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JESSE DUTILLY DOMINATES IN WINNING DIAMOND 100 AT AUBURNDALE SPEEDWAY
Auburndale Speedway kicked off its 75th Anniversary season on a cold, yet sunny Sunday afternoon in front of a surprisingly good crowd despite the chilly temperatures that were made even worse by a persistent north wind. The highlight of the day would be the Diamond 100 for the Sunshine State Challenge Series Super Late Models presented by Sunoco and the hot action helped the fans deal with the cold.
Qualifying for the SSCS Super Lates proved quite interesting as many of those expected to be up front struggled during their laps. Having no problem with the chilled racing surface was Naples driver Billy Bigley, Jr. who toured the "bullring" at 13.485 seconds to earn quick time honors with Ft. Pierce hot shoe David Green's 13.497 lap good for second fastest. Rounding out the "fast five" in time trials were Auburndale's Jonathan Guy (13.500), Nick Neri of Palmetto (13.512) and Chris Fontaine of Auburndale (13.588). Bubba Pollard of Senoia, GA won the "Red Eye 100" Saturday night at New Smyrna Speedway and opted to come over and give Auburndale Speedway a try. Pollard's first trip here was not too productive though as his lap time put him 13th on the grid out of 17 starters.
Jesse Dutilly of Bradenton, who has practically owned this track over the past couple of seasons, also had a disappointing (for him) qualifying lap but he did make the eight driver re-draw and, as luck would have it, Dutilly drew the pole position with Guy ending up on the outside pole. The second row found the Bigley family side-by-side with Dylan starting third and his dad, the fast qualifier, starting fourth.
Dutilly wasted little time in nabbing the front spot with Guy and Billy Bigley in tow. The three formed a break-away from the pack and by lap 15 Dutilly was pulling away from everybody. Bigley was all over Guy for second but Guy stood his ground. Meanwhile, Neri moved into the top five by getting past Fontaine on lap 23 with Green making a similar move by Fontaine a lap later.
Things really settled down into some good, hard-nosed, green flag racing as Dutilly began lapping the tail end cars by lap 27. Neri took the fourth spot away from Dylan Bigley just before the crossed flags were displayed for half way. At 50 laps it was Dutilly in front by several car lengths with Guy, Billy Bigley, Neri, Dylan Bigley, Green, Fontaine, Joe Boyd, Michael Atwell and Anthony Sergi the top ten at mid race.
Boyd and Atwell sped by a fading Fontaine on lap 52 while Green made contact with a lapped car that caused him to have damage to the right front body work that was pushed in on the tire resulting in quite a bit of smoke under braking. Boyd made the move by Green for position while Dutilly kept up his relentless pace, lapping Pollard on lap 62.
Green, with smoke pouring from the damage to his machine, began fading badly. Anthony Sergi had moved up to seventh but was about to be put a lap down by Dutilly when Green went for a spin off the front bumper of Guy who was trying to put him a lap down at the time during the 77th lap. Guy's aggressiveness earned him a trip to the rear of the lead lap cars but he did not lose much ground as, by now, only seven cars were on the lead lap - Dutilly, Billy Bigley, Neri, Dylan Bigley, Boyd, Sergi and Guy. Meanwhile, several cars pitted to make adjustments during the first caution flag period of the race.
With the "cone rule" restart in effect, Billy Bigley opted to remain behind the leader while Neri took his chances restarting from the outer groove. Dutilly zipped away once again as Neri and Billy Bigley put on a great battle that was finally won by Bigley. At that point, the lead trio was putting considerable distance on the field.
Things came to a head on lap 91 as Billy Bigley and Neri got together in turn four with Bigley going for a smoky spin. Bigley's car backed into the right side of Neri's machine doing considerable damage to Neri's ride making him have to pit for repairs. Bigley also pitted briefly as his son Dylan now became the second place driver behind Dutilly ahead of Sergi, Boyd and Guy. Sergi decided the outside lane was not the place to restart and that allowed Boyd to move up to second for the restart that was aborted when several cars tangled up in turn one just after the green flag came back out. Fontaine got the worst of it and was done for the day while Becca Monopoli had considerable "cosmetic" damage but stayed on the track. Neri came back out but pulled off and out of the event before the restart.
Boyd again tried the outside lane for the restart but it would prove to be his undoing over the final few laps. Dutilly was simply too strong and drove away from the pack while Dylan Bigley kept his machine glued to the inside trying to track down the leader to no avail. Dutilly streaked away for a wire-to-wire victory with Dylan Bigley settling for the runner-up spot. Guy rebounded to claim the final podium spot while Sergi had a fine run for fourth with Boyd hanging on for fifth. Bubba Pollard was not a big factor in this one but he ran steady and clean all day to earn a sixth place finish while Billy Bigley struggled back to nab seventh ahead of Green, Atwell and Monopoli.
A nice field of Legend Cars made their way to the track for their first SSCS point race of 2017. Fast time went to 2016 point champion Seth Adams of Lakeland at 15.537 seconds with his teammate L. J. Grimm timing in second fastest with a 15.932 lap.
Adams' other teammate, Michael Cherry, led the opening two circuits of the 25-lap feature until Adams moved up to easily snare the top spot on the third lap. A lap five caution for a Dave Gleason/Grimm tangle was the only big incident of the race as Adams dominated the remaining distance to win by a large margin. Devin McLeod came home with the second spot while Cherry held on for third in front of Alan Hiefnar while Gleason sped back to fifth at the finish. Grimm took sixth trailed by Dave Fusco, Mike Verhaagh, Mitch Verhaagh, Cale Nolen and Becca Monopoli.
It was also the first 2017 SSCS race for the V-8 Bombers and the field put on quite a show for the frigid fans. James Wright III set fast time at 16.532 seconds but would have to start fairly far back after the re-draw. David Purvis grabbed the early lead and held sway for the first five laps before being passed by George Gorham, Jr.
Gorham held the front position through several caution periods but late in the race had Wright nipping at his tail pipe. Over the last few laps, the pair played "bump and run" with Wright gaining the final advantage to claim the victory. After a brief "talk," the two shook hands and agreed it was just good old hard Bomber racing.
Mike Hubbard had a great late run to pick up the third spot at the checker followed by Josh Todd and Carl Thompson, Jr. Rounding out the finishers were Terry Price, Randy Spicer, Brandon Duchscherer, Purvis, Adam Briggs, Bubba Healey, Eric Burchell, Ricky Norman and Aaron Holmes. Mike Bruno did not start.
Also having their first SSCS race of the year were the Mini Cup cars with Doug Higbie setting quick time at 17.087 seconds. It was Clayton Samuels leading early. Meanwhile, Adam Briggs, who showed up late and missed both practice and qualifying, was moving up from last on the starting grid to challenge second-running Russell bush when Briggs got into turn four a bit "hot" and tapped Bush into a spin.
Briggs restarted from the rear but was like a rocket after the green came back out slicing his way to the front and taking the lead from Samuels on lap seven. From there Briggs drove away to an easy win while Bush came back up to grab second place in front of Samuels, Higbie, Douglas Herrin, Jr. and Bill Rychel.
In other action, Chris Narramore, Sr. decided at the last minute to bring his Mini Stock to the track and that meant he and his crew were up to 4 am readying his 2016 points-winning car. The work proved worthwhile as Narramore sped by early leader John Cummins, Jr. on lap four and set sail. Narramore would have a close call on lap 14 as he had to spin into the infield off turn two to miss a spinning Donald Gatlin who was about to go a lap down.
Narramore moved back to the point for the restart and easily led Chuck Frazier to the checker to score the win. Cummins held on for third followed by Bruce Cozad and Colt Cecil. Completing the finishers were Gatlin, Danny Leet, Gordon Weaver, Fred Martin and Tony Davidson. Narramore set fast time at 15.832 seconds.
Defending champion Chris Spring out ran Kenny Lawrence and Christian Pelfrey to win the Mod Mini Feature while Dustin Wilson topped William Kerns and Anthony Carroll to win the Scrambler main event.
This coming Sunday it will be the first SSCS race for the Mod Mini division as they run the DARN 50. The Daytona Antique Auto Racing Association (DAARA) will also bring vintage Modifieds, Sprint Cars, Midgets and more to entertain the fans. The Figure-8 cars will also compete for the first time this year and they will be joined by the Legend Cars, V-8 Bombers, Mini Stocks, Scramblers and the Mini Cups. The entire program is being sponsored by DARN who sell apparel to help raise awareness of farming and agriculture to the youth through various programs along with supporting locals school's FFA and 4-H programs. Gates open Sunday at noon with racing beginning at 2 pm. The weather is expected to be much warmer this Sunday!
Photos - Courtesy Robert Howell Photography:
1) SSCS Super Late Model winner Jesse Dutilly...
2) Anthony Sergi drove to a hard-fought 4th place in the SSCS SLM race...
3) SSCS V-8 Bomber winner James Wright III...
Auburndale Speedway kicked off its 75th Anniversary season on a cold, yet sunny Sunday afternoon in front of a surprisingly good crowd despite the chilly temperatures that were made even worse by a persistent north wind. The highlight of the day would be the Diamond 100 for the Sunshine State Challenge Series Super Late Models presented by Sunoco and the hot action helped the fans deal with the cold.
Qualifying for the SSCS Super Lates proved quite interesting as many of those expected to be up front struggled during their laps. Having no problem with the chilled racing surface was Naples driver Billy Bigley, Jr. who toured the "bullring" at 13.485 seconds to earn quick time honors with Ft. Pierce hot shoe David Green's 13.497 lap good for second fastest. Rounding out the "fast five" in time trials were Auburndale's Jonathan Guy (13.500), Nick Neri of Palmetto (13.512) and Chris Fontaine of Auburndale (13.588). Bubba Pollard of Senoia, GA won the "Red Eye 100" Saturday night at New Smyrna Speedway and opted to come over and give Auburndale Speedway a try. Pollard's first trip here was not too productive though as his lap time put him 13th on the grid out of 17 starters.
Jesse Dutilly of Bradenton, who has practically owned this track over the past couple of seasons, also had a disappointing (for him) qualifying lap but he did make the eight driver re-draw and, as luck would have it, Dutilly drew the pole position with Guy ending up on the outside pole. The second row found the Bigley family side-by-side with Dylan starting third and his dad, the fast qualifier, starting fourth.
Dutilly wasted little time in nabbing the front spot with Guy and Billy Bigley in tow. The three formed a break-away from the pack and by lap 15 Dutilly was pulling away from everybody. Bigley was all over Guy for second but Guy stood his ground. Meanwhile, Neri moved into the top five by getting past Fontaine on lap 23 with Green making a similar move by Fontaine a lap later.
Things really settled down into some good, hard-nosed, green flag racing as Dutilly began lapping the tail end cars by lap 27. Neri took the fourth spot away from Dylan Bigley just before the crossed flags were displayed for half way. At 50 laps it was Dutilly in front by several car lengths with Guy, Billy Bigley, Neri, Dylan Bigley, Green, Fontaine, Joe Boyd, Michael Atwell and Anthony Sergi the top ten at mid race.
Boyd and Atwell sped by a fading Fontaine on lap 52 while Green made contact with a lapped car that caused him to have damage to the right front body work that was pushed in on the tire resulting in quite a bit of smoke under braking. Boyd made the move by Green for position while Dutilly kept up his relentless pace, lapping Pollard on lap 62.
Green, with smoke pouring from the damage to his machine, began fading badly. Anthony Sergi had moved up to seventh but was about to be put a lap down by Dutilly when Green went for a spin off the front bumper of Guy who was trying to put him a lap down at the time during the 77th lap. Guy's aggressiveness earned him a trip to the rear of the lead lap cars but he did not lose much ground as, by now, only seven cars were on the lead lap - Dutilly, Billy Bigley, Neri, Dylan Bigley, Boyd, Sergi and Guy. Meanwhile, several cars pitted to make adjustments during the first caution flag period of the race.
With the "cone rule" restart in effect, Billy Bigley opted to remain behind the leader while Neri took his chances restarting from the outer groove. Dutilly zipped away once again as Neri and Billy Bigley put on a great battle that was finally won by Bigley. At that point, the lead trio was putting considerable distance on the field.
Things came to a head on lap 91 as Billy Bigley and Neri got together in turn four with Bigley going for a smoky spin. Bigley's car backed into the right side of Neri's machine doing considerable damage to Neri's ride making him have to pit for repairs. Bigley also pitted briefly as his son Dylan now became the second place driver behind Dutilly ahead of Sergi, Boyd and Guy. Sergi decided the outside lane was not the place to restart and that allowed Boyd to move up to second for the restart that was aborted when several cars tangled up in turn one just after the green flag came back out. Fontaine got the worst of it and was done for the day while Becca Monopoli had considerable "cosmetic" damage but stayed on the track. Neri came back out but pulled off and out of the event before the restart.
Boyd again tried the outside lane for the restart but it would prove to be his undoing over the final few laps. Dutilly was simply too strong and drove away from the pack while Dylan Bigley kept his machine glued to the inside trying to track down the leader to no avail. Dutilly streaked away for a wire-to-wire victory with Dylan Bigley settling for the runner-up spot. Guy rebounded to claim the final podium spot while Sergi had a fine run for fourth with Boyd hanging on for fifth. Bubba Pollard was not a big factor in this one but he ran steady and clean all day to earn a sixth place finish while Billy Bigley struggled back to nab seventh ahead of Green, Atwell and Monopoli.
A nice field of Legend Cars made their way to the track for their first SSCS point race of 2017. Fast time went to 2016 point champion Seth Adams of Lakeland at 15.537 seconds with his teammate L. J. Grimm timing in second fastest with a 15.932 lap.
Adams' other teammate, Michael Cherry, led the opening two circuits of the 25-lap feature until Adams moved up to easily snare the top spot on the third lap. A lap five caution for a Dave Gleason/Grimm tangle was the only big incident of the race as Adams dominated the remaining distance to win by a large margin. Devin McLeod came home with the second spot while Cherry held on for third in front of Alan Hiefnar while Gleason sped back to fifth at the finish. Grimm took sixth trailed by Dave Fusco, Mike Verhaagh, Mitch Verhaagh, Cale Nolen and Becca Monopoli.
It was also the first 2017 SSCS race for the V-8 Bombers and the field put on quite a show for the frigid fans. James Wright III set fast time at 16.532 seconds but would have to start fairly far back after the re-draw. David Purvis grabbed the early lead and held sway for the first five laps before being passed by George Gorham, Jr.
Gorham held the front position through several caution periods but late in the race had Wright nipping at his tail pipe. Over the last few laps, the pair played "bump and run" with Wright gaining the final advantage to claim the victory. After a brief "talk," the two shook hands and agreed it was just good old hard Bomber racing.
Mike Hubbard had a great late run to pick up the third spot at the checker followed by Josh Todd and Carl Thompson, Jr. Rounding out the finishers were Terry Price, Randy Spicer, Brandon Duchscherer, Purvis, Adam Briggs, Bubba Healey, Eric Burchell, Ricky Norman and Aaron Holmes. Mike Bruno did not start.
Also having their first SSCS race of the year were the Mini Cup cars with Doug Higbie setting quick time at 17.087 seconds. It was Clayton Samuels leading early. Meanwhile, Adam Briggs, who showed up late and missed both practice and qualifying, was moving up from last on the starting grid to challenge second-running Russell bush when Briggs got into turn four a bit "hot" and tapped Bush into a spin.
Briggs restarted from the rear but was like a rocket after the green came back out slicing his way to the front and taking the lead from Samuels on lap seven. From there Briggs drove away to an easy win while Bush came back up to grab second place in front of Samuels, Higbie, Douglas Herrin, Jr. and Bill Rychel.
In other action, Chris Narramore, Sr. decided at the last minute to bring his Mini Stock to the track and that meant he and his crew were up to 4 am readying his 2016 points-winning car. The work proved worthwhile as Narramore sped by early leader John Cummins, Jr. on lap four and set sail. Narramore would have a close call on lap 14 as he had to spin into the infield off turn two to miss a spinning Donald Gatlin who was about to go a lap down.
Narramore moved back to the point for the restart and easily led Chuck Frazier to the checker to score the win. Cummins held on for third followed by Bruce Cozad and Colt Cecil. Completing the finishers were Gatlin, Danny Leet, Gordon Weaver, Fred Martin and Tony Davidson. Narramore set fast time at 15.832 seconds.
Defending champion Chris Spring out ran Kenny Lawrence and Christian Pelfrey to win the Mod Mini Feature while Dustin Wilson topped William Kerns and Anthony Carroll to win the Scrambler main event.
This coming Sunday it will be the first SSCS race for the Mod Mini division as they run the DARN 50. The Daytona Antique Auto Racing Association (DAARA) will also bring vintage Modifieds, Sprint Cars, Midgets and more to entertain the fans. The Figure-8 cars will also compete for the first time this year and they will be joined by the Legend Cars, V-8 Bombers, Mini Stocks, Scramblers and the Mini Cups. The entire program is being sponsored by DARN who sell apparel to help raise awareness of farming and agriculture to the youth through various programs along with supporting locals school's FFA and 4-H programs. Gates open Sunday at noon with racing beginning at 2 pm. The weather is expected to be much warmer this Sunday!
Photos - Courtesy Robert Howell Photography:
1) SSCS Super Late Model winner Jesse Dutilly...
2) Anthony Sergi drove to a hard-fought 4th place in the SSCS SLM race...
3) SSCS V-8 Bomber winner James Wright III...
Attached Files