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Pitts Goes Wire to Wire for Auburndale Victory
SCOTT LOCKWOOD
Florida Short Track Report
AUBURNDALE - As fans walked into Auburndale Speedway Saturday night, they
were greeted by two things - a straightaway full of race cars and drivers for an
autograph session, and some ominous looking clouds in the area.
Despite the obvious weather threat, drivers signed autographs and posed for
pictures for 45 minutes. Then the track cleared, and out came the minicup junior
cars for their feature race. Daniel Miller started on the pole, and led every lap
enroute to his 16th feature win of the season. He has now won more feature races
than any other driver in any class in the state of Florida this season.
The mini stocks came up next, and were greeted with some light sprinkles around
the race track. Fred Harrison got out front early, but was caught just before the
halfway mark by a hard charging Eugene Davidson. Right after Davidson took the
lead, the skies opened up, soaking the ¼ mile track and sending the fans scurrying
for cover.
For the next hour and a half, it looked as if the night was going to be doomed as
heavy storms stretched all over the Tampa Bay area. However, thanks to some
help from mother nature and the hard work of the Auburndale track crew and
drivers, racing would eventually resumed. The Mini Stocks came back out, and
Davison picked up right where he left off and cruised to an easy victory. Robert
Bryant Jr. was second, and Donnie Guy came home third.
Up next was the Sportsman class, with L.J. Grimm showing the way early from his
starting spot on the pole. However, Wayne Morris was on the move from the rear
of the field, and found himself third at the halfway mark. With Grimm and Kyle
Cooper battling hard for the lead, Morris was biding his time, and got to second
when the first two cars got together in turn three, with Grimm keeping his spot and
Cooper being sent to the rear. After the reastart, Morris got by Grimm, who spun
by himself in the second turn and was never a factor afterwards. Morris then set
sail and won the race, followed by Sam Cressman and Dave Dunkin.
In the final race before the main event, the minicup pro division put on a show for
the fans, as Joel Ashton looking like he was going for a certain win. However, Jerry
Parker had other ideas, and used a lapped car to his advantage to take the lead
and the race away from Ashton with just over two laps left. Frank Fister was third.
The crowd got what it was waiting for next, as a huge field of 25 Late Models came
out for their 100 lap feature race. The field was as deep as you could get, with
some ASA drivers, including Cody Pitts and Kevin Macy along with some of the
best drivers in the state paying a visit. It was clear that it was going to be an
exciting event, as cars stretched all the way around the track during the warmups!
Pitts and Daniel Webster led the field to the green flag, and Pitts took the lead
going out of turn two. On the second lap, six cars crashed in the first turn. Levi
Hobbs was able to continue with right side damage, but Russ Shaw was done for
the night with heavy front end damage. Dunkin was also in the accident, and
continued briefly before pulling into the infield.
Pitts and Webster stayed nose to tail, with Morris and Macy working their way up
through traffic. Macy got as high as fourth before spinning in the third turn on lap
29. For the next 40 laps after the restart, the top five cars of Pitts, Webster, Kurt
Jett, Rusty Ebersole and Morris stayed in a tight line around the oval. That would
all change on the 73rd lap, when Pitts got into some fluid dropped on the track by
the smoking car of Perry Brown and spun. However, officials threw the caution for
Brown at the same time that Pitts spun, so Pitts was allowed to keep the lead.
On the restart, Pitts and Webster drove away from Jett and Morris. The duo was
looking to settle the race amongst themselves, until Morris brought out the final
caution on lap 96 with a spin in turn 2. On the restart, Webster looked like he had
the faster car, but never touched Pitts while trying in vain to get by. However, it
wasn’t meant to be as Pitts won the race by a little over a car length. Jett,
Ebersole, Jr. Garcia, Perry Lovelady, Steve Dorer, Hobbs, Morris and Macy
rounded out the top ten.
The night wouldn’t end without a controversy. It looked like Kevin O’Quinn was well
on his way to winning the Street Stock feature, but a caution flag came out about
2/3 of the way into the race. O’Quinn’s car blew a right front tire during the yellow,
and headed to the pits for repairs. Before he came back out on the track, officials
threw the checkered flag, thus awarding the race to Bubba Edwards, who was in
second when the caution flew. Brian Harbin was second and Dustin Breeden was
third. Since he pulled into the pits, O’Quinn wasn’t allowed to return to the lead
and was relegated to a fifth place finish.
Those who stayed into the wee hours of the morning also got to see some more
great action. Jason Birch came from the middle of the pack and used a three-wide
pass to take the lead enroute to winning the Modified Mini feature. Bobby Kelley
Jr. came from the back of the pack to win the Scrambler feature, and James Wright
III took the win in the Strictly Stock feature.
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