Tweet
JESSE DUTILLY UNSTOPPABLE IN SSCS SUPER LATE MODELS AT AUBURNDALE SPEEDWAY
Before a big crowd on a beautiful Saturday evening, the Sunshine State Challenge Series Super Late Models were back in action for a second time this year at Auburndale Speedway but the results were the same as Bradenton pilot Jesse Dutilly continued his recent dominance of the "Bull Ring."
Dutilly had basically a "perfect" night starting with time trials. As the final car of 15 to take time, Dutilly lit up the new Sunoco LED scoreboard with a lap of 13.437 seconds, topping the 13.487 lap of second quick Nick Neri of Palmetto. Naples driver Michael Atwell tripped the clocks third fastest at 13.538 followed by Devin McLeod of Zephyrhills and Winter Haven's George Gorham, Jr.
Dutilly's excellent night continued as he picked the pole position in the re-draw with Atwell starting second followed by Neri, Gorham and McLeod who shared row three with David Green.
As expected, Dutilly zipped quickly to the point but it was nowhere near a runaway during the early laps as Atwell, Gorham, Neri and Green ran in tight formation behind the leader several car lengths in front of sixth place McLeod. The laps continued to click off quickly until lap 34 when McLeod drove into turn three and found himself with no brakes. McLeod intentionally spun the car but still slapped the wall with enough damage to eliminate him from competition. Super Late Model rookie Michael Goddard also pitted during the caution for adjustments but was back out before the field returned to green although he spun out one lap later to bring out the second yellow flag of the race.
Atwell chose not to restart on the outside lane allowing Gorham to move up into second for the restart. Anthony Sergi, who by his own admission "totally missed the set-up" for qualifying, was already up to seventh after starting 13th. This restart was aborted when Atwell spun out in turn one after getting a little bit of help from Green. Both went to the rear for the next attempt at restarting the contest.
Neri restarted from the outside front row with Gorham third and the surging Sergi now in fourth. On this restart, the field made it all the way to turn three before Jonathan Guy clobbered Sergi sending him into a spin as the rest of the field scattered. Both pitted to fix cosmetic damage as did Atwell who also got nicked up in the incident. All three were back out for the restart.
Dutilly again broke to the front but was getting pressed by both Neri and Gorham as the trio put some distance on fourth-running Billy Bigley, Jr. who had slowly worked his way to the front after starting last on the grid. Caution flew again on lap 43 as Atwell spun by himself in turn four.
Again, the second place car of Neri chose not to restart in the high line moving Gorham up to second once again and he stayed there this time as he dove in front of Neri just after the restart. At the half-way mark it was Dutilly leading Gorham and Neri followed by Matt McCrary, Chris Fontaine, Billy Bigley, Patrick Staropoli, Becca Monopoli, Sergi and Guy.
On lap 52, Staropoli and Monopoli had a brief altercation bringing out the caution while Dylan Bigley headed to the pits for adjustments. Neri moved back to second on the restart while Sergi was again on the charge taking fifth away from McCrary. Enough green flag laps had finally been run as Dutilly started lapping the back half of the field. Gorham stormed by Neri on lap 67 to claim second place but he was a half straight behind Dutilly. Sergi continued to run strong as he took fourth from Fontaine on lap 74 while Guy slipped past McCrary into fifth bringing Atwell with him.
That's the way things ran all the way to the finish. The only thing that occurred during the final few laps was a badly smoking car for Billy Bigley as he pulled off during the 84th lap while Goddard also dropped out with a handful of laps left as 12 of the 15 starters were still around at the checker.
Dutilly was in a class to himself as he took the checker completing a sweep of the night starting with quick time and leading every lap of the event. Gorham came home a distant second but was happy with his team's effort. Neri took third while Sergi was the hard charger of the night improving nine spots to take fourth while Fontaine had a steady run for fifth. Guy, Atwell, and McCrary were sixth through eighth while Monopoli and Green rounded out the top ten, each one lap down.
Dutilly now leads the Sunshine State Challenge Series Super Late Model points by 25 over Atwell (185-160) while Neri is in third place, eight markers behind Atwell. Sergi and Guy are fourth and fifth in points.
The Legend Cars were back in action for 25 laps but things continued to be the same as they have been all season as Lakeland's Seth Adams was easily in charge all night. Adams set quick time at 15.455 seconds ahead of Devin McLeod and Adams' teammate Michael Cherry.
Kyle Pitts led the opening lap but was no match for Adams who quickly grabbed the point never to be challenged. McLeod, whose night ended early in the Super Late Model race, also had a rough go of it in the Legends being involved in both cautions. First he tangled up with Cherry as they battled for second then he spun Mitch Verhaagh on the back stretch while trying to work his way back to the front. After his early exit in the SLM race, McLeod admitted he was a little overly aggressive in the Legends feature.
Still McLeod finished in third behind Adams and Cherry. For Adams, he remained unbeaten on the season and still thinks he can make his car even faster. McLeod's third place was negated after he performed some "doughnuts" on the front stretch before going back to the pit area which is now against insurance regulations. "I had no idea," said McLeod. "I was just doing what some kids standing by the fence asked me to do," he said.
Alan Hiefnar moved up to third in the final tally followed by Pitts and Verhaagh. Jason Welage, Greg Welage, Dave Fusco, Wild Willie Wilson, Cale Nolen and McLeod rounded out the finishers.
Kyle Peters' 16.397 lap was good enough for quick time in the V-8 Bombers as they got set for a 30-lap feature. Fifth quick James Wright III drew the pole, though, and went on to lead all the way although it was by no means an easy victory.
George Gorham, Jr. spun going into turn one after the green flew sending the field flying in all directions although nobody got any damage. Wright sped to the front as the race finally got going only to see Danny Burchfield go for a spin off the bumper of Aaron Holmes off turn four during the second lap.
Following the restart, Peters was quickly up to second and began to press Wright for the lead. Meanwhile, Carl Thompson, Jr. had made his way to third after starting last in the field. Thompson had missed qualifying because his team took the car back to the shop and changed engines after problems during hot laps. During lap 18, Peters all of a sudden lost power and dropped back a full straightaway before getting back up to speed, now finding himself in fifth spot.
The race then ran to its conclusion under green with Wright taking the checker well in front of a very happy Thompson who said he was glad just to have gotten to finally race on this night. David Purvis had a very strong run for third followed by Gorham and Peters. Rounding out the top ten were Aaron Holmes, Bubba Healey, Ricky Norman, Brey Holmes and Burchfield. Hard luck Mike Bruno was unable to run the feature after problems during warm-ups.
Chris Narramore, Sr. remained undefeated so far this year in the Mini Stock class as he passed early leader John Cummins, Jr. on the ninth lap and led the remaining distance to score the win as this event ran green to checker with no cautions needed. Colt Cecil nabbed his first-ever podium finish by coming home third ahead of Robert "Boogs" Fellows who had a good run in his first start of the season. Bruce Cozad was fifth trailed by Danny Leet, Fred Martin and Tony Davidson.
The Scrambler class again put on an excellent race that featured intense, close racing all the way. Andy Travis looked to be in charge but it was Keith Cantrill taking over on lap 13 then holding off the field to score his first victory of the year. Glen Swanson slipped into second late followed by Travis, Dustin Wilson, William Kerns, Anthony Carroll and Shane Bennett.
Russell Bush passed Clay Samuels on lap seven and led the rest of the way to score his second win of the year in the Mini Cup feature. This was a race of attrition as winner Bush and second place Doug Higbie were the only two cars left running at the checker. Bill Rychell was credited with third over Douglas Herrin, Jr., Samuels and newcomer Brian Harper.
OFFICIAL FINISH - SSCS SUPER LATE MODELS - AUBURNDALE SPEEDWAY - 3/11/17 (100 Laps):
1) Jesse Dutilly, Bradenton #30
2) George Gorham, Jr., Winter Haven #10
3) Nick Neri, Palmetto #17
4) Anthony Sergi, Oviedo #20
5) Chris Fontaine, Auburndale #47
6) Jonathan Guy, Auburndale #42
7) Michael Atwell, Naples #51
8) Matt McCrary, Haines City #54
9) Becca Monopoli, Lakeland #59X (-1 lap)
10) David Green, Ft. Pierce #12D (-1 lap)
11) Patrick Staropoli, Miami #97 (-1 lap)
12) Dylan Bigley, Naples #128 (-1 lap)
13) Michael Goddard, Port Charlotte #37 (DNF)
14) Billy Bigley, Jr., Naples #28 (DNF)
15) Devin McLeod, Zephyrhills #21 (DNF)
Photos:
1) Jesse Dutilly had a perfect night in winning the SSCS Super Late Model 100-lap feature (Speed51 Photo)
2) Anthony Sergi signs autographs before the race... Despite an altercation with Jon Guy, Sergi rebounded to finish 4th (Speed51 Photo)
3) James Wright III in V-8 Bomber victory lane with his dad, his kids and fellow driver Danny Burchfield...
4) Colt Cecil celebrates his first top-three finish with Mini Stock winner Chris Narramore, Sr. (L) and 2nd place John Cummins, Jr. (R)...
5) Keith Cantrill topped the Scramblers for his first win of 2017...
Before a big crowd on a beautiful Saturday evening, the Sunshine State Challenge Series Super Late Models were back in action for a second time this year at Auburndale Speedway but the results were the same as Bradenton pilot Jesse Dutilly continued his recent dominance of the "Bull Ring."
Dutilly had basically a "perfect" night starting with time trials. As the final car of 15 to take time, Dutilly lit up the new Sunoco LED scoreboard with a lap of 13.437 seconds, topping the 13.487 lap of second quick Nick Neri of Palmetto. Naples driver Michael Atwell tripped the clocks third fastest at 13.538 followed by Devin McLeod of Zephyrhills and Winter Haven's George Gorham, Jr.
Dutilly's excellent night continued as he picked the pole position in the re-draw with Atwell starting second followed by Neri, Gorham and McLeod who shared row three with David Green.
As expected, Dutilly zipped quickly to the point but it was nowhere near a runaway during the early laps as Atwell, Gorham, Neri and Green ran in tight formation behind the leader several car lengths in front of sixth place McLeod. The laps continued to click off quickly until lap 34 when McLeod drove into turn three and found himself with no brakes. McLeod intentionally spun the car but still slapped the wall with enough damage to eliminate him from competition. Super Late Model rookie Michael Goddard also pitted during the caution for adjustments but was back out before the field returned to green although he spun out one lap later to bring out the second yellow flag of the race.
Atwell chose not to restart on the outside lane allowing Gorham to move up into second for the restart. Anthony Sergi, who by his own admission "totally missed the set-up" for qualifying, was already up to seventh after starting 13th. This restart was aborted when Atwell spun out in turn one after getting a little bit of help from Green. Both went to the rear for the next attempt at restarting the contest.
Neri restarted from the outside front row with Gorham third and the surging Sergi now in fourth. On this restart, the field made it all the way to turn three before Jonathan Guy clobbered Sergi sending him into a spin as the rest of the field scattered. Both pitted to fix cosmetic damage as did Atwell who also got nicked up in the incident. All three were back out for the restart.
Dutilly again broke to the front but was getting pressed by both Neri and Gorham as the trio put some distance on fourth-running Billy Bigley, Jr. who had slowly worked his way to the front after starting last on the grid. Caution flew again on lap 43 as Atwell spun by himself in turn four.
Again, the second place car of Neri chose not to restart in the high line moving Gorham up to second once again and he stayed there this time as he dove in front of Neri just after the restart. At the half-way mark it was Dutilly leading Gorham and Neri followed by Matt McCrary, Chris Fontaine, Billy Bigley, Patrick Staropoli, Becca Monopoli, Sergi and Guy.
On lap 52, Staropoli and Monopoli had a brief altercation bringing out the caution while Dylan Bigley headed to the pits for adjustments. Neri moved back to second on the restart while Sergi was again on the charge taking fifth away from McCrary. Enough green flag laps had finally been run as Dutilly started lapping the back half of the field. Gorham stormed by Neri on lap 67 to claim second place but he was a half straight behind Dutilly. Sergi continued to run strong as he took fourth from Fontaine on lap 74 while Guy slipped past McCrary into fifth bringing Atwell with him.
That's the way things ran all the way to the finish. The only thing that occurred during the final few laps was a badly smoking car for Billy Bigley as he pulled off during the 84th lap while Goddard also dropped out with a handful of laps left as 12 of the 15 starters were still around at the checker.
Dutilly was in a class to himself as he took the checker completing a sweep of the night starting with quick time and leading every lap of the event. Gorham came home a distant second but was happy with his team's effort. Neri took third while Sergi was the hard charger of the night improving nine spots to take fourth while Fontaine had a steady run for fifth. Guy, Atwell, and McCrary were sixth through eighth while Monopoli and Green rounded out the top ten, each one lap down.
Dutilly now leads the Sunshine State Challenge Series Super Late Model points by 25 over Atwell (185-160) while Neri is in third place, eight markers behind Atwell. Sergi and Guy are fourth and fifth in points.
The Legend Cars were back in action for 25 laps but things continued to be the same as they have been all season as Lakeland's Seth Adams was easily in charge all night. Adams set quick time at 15.455 seconds ahead of Devin McLeod and Adams' teammate Michael Cherry.
Kyle Pitts led the opening lap but was no match for Adams who quickly grabbed the point never to be challenged. McLeod, whose night ended early in the Super Late Model race, also had a rough go of it in the Legends being involved in both cautions. First he tangled up with Cherry as they battled for second then he spun Mitch Verhaagh on the back stretch while trying to work his way back to the front. After his early exit in the SLM race, McLeod admitted he was a little overly aggressive in the Legends feature.
Still McLeod finished in third behind Adams and Cherry. For Adams, he remained unbeaten on the season and still thinks he can make his car even faster. McLeod's third place was negated after he performed some "doughnuts" on the front stretch before going back to the pit area which is now against insurance regulations. "I had no idea," said McLeod. "I was just doing what some kids standing by the fence asked me to do," he said.
Alan Hiefnar moved up to third in the final tally followed by Pitts and Verhaagh. Jason Welage, Greg Welage, Dave Fusco, Wild Willie Wilson, Cale Nolen and McLeod rounded out the finishers.
Kyle Peters' 16.397 lap was good enough for quick time in the V-8 Bombers as they got set for a 30-lap feature. Fifth quick James Wright III drew the pole, though, and went on to lead all the way although it was by no means an easy victory.
George Gorham, Jr. spun going into turn one after the green flew sending the field flying in all directions although nobody got any damage. Wright sped to the front as the race finally got going only to see Danny Burchfield go for a spin off the bumper of Aaron Holmes off turn four during the second lap.
Following the restart, Peters was quickly up to second and began to press Wright for the lead. Meanwhile, Carl Thompson, Jr. had made his way to third after starting last in the field. Thompson had missed qualifying because his team took the car back to the shop and changed engines after problems during hot laps. During lap 18, Peters all of a sudden lost power and dropped back a full straightaway before getting back up to speed, now finding himself in fifth spot.
The race then ran to its conclusion under green with Wright taking the checker well in front of a very happy Thompson who said he was glad just to have gotten to finally race on this night. David Purvis had a very strong run for third followed by Gorham and Peters. Rounding out the top ten were Aaron Holmes, Bubba Healey, Ricky Norman, Brey Holmes and Burchfield. Hard luck Mike Bruno was unable to run the feature after problems during warm-ups.
Chris Narramore, Sr. remained undefeated so far this year in the Mini Stock class as he passed early leader John Cummins, Jr. on the ninth lap and led the remaining distance to score the win as this event ran green to checker with no cautions needed. Colt Cecil nabbed his first-ever podium finish by coming home third ahead of Robert "Boogs" Fellows who had a good run in his first start of the season. Bruce Cozad was fifth trailed by Danny Leet, Fred Martin and Tony Davidson.
The Scrambler class again put on an excellent race that featured intense, close racing all the way. Andy Travis looked to be in charge but it was Keith Cantrill taking over on lap 13 then holding off the field to score his first victory of the year. Glen Swanson slipped into second late followed by Travis, Dustin Wilson, William Kerns, Anthony Carroll and Shane Bennett.
Russell Bush passed Clay Samuels on lap seven and led the rest of the way to score his second win of the year in the Mini Cup feature. This was a race of attrition as winner Bush and second place Doug Higbie were the only two cars left running at the checker. Bill Rychell was credited with third over Douglas Herrin, Jr., Samuels and newcomer Brian Harper.
OFFICIAL FINISH - SSCS SUPER LATE MODELS - AUBURNDALE SPEEDWAY - 3/11/17 (100 Laps):
1) Jesse Dutilly, Bradenton #30
2) George Gorham, Jr., Winter Haven #10
3) Nick Neri, Palmetto #17
4) Anthony Sergi, Oviedo #20
5) Chris Fontaine, Auburndale #47
6) Jonathan Guy, Auburndale #42
7) Michael Atwell, Naples #51
8) Matt McCrary, Haines City #54
9) Becca Monopoli, Lakeland #59X (-1 lap)
10) David Green, Ft. Pierce #12D (-1 lap)
11) Patrick Staropoli, Miami #97 (-1 lap)
12) Dylan Bigley, Naples #128 (-1 lap)
13) Michael Goddard, Port Charlotte #37 (DNF)
14) Billy Bigley, Jr., Naples #28 (DNF)
15) Devin McLeod, Zephyrhills #21 (DNF)
Photos:
1) Jesse Dutilly had a perfect night in winning the SSCS Super Late Model 100-lap feature (Speed51 Photo)
2) Anthony Sergi signs autographs before the race... Despite an altercation with Jon Guy, Sergi rebounded to finish 4th (Speed51 Photo)
3) James Wright III in V-8 Bomber victory lane with his dad, his kids and fellow driver Danny Burchfield...
4) Colt Cecil celebrates his first top-three finish with Mini Stock winner Chris Narramore, Sr. (L) and 2nd place John Cummins, Jr. (R)...
5) Keith Cantrill topped the Scramblers for his first win of 2017...
Attached Files