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TIM RUSSELL BACK IN FORM WITH WIN IN THE CLYDE HART MEMORIAL AT NEW SMYRNA
SPEEDWAY
It was a brutally hot Thursday for race teams at New Smyrna Speedway as the
drivers prepared for week number 17 of the NASCAR Whelen All-American Racing
Series that would be highlighted by the annual running of the Clyde Hart
Memorial for the Super Late Models, a points race for the 2015 Brighthouse
Challenge Series.
The air temperature hovered between 97-98 degrees as the pit gate opened at 2
pm and by the time the cars hit the track for the first set of hot laps, track
temperatures had soared into the 130+ degree range with no precipitation
anywhere in sight. Just 17 Super Late Model teams showed up to do battle but
they were all strong ones and the qualifying results proved it with the top
ten timing in within .153 seconds of each other.
Young Harrison Burton of Huntersville, NC was the quickest of them all,
tripping the clock at 17.604 seconds. Longwood's Tim Russell showed he'd be a
force to be reckoned with by setting the second quick lap at 17.643 just a
tick of the watch faster than the 17.654 lap turned in by Oviedo's Brad May.
Bobby Good and Jeff Scofield rounded out the fastest five on the night.
Burton's quick lap was worth a cool $500 courtesy of Progressive Racing
Engines.
The pill draw wasn't so lucky for Burton, though, as he pulled an eight
inverting the first four rows of the grid for the start of the 100-lap
contest. It's unusual for a team to find a problem with a car during driver
introductions but it happened to veteran St. Petersburg hot shoe Dave Pletcher
who was making his first start here in quite some time. His crew discovered a
problem with the rear axle while pushing the car into the pre-race line-up.
An attempt was made to correct the problem but Pletcher was only able to
complete one lap of the event before having to call it quits.
Anthony Cataldi and David Rogers had the front row for the start and the pair
nearly collided during the opening lap allowing third-starting Stephen Nasse,
driving the Jett Concrete #9N Special rather than his usual #51, to assume the
early lead. The caution flag was out early on lap two for debris on the front
stretch but Nasse was able to maintain the advantage on the restart, but not
for long. Fourth-starter Scofield surged past on lap five only to see the
yellow out again on lap seven when George Gorham, Jr. took a wild spin down
the back stretch. Gorham kept his mount off the wall and was able to
continue.
Scofield continued to show the way following the restart but Rogers found a
different groove that was to his liking and he placed the TM Ranch Special out
front on lap 15 as things settled down to some awesome green flag racing.
Rogers' car began to loosen up, though, and Scofield went back to the point on
lap 22 while Nasse began to fall back in the field as Russell took third on
lap 23 followed by May moving by Nasse into fourth spot on lap 25. Burton
zoomed by Nasse for fifth on lap 27 and by lap 30 Nasse was on pit road and
done for the night. New Smyrna regular season SLM point leader Anthony Sergi
pitted on lap 39 and went behind the wall as well.
Lap 41 saw both Russell and May zip by Rogers and set their sights on leader
Scofield. Meanwhile, Burton began to drop like a rock back through the field
as it was obvious he had a tire going down. Russell made the pass on Scofield
for the lead on lap 49 and began to pull away from the field. Finally the
right rear tire on Burton's car exploded going into turn three and he spun to
bring out the final caution of the race on lap 55. Burton kept his machine
off the wall, pitted, and returned with a new tire but now mired back in the
field for the restart.
From that point things were pretty much all said and done. Russell was
dominant over the second half of the event and he took the checker 4.598
seconds ahead of Scofield who had his best run at New Smyrna in quite some
time. Rogers came back to pass May again late in the event and scored a
podium finish while May held off a late charge from Burton to take fourth.
Russell, who has not had the best of luck here in recent outings, was quick to
thank his crew for putting him in an "awesome race car." He also thanked the
big crowd for braving the heat and a not-so-good weather forecast in coming
out to support the event. Long-time speedway sponsor Skip Patsos of Skip's
Boots was the Grand Marshall for the event and presented Russell with a $500
Stetson hat in victory lane.
Bobby Good did not have his usual super-fast car but he drove a steady race to
take sixth ahead of Daniel Keene, Jr. who struggled all night with his set-up.
Michael Atwell took eighth while Gorham was ninth. Young Noah Cornman ran
steady all evening and rounded out the top ten, one lap down and was the last
car still running. Anthony Cataldi completed 87 circuits, good for 11th while
Chris Fontaine struggled all night yet maintained the Brighthouse Series point
lead despite falling out on lap 79, finishing 12th. Completing the finishers
were Russ Shaw, B. J. McLeod, Sergi, Nasse and Pletcher.
The Super Stock 25 lap feature was nothing short of incredible with a number
of close calls, jaw-dropping moves and some three-wide racing in the pack. A
nice field of 17 cars took the green flag with Shannon Kelly grabbing the
early advantage before being passed by Zachary Curtis on lap eight. An
exhaust pipe fell off Kelly's car to bring out the first yellow flag on lap
ten. On the restart, second-running Preston Hunt jumped the start and he was
shown the black flag to come down pit road for a stop-and-go penalty. Curtis
led one more circuit before Mike Trocki took over the front spot. Trocki, who
is normally the crew chief for the team, was behind the wheel of Butch
Herdegen's "Tribute to the King" #43 Manheim Orlando Auto Auction Special as
Herdegen sat this one out after having some minor eye surgery. Caution flew a
second time on lap 12 for Joe Gerard's spin in turn four and that allowed Hunt
to serve his penalty and not lose a lap.
Trocki continued to set the pace as point leader Justin Reynolds was on the
charge after starting 13th moving into second place just after the restart.
Two laps later J. T. Tippins got loose coming off turn two and slid into Hunt.
The incident sliced open the right side of Hunt's machine and the damage was
enough to send the 15-year-old back to his pit at the end of the wrecker.
Tippins pitted to change a flat tire and returned. On the restart, Kelly's
car suffered a flat right front tire and he slammed the turn one wall severely
damaging his car. During the clean-up, Rich Clouser pitted, yet another
victim of a flat tire. His crew put on a new skin and Clouser returned to
action.
Trocki and Reynolds went at it tooth-and-nail over the final laps with
Reynolds taking the point on lap 21 only to be re-passed for the lead on the
next lap. Trocki held on for a close victory but it would all be for naught
as his car was set down in tech later for an illegal pressure plate. That
awarded the win to Reynolds, his seventh of the year and the second time he
has picked up the victory when the apparent winner could not pass the scrutiny
of the tech inspectors. Curtis crossed the line in third but was also DQ'd in
tech for an illegal flywheel. That moved George Spears up to second in the
final order. Spears, who has been driving the Daytona Dodge pace car here
recently, was back behind the wheel of a beautiful new machine that looks like
it may be capable of giving Reynolds a run for his money the rest of the
year.
Bobby Holley moved up to third at the finish followed by Gino Tuminello and
Dale Howard. Rounding out the top ten were Gerard, Tippins, Mike Dahm,
Clouser and Jeff Colburn. Completing the finishers were Kelly, Hunt, Becca
Samsoe, Matt Reynolds, George Dahm, Trocki and Curtis.
Ted Vulpius has been dominating the Sunshine Seamless Gutters Mini Stock
action this year but was not happy with the car he brought to the track Friday
afternoon. After the first practice session, "Mr. Mini Stock" loaded up his
car and headed back to his shop in Mims where he picked up another car (he has
three in his arsenal) returning to the track in plenty of time for his feature
race. "We were starting in the rear anyway and the car we brought initially
just did not feel right, so we went and got a back-up," said Vulpius.
The start of the race saw Brad Blanton jump out to the lead from his outside
pole starting spot. Meanwhile Vulpius' car got very loose coming off turn
four as lap one was being completed and he nearly spun out. Before he
regained control, Vulpius had spotted leader Blanton over a full straight
lead.
The event would go the full 15 laps under green but that did not deter Vulpius
from giving it the "old college try" as he methodically reeled in the front
runners and took second from David Russell with three laps to go. Vulpius
reeled in Blanton but ran out of time as Blanton scored his second win of the
year over Vulpius, Russell, Mark Broat, Megan Matheny, Bobby Dooley and
Michael Hanna.
After being disqualified from his apparent win the week before, Joseph Rock
returned to Bomber competition with the "right stuff on the car" and led the
first three laps of the 20-lap feature until Crash Tyner put his big Lincoln
out front. Tyner was having his best run of the year (along with a ton of fun
doing it) but could not hold off the high-flying Chevy Cavalier of Billy
Barrington who zoomed past on lap seven and led the rest of the way to take
his sixth win of the season. Rock held on for second over point leader James
Skinner, Shane Sutorus and Aaron Overman. Completing the finishers were
Tyner, Dustin Higdon, Jamie "McCrazy" Sullivan and Richard Roark who blew a
tire and hit the turn four wall hard on lap 14 after scoring his first career
win the week before.
This coming Saturday night, July 11, will be week number 18 of the NASCAR
Whelen All-American Series at New Smyrna Speedway and it will be "Fan
Appreciation Night" with all adults being admitted to the grandstand side for
just $10. The Modifieds will run a special 50-lap contest and be joined by
the popular Sportsman class,the Bombers and Spectator Racing. Spectator
Racing will take place during intermission and all spectator racers must have
helmet. Any street leagal car or truck is eligible to take part but no
convertibles or motorcycles are allowed. First pplace prize is $100 cash.
Coming into the 50-lap Modified headliner, Jerry "The Hammer" Symons of New
Smyrna Beach continues to hold onto the point lead although he's been shut out
of victory lane his last six starts. Symons has a 13 point edge on fellow New
Smyrna driver Matt Wheeler while Tank Tucker, also from New Smyrna, has taken
over third in the standings, 25 markers behind Symons.
The "bounty" on Sportsman driver Patrick Thomas has been increased this week
to $300 and that may well attracted several "outsiders" to make the trip to
try and claim the extra money this week. One driver that will take a shot at
the extra cash will be third-generation driver Sean Bass of Lake Hamilton who
has a brand new car out of his AMF Chassis shop to hit the high banks with. A
big field of Sportsman cars are expected to try and find a way to beat Thomas
who has won six times in his nine starts this year including the past two.
Thomas has a healthy 40 point advantage over Junior Beckner in the current
Sportsman standings with New Hampshire's Sandy Lee third, now just five behind
Beckner. Lee is coming off a big Sportsman win that was part of the PASS
North Series races run last Sunday at the big New Hampshire International
Raceway.
James Skinner continues to lead the Bomber point standings by 13 over Aaron
Overman with Shane Sutorus third, 27 points in arrears of Skinner.
Pit gates open Saturday afternoon at 3:30 pm with open practice from 5-6:30
pm. Grandstand gates open a 6 pm with all fans invited to come out early for
the weekly pre-race party featuring live music at the Throttle to Bottle Pub
courtesy of Pub 44 in New Smyrna along with $1.00 beers and half-off bar food
menu.
Racing begins at 7:30 pm and adult admission is just $10 this week for Fan
Appreciation Night and, as always, all kids aged 11 and under are free.
Photos:
1) Tim Russell with his $500 Stetson hat in victory lane...
2) Mini Stock winner Brad Blanton (Jim Jones Photo)
3) Bomber winner Billy Barrington (Jim Jones Photo)
4) Super Lates line up to qualify (Matheny Photo)
5) The drivers for the Clyde Hart Memorial (Jim Jones Photo)
SPEEDWAY
It was a brutally hot Thursday for race teams at New Smyrna Speedway as the
drivers prepared for week number 17 of the NASCAR Whelen All-American Racing
Series that would be highlighted by the annual running of the Clyde Hart
Memorial for the Super Late Models, a points race for the 2015 Brighthouse
Challenge Series.
The air temperature hovered between 97-98 degrees as the pit gate opened at 2
pm and by the time the cars hit the track for the first set of hot laps, track
temperatures had soared into the 130+ degree range with no precipitation
anywhere in sight. Just 17 Super Late Model teams showed up to do battle but
they were all strong ones and the qualifying results proved it with the top
ten timing in within .153 seconds of each other.
Young Harrison Burton of Huntersville, NC was the quickest of them all,
tripping the clock at 17.604 seconds. Longwood's Tim Russell showed he'd be a
force to be reckoned with by setting the second quick lap at 17.643 just a
tick of the watch faster than the 17.654 lap turned in by Oviedo's Brad May.
Bobby Good and Jeff Scofield rounded out the fastest five on the night.
Burton's quick lap was worth a cool $500 courtesy of Progressive Racing
Engines.
The pill draw wasn't so lucky for Burton, though, as he pulled an eight
inverting the first four rows of the grid for the start of the 100-lap
contest. It's unusual for a team to find a problem with a car during driver
introductions but it happened to veteran St. Petersburg hot shoe Dave Pletcher
who was making his first start here in quite some time. His crew discovered a
problem with the rear axle while pushing the car into the pre-race line-up.
An attempt was made to correct the problem but Pletcher was only able to
complete one lap of the event before having to call it quits.
Anthony Cataldi and David Rogers had the front row for the start and the pair
nearly collided during the opening lap allowing third-starting Stephen Nasse,
driving the Jett Concrete #9N Special rather than his usual #51, to assume the
early lead. The caution flag was out early on lap two for debris on the front
stretch but Nasse was able to maintain the advantage on the restart, but not
for long. Fourth-starter Scofield surged past on lap five only to see the
yellow out again on lap seven when George Gorham, Jr. took a wild spin down
the back stretch. Gorham kept his mount off the wall and was able to
continue.
Scofield continued to show the way following the restart but Rogers found a
different groove that was to his liking and he placed the TM Ranch Special out
front on lap 15 as things settled down to some awesome green flag racing.
Rogers' car began to loosen up, though, and Scofield went back to the point on
lap 22 while Nasse began to fall back in the field as Russell took third on
lap 23 followed by May moving by Nasse into fourth spot on lap 25. Burton
zoomed by Nasse for fifth on lap 27 and by lap 30 Nasse was on pit road and
done for the night. New Smyrna regular season SLM point leader Anthony Sergi
pitted on lap 39 and went behind the wall as well.
Lap 41 saw both Russell and May zip by Rogers and set their sights on leader
Scofield. Meanwhile, Burton began to drop like a rock back through the field
as it was obvious he had a tire going down. Russell made the pass on Scofield
for the lead on lap 49 and began to pull away from the field. Finally the
right rear tire on Burton's car exploded going into turn three and he spun to
bring out the final caution of the race on lap 55. Burton kept his machine
off the wall, pitted, and returned with a new tire but now mired back in the
field for the restart.
From that point things were pretty much all said and done. Russell was
dominant over the second half of the event and he took the checker 4.598
seconds ahead of Scofield who had his best run at New Smyrna in quite some
time. Rogers came back to pass May again late in the event and scored a
podium finish while May held off a late charge from Burton to take fourth.
Russell, who has not had the best of luck here in recent outings, was quick to
thank his crew for putting him in an "awesome race car." He also thanked the
big crowd for braving the heat and a not-so-good weather forecast in coming
out to support the event. Long-time speedway sponsor Skip Patsos of Skip's
Boots was the Grand Marshall for the event and presented Russell with a $500
Stetson hat in victory lane.
Bobby Good did not have his usual super-fast car but he drove a steady race to
take sixth ahead of Daniel Keene, Jr. who struggled all night with his set-up.
Michael Atwell took eighth while Gorham was ninth. Young Noah Cornman ran
steady all evening and rounded out the top ten, one lap down and was the last
car still running. Anthony Cataldi completed 87 circuits, good for 11th while
Chris Fontaine struggled all night yet maintained the Brighthouse Series point
lead despite falling out on lap 79, finishing 12th. Completing the finishers
were Russ Shaw, B. J. McLeod, Sergi, Nasse and Pletcher.
The Super Stock 25 lap feature was nothing short of incredible with a number
of close calls, jaw-dropping moves and some three-wide racing in the pack. A
nice field of 17 cars took the green flag with Shannon Kelly grabbing the
early advantage before being passed by Zachary Curtis on lap eight. An
exhaust pipe fell off Kelly's car to bring out the first yellow flag on lap
ten. On the restart, second-running Preston Hunt jumped the start and he was
shown the black flag to come down pit road for a stop-and-go penalty. Curtis
led one more circuit before Mike Trocki took over the front spot. Trocki, who
is normally the crew chief for the team, was behind the wheel of Butch
Herdegen's "Tribute to the King" #43 Manheim Orlando Auto Auction Special as
Herdegen sat this one out after having some minor eye surgery. Caution flew a
second time on lap 12 for Joe Gerard's spin in turn four and that allowed Hunt
to serve his penalty and not lose a lap.
Trocki continued to set the pace as point leader Justin Reynolds was on the
charge after starting 13th moving into second place just after the restart.
Two laps later J. T. Tippins got loose coming off turn two and slid into Hunt.
The incident sliced open the right side of Hunt's machine and the damage was
enough to send the 15-year-old back to his pit at the end of the wrecker.
Tippins pitted to change a flat tire and returned. On the restart, Kelly's
car suffered a flat right front tire and he slammed the turn one wall severely
damaging his car. During the clean-up, Rich Clouser pitted, yet another
victim of a flat tire. His crew put on a new skin and Clouser returned to
action.
Trocki and Reynolds went at it tooth-and-nail over the final laps with
Reynolds taking the point on lap 21 only to be re-passed for the lead on the
next lap. Trocki held on for a close victory but it would all be for naught
as his car was set down in tech later for an illegal pressure plate. That
awarded the win to Reynolds, his seventh of the year and the second time he
has picked up the victory when the apparent winner could not pass the scrutiny
of the tech inspectors. Curtis crossed the line in third but was also DQ'd in
tech for an illegal flywheel. That moved George Spears up to second in the
final order. Spears, who has been driving the Daytona Dodge pace car here
recently, was back behind the wheel of a beautiful new machine that looks like
it may be capable of giving Reynolds a run for his money the rest of the
year.
Bobby Holley moved up to third at the finish followed by Gino Tuminello and
Dale Howard. Rounding out the top ten were Gerard, Tippins, Mike Dahm,
Clouser and Jeff Colburn. Completing the finishers were Kelly, Hunt, Becca
Samsoe, Matt Reynolds, George Dahm, Trocki and Curtis.
Ted Vulpius has been dominating the Sunshine Seamless Gutters Mini Stock
action this year but was not happy with the car he brought to the track Friday
afternoon. After the first practice session, "Mr. Mini Stock" loaded up his
car and headed back to his shop in Mims where he picked up another car (he has
three in his arsenal) returning to the track in plenty of time for his feature
race. "We were starting in the rear anyway and the car we brought initially
just did not feel right, so we went and got a back-up," said Vulpius.
The start of the race saw Brad Blanton jump out to the lead from his outside
pole starting spot. Meanwhile Vulpius' car got very loose coming off turn
four as lap one was being completed and he nearly spun out. Before he
regained control, Vulpius had spotted leader Blanton over a full straight
lead.
The event would go the full 15 laps under green but that did not deter Vulpius
from giving it the "old college try" as he methodically reeled in the front
runners and took second from David Russell with three laps to go. Vulpius
reeled in Blanton but ran out of time as Blanton scored his second win of the
year over Vulpius, Russell, Mark Broat, Megan Matheny, Bobby Dooley and
Michael Hanna.
After being disqualified from his apparent win the week before, Joseph Rock
returned to Bomber competition with the "right stuff on the car" and led the
first three laps of the 20-lap feature until Crash Tyner put his big Lincoln
out front. Tyner was having his best run of the year (along with a ton of fun
doing it) but could not hold off the high-flying Chevy Cavalier of Billy
Barrington who zoomed past on lap seven and led the rest of the way to take
his sixth win of the season. Rock held on for second over point leader James
Skinner, Shane Sutorus and Aaron Overman. Completing the finishers were
Tyner, Dustin Higdon, Jamie "McCrazy" Sullivan and Richard Roark who blew a
tire and hit the turn four wall hard on lap 14 after scoring his first career
win the week before.
This coming Saturday night, July 11, will be week number 18 of the NASCAR
Whelen All-American Series at New Smyrna Speedway and it will be "Fan
Appreciation Night" with all adults being admitted to the grandstand side for
just $10. The Modifieds will run a special 50-lap contest and be joined by
the popular Sportsman class,the Bombers and Spectator Racing. Spectator
Racing will take place during intermission and all spectator racers must have
helmet. Any street leagal car or truck is eligible to take part but no
convertibles or motorcycles are allowed. First pplace prize is $100 cash.
Coming into the 50-lap Modified headliner, Jerry "The Hammer" Symons of New
Smyrna Beach continues to hold onto the point lead although he's been shut out
of victory lane his last six starts. Symons has a 13 point edge on fellow New
Smyrna driver Matt Wheeler while Tank Tucker, also from New Smyrna, has taken
over third in the standings, 25 markers behind Symons.
The "bounty" on Sportsman driver Patrick Thomas has been increased this week
to $300 and that may well attracted several "outsiders" to make the trip to
try and claim the extra money this week. One driver that will take a shot at
the extra cash will be third-generation driver Sean Bass of Lake Hamilton who
has a brand new car out of his AMF Chassis shop to hit the high banks with. A
big field of Sportsman cars are expected to try and find a way to beat Thomas
who has won six times in his nine starts this year including the past two.
Thomas has a healthy 40 point advantage over Junior Beckner in the current
Sportsman standings with New Hampshire's Sandy Lee third, now just five behind
Beckner. Lee is coming off a big Sportsman win that was part of the PASS
North Series races run last Sunday at the big New Hampshire International
Raceway.
James Skinner continues to lead the Bomber point standings by 13 over Aaron
Overman with Shane Sutorus third, 27 points in arrears of Skinner.
Pit gates open Saturday afternoon at 3:30 pm with open practice from 5-6:30
pm. Grandstand gates open a 6 pm with all fans invited to come out early for
the weekly pre-race party featuring live music at the Throttle to Bottle Pub
courtesy of Pub 44 in New Smyrna along with $1.00 beers and half-off bar food
menu.
Racing begins at 7:30 pm and adult admission is just $10 this week for Fan
Appreciation Night and, as always, all kids aged 11 and under are free.
Photos:
1) Tim Russell with his $500 Stetson hat in victory lane...
2) Mini Stock winner Brad Blanton (Jim Jones Photo)
3) Bomber winner Billy Barrington (Jim Jones Photo)
4) Super Lates line up to qualify (Matheny Photo)
5) The drivers for the Clyde Hart Memorial (Jim Jones Photo)
Attached Files
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