Auburndale Speedway results 98-10-03

Bass leads Wire to Wire in Limited Late Model Sportsman at Auburndale. By Larry Vergon

Auburndale, FL: Westley Bass started on the pole for Saturday's 25 lap Limited Late Model Sportsman Feature, in the new Mike DeZarn / Mike Ashley owned No. 63. Bass led all 25 laps while the 18 car field sorted themselves out behind him. Howard O'Steen was running second, giving Bass all he wanted, until the half-way point, when he slowed the No. 86 on the backstretch and parked the car for the night. That gave the second position to Robbie Storer, who had worked his way up from an 8th starting position. A late race caution for an incident involving the third and fourth places cars of Ollie Harbin and David Rogers, saw the No. 3 of Rogers taken off the track suspended between two wreckers. The damage did not appear major to Rogers car, and Harbin was able to continue, although he restarted on the rear. Jimmy Castleberry was now in third, behind Storer. Castleberry got by Storer and set his sights on Bass. When the two-to-go signal was given, Castleberry was in position to challenge Bass for the win. They battled side by side for the last two laps, with Bass taking the checkered flag by less than a car length for the win. Castleberry, who started 9th, was followed home by Storer, Steve Ware (in Don Carroll's Grand Prix), who started 11th , and Billy Jones in the "Cow Car". Harbin came back to finish sixth. Heat wins went to Bass and O'Steen. It wasn't a full moon, but with racing cancelled the last two weeks due to the weather, and the points battles tight, everyone was eager to race and the action was fast and furious all night long.

In the 25 lap Modified Mini Stock feature, 24 cars took the green, with Mike Lawhorn starting on the pole in the No. 44 but giving way to Kevin Boykin in the No. 80. The cars in 2nd through 10th waged a side by side, nose to tail battle for several laps, which looked like pace laps instead of racing laps, except for the speed. On lap 10, a mistake was made, and at least 6 of the 9 cars in the formation were involved, with four headed for the light pole inside turn one. Three ended up parked up on the dirt mound protecting the light pole, requiring several minutes for the safety crews to extract them. All but one were able to continue, with Jay Kaminski's No. 7 going off on the hook. When racing resumed the action was still spirited, but not "formation" racing. Jason Rendell, in the No, 57, made several passes on the outside to take second, and Shawn Williams, involved in the lap 10 incident, coming from the rear of field to finish fifth. Kevin Boykin cruised to an easy win, with Rendell second, Lawhorn third, Travis Roland fourth, and Williams fifth. Roland won the first heat race, and Kaminski won the second.

The Street Stock 25 lap feature was a wild affair, with 18 cars starting and several incidents throughout the event. Jessie Hall, in the No. 66, started on the pole, and led all the way to the win. The action was fast and furious behind him with several cars exchanging positions back and forth throughout the race. Chuck Steele, in the No. 3, shadowed Hall the whole way, but had to settle for second. James Wright III started 8th and advanced to third at the finish, followed by Travis Roland in the No. 07, up from 11th, and Michael King finished 5th in the No. 96, after starting 10th. Heat races were won by Steele and Hall (with the clean sweep).

The Pure Stock 4 Cylinder 15 lap feature had 23 cars take the green with Scott Taylor in the No. 6 taking the checkered flag for the win. An early race accident damaged the car of the points leader, Chris Kingham, but he was able to make temporary repairs and finished 13th to protect his points standing. Second went to Timmy McKenzie in the No. 3, after starting in 12th. Jim West started 10th and took third. Wayne Weaver, second in points in the No. 58, started 15th and came home 4th, followed by Randy King in the No. 75, who started the event in 17th. Jerry Stanton and Jeremy Hodnett won the heat races.

V8 Pure Stock was another wild affair with three wide racing the norm, not the exception. Brian Donahue, in the No. 97, started 10th and worked through the field for the win. Bob Gorsuch started 12th in the No. 69 and came home a close second, battling Donahue for the win in the late stages of the race. Greg Bacon, in the No. 60, started 13th, was involved in a mid-race incident, and finished third in a late race charge. Daniel Clough came from 14th at the start in the No, 08, to finish 4th, and William Hawkins completed the top 5 in his No. 36 after starting 9th. The heat races were won by Bacon and Jason Todd.

The Legends Cars returned to Auburndale Speedway with 18 cars and some spirited action. The scaled down replicas of the 30's and 40's battled through a 20 lap feature, with David Froehlich Jr. in the No. 40, '37 Chevy Sedan, taking the win. He was chased the whole race by David Logan in the No. 06 '37 Ford Sedan. Paul Schrein Jr. took 3rd in the No. 74 '37 Ford Sedan after starting 14th. Sam Whiting came home 4th in the No. 30 '37 Ford Sedan. Tim Bagnall was 5th in the No. 47 '37 Chevy Coupe, up from a 15th starting spot. Heat wins went to Froehlich and Logan.

This coming Saturday, October 10, will feature a 50 lap Championship for the Modified Mini Stock class and our regular lineup of Limited Late Model Sportsman, Street Stocks, Four Cylinder Pure Stocks, and Pure Stock V-8's.