JOE BOYD TOPS WILD AND WACKY SUNOCO 100 AT AUBURNDALE SPEEDWAY
If you heard that Joe Boyd started from the pole in Saturday night’s Sunoco 100 for Super Late Models at Auburndale Speedway, then led 98 of the 100 laps, you’d probably think it was a boring follow-the-leader type of race - you would be so wrong!
Fifteen of the best Super Lates in the State of Florida checked in to do battle at the “Bullring” but it was the driver everyone has been chasing in the Sunoco Series, Jesse Dutilly of Bradenton, picking right up where he left off last time at Auburndale Speedway as he set quick time at 13.583 seconds topping the 13.627 lap of Lakeland’s George Gorham, Jr. and the 13.653 lap turned in by local Auburndale hot shoe Chris Fontaine. Anthony Sergi of Oviedo was fourth quick while fifth quick time went to surprise visitor Shane Sawyer of West Palm Beach.
Dutilly’s pill draw was not what he was looking for, though, as he drew a seven meaning the top seven qualifiers would be inverted for the start making it the “Joe & Joe” front row of Riverview’s Joe Boyd on the pole and Joe Winchell of Dade City on the outside pole for the start. For Boyd, all he could think about before the start was keeping one particular driver at bay. “Gotta keep that #30 (Dutilly) behind me and I know that’s gonna be hard to do here,” he said.
Boyd grabbed the top spot on the initial start while young driver Mike Thomas of North Miami, wheeling the McCoy entry out of South Florida, used a bold move to slide into second place. Meanwhile, Dutilly had trouble hooking up in the high groove and backslid from eighth to 11th. The racing was all single-file early as Boyd opened up the distance over Thomas and Winchell. The first caution flag of the event flew on lap 15 as Dylan Bigley was tapped into a spin off turn four.
Winchell snuck past Thomas on the restart but Boyd was again putting distance between himself and the rest of the field. Lap 26 saw a turn two spin by Billy Bigley, Jr. but the field remained in order on the restart as the third yellow flag of the race was unfurled on lap 33 as Michael Atwell spun in turn two. On this restart Thomas and Winchell got tangled up with the veteran Winchell looping his mount in a cloud of smoke. There was no penalty on Thomas as he restarted in the front of the pack only to be shuffled back quickly along with the car of Gorham while Anthony Sergi and Dylan Bigley moved up to second and third. The younger Bigley was passed for third by his dad on lap 43 just before the halfway mark. After 50 circuits it was Boyd leading Sergi, Billy Bigley, Dylan Bigley, Collin Allman, Dutilly, Atwell, Fontaine, Gorham and Winchell.
Action remained under green as Dutilly slipped by Allman for fifth on lap 51 but the Sunoco Series point leader now found himself a half-lap behind leader Boyd. Dutilly continued to march forward, though, taking fourth from Dylan Bigley on lap 61. The next caution did not take place until lap 72 when Dylan Bigley and Fontaine got tangled up in turns three and four while fighting for fifth spot.
Following this restart, Boyd and Sergi checked out while Billy Bigley and Dutilly began a crowd-pleasing side-by-side battle for third that soon included Winchell. Things came to a head on lap 79 as Billy Bigley spun in turn four. Three laps after the restart, John White looped his car in turn four for yet another yellow flag.
With the “commitment cone” in use, the restarts now began to become really interesting. Sergi started outside of Boyd for the latest restart and actually led lap 82 before getting loose and spinning in turn two with, as the officials saw it, a little help from Dutilly. Both drivers took a trip to the rear of the restart line-up. This time it was Winchell getting a decent run up top on the green only to be tapped into a spin by Fontaine. Again, both drivers involved went to the back for the restart.
Boyd continued to set the pace only to see the battery fail in Billy Bigley’s car as he came off turn four in traffic with son Dylan and Sergi getting a piece of the slowing car. In fact, Sergi’s hood flew up obstructing his view and he had to pit.
Dutilly was now up to second and the fans figured it was only a matter of time before he snared the lead but Boyd had other ideas. The two began a side-by-side battle with Dutilly leading lap 91 before getting “run a bit high” off turn four by Boyd who began to pull away while Dutilly backslid several spots. The final caution flag came out for a Fontaine spin on lap 93 setting up a seven lap dash to the checker. Atwell was the big mover on the restart as he slipped into third with a resurgent Dylan Bigley and Gorham in tow. D. Bigley grabbed second from Atwell with three laps to go with Gorham hot on his tail pipe. Gorham made a big charge on the white flag lap and passed Bigley for second going down the back stretch.
Boyd crossed the stripe well in front of Gorham who drew as much applause in victory lane as the winner for his last-lap pass to get the runner-up spot. Dylan Bigley held on for a hard-fought third place followed by Atwell and Fontaine. Rounding out the top ten were Dutilly (who faded all the way back to sixth in the final five laps), Thomas, White, John Coffman and Winchell who dropped out with a handful of laps left but was still credited with a 10th place effort. Completing the field were Sergi, Billy Bigley, Allman, David Weaver and Shane Sawyer.
The Legend Cars were back in action with Alan Hiefnar of Merritt Island getting a big jump at the start - too big in fact - as he was black-flagged to the rear of the field for “jumping” as Orlando’s Donovan Ponder held sway in the early going before he and Devin McLeod locked bumpers going down the back stretch on lap nine with the field scattering to miss them. Both went to the back of the restart line-up as Seth Adams of Lakeland now held the point. Ponder and McLeod continued to battle it out with damage eventually forcing McLead from the event. Dave “Too Tall” Gleason also suffered problems as well when the rear end broke on his car going into turn three coating the track with fluid and bringing out a red flag on lap 14.
Adams went on to score his second consecutive win here while Ponder recovered to take second about a straightaway back. Hiefnar recovered from his opening lap miscue and another late tangle to slip back into third at the checker trailed by L. J. Grimm and Joey Langis. The remaining finishers were Wild Willie Wilson, Phil Haddad, Dave Fusco, Mitch Verhaagh, Gleason and McLeod.
It took three tries to get the V-8 Bomber feature under way and before it was over, four different drivers led laps as Zach Briggs was the early leader before Carl Thompson, Jr. took over. Chris Narramore, Jr. got by Thompson and was looking really good but he was unable to hold off the veteran James Wright III who took over for good on lap 23 never to be headed again in the 30-lap contest. Kyle Peters, who started last on the grid and was not feeling well to boot, still came forward to challenge Wright by race’s end but could never get past and had to settle for second place.
Thompson got back around Narramore to claim third while point leader Aaron Holmes was fifth as the checker flew. Danny Burchfield took sixth followed by David Purvis, Glen Swanson, Zach Briggs and Ricky Norman. The remaining finishers were Buddy Phillips, Jr., Bubba Healey and Adam Briggs who was DQ’d for speeding in the pits. Mike Bruno’s neat Chevy El Camino broke during warm-ups and he was unable to race.
Chris Narramore, Sr. took the lead from Fred Martin on lap nine and cruised to his tenth straight Mini Stock feature victory as the 25-lap run ran all the way under green. Martin finished up in second ahead of Danny Leet, Bruce Cozad and John Cummins, Jr. with David Myers, Sr., Shane Bennett, David Myers, Jr., Donald Gatlin, Dillon Canova and Tony Davidson completing the finishers.
The Mod Mini feature saw Keith Roggen in his new wild-looking creation garner the win. Point leader Chris Spring was challenging for the lead when he got tangled up with the lapped car of Cody Coffman who just about ended up against the turn two light pole. Spring tried to continue but there was too much damage to his car.
That gave Roggen a clear shot to the checker as he finished well in front of second place Kristin Clements. The other young lady driver in the race, Rachelle Rudolph, shook off an early spin to claim third place ahead of Spring, Coffman and Scott Bumgarner.
The Scrambler feature ran green to checker with Dustin Wilson taking the lead from William Kerns on lap eight then racing to victory. Matt Miller made a late run to claim second after a good battle with Nicole Green who was third ahead of Kerns, Josh Clouse, Kyle Little and Dave Canfield.
Matt McCrary borrowed his mom’s Camaro and led every lap of the Street Stock feature topping Joe Dowdy, Bobby Mills, Jason Bartram, Ross Francisco and Jamie Case.
Sporting a new body on his car after a big wreck last time out, 15-year-old Auburndale High School student Brey Holmes led all the way to win the Mini-Cup headliner over Russell Bush, Clayton Samuels and Douglas Herrin, Jr.
This Friday night Central Florida Tugs, Chris Mudd and Auburndale Speedway are teaming up to do a Benefit Tug for the families of Jay Strickland and Wesley Workman who lost their lives in a recent accident. All proceeds will go to the families. Weight Class will be 8K lbs, 51″ hitch. DOT tires, no slicks or slick compound. If street stocks want to come out, we will have a street class as well. Remember, this is for the families and 100% of admissions etc. will go to them.
Please note that this is a special Friday night event as the Tugs are usually held on Saturday. The gates will open at 6 pm, not 5 pm as normally is the case. The event starts at 8 pm, not the standard 7 pm time that is normally used. Admission is at a very special low rate of $10 per adult and, again, 100% of the proceeds goes to the families.
Stock Car racing action returns on Saturday night, August 27th with the latest Youth Nation Takeover and Kid’s Bike Races sponsored by the Auburndale Main Street Diner. Racing action will feature the ADMO Open Wheel Modified 50, Figure-8s, Legend Cars, Mini Cup,
Mini Stocks, Mod Minis, Scramblers, Street Stocks and V8 Bombers - nine features in all.
Admission is $15 for adults, seniors 55+ are $13, children 5-12 are just $5, and kids aged 4 and under are free. Family 4-packs are available (2 adult and 2 child admissions for just $32. Grandstand gates open at 5 pm with racing at 7 pm.