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TUCKER GOES WIRE TO WIRE IN MOD 50 - MAY & SUTORUS WIN AGAIN AT NEW SMYRNA SPEEDWAY
Despite a couple of brief afternoon rain showers, week number 31 of the NASCAR Whelen All-American Racing Series went off without a hitch Saturday night at New Smyrna Speedway.
The Modifieds were the headlining class of the night going for 50 laps around the high-banked half-mile and it was defending champion Jerry "The Hammer" Symons of New Smyrna Beach turning the quick lap in time trials at 18.744 seconds in his Gene Kelly Roofing/American Auto, Tires & Service special that was using a back-up engine. James "Tank" Tucker of New Smyrna entered the evening trailing Symons by just one point in the 2015 Modified standings and set second fast time at 18.765 followed by the 18.855 lap of Clermont's Alan Bruns.
The top five in qualifying were inverted for the start placing Shain Held on the pole with wily veteran Wayne Parker, the most recent winner in the class, to his outside. Going into turn one after the drop of the green, Held's car washed up the track and made contact with Parker's machine putting Parker hard into the wall. The damage was such that the Parker car had to be "cradled" off the track by the Tim's Automotive and Inferno Performance wreckers. In the melee, Matt Wheeler, currently running third in the points, slowed and was run over by his dad Dennis Wheeler who was behind the wheel of a brand-new racer. The elder Wheeler would be done for the night while Matt's crew went to work and removed much of the body work on his car including the roof and sent him back into the fray.
The second start was much better and it was Tucker breezing into the lead as Bruns and Symons settled into second and third positions. Things stayed fast but calm until lap 20 when the yellow flag was thrown for Matt Jarrett as his car began spewing fuel on the track surface after the fuel pump failed. On the restart, Tucker, Bruns and Symons lined up 1-2-3 again with ho one able to ps his spate of bad luck continued.
Tut up a good challenge for position. Held was running sixth when he suddenly fell by the wayside, victim of a broken battery cable ahe remainder of the event ran to the checker under green with Tucker grabbing his fifth win of the year over Bruns, Symons, Clearwater visitor Dalton Nelson (whose mother later won the 50/50 raffle) and Matt Wheeler in his "air conditioned" mount. Mike Dahm was sixth with Held credited with seventh ahead of George Dahm, Parker and Dennis Wheeler.
Tucker's win coupled with Symons' third place showing moved Tucker into the point lead by two over defending champion Symons with one race left to run on October 24th.
Matt Montineri of Fleming Island made his first start of the year in the Pro Late Models and drew the pole for the 25 lap feature but it was outside pole sitter Blaise Hetznecker who led the opening lap before Montineri slipped by to set the pace. Montineri was holding off a hard charge from Brad May who had moved into second on the sixth lap before the only caution flag of the race came out for a turn two spin by Steve Grossman on lap 15. Grossman, making just his second Pro Late Model start, got his car re-fired and rejoined the race.
Montineri continued to hold off May but it was only for two more laps before the Oviedo hot shoe moved into a lead he would not relinquish. May pulled away in his Bobby Sears Racing R. K. Edwards, Inc.-sponsored car to score his seventh win of the year. Deland's Rich Clouser moved into second late in the going and matched May's racer speed-for-speed but could never get close enough to challenge. "We're almost where we need to be," stated Clouser after the race. Montineri brought his new machine home a solid third while Zach Jarrell extended his point lead by finishing fourth ahead of his closest rivals in the point chase, Noah Cornman and Hetznecker, who took fifth and sixth at the checker. Dalton Smith, Grossman and Aaron Rader completed the finishers.
There were only six cars in the field but most fans said the Bomber feature was the best one of the night that featured plenty of fender banging, bump-and-runs, three-wide racing and more. The race itself would be a battle between a pair of Saturns as Zachary Curtis was out with a new car and led the first 12 laps that included a lap 11 yellow flag to remove the rear bumper of Shane Sutorus' Saturn station wagon. The bumper had been knocked loose a few laps earlier when Sutorus and Charlie King made contact on the back stretch. Sutorus dragged the bumper around for a few laps before it came off and slid to a stop right underneath the flag stand.
Curtis and Sutorus then went at it following the restart with Sutorus leading lap 13 before Curtis moved in front again for one more lap before James Skinner brought out the yellow as his radiator broke and he spun in the water onto the end of pit road to continue a recent string of bad luck. Sutorus assumed the top spot on the restart and held on to the conclusion of the 20-lap chase. Sutorus, who made it to the track just minutes before the start of the race, nabbed his sixth win of the year while Curtis settled for the runner-up spot ahead of Crash Tyner's Lincoln. King, Aaron Overman and Skinner, all in Chevy Monte Carlos, were fourth, fifth and sixth.
A note that New Smyrna Speedway will hold an open practice this Thursday night, October 15th. Pit gates open at 5 pm with practice from 6-10 pm. Admission is $10 per person entering the pits.
Winner Photos by Jim Jones - jimjonesphoto.com:
1) Modified 50 winner Tank Tucker...
2) Pro Late Model winner Brad May...
3) Bomber winner Shane Sutorus...
Despite a couple of brief afternoon rain showers, week number 31 of the NASCAR Whelen All-American Racing Series went off without a hitch Saturday night at New Smyrna Speedway.
The Modifieds were the headlining class of the night going for 50 laps around the high-banked half-mile and it was defending champion Jerry "The Hammer" Symons of New Smyrna Beach turning the quick lap in time trials at 18.744 seconds in his Gene Kelly Roofing/American Auto, Tires & Service special that was using a back-up engine. James "Tank" Tucker of New Smyrna entered the evening trailing Symons by just one point in the 2015 Modified standings and set second fast time at 18.765 followed by the 18.855 lap of Clermont's Alan Bruns.
The top five in qualifying were inverted for the start placing Shain Held on the pole with wily veteran Wayne Parker, the most recent winner in the class, to his outside. Going into turn one after the drop of the green, Held's car washed up the track and made contact with Parker's machine putting Parker hard into the wall. The damage was such that the Parker car had to be "cradled" off the track by the Tim's Automotive and Inferno Performance wreckers. In the melee, Matt Wheeler, currently running third in the points, slowed and was run over by his dad Dennis Wheeler who was behind the wheel of a brand-new racer. The elder Wheeler would be done for the night while Matt's crew went to work and removed much of the body work on his car including the roof and sent him back into the fray.
The second start was much better and it was Tucker breezing into the lead as Bruns and Symons settled into second and third positions. Things stayed fast but calm until lap 20 when the yellow flag was thrown for Matt Jarrett as his car began spewing fuel on the track surface after the fuel pump failed. On the restart, Tucker, Bruns and Symons lined up 1-2-3 again with ho one able to ps his spate of bad luck continued.
Tut up a good challenge for position. Held was running sixth when he suddenly fell by the wayside, victim of a broken battery cable ahe remainder of the event ran to the checker under green with Tucker grabbing his fifth win of the year over Bruns, Symons, Clearwater visitor Dalton Nelson (whose mother later won the 50/50 raffle) and Matt Wheeler in his "air conditioned" mount. Mike Dahm was sixth with Held credited with seventh ahead of George Dahm, Parker and Dennis Wheeler.
Tucker's win coupled with Symons' third place showing moved Tucker into the point lead by two over defending champion Symons with one race left to run on October 24th.
Matt Montineri of Fleming Island made his first start of the year in the Pro Late Models and drew the pole for the 25 lap feature but it was outside pole sitter Blaise Hetznecker who led the opening lap before Montineri slipped by to set the pace. Montineri was holding off a hard charge from Brad May who had moved into second on the sixth lap before the only caution flag of the race came out for a turn two spin by Steve Grossman on lap 15. Grossman, making just his second Pro Late Model start, got his car re-fired and rejoined the race.
Montineri continued to hold off May but it was only for two more laps before the Oviedo hot shoe moved into a lead he would not relinquish. May pulled away in his Bobby Sears Racing R. K. Edwards, Inc.-sponsored car to score his seventh win of the year. Deland's Rich Clouser moved into second late in the going and matched May's racer speed-for-speed but could never get close enough to challenge. "We're almost where we need to be," stated Clouser after the race. Montineri brought his new machine home a solid third while Zach Jarrell extended his point lead by finishing fourth ahead of his closest rivals in the point chase, Noah Cornman and Hetznecker, who took fifth and sixth at the checker. Dalton Smith, Grossman and Aaron Rader completed the finishers.
There were only six cars in the field but most fans said the Bomber feature was the best one of the night that featured plenty of fender banging, bump-and-runs, three-wide racing and more. The race itself would be a battle between a pair of Saturns as Zachary Curtis was out with a new car and led the first 12 laps that included a lap 11 yellow flag to remove the rear bumper of Shane Sutorus' Saturn station wagon. The bumper had been knocked loose a few laps earlier when Sutorus and Charlie King made contact on the back stretch. Sutorus dragged the bumper around for a few laps before it came off and slid to a stop right underneath the flag stand.
Curtis and Sutorus then went at it following the restart with Sutorus leading lap 13 before Curtis moved in front again for one more lap before James Skinner brought out the yellow as his radiator broke and he spun in the water onto the end of pit road to continue a recent string of bad luck. Sutorus assumed the top spot on the restart and held on to the conclusion of the 20-lap chase. Sutorus, who made it to the track just minutes before the start of the race, nabbed his sixth win of the year while Curtis settled for the runner-up spot ahead of Crash Tyner's Lincoln. King, Aaron Overman and Skinner, all in Chevy Monte Carlos, were fourth, fifth and sixth.
A note that New Smyrna Speedway will hold an open practice this Thursday night, October 15th. Pit gates open at 5 pm with practice from 6-10 pm. Admission is $10 per person entering the pits.
Winner Photos by Jim Jones - jimjonesphoto.com:
1) Modified 50 winner Tank Tucker...
2) Pro Late Model winner Brad May...
3) Bomber winner Shane Sutorus...
Attached Files