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Whelen All American Series Week 1 at New Smyrna Speedway
After three consecutive rainouts, Mother Nature finally graced us with a beautiful night for racing at New Smyrna Speedway! We kicked things off with a pair of heat races for the American Auto Sportsman cars. Heat number 1 was won by Patrick Thomas in car 111, who was looking to continue his dominance from last season. Heat number 2 was won by Scott Bramlett in the 22w. Unfortunately Denica Hetznecker found trouble under the hood during her heat race and was knocked out of the rest of the evenings events. The Speedway Flooring Super Stocks also ran a heat race which was won By Bobby Holley in the 56 Machine. The final Heat race of the night was a thriller by the Rodizio Grill Bombers! Shane Sutorus and Wes Railing had a heck of battle and were side by side at the checkered flag, with Railing winning by a slim margin.
During intermission New Smyrna Speedway honored the late Tim Cordell who was a dear friend of the speedway and many in attendance. You could always find him at New Smyrna or Orlando speedway driving the famous Tim’s Automotive wrecker! Many drivers lined up for pictures and a few parade laps in his honor! He will be dearly missed.
The first feature event of the night was a 25 lap contest for the American Auto Sportsman. American Auto has a lot of great things in store for this division this year, including an extra $300 when a driver collects their first win of the season, amongst other great incentives! Ron Lufcy (07) would start the race on the pole but would quickly give way to the 11 machine of Daniel Conlin, who led a good chunk of the race. The race got off to a clean start but saw a lot of attrition as over half of the 15 starters dropped out with issues. Conlin enjoyed a decent lead for the first half of the race before being chased down by last year’s Nascar Division 3 Champion, Patrick Thomas. Once Thomas caught Conlin he was able to methodically work his way to the lead just before the events only yellow when the 55 of Michael Held spun and made contact with the wall out of turn 4. On the restart Patrick Thomas was about to jump out to the lead and secure his first win of 2016, continuing where he left off from last year. In victory lane, Thomas let everyone know that in order to win he had to beat his own set up in Conlin’s 11 machine and it was no easy task.
American Auto Sportsman top 5:
1. #111 Patrick Thomas
2 #11 Daniel Conlin
3 #86 Richard Goodrich
4 #07 Ron Lufcy
5 # 38 Ron Gusafson
Up next was the Super Late Model 35 lap main event. The 77 of Rich Clouser started on the pole, but it was veteran David Rogers in the TM Ranch Machine jumped out to the early lead. It was not long before Brad May was able to chase down the 11 of Rogers and the two drivers spent much of the race within a few car lengths of each other. The races would go yellow free and only one car dropped out with issues. The 39 of Morgan Hoover did not have the return to racing he had hoped for as the team still has some gremlins to work out before the 100 lapper in a few weeks. As the laps wound down Brad May tried everything to get a run on Rogers but was unable to do so and David Rogers claimed his first checkered flag in a number of years, to the approval of the crowd! Brad May came home in second, while Rich Clouser was able to hold off a scrappy Noah Cornman for 3rd. In victory lane you could see the look of relief on Rogers and the entire TM Ranch crew’s faces, as the popular driver from Orlando was back where he belongs!
Super Late Model Top 5
1 #11 David Rogers
2 # 9 Brad May
3 # 77 Rich Clouser
4 #30 Noah Cornman
5 # 24 Dalton Smith
The Speedway Flooring Super Stock division was on track next for 25 laps of action. 5 cars took the green after the 95 of Garrett Hill had issues in the heat race. Bobby Holley started on the pole and jumped out to the early lead. Dale Howard in the 63 slowly started to reel him in as the laps ticked off but was going to need to help if he was going to get by him. After the 23 of Ed Barber shut down we had a great battle for 3rd between Mike Dahm and Mike Amato in the twin 21’s. After Dahms car shut down Amato had 3rd wrapped up before pulling off the track with a few to go, leaving Howard and Holley to race for the win. Howard tried everything he could but could not muster up a challenge for the victory. Dale Howard would easily hold him off to claim his first win of the season. As Holley exited the car to the roar of the crowd, he enthusiastically jumped up and down on the roof of his car as he celebrated. Holley may be an early favorite for the division title!
Speedway Flooring Super Stock Top 5:
1 #56 Bobby Holley
2 #63 Dale Howard
3 #21x Mike Amato
4 21 Mike Dahm
5 23 Ed Barber
The final event was the 20 lap main event for the Rodizio Grill Bombers, in honor of Tim Cordel. Joe Rock the Cole Trickle look alike machine, would be on the pole but the race had a bit of trouble getting going as the 90 of Richard Tyner spun in turn 1 on lap 1. Of the restart the field made it to turn 4 before Tyner lost control again, this time over correcting and pounding the wall between turns 3 and 4. Thankfully Richard was okay! Once the race got going there was some great racing between the 46 of Rock, the 51 of Wess Railing and the 24 of Megan Matheny for the lead. Shane Sutorus showed in the heat race he had a fast race car and was working his way to the front when he lost an entire wheel off of turn 4 and narrowly missing taking out a few of the lead cars. This incident would take him out of the race and his chance to pick up the win was over. A debris caution at half way bunched the field up one more time, with Wes Railing showing the way in the 51. He now had to hold of the challenges of Megan Matheny in the 2 and last year’s Bomber Champ Aaron Overman in the Tim’s Automotive Machine. Over the final few laps Matheny gave it everything she had, but Railing was too fast and was able to beat her to the checkered flag. However to keep the win at New Smyrna you have to go through the dreaded room of doom and Railing was disqualified, giving the official win to Megan Matheny. This was one of the best Bomber races we have seen at New Smyrna and I believe it shows the true potential of this class. I hope they continue to show up in big numbers because they are fun to watch!
Rodizio Grill Bombers Top 5:
1 #24 Megan Matheny
2 # 03 Aaron Overman
3 #180 Keith Wylie
4 #37 Mike Hanna
5 #0 Bill Loomis
Make sure you join us next week as the Pro Late Models, Modifieds, Mod Minis and Bombers are all in action!
After three consecutive rainouts, Mother Nature finally graced us with a beautiful night for racing at New Smyrna Speedway! We kicked things off with a pair of heat races for the American Auto Sportsman cars. Heat number 1 was won by Patrick Thomas in car 111, who was looking to continue his dominance from last season. Heat number 2 was won by Scott Bramlett in the 22w. Unfortunately Denica Hetznecker found trouble under the hood during her heat race and was knocked out of the rest of the evenings events. The Speedway Flooring Super Stocks also ran a heat race which was won By Bobby Holley in the 56 Machine. The final Heat race of the night was a thriller by the Rodizio Grill Bombers! Shane Sutorus and Wes Railing had a heck of battle and were side by side at the checkered flag, with Railing winning by a slim margin.
During intermission New Smyrna Speedway honored the late Tim Cordell who was a dear friend of the speedway and many in attendance. You could always find him at New Smyrna or Orlando speedway driving the famous Tim’s Automotive wrecker! Many drivers lined up for pictures and a few parade laps in his honor! He will be dearly missed.
The first feature event of the night was a 25 lap contest for the American Auto Sportsman. American Auto has a lot of great things in store for this division this year, including an extra $300 when a driver collects their first win of the season, amongst other great incentives! Ron Lufcy (07) would start the race on the pole but would quickly give way to the 11 machine of Daniel Conlin, who led a good chunk of the race. The race got off to a clean start but saw a lot of attrition as over half of the 15 starters dropped out with issues. Conlin enjoyed a decent lead for the first half of the race before being chased down by last year’s Nascar Division 3 Champion, Patrick Thomas. Once Thomas caught Conlin he was able to methodically work his way to the lead just before the events only yellow when the 55 of Michael Held spun and made contact with the wall out of turn 4. On the restart Patrick Thomas was about to jump out to the lead and secure his first win of 2016, continuing where he left off from last year. In victory lane, Thomas let everyone know that in order to win he had to beat his own set up in Conlin’s 11 machine and it was no easy task.
American Auto Sportsman top 5:
1. #111 Patrick Thomas
2 #11 Daniel Conlin
3 #86 Richard Goodrich
4 #07 Ron Lufcy
5 # 38 Ron Gusafson
Up next was the Super Late Model 35 lap main event. The 77 of Rich Clouser started on the pole, but it was veteran David Rogers in the TM Ranch Machine jumped out to the early lead. It was not long before Brad May was able to chase down the 11 of Rogers and the two drivers spent much of the race within a few car lengths of each other. The races would go yellow free and only one car dropped out with issues. The 39 of Morgan Hoover did not have the return to racing he had hoped for as the team still has some gremlins to work out before the 100 lapper in a few weeks. As the laps wound down Brad May tried everything to get a run on Rogers but was unable to do so and David Rogers claimed his first checkered flag in a number of years, to the approval of the crowd! Brad May came home in second, while Rich Clouser was able to hold off a scrappy Noah Cornman for 3rd. In victory lane you could see the look of relief on Rogers and the entire TM Ranch crew’s faces, as the popular driver from Orlando was back where he belongs!
Super Late Model Top 5
1 #11 David Rogers
2 # 9 Brad May
3 # 77 Rich Clouser
4 #30 Noah Cornman
5 # 24 Dalton Smith
The Speedway Flooring Super Stock division was on track next for 25 laps of action. 5 cars took the green after the 95 of Garrett Hill had issues in the heat race. Bobby Holley started on the pole and jumped out to the early lead. Dale Howard in the 63 slowly started to reel him in as the laps ticked off but was going to need to help if he was going to get by him. After the 23 of Ed Barber shut down we had a great battle for 3rd between Mike Dahm and Mike Amato in the twin 21’s. After Dahms car shut down Amato had 3rd wrapped up before pulling off the track with a few to go, leaving Howard and Holley to race for the win. Howard tried everything he could but could not muster up a challenge for the victory. Dale Howard would easily hold him off to claim his first win of the season. As Holley exited the car to the roar of the crowd, he enthusiastically jumped up and down on the roof of his car as he celebrated. Holley may be an early favorite for the division title!
Speedway Flooring Super Stock Top 5:
1 #56 Bobby Holley
2 #63 Dale Howard
3 #21x Mike Amato
4 21 Mike Dahm
5 23 Ed Barber
The final event was the 20 lap main event for the Rodizio Grill Bombers, in honor of Tim Cordel. Joe Rock the Cole Trickle look alike machine, would be on the pole but the race had a bit of trouble getting going as the 90 of Richard Tyner spun in turn 1 on lap 1. Of the restart the field made it to turn 4 before Tyner lost control again, this time over correcting and pounding the wall between turns 3 and 4. Thankfully Richard was okay! Once the race got going there was some great racing between the 46 of Rock, the 51 of Wess Railing and the 24 of Megan Matheny for the lead. Shane Sutorus showed in the heat race he had a fast race car and was working his way to the front when he lost an entire wheel off of turn 4 and narrowly missing taking out a few of the lead cars. This incident would take him out of the race and his chance to pick up the win was over. A debris caution at half way bunched the field up one more time, with Wes Railing showing the way in the 51. He now had to hold of the challenges of Megan Matheny in the 2 and last year’s Bomber Champ Aaron Overman in the Tim’s Automotive Machine. Over the final few laps Matheny gave it everything she had, but Railing was too fast and was able to beat her to the checkered flag. However to keep the win at New Smyrna you have to go through the dreaded room of doom and Railing was disqualified, giving the official win to Megan Matheny. This was one of the best Bomber races we have seen at New Smyrna and I believe it shows the true potential of this class. I hope they continue to show up in big numbers because they are fun to watch!
Rodizio Grill Bombers Top 5:
1 #24 Megan Matheny
2 # 03 Aaron Overman
3 #180 Keith Wylie
4 #37 Mike Hanna
5 #0 Bill Loomis
Make sure you join us next week as the Pro Late Models, Modifieds, Mod Minis and Bombers are all in action!
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