Short track racing has taken the green down in Florida and Georgia and it will continue daily now through the Daytona 500 on February 21st. It has been more than 15 years since I was last able to make an extended trip south so summarizing the events here on the Back Stretch is therapeutic. I hope that you will indulge me....
There were 55 cars in the pits for the opener of the Sunshine State Modified Tour at East Bay Raceway Friday where Wisconsin's Kevin Adams held off a couple of locals Mavrick Varnadore and David Reutimann to take the win. Kewanee's Ray Bollinger finished 11th while former Hawkeye Dirt Tour champion Mike Van Genderen was 14th just behind NASCAR's Kenny Wallace.
Van Genderen would be the big story on Saturday night, not only because he would take the $5,000 top prize over a stellar field of 58, but in the manner in which he did it. Racing one spot out of a qualifying spot late in a B-Main, MVG elbowed up and scored the win to place him in the tenth row for the 75-lap main event. With the majority of the field running the middle or the cushion Van Genderen used a rough but fast bottom groove to quickly move into the top four and then it was just a matter of getting to the front and hanging on. In victory lane Mike said that his sanity had been questioned for bringing his IMCA crate engine to race against the UMP field, but on this night it was the perfect combination of power, setup of his Harris chassis and of course the talent in the driver's seat that would secure the win.
Van Genderen is now the promoter or race director at more events that he competes in and it was interesting that another track promoter and part-time racer Rodney Wing finished in the second spot. LaSalle Speedway regular Mike McKinney finished in sixth while other Illinois drivers Ray Bollinger, Allen Weisser and Jeff Leka also made the feature field. Van Genderen now has a ten point lead over Kevin Adams and Steve Miller heading into Sunday night's action at East Bay.
Fifty-three Nesmith Crate Late Models signed in for the Friday night show at Bubba Raceway Park and the podium was filled with three drivers who have had plenty of success in the Super Late Models. Three-time World of Outlaws champion Josh Richards took the lead from Kyle Bronson on lap five and then cruised to the $2,500 victory. Bronson who was one of the hottest drivers in Late Model racing at the end of 2015 held on to finish second while Dennis "Rambo" Franklin took third. Tyler Bare was the top finishing non-interloper in fourth and Don O'Neal's son Hudson was the eleventh and final car still running at the finish.
Two big features were on tap at Bubba's on Saturday as the full $3,000-to-win program would precede the makeup of the $10,000-to-win event from last Fall. In the regular program it was again Josh Richards and Kyle Bronson running up front with Richards taking the lead from the rising Florida star early and then starting to pull away. Bronson faded to fourth behind Max Blair and David Whitener mid-race but a couple of late restarts put him back in the mix and when Richards bobbled in turn two on the second one Bronson split the middle between Blair and "Kid Rocket" to take the lead. Richards came storming back though and was putting heavy pressure on Bronson only to go too low in turn three clipping the inside berm and spinning with seven laps remaining. Bronson would then pull away on the restart to take the win ahead of Blair and Whitener while the track owner's young son Tyler Clem finished fourth. Richards clawed his way back up to eighth at the checkers.
Rambo Franklin chose to sit out the regular program on Saturday and concentrate on the big money makeup race and the decision paid off with a victory. Taking the lead away from Bronson early, Franklin set a torrid pace and had lapped all but Bronson and Cale Conley before a caution waved with 11 laps remaining in the 100-lap affair. Knowing that he would not give up any tack position Bronson pitted for fresh rubber and he would make a run at Franklin over the closing laps only to come up a few car lengths short at the checkers.
Donald McIntosh is staking claim to being the King of Winter racing in the southeast as he muscled by Dale McDowell early and then ran off with the Cabin Fever 40 at Boyd's Raceway in Georgia for a $3,500 payday. The track's co-owner, McDowell finished in second ahead of Ray Cook while Jason Manley brought his steel head engine in for fourth.
Meanwhile out in the desert southwest Josh Hodges held off Friday's winner Bryan Clauson to win the USAC Sprint Car feature at Canyon Speedway on Saturday while Missouri's Hunter Marriott was the IMCA Modified feature winner.
More racing from Florida plus Speedfest in southern Georgia in Monday's Back Stretch.
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