the Pro Lates on June 6th. Noah Cornman took
fourth while Blair rebounded for fifth. Rounding out the finishers were Jeff
White, Sims, John Kennedy, Hetznecker and Miller.
Justin Reynolds of Merritt island was going for five wins in a row to start
the season in the Super Stock division but things were looking bleak for him
during hot laps. "We developed a vibration near the end of the feature two
weeks ago and still had it in practice today," said Reynolds. "We made a
bunch of changes but nothing helped and eventually agreed it was probably the
transmission," he said. A quick call was made to former driver Billy Cuddy
who agreed to bring over a new tranny all the way from Orlando that was
installed just in time for the feature race.
Reynolds drove his brother Matt's car in the heat race as Zachary Curtis was
actually slated to drive it in a "guest appearance" for the night. The heat
race for the class saw a great side-by-side battle to the stripe won by
Preston Hunt in his new black & green livery for new sponsor Sunbelt Rentals
over Shannon Kelly. However both racers were set down for infractions in tech
awarding the heat win to Bobby Holley over Reynolds. Both Hunt and Kelly were
relegated to the rear of the field for the feature as were Reynolds and Curtis
after Reynolds switched to his primary car #20 with Curtis now behind the
wheel of the team car #77.
Holley zipped out to the early lead only to see a high-flying Kelly move by on
the third lap after a wild early charge from the back of the grid. Caution
flew on lap five for debris in turn three but Kelly maintained his edge until
Reynolds blew past for the top spot on lap eight. The only other slowdown of
the event came on lap 11 for a J. T. Tippins spin in turn two as Reynolds once
again had the field covered. Reynolds remained unbeaten so far in 2015 taking
his fifth straight victory. Kelly had a good run for second while Hunt came
through the field to claim third only to be DQ'd again in tech. That moved
Holley up to third in the final order ahead of Curtis and Ernie Tuminello.
Tippins rebounded for sixth trailed by Gino Tuminello, Joe Gerard, Mike Dahm,
Dale Howard and Hunt. Ronnie Haddoen did not start the feature after an
incident during the heat race.
Both the Sunshine Seamless Gutters Mini Stock and Bomber features fell victim
to the rain. Ted Vulpius was also looking to go five for five on the season
in the Mini Stocks and easily won the heat but will have to wait for June 6th
to see if he can make it five, and possibly six, consecutive wins. Greg Bruce
drove his Saturn to the Bomber heat win and will get a chance for his first
victory of the year as the Bombers will run double features this coming
Saturday, May 30th. The rain out was a blessing for Bomber point leader Shane
Sutorus who was unable to make it to the track Saturday night but plans to go
for a "sweep" this coming week as he'll be back in his Saturn station wagon.
Photos by JimJonesPhoto.com:
1) The big crowd was out early and grew as the night went on...
2) Brad May has two Pro Late Model starts this year and has won them both...
3) Justin Reynolds is undefeated in the Super Stocks in 2015 - now 5 for 5...
Week number 11 of the NASCAR Whelen All-American Racing Series at New Smyrna
Speedway started out with absolutely gorgeous weather as a large crowd
gathered for Sanford Auto Dealers Exchange (SADE)/Sunbelt Rentals night. As
the night wore on, the increase in the humidity and a brisk east wind brought
showers to the race track that forced the final two events of the evening for
the Sunshine Seamless Gutters Mini Stocks and the Bombers to be canceled. The
Bomber feature will be made up this coming weekend while double features for
the Mini Stocks are slated for June 6th.
The Pro Late Models and Super Stocks both got their feature races run before
the intervention of Mother Nature, though, and the big crowd was treated to
some very good racing.
The initial start of the Pro Late Model 25-lapper was aborted when newcomer
Joey Sims spun his mount off turn two during the opening lap. The second
start was nice and clean and Cody Blair, running a new teal paint scheme on
his car, blasted into the early lead while a quartet of cars started to battle
for second behind him. By mid race, Brad May had scooted into second and was
chasing down Blair before the caution waved on lap 14 for a hard tangle in
turn four between Blaise Hetznecker and Daniel Miller who had been putting on
a show battling for fifth spot. Both cars were eliminated from further
competition.
During the caution period leader Blair took his car to his pit stall handing
the lead to May. Blair returned for the resumption of the race but had to
restart from the back of the grid. The rest of the event ran caution-free and
May easily scored the win, his second in two starts in the class this year in
the Bobby Sears Racing Special.
Zach Jarrell had his best run of the year taking a solid second ahead of point
leader Rich Clouser who saw Jarrell trim his point lead to just two markers
going into the next event for the Pro Lates on June 6th. Noah Cornman took
fourth while Blair rebounded for fifth. Rounding out the finishers were Jeff
White, Sims, John Kennedy, Hetznecker and Miller.
Justin Reynolds of Merritt island was going for five wins in a row to start
the season in the Super Stock division but things were looking bleak for him
during hot laps. "We developed a vibration near the end of the feature two
weeks ago and still had it in practice today," said Reynolds. "We made a
bunch of changes but nothing helped and eventually agreed it was probably the
transmission," he said. A quick call was made to former driver Billy Cuddy
who agreed to bring over a new tranny all the way from Orlando that was
installed just in time for the feature race.
Reynolds drove his brother Matt's car in the heat race as Zachary Curtis was
actually slated to drive it in a "guest appearance" for the night. The heat
race for the class saw a great side-by-side battle to the stripe won by
Preston Hunt in his new black & green livery for new sponsor Sunbelt Rentals
over Shannon Kelly. However both racers were set down for infractions in tech
awarding the heat win to Bobby Holley over Reynolds. Both Hunt and Kelly were
relegated to the rear of the field for the feature as were Reynolds and Curtis
after Reynolds switched to his primary car #20 with Curtis now behind the
wheel of the team car #77.
Holley zipped out to the early lead only to see a high-flying Kelly move by on
the third lap after a wild early charge from the back of the grid. Caution
flew on lap five for debris in turn three but Kelly maintained his edge until
Reynolds blew past for the top spot on lap eight. The only other slowdown of
the event came on lap 11 for a J. T. Tippins spin in turn two as Reynolds once
again had the field covered. Reynolds remained unbeaten so far in 2015 taking
his fifth straight victory. Kelly had a good run for second while Hunt came
through the field to claim third only to be DQ'd again in tech. That moved
Holley up to third in the final order ahead of Curtis and Ernie Tuminello.
Tippins rebounded for sixth trailed by Gino Tuminello, Joe Gerard, Mike Dahm,
Dale Howard and Hunt. Ronnie Haddoen did not start the feature after an
incident during the heat race.
Both the Sunshine Seamless Gutters Mini Stock and Bomber features fell victim
to the rain. Ted Vulpius was also looking to go five for five on the season
in the Mini Stocks and easily won the heat but will have to wait for June 6th
to see if he can make it five, and possibly six, consecutive wins. Greg Bruce
drove his Saturn to the Bomber heat win and will get a chance for his first
victory of the year as the Bombers will run double features this coming
Saturday, May 30th. The rain out was a blessing for Bomber point leader Shane
Sutorus who was unable to make it to the track Saturday night but plans to go
for a "sweep" this coming week as he'll be back in his Saturn station wagon.
Photos by JimJonesPhoto.com:
1) The big crowd was out early and grew as the night went on...
2) Brad May has two Pro Late Model starts this year and has won them both...
3) Justin Reynolds is undefeated in the Super Stocks in 2015 - now 5 for 5...
Attached Files