How Was Orlando Tonight

[ams311]

DID NOT MAKE IT OUT TO ORLANDO TONIGHT FOR THE TRUCK RACE WILL SOMEONE PLEASE GIVE ME A UPDATE TY.

[Jimmy McKinley]

Buncha trucks tore up - thought it was more like a demolition derby :\ Hated to see Whitney get caught up in that mess.

Contrary to what the track announcer was saying, I was *NOT* - repeat, NOT - driving the #12 Super LM. I think what happened was, my brother Scott - who *WAS* driving - mistakenly put my dad's name in the "Driver" listing on the sign-in sheet (who's also a Jimmy). Just wanted to clarify.

Chad Pierce won both the Truck feature in the #30 after things settled down, and the Modified feature in a fast-looking orange #38. Bruns ran him down, but couldn't catch him in traffic. Pedie Allison won the four-car Mini Stock feature/Dash for Cash, with our own Bonehead running second (maybe he ended up third?) after leading briefly at the start. Jared Allison won the SLM feature after a rough start as well (my brother spun out three times by himself before parking it, and the #48 - no idea who - tore himself up after starting on the pole but taking himself out in the backstretch wall on the first lap). We loaded up and left after the intermission.

Not too bad a crowd on either side (pits and grandstands). Cars were there, but again, it'll *look* full when you got nine or ten cars in each division, with eight or nine divisions.

[Jane]

Sorry about Scott spinning himself out. He didn't hurt the car did he?? He needs to race more often and then maybe he would not do 360's or whatever they are called. Sorry I missed seeing you guys but I went to the fair with my son and two of his friends instead since they did not need a writer. I did ask about writing for the track and New Smyrna but was told they had it handled so I went to the fair instead. Actually had alot of fun with Alex and his two friends. Haven't been to the fair for a few years and it was nice.

Tell Scott "hello" for me and maybe one of these days I will get to see you also.

[Boneman]

Naturally, the best race of the night was the last one. The Sportsman class had a very competitive, race-long shoving match. Too bad it wasn't earlier in the show, but who knew?

Funny line of the night went to Super Stock winner Billy Cuddy. During his interview, Mark Keeler mentioned how Billy blew up a transmission in the previous race, so he responded "I'd like to thank my wife and daughter for changing that tranny for me, I've been really busy!"

[Andy S]

Defensive move of the night was our own Boneman slamming the door shut on David Russell right on the last corner of their race, securing himself second place. Removing all those halloween decorations seemed to lighten his car and give him that extra pace he needed to run up at the front.

And Rex is right - the moment of the night was Billy Cuddy's post race interview!

[Andy S]

Last night was my first time ever in the pits for the whole pre-race practice, set-up and all the other things that go on before the main show. I was wondering what it would be like - everyone swapping gossip, talking about the previous week's races, checking out what their competitors were up to, lots of technical discussions about how to squeeze that last bit of extra grip or speed out of their cars?

You want to know what the main topic of conversation appeared to be in the pits at Orlando Speedworld last night?

Have you see the size of that rear bumper on the #8 modified?

They were obsessed with it! It's all people were talking about...

(in 2nd place was the topic 'Did you see that discussion OJ started on Karnac? He got some people spun up with that one!' )

[Jimmy McKinley]

Jane:

Nah, we didn't hurt the car. Like my dad always says, "If you can load the car on the trailer at the end of the night, it's been a good night." Just got to the track late, had to turn some hot laps after the Bandeleros ran their feature, so we only had like 15 laps on the car all year.

Tough to go racin' all the time when your driver, crew chief and owner are all hurtin' for $$$ :\

[M.F.ER]

[QUOTE=Andy S;37068]Defensive move of the night was our own Boneman slamming the door shut on David Russell right on the last corner of their race, securing himself second place.

Boy that really had me sitting on the edge of my seat.:

[M.F.ER]

The defensive move of the nite should go to David Gould for not letting the Cuddys try to take him out at the start of the Super Stock race and finish 2nd. Thats no way to win the points didnt work this time lets see how many blockers they will bring next week.

[modracecar#8]

Andy S

Hey Andy What where they saying I just check it and the bumper is 18 inches minus 2in plus or minus and the bumper is inside the wheels as required by the rule book 100% legal I have been raceing out there for about 4 years same car .


Randy Froehlich
modified #8

[Todd McCreary]

who on earth would care about a big bumper on the back of the car?

now, if'n they showed up with an I-beam welded onto the front i might be a little concerned about their intentions.

[Billy Cuddy]

BLOCKER? Everyone, I mean everyone knows we've out run you guys for years. We don't need blockers. I do agree it would not be a way to win the points.

[Andy S]

Hey Andy What where they saying I just check it and the bumper is 18 inches minus 2in plus or minus and the bumper is inside the wheels as required by the rule book 100% legal I have been raceing out there for about 4 years same car .

\\

Hey, Randy

Don't worry - no-one was talking about it's legality. I was stood with the guys with the smaller cars, and those modified looked pretty big compared to them all, with your rear bumper just making everyone smile because is was so much bigger than their's. It was more a joke about how funny I found the 'discussion' going on between the drivers than anything to worry about. No matter where I've been around world, sports people are always finding odd things around them to point out and smile about!

[Andy S]

Especially for Flraceguy, a recap of last night at OSS:

Orlando Speedworld – 11/06/2009

One of the biggest crowds of the year were treated to a night of thrills and spills as the season headed towards a conclusion and with plenty of the evening’s on-track action setting up some close races that leave several of the division points championships poised to go down to the final night of the year.

A Bandolero race that saw #17 Mark Hooven win in a photo finish over younger brother #27 Shawn Hooven was just a taster for the action to come and started the evening off well as the crowds slowly began to grow in the stands, bolstered by a healthy contingent of Boy Scouts taking advantage of that evening’s promotion.

The Pro-Trucks were first onto the track for the night’s main event, and despite having a big race planned the following night at New Smyrna there was a good field of trucks with plenty of the division’s front-runners coming out to race. Once out on the track it was obvious that no-one was holding back to protect their racecar and the race developed with the usual side-by-side pushing and shoving that this class is known for. After a false start – one of many on the night – the race quickly settled with #00 Whitney Poole and #16 Tim Sozio battling at the front, but with most eyes watching the #30 of Chad Pierce quickly moving forward from his position at the back of the starting grid.

The turning point of the race came with the crossed flags being displayed to indicate the halfway point of the race. Poole and Sozio were thrilling the crowds with a door-to-door battle up at the front, knowing any of the 5 or 6 trucks behind them were ready to pounce on the slightest mistake, but with racing this close something had to give, and so it was that the pressure told as both #00 and #16 span out, leaving Kennedy and Sergi no chance to avoid the crash. With Poole and Kennedy needing trips back to the pits, and both Sergi and Sozio suffering bodywork damage, the face of the race changed as the leaders were sent to the rear and Poole failed to reappear for the first attempt at restarting the race.

Lap 12 of this race can forever be known as ‘the lap that would not die’ as numerous attempts to restart saw problems with line-ups, mid-corner pile-ups, and spin-outs at the rear. Finally the order was set correctly and all the trucks managed to complete a restart lap without incident, and the race ended with a long green-flag run that saw #30 Pierce well out in front with #96 Kennedy finishing strongly in 2nd place. A deserved win for the #30, and Pierce making a rare appearance in the truck at Orlando, having started in dead last place and after finding himself in the wrong place at the wrong time for several of the crashes that punctuated the race, narrowly avoiding being wiped out before managing to muscle his way to the front.

With the crowd still getting their breath from the trucks the schedule moved on to a Ministock race that saw a small field of cars, but that proved how the end of season run for points that can decide the division championships means that every race matters to the drivers out on the track. With #92 Pedie Allison and #31 David Russell both looking to take the advantage in the championship, it was the #85 of Rex ‘Boneman’ Hollinger that shot out to the early lead. Now devoid of the jack-o-lanterns and Halloween decorations that had obviously been weighing his car down in recent races, the Boneman leapt out in front for the first laps, only to see Allison find a fast line around the outside to reclaim the lead and head off into the distance. Behind him Russell reacted to make an inside move on #31 Jim Erb and set off in pursuit of his championship rival. With no cautions the race settled down as Russell slowly began to reel in Hollinger, leading up to a last lap attempt at a brave dive inside on turn 3, which Hollinger dismissed with a strong blocking move to retain his deserved 2nd place. The ministocks now enter the final week of their season with Allison and Russell level on points and facing a ‘winner takes all’ race for the championship, but with both Hollinger and Erb reminding them that they’ll still face a race on that last weekend.

The Open Wheel Modifieds were next on track and had the growing crowd of Boy Scouts, and plenty of the first-time race fans – many coming along as part of the driver promotion night – sticking their fingers in their ears as the cars screamed their way down the front straightaway. With another false start before the race could get underway, it was #38 Chad Pierce, out for his second race of the night, who pushed his way to the front before hard contact in the 4th turn saw #72 Matthew Jarrett and #11 Jimmy Wilkens getting together in a big way, the #11 coming over the top of #72 and leaving Wilkens with a damaged front end after hitting the front wall at speed. With the clean-up complete it was left to Pierce, the #4B of Alan Bruns and #30 of Mark Emberson to battle for the win, and even a late caution for a spin-out at the rear of the field that saw the pack bunched up one more time did little to change the outcome with Pierce expertly dealing with lapped traffic to win comfortably ahead of Bruns.

With just one more race to go before a chance for the fans to catch their breath, the next division out saw the Super Late Models making a rare pre-interval appearance on the track. The story of this race began to unfold as early as the warm-up laps, with #48 Corey Kaiser spinning out on the warm-up laps and indicating that the track was getting slick, especially for the faster cars that rely so much on grip to run safely at full speed. The lack of grip for the cars played a key role in the race, with #48 spinning right from the start leaving the cars behind nowhere to go, and seeing his nose taken off by his competitors who could simply not avoid him. A second aborted attempt at starting the race, again due to a mid-corner spin-out for #18 Jared Allison, finally calmed down to allow a short green-flag run before another spinner at the rear brought out the yellow flags. By now the lack of grip was becoming a real issue, with the #12 of Scott McKinley spinning out twice more just in the attempted restarts before deciding he’d had enough and pulling off into the pits. More spins were to follow, breaking up the flow of the race, before the race calmed down into a battle between #18 Allison and #80 Brian Finney. The track conditions had one more say on the outcome of the race, with Finney chasing down Allison but sliding out too wide on the 4th turn, letting the #407 of Jason Vail through and into a 2nd place he maintained until the end of the race, with Allison winning handily after a race that really tested the driver’s skill.

The interval gave a chance to have an front-stretch autograph session that went down well with the large crowd, giving the many children in attendance the chance to see the cars close up, get their programs and flags autographed, and for the lucky few the chance to claim the most coveted prize in all of racing – the now-legendary Boneman souvenir whoopee cushions!

With the track cleared it was the Strictly Stocks who made an earlier-than-normal appearance in the schedule for their 30-lap feature. As usual, this division didn’t disappoint and the action the crowd could make out through the cloud of tire smoke that hung over the track for the duration of the race was enough to bring the stands to their feet on several occasions. A surprise early front-runner was the silver compact #19 driven by Ricky Solomon Jr, who got out in front and make his tiny car as big as possible to hold off the #89 of William Hindman that loomed large behind him. The battle up front that soon saw Hindman out into the lead was giving his Team Hit And Run partner, Jim Erb in the #82, the chance to carve his way through the field, which he did with his usual style, tail-sliding his way around the turns and bursting past his competitors on the straights. With Erb joining Hindman at the front all the fun began, as both cars found new lines and took every opportunity available, including many that no other drivers would spot, to work their way through the lapped cars. Erb soon muscled his way past Hindman to race away into the lead, and never looked back to take the checkered flag. But the drama wasn’t over as all the cars filed back into the pits, only for Hindman to emerge for the post-race ceremonies having been instantly elevated to 1st place with Erb finding himself DQ’ed for an illegal car.

Still plenty of action left, with the Superstocks out next onto the track, and with the 16D of David Gould, the #77 of Justin Reynolds and both of the orange Team Cuddy cars making their way onto the track, the regular fans knew they were guaranteed an exciting race. Their faith was proved correct right from the start, with the #64 of Bobby Cuddy pushing Gould’s #16D hard in the first corner of the race, seeing both get out of control and bringing out the pace truck. With the race successfully restarted it was no surprise that all the early action involved #52 Billy Cuddy as he pushed and barged his way to the front to make all the early running. Contact between Reynolds and the #89 of Tim Gallucci brought out another caution and put Cuddy and Gould together on the front row, with the #52 getting the drop on the restart, giving him the chance to pull away with a handy lead and out of the hard racing going on behind him. The race ended with Cuddy winning comfortably ahead of Gould, with Cuddy making the crowd laugh by using the post-race interview to thank his wife and daughter for their hard work during the week to change the broken transmission he suffered in the previous week’s race!

Still two classes to go as the night grew colder, with the Legends providing the penultimate race of the night. No shortage of action, but the race followed an identical script to most of this division’s races this year with the #54 of Zach Harris starting in pole, and with the #99 of Alex Kempf all the way back at the rear, but still being the prohibitive favorite for the win. And so it turned out, with the usually race panning out – Harris tearing away from pole to build a lead, but with Kempf working his way through the traffic to join him at the front by the midway point of the race. As expected, Kempf pushed his way past to take the lead and never looked back to claim yet another win in this class.

The evening came to a close with a Sportsman race that rewarded the fans who stayed right through the packed program to the bitter end. A field of fast cars put on a good show for the big crowd that stayed to watch a 4 car battle up at the front that lasted for the whole race and saw plenty of contact and hard racing, but never crossed the line and became dirty. The early racing saw #61 Bobby Simcox and #20 Justin Reynolds trading paint all the way around the track, with the #4 of Timmy Todd Jr. close behind looking for either to slip up, but himself having to keep an eye on #49 Jason Foster breathing hard down his neck. More contact and spin-outs ensued, with Reynolds eventually bringing the #20 home for the win ahead of a field who battled for position right up until the checkered flag. Special mention also goes to Michael Seay who completed the race in a #44 that appeared to have been damaged beyond repair in a serious wreck the previous week at New Smyrna, and that despite having obvious handling and grip issues was still able to finish the race at full speed.

[flraceguy]

Thanks alot Andy... It seems as if I missed some good racing...