FOUR MORE TRACK CHAMPIONS TO BE CROWNED ON HALLOWEEN NIGHT AT NEW SMYRNA SPEEDWAY
This Saturday night is Halloween Night at New Smyrna Speedway and it will be the final night of the regular racing season for the NASCAR Whelen All-American Racing Series. Season point champions will be decided in the Speedway Flooring Super Stocks (who will be going for 50 laps), the Pro Late Models, Sunshine Seamless Gutters Mini Stocks, and the Bombers.
There will be a big classic car show from 5-7 pm so bring your classic car and cruise the high banks of New Smyrna Speedway. There will also be “Trunk or Treat” for the kids from 6-7 pm plus a bounce house courtesy of Central Florida Raceway Ministries and a costume contest at intermission. The Hart to Heart Breast Cancer Foundation will be there with fun activities that benefit breast cancer victims as well.
When Justin Reynolds was disqualified due to a weight infraction two weeks ago after the Speedway Flooring Super Stock feature it meant he earned no points on the evening. Despite dropping out of the race with engine trouble, Shannon Kelly earned enough points to now be just 20 behind Reynolds going into their 50-lap contest this week. That gives Kelly an outside shot at earning his third straight Super Stock title but he knows Reynolds will have to have a really bad night while Kelly must win or finish near the front to have a chance. Plus both will have to contend with a number of other top guns like Preston Hunt (who scored his first career win two weeks ago), Butch Herdegen, Jeff Cuddy, Bobby Holley, George Spears, Ernie & Gino Tuminello and a host of others.
The Pro Late Model title will be decided among three drivers as Zach Jarrell has an eight point advantage over Blaise Hetznecker and a 13 point cushion over third place Noah Cornman. Jarrell knows he has to run a clean, steady race and, if he does, he’ll earn his first-ever track title. Hetznecker and Cornman have nothing to lose so they plan to “go for broke” and let the cards fall where they may. Meanwhile, Brad May is on a hot streak in the class having won the last three Pro Late Model features. Coupled with his Super Late Model win last Saturday, May and the Bobby Sears Racing team are undefeated since signing on new sponsor R. K. Edwards, Inc. of Longwood.
“Mr. Mini Stock,” Ted Vulpius pretty much has the 2015 Sunshine Seamless Gutters Mini Stock championship well in hand as he enters Saturday night’s season finale with a comfortable 32 point edge over Brad Blanton. Meanwhile, all Aaron Overman has to do is start the Bomber feature and pass tech to win that division’s 2015 point honors. Overman, who was Rookie of the Year in the class in 2014, looks to take home his first-ever championship.
Pit gates open at 3 pm Saturday afternoon with practice slated from 4-6 pm. Grandstand gates open officially at 6 pm with the weekly pre-race party featuring food and drink specials at the Throttle to Bottle Pub. The Classic car Show takes place behind the grandstands starting at 5 pm and all are invited to come display their cars or just come take a look at some great machinery. Cost to enter a classic vehicle in the show is just $5 and includes two adult tickets to the evening’s races plus five laps on the speedway. The “Trunk or Treat” for the kids takes place in the classic car display area from 6-7 pm, so make sure to bring the kids early!
The Sportsman cars will qualify at 6:15 pm with racing starting at 7:30 pm beginning with a 25 lap feature for the Sunshine Seamless Gutters Mini Stocks followed by 25 laps for the Pro Late Models. Intermission is next featuring the Halloween costume contest. After intermission the Speedway Flooring Super Stocks go at it for 50 laps and the Bombers wrap up the evening and the regular racing season with a 20 lap contest.
Adult admission is $15 with all seniors (65+) and military with valid ID being admitted for $13. Kids 11 and under get in free.
Other Notes:
Anthony Sergi was at a loss for words after he took home the 2015 track Super Late Model title last week by a scant two points over Brad May. Sergi and May had a close battle all year and, in the end, both ended up with three victories apiece in the abbreviated Super Late Model year that saw the pair split win in the six events that were held as several races fell victim to rain outs. Sergi plans to run select races in 2016 and possibly race for another championship as he continues his studies at the University of Central Florida.
Patrick Thomas “let the cat out of the bag,” so to speak after wrapping up the 2015 Sportsman championship Saturday night as he indicated he’ll run for a second straight track title driving the Harris Oil/Harris Mini Storage #111 car that was driven to Sportsman championships by Donny Williams who has apparently, at least for now, retired from the racing game. Thomas will refurbish his own car to run selected “big” events at other tracks like Five Flags Speedway (Pensacola), Desoto Speedway (Bradenton), Showtime Speedway (St. Petersburg) and Auburndale Speedway that don’t conflict with the races held at New Smyrna.
It was an interesting year in the Modified class. The season started horribly for James “Tank” Tucker with a series of misfortunes while defending champion Jerry “The Hammer” Symons won two of the first three races and built up an early lead in points. From there things reversed themselves as Symons began having terrible luck with blown engines and other ailments leading to a series of DNF’s while Tucker turned things around and began cutting into Symons’ point lead. Tucker capped off his comeback with a wire-to-wire win last week and took home the Modified title by just five points over Symons. Overall, Tucker had six wins on the season while Symons uncharacteristically had just three victories.
Early entries are just starting to come in for the 50th Annual Florida Governor’s Cup race to be held on Sunday afternoon, November 15th. Former winner Tim Russell of Longwood has entered his potent #36 and will be an early favorite following his dominating victory in the recent Marion Edwards, Jr. Memorial. Only three other drivers from Florida are among the early entries to be filed including Anthony Cataldi of Umatilla and D. J. Hoetzle of Palm Harbor. Hoetzle has laps around New Smyrna Speedway in both a Modified and a Sprint Car but this will be his first time here in a Super Late Model. 2014 Bright House Super Late Model champion Jesse Dutilly of Bradenton has also filed his entry.
Five out-of-state contenders are among the early entries including Cody Coughlin of Delaware, OH in the Jegs.com yellow #1 machine. 1970 Governor’s Cup winner Don Gregory of Columbus, OH, who won the race in a Jegs-sponsored car, will be in attendance for the 50th anniversary festivities. Also entered are Derek Kraus of Stratford, WI, Austin Nason of Roscoe, IL, Cornelius, NC driver Vinnie Miller and Ty Majeski of Seymour, WI who had quite a showing here last February in the World Series events.
Kurt Jett of Middleburg had three cars in the pits last Saturday night - a Super Late Model for Californian Derek Thorn, a Modified for veteran Jimmy Britts of Orange Park and a Sportsman for son Kody Jett. Look for even more cars owned by Jett to be in the line-up come Governor’s Cup weekend. “We have 12 cars in our shop right now and we plan on bringing six of them to the Governor’s Cup.” said Jett after the races. So be prepared for huge fields of cars in all classes November 14th and 15th.
Racing historian Eddie Roche has just about completed the modifications to his original Florida racing history book “Florida Motorsports Retrospective Pictorial, Volume One.” In response to demand, Roche went back and re-scanned all the photos from the original book and has added many more photos along with updating track records and other information. The book should be finished and ready to go to the printer by the third week of November. Although printing costs have skyrocketed, Roche will keep the cover price at $40. Flyers will be available at the Governor’s Cup race so that pre-orders can be taken. Due to the high cost of printing, only a limited number of copies will be available initially. Both volumes of the highly-popular books have sold out although a few copies of volume two remain available on the Coastal 101 web site.
Photos by Jim Jones:
- 2015 New Smyrna Speedway Super Late Model champion Anthony Sergi…
- Some four-wide Bomber action from last Saturday night…
