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August 5th, St. Augustine, FL - Jason Garver was cheered and Todd Ponce was jeered Saturday night at Florida Speed Park as Ponce, driving his No. 007, bumped and grinded his way past Garver to victory in the special 50 lap Sportsman event. Garver grabbed the lead early in the race, scooting past Scott Hezel, and led for much of the first half. Nestled close behind were Hezel, Ponce and Joey Haslauer. The four stayed packed together for fifteen intense laps, thrilling fans with every nose to tail dive into the harrowing fourth turn. On lap 21, Ponce rubbed his way past the slower but game Garver, and held on for the remaining thirty laps and the victory. "It was tight racing early on, but everybody drove each other clean," said Ponce. "Nobody got their cars tore up, it was just tight racing."The robust crowd was obviously partial towards Garver by race's end, hurling insults at the 9-race winner and wildly aplauding the second place finisher. "Everybody can call it like they want," said Garver. "I admit I was slower, but in racing a slower car's gonna run low and the faster car's got to run high and he never even tried. This ain't dirt trackin'."Ronnie Tillman managed to outlast a field dilapidated by the extra wear of fifty laps for a third place finish, while Scott Hezel and Joey Haslauer rounded out the top five. Donnie Oden laid claim to a hard fought win in the 35 lap Late Model feature. Larry Osteen overtook Harold Rankin, Jr. for the lead on lap six with Oden hot on his tail. By lap 15, Oden had caught up with the short track veteran and hounded him lap after lap, digging for the inside at every turn. Oden finally found daylight coming out of turn 2 and planted himself on the lowside down the backstretch, holding his groove through turn 4 and beating Osteen down the frontstretch to claim the lead by the 20th lap. Jeremy Fitch, tucked behind Oden, managed to hold the line and slip past Osteen as well, taking the second spot. Osteen would drop from the race shortly afterwards with rear end trouble. Jared Allison, holding a strong position behind the leaders, weaved his way from a seventh place start to the third spot, where he finished the night. "Hot, tired, wore out, it was a pretty good race," said Oden. "I didn't know if I could get around the No. 2 car (Rankin) or not. I saw Larry do it and I said I'm going to stick it in there and see if I can drive this Ford Thunderbird around this track all right, and it ended up holding pretty good. It felt real good passing Osteen. I don't think I've passed him all year."Rankin wound up with a fourth place finish and Jody Turner placed fifth. Brad Pilinko returned to form in the Alpha Communications Hobby Stocks, making quick work of the field early in the race and holding off a strong effort from Chris Manucy to claim not only the win but a $250 8 Ball bonus in the process. Glenn Nedrow turned in his second consecutive trip to victory lane, placing third. Troy Kruse posted another impressive run in the Tattoo Dee's Old Rooster Mini Stocks, dispatching Jake Hartley and Peedie Allison, whose team took top honors earlier in the evening in the Pit Crew Challenge, by the third lap in the 20 lap feature and holding steady for the win. Kruse was followed by Mickey Leth and Jake Hartley, who made a diving pass ahead of Tim Riviere entering turn 3 on the last lap to reclaim the third spot. Riviere finished fourth while Frank Andrews took fifth. Chuck Cumby made quick work of the Rick's Muffler Modified field, claiming the lead over Wesley Moore by the second lap and blistering his way to a convincing victory over Jimmy Britts and Robert Deal, who continued his strong charge for the national ARA points title. David Browning and Jason Lowe completed the top five. The Thunder Trucks will return to racing next weekend with a special 50 lap ThunderFest event, along with all five other local racing divisions.
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