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Week number 9 of the Whelen All American Series at New Smyrna Speedway was frankly once of the more entertaining nights if the entire season. Summer is in full swing and the action on the track was as hot as the Florida sun! The American Auto Sportsman, Speedway Flooring Super Stocks, Super Late Models and Bombers were all in action and every division put on some fantastic racing!
The first feature event of the night was the 25 lapper for the American Auto Sportsman Division! A great field of 17 cars took the green flag, but this race can simply be described as the Patrick Thomas show. A few weeks after having his engine claimed, getting DQed and having his team car demolished in a crash, Thomas had a point to prove! Patrick started on the pole (earned based on his finish in the heat race) and jumped out to an early lead. Even though Thomas jumped out to the lead early, Earl Beckner and Andy Nicholls made their way through the field and tried to close in on Thomas' 111 machine. Despite the large starting field, the race ran clean and green for 24 and a half laps. This never gave Beckner or Nicholls a chance to close in on Thomas and battle him for the race lead. Coming out of turn 2 on the final lap Denica Hetznecker was battling with Donovan Ponder inside the top 10 when she lost control and spun into the outside wall. There were some tense moments as the rest of the field came screaming by her disabled machine. Luckily no one hit Hetznecker and George Alexander was the only car involved in the incident as other drivers checked up. The yellow flag was displayed, ending the race and Patrick Thomas easily claimed his 4th win of the season. In victory lane Patrick made it quite clear he had a point to prove after everything that went down a few weeks ago and he was happy to be standing in victory lane yet again. This victory helped Thomas regain some of the ground he lost in the point standings after the disqualification after point leader Richard Goodrich came home in 5th. It will be interesting to see if Thomas can overcome the deficit as the season progresses.
American Auto Sportsman Top 5:
1. #111 Patrick Thomas
2. #71 Earl Beckner
3. #66 Andy Nicholls
4. #1 Dereck Wood
5. #86 Richard Goodrich
Up next the Super Late Models took to the track for just the 3rd time this season. Brad May started on the Pole and looked strong early. David Rogers, Rich Clouser and Anthony Sergi were all left behind to battle for second. The race was pretty clean until Noah Cornman had something break on his car sending him HARD into the turn 1 wall, destroying the right side of the Gatorland machine. Thankfully the youngster was ok and will be able to race another day. On the restart Anthony Sergi took advantage of a bad restart by Brad May and took the lead. Once May got back up to speed he made short work of Sergi and retook the race lead with just a handful of laps to go. Once May got back out in front no one could catch him and May took home his first Super Late Model win of the season. Sergi held on for second and opening day winner David Rogers came home 3rd. Look for all these guys to contend for the win in the Clyde Hart Memorial 100 coming up at the end of the month!
Super Late Model Top 5:
1. #9 Brad May
2. #20 Anthony Sergi
3. #11 David Rogers
4. #77 Rich Clouser
5. #24 Cory Spencer
12 Speedway Flooring Super Stocks took the green flag for their 5th event of 2016. Things got interesting in turn 1 when Ronnie Hadden spun, but he was able to re-fire and drive away and the race stayed green. Early in the race it was clear that Jeff Cuddy, Preston Hunt and George Spears had the cars to beat as they tried to distance themselves from the rest of the field. However, something went amiss on Spears' car dropping him from contention. This left Jeff Cuddy and Preston Hunt to battle for the victory. Coming into the race we have seen 4 different winners in 4 races this season and both Cuddy and Hunt were looking for their 2nd of the season. As the Laps wound down Hunt tried everything he could to catch Cuddy's XL machine but he was unable to do so. Jeff Cuddy took the Billy Cuddy Painting Monte Carlo to victory lane, earning his second consecutive win of 2016! Hunt settled for 2nd and Point Leader Bobby Holley brought his machine home in 3rd.
Speedway Flooring Super Stocks Top 5:
1. #XL Jeff Cuddy
2. #6 Preston Hunt
3. #56 Bobby Holley
4. #17 John Hodge
5. #63 Dale Howard
The final event of the evening was the 20 lap contest for the wild and wacky Bombers! 11 drivers were on hand on the eve of their big 50 lapper on June 18th! Matt Thornton was on pole and led the first few laps after an early spin by Mac MacDonald. After a few laps Charles King Jr. got his beautiful Caviler up to speed and was able to take the lead. King Jr's lead would evaporate after Tyler Jewer meet the front stretch wall head on right at the start finish line bringing out the yellow flag yet again. On the restart Joe Hamilton made a nice move and took over the lead for Charles King Jr. and would hang on to lead a few laps. It seemed to take King a few laps to get up to full song but once he got up to full speed he was able to take the lead away from Hamilton with just a few laps left. Hamilton gave it everything he had but he had to settle for runner up. Charles King Jr. took the victory in his first start of the year, but it wasn't easy! During practice on Thursday he had transmission trouble and he spent all day Friday replacing it by himself so he could even make it back to race on Saturday! The youngster's hard work paid off and he looks like he could be a serious contender for the big 50 lapper next weekend!
Bomber Top 5:
1. #37 Charles King Jr
2. #00 Matt Thornton
3. #10 Joe Hamilton
4. #46 Joe Rock
5. #03 Aaron Overman
Next week the Bombers take center stage for the Old School Racing Bomber 50 sponsored by Skinners Clean Cut Tree Service and Charles King Southeast Waterproofing. The race is up to $700 to win and there is sure to be a great field of bombers on hand duking it out for the big prize. Also in action will be the Mod Minis, Modifieds and Pro Late Models! You are not going to want to miss any of the action!
The first feature event of the night was the 25 lapper for the American Auto Sportsman Division! A great field of 17 cars took the green flag, but this race can simply be described as the Patrick Thomas show. A few weeks after having his engine claimed, getting DQed and having his team car demolished in a crash, Thomas had a point to prove! Patrick started on the pole (earned based on his finish in the heat race) and jumped out to an early lead. Even though Thomas jumped out to the lead early, Earl Beckner and Andy Nicholls made their way through the field and tried to close in on Thomas' 111 machine. Despite the large starting field, the race ran clean and green for 24 and a half laps. This never gave Beckner or Nicholls a chance to close in on Thomas and battle him for the race lead. Coming out of turn 2 on the final lap Denica Hetznecker was battling with Donovan Ponder inside the top 10 when she lost control and spun into the outside wall. There were some tense moments as the rest of the field came screaming by her disabled machine. Luckily no one hit Hetznecker and George Alexander was the only car involved in the incident as other drivers checked up. The yellow flag was displayed, ending the race and Patrick Thomas easily claimed his 4th win of the season. In victory lane Patrick made it quite clear he had a point to prove after everything that went down a few weeks ago and he was happy to be standing in victory lane yet again. This victory helped Thomas regain some of the ground he lost in the point standings after the disqualification after point leader Richard Goodrich came home in 5th. It will be interesting to see if Thomas can overcome the deficit as the season progresses.
American Auto Sportsman Top 5:
1. #111 Patrick Thomas
2. #71 Earl Beckner
3. #66 Andy Nicholls
4. #1 Dereck Wood
5. #86 Richard Goodrich
Up next the Super Late Models took to the track for just the 3rd time this season. Brad May started on the Pole and looked strong early. David Rogers, Rich Clouser and Anthony Sergi were all left behind to battle for second. The race was pretty clean until Noah Cornman had something break on his car sending him HARD into the turn 1 wall, destroying the right side of the Gatorland machine. Thankfully the youngster was ok and will be able to race another day. On the restart Anthony Sergi took advantage of a bad restart by Brad May and took the lead. Once May got back up to speed he made short work of Sergi and retook the race lead with just a handful of laps to go. Once May got back out in front no one could catch him and May took home his first Super Late Model win of the season. Sergi held on for second and opening day winner David Rogers came home 3rd. Look for all these guys to contend for the win in the Clyde Hart Memorial 100 coming up at the end of the month!
Super Late Model Top 5:
1. #9 Brad May
2. #20 Anthony Sergi
3. #11 David Rogers
4. #77 Rich Clouser
5. #24 Cory Spencer
12 Speedway Flooring Super Stocks took the green flag for their 5th event of 2016. Things got interesting in turn 1 when Ronnie Hadden spun, but he was able to re-fire and drive away and the race stayed green. Early in the race it was clear that Jeff Cuddy, Preston Hunt and George Spears had the cars to beat as they tried to distance themselves from the rest of the field. However, something went amiss on Spears' car dropping him from contention. This left Jeff Cuddy and Preston Hunt to battle for the victory. Coming into the race we have seen 4 different winners in 4 races this season and both Cuddy and Hunt were looking for their 2nd of the season. As the Laps wound down Hunt tried everything he could to catch Cuddy's XL machine but he was unable to do so. Jeff Cuddy took the Billy Cuddy Painting Monte Carlo to victory lane, earning his second consecutive win of 2016! Hunt settled for 2nd and Point Leader Bobby Holley brought his machine home in 3rd.
Speedway Flooring Super Stocks Top 5:
1. #XL Jeff Cuddy
2. #6 Preston Hunt
3. #56 Bobby Holley
4. #17 John Hodge
5. #63 Dale Howard
The final event of the evening was the 20 lap contest for the wild and wacky Bombers! 11 drivers were on hand on the eve of their big 50 lapper on June 18th! Matt Thornton was on pole and led the first few laps after an early spin by Mac MacDonald. After a few laps Charles King Jr. got his beautiful Caviler up to speed and was able to take the lead. King Jr's lead would evaporate after Tyler Jewer meet the front stretch wall head on right at the start finish line bringing out the yellow flag yet again. On the restart Joe Hamilton made a nice move and took over the lead for Charles King Jr. and would hang on to lead a few laps. It seemed to take King a few laps to get up to full song but once he got up to full speed he was able to take the lead away from Hamilton with just a few laps left. Hamilton gave it everything he had but he had to settle for runner up. Charles King Jr. took the victory in his first start of the year, but it wasn't easy! During practice on Thursday he had transmission trouble and he spent all day Friday replacing it by himself so he could even make it back to race on Saturday! The youngster's hard work paid off and he looks like he could be a serious contender for the big 50 lapper next weekend!
Bomber Top 5:
1. #37 Charles King Jr
2. #00 Matt Thornton
3. #10 Joe Hamilton
4. #46 Joe Rock
5. #03 Aaron Overman
Next week the Bombers take center stage for the Old School Racing Bomber 50 sponsored by Skinners Clean Cut Tree Service and Charles King Southeast Waterproofing. The race is up to $700 to win and there is sure to be a great field of bombers on hand duking it out for the big prize. Also in action will be the Mod Minis, Modifieds and Pro Late Models! You are not going to want to miss any of the action!