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TWIN SPORTSMAN RACES, SUPER LATE MODELS AND PRO TRUCKS AT NEW SMYRNA SPEEDWAY
THIS WEEK
Race fans will have a bevy of cars (and trucks) to watch this Saturday night
at New Smyrna Speedway as the track hosts week number 27 of the NASCAR Whelen
All-American Series. The popular Sportsman division will run a pair of 25-lap
features while the Super Late Models will be back in action for 35 laps of
racing. The Modifieds are on the docket along with the Bombers while Truck
racing returns to the high-banked half-mile with the first-ever appearance of
the Southern Pro-Am Truck Series.
The Sportsman were slated to run a 50-lap contest this week but track
officials decided to run a pair of points-paying 25-lap events. This will
allow track point leader Patrick Thomas of Oviedo to gain two more races in
his quest for a NASCAR Division III point championship. Right now, Thomas has
12 races under his belt and the NASCAR points are adjusted at the end of the
season to allow for each driver to use their best 14 races for their season
total. This week's events will get Thomas to the 14 race mark with two more
races still on the schedule to help him offset a couple of bad runs earlier in
the year. So far Thomas has won nine times in 12 starts this season and, if
he continues to run the way he has recently, could pull off a NASCAR Division
III title!
Thomas will have his work cut out for him though as the bounty is still on his
head if anyone can beat him to the checker (as long as he is still running at
the finish). That bounty, offered up by American Auto, Tires & Service of New
Smyrna Beach now stands at an incredible $600 and the rest of the Sportsman
teams will have a pair of chances to grab the extra cash this week.
Expect Thomas' current arch rival Junior Beckner of Apopka to hold nothing
back after they got together during the running of last weeks feature. That
altercation left Beckner with an ill-handling car although he still managed to
finish in the runner-up spot. "I'm out to win this week and I'm not going to
hold anything back," said Beckner after last week's race. "If he wants to
bump and bang, I'll bump and bang right back," said Beckner.
Also expect Todd Allen of Lake Mary to be out for the second time this year in
his new creation built by veteran builder-driver Dave "Big Daddy" Pletcher
plus John Emerson hopes to have his Bucked Up Apparel hot rod ready for action
this week. Port Richey driver Scott "Sudsman" Garrity had veteran Brad May
testing his car last week and hopes to be a big factor here this week. Expect
at least seven cars from the Jim Daley/Sheppard Racing Enterprises stable out
of Deland including Orlando's Derrick Wood, Ron Gustafson of Winter Garden,
Orlando's Matt Jarrett, Rookie of the Year contender R. J. Glaser of Deland,
Lake Helen's D. J. Farr and the leader of the group, Sandy Lee, who flies down
from his home in Barrington, NH to race.
Other expected entries include Timmy Todd, Jr., Daniel Conlin, Jr., Garrett
Hill, Austin Howell, George Alexander, Mike Pletka and a few outside
"invaders" looking to take home the purse money as well as the bounty on
Thomas.
There is a tight point race in the Super Late Model class between Anthony
Sergi of Oviedo, fellow Oviedo driver Brad May and Orlando veteran David
Rogers. Five races have been held so far this year and Sergi has won three of
them and leads the points by five markers over May who has won the other two
events. Although he is winless this year and mired in a two-season streak of
being held out of victory lane, Rogers is right there in the hunt for an
upteenth New Smyrna championship just nine points behind Sergi. Young SLM
rookie Noah Cornman is fourth in points, 25 behind Sergi. Several other
drivers are expected to be on hand including Cory Spencer, Tim Sozio and young
Dylan Martin of Lakeland who will make his first-ever start here in a Super
Late Model.
Jerry "The Hammer" Symons got back on track in the Modified class a few weeks
back taking his first win since April. Even with his spate of bad luck,
Symons continued to stay on top of the point race and now leads his arch rival
James "Tank" Tucker by six points heading into this week's action. Fellow New
Smyrna driver Matt Wheeler is still lurking, nine points behind Symons in
third place.
The new Southern Pro-Am Truck Series has run four races this year, all at
Three Palms Speedway in Punta Gorda. This will be their first event at any
other facility although they have also scheduled another race at DeSoto
Speedway in Bradenton. For many of the drivers expected, it will be their
first-ever time on the high-banked half-mile.
After four races, the Southern Pro-Am Series has seen two different winners
with both Becca Monopoli of Lakeland and third generation racer Steven King of
Bartow each taking a pair of feature races. Monopoli has run a race at New
Smyrna though and should come in as an early favorite. She will be joined by
another young female driver who will be making her first-ever start at New
Smyrna, Taylor Moxley of Hobe Sound who is the daughter of veteran racer Ricky
Moxley who is no stranger to the racing wars here.
Another third generation racer expected to compete is Paulie Grynewicz III
whose grandfather Paul, Sr. ran everything from Late Models to Trucks but was
a terror in Figure-Eight racing throughout the State of Florida. Local New
Smyrna racer Austin Howell hopes to debut his new race truck this week too.
Other drivers expected include Randy Leonard of Lake Placid, Cody Martell,
Rich Cordis, David Hillyer, Eddie Lichtenberger, Jr., Derek Pugh, Robert
Strader, Jr. and Mark Bryer.
Recently the Southern Pro-Am Truck Series that will be in action this Saturday
night at New Smyrna did a test session with the FARA Truck Series at
Homestead-Miami Speedway. FARA is a road race organization that runs races at
Sebring and Homestead-Miami. The FARA series offered the Southern Pro-Am
Series to test a few weeks ago and the teams gained a lot of needed data.
FARA has invited the Southern Pro-Am drivers to participate in the Miami 500
event to be held at Homestead-Miami Speedway November 28th and 29th. The
trucks will race a 15 lap event starting at 11 am on November 29th. The
Southern Pro-Am group also has a development program where an individual can
participate in the festivities. Go to southernprotrucks.com for more
information.
Despite the disqualifications in last weeks Bomber feature that included the
first and second place drivers in the standings, James Skinner and Aaron
Overman, no one else is reasonably close in challenging the pair as they fight
it out for the season-long point title. Skinner still leads Overman by five
points heading into action this week. Shane Sutorus of Orlando has indicated
he'll return this week with his Saturn station wagon to challenge the V-8
powered cars.
Pit gates open at 3 pm Saturday afternoon with practice slated from 4-6:30 pm.
Grandstand gates open at 6 pm with the usual pre-race party from 6-7:15 pm at
the Throttle to Bottle Pub featuring live music courtesy of Pub 44 of New
Smyrna Beach along with food and drink specials. Racing begins at 7:30 pm and
will be a features-only format.
The Sportsman open up the racing action with their first 25-lap feature
followed by a 25 lap contest for the Modifieds and a 25 lap event for the
Southern Pro-Am Truck Series. Following intermission the Super Late Models go
for 35 laps then it's 25 lap race number two for the Sportsman cars followed
by a 20 lap Bomber feature to cap off the evening.
Adult admission is $15 with all seniors (65+) and military with valid ID being
admitted for $13. Kids 11 and under are free of charge and can enjoy a bounce
house that will be on the grounds all evening courtesy of Central Florida
Racing Ministry.
THIS WEEK
Race fans will have a bevy of cars (and trucks) to watch this Saturday night
at New Smyrna Speedway as the track hosts week number 27 of the NASCAR Whelen
All-American Series. The popular Sportsman division will run a pair of 25-lap
features while the Super Late Models will be back in action for 35 laps of
racing. The Modifieds are on the docket along with the Bombers while Truck
racing returns to the high-banked half-mile with the first-ever appearance of
the Southern Pro-Am Truck Series.
The Sportsman were slated to run a 50-lap contest this week but track
officials decided to run a pair of points-paying 25-lap events. This will
allow track point leader Patrick Thomas of Oviedo to gain two more races in
his quest for a NASCAR Division III point championship. Right now, Thomas has
12 races under his belt and the NASCAR points are adjusted at the end of the
season to allow for each driver to use their best 14 races for their season
total. This week's events will get Thomas to the 14 race mark with two more
races still on the schedule to help him offset a couple of bad runs earlier in
the year. So far Thomas has won nine times in 12 starts this season and, if
he continues to run the way he has recently, could pull off a NASCAR Division
III title!
Thomas will have his work cut out for him though as the bounty is still on his
head if anyone can beat him to the checker (as long as he is still running at
the finish). That bounty, offered up by American Auto, Tires & Service of New
Smyrna Beach now stands at an incredible $600 and the rest of the Sportsman
teams will have a pair of chances to grab the extra cash this week.
Expect Thomas' current arch rival Junior Beckner of Apopka to hold nothing
back after they got together during the running of last weeks feature. That
altercation left Beckner with an ill-handling car although he still managed to
finish in the runner-up spot. "I'm out to win this week and I'm not going to
hold anything back," said Beckner after last week's race. "If he wants to
bump and bang, I'll bump and bang right back," said Beckner.
Also expect Todd Allen of Lake Mary to be out for the second time this year in
his new creation built by veteran builder-driver Dave "Big Daddy" Pletcher
plus John Emerson hopes to have his Bucked Up Apparel hot rod ready for action
this week. Port Richey driver Scott "Sudsman" Garrity had veteran Brad May
testing his car last week and hopes to be a big factor here this week. Expect
at least seven cars from the Jim Daley/Sheppard Racing Enterprises stable out
of Deland including Orlando's Derrick Wood, Ron Gustafson of Winter Garden,
Orlando's Matt Jarrett, Rookie of the Year contender R. J. Glaser of Deland,
Lake Helen's D. J. Farr and the leader of the group, Sandy Lee, who flies down
from his home in Barrington, NH to race.
Other expected entries include Timmy Todd, Jr., Daniel Conlin, Jr., Garrett
Hill, Austin Howell, George Alexander, Mike Pletka and a few outside
"invaders" looking to take home the purse money as well as the bounty on
Thomas.
There is a tight point race in the Super Late Model class between Anthony
Sergi of Oviedo, fellow Oviedo driver Brad May and Orlando veteran David
Rogers. Five races have been held so far this year and Sergi has won three of
them and leads the points by five markers over May who has won the other two
events. Although he is winless this year and mired in a two-season streak of
being held out of victory lane, Rogers is right there in the hunt for an
upteenth New Smyrna championship just nine points behind Sergi. Young SLM
rookie Noah Cornman is fourth in points, 25 behind Sergi. Several other
drivers are expected to be on hand including Cory Spencer, Tim Sozio and young
Dylan Martin of Lakeland who will make his first-ever start here in a Super
Late Model.
Jerry "The Hammer" Symons got back on track in the Modified class a few weeks
back taking his first win since April. Even with his spate of bad luck,
Symons continued to stay on top of the point race and now leads his arch rival
James "Tank" Tucker by six points heading into this week's action. Fellow New
Smyrna driver Matt Wheeler is still lurking, nine points behind Symons in
third place.
The new Southern Pro-Am Truck Series has run four races this year, all at
Three Palms Speedway in Punta Gorda. This will be their first event at any
other facility although they have also scheduled another race at DeSoto
Speedway in Bradenton. For many of the drivers expected, it will be their
first-ever time on the high-banked half-mile.
After four races, the Southern Pro-Am Series has seen two different winners
with both Becca Monopoli of Lakeland and third generation racer Steven King of
Bartow each taking a pair of feature races. Monopoli has run a race at New
Smyrna though and should come in as an early favorite. She will be joined by
another young female driver who will be making her first-ever start at New
Smyrna, Taylor Moxley of Hobe Sound who is the daughter of veteran racer Ricky
Moxley who is no stranger to the racing wars here.
Another third generation racer expected to compete is Paulie Grynewicz III
whose grandfather Paul, Sr. ran everything from Late Models to Trucks but was
a terror in Figure-Eight racing throughout the State of Florida. Local New
Smyrna racer Austin Howell hopes to debut his new race truck this week too.
Other drivers expected include Randy Leonard of Lake Placid, Cody Martell,
Rich Cordis, David Hillyer, Eddie Lichtenberger, Jr., Derek Pugh, Robert
Strader, Jr. and Mark Bryer.
Recently the Southern Pro-Am Truck Series that will be in action this Saturday
night at New Smyrna did a test session with the FARA Truck Series at
Homestead-Miami Speedway. FARA is a road race organization that runs races at
Sebring and Homestead-Miami. The FARA series offered the Southern Pro-Am
Series to test a few weeks ago and the teams gained a lot of needed data.
FARA has invited the Southern Pro-Am drivers to participate in the Miami 500
event to be held at Homestead-Miami Speedway November 28th and 29th. The
trucks will race a 15 lap event starting at 11 am on November 29th. The
Southern Pro-Am group also has a development program where an individual can
participate in the festivities. Go to southernprotrucks.com for more
information.
Despite the disqualifications in last weeks Bomber feature that included the
first and second place drivers in the standings, James Skinner and Aaron
Overman, no one else is reasonably close in challenging the pair as they fight
it out for the season-long point title. Skinner still leads Overman by five
points heading into action this week. Shane Sutorus of Orlando has indicated
he'll return this week with his Saturn station wagon to challenge the V-8
powered cars.
Pit gates open at 3 pm Saturday afternoon with practice slated from 4-6:30 pm.
Grandstand gates open at 6 pm with the usual pre-race party from 6-7:15 pm at
the Throttle to Bottle Pub featuring live music courtesy of Pub 44 of New
Smyrna Beach along with food and drink specials. Racing begins at 7:30 pm and
will be a features-only format.
The Sportsman open up the racing action with their first 25-lap feature
followed by a 25 lap contest for the Modifieds and a 25 lap event for the
Southern Pro-Am Truck Series. Following intermission the Super Late Models go
for 35 laps then it's 25 lap race number two for the Sportsman cars followed
by a 20 lap Bomber feature to cap off the evening.
Adult admission is $15 with all seniors (65+) and military with valid ID being
admitted for $13. Kids 11 and under are free of charge and can enjoy a bounce
house that will be on the grounds all evening courtesy of Central Florida
Racing Ministry.