TRACKS: Hight and Bennett Split Twin 25's at Auburndale Speedway
4 July 1999
By Gene CraneAuburndale, FL: Twin 25 lap features for the Street Stocks and a fireworks presentation highlighted the race schedule for Auburndale Speedway running a rare Friday night program. Richard Hight and Jason Bennett, both winless in 1999, split the Twin 25 wins with Hight taking race one and Bennett the winner of the second round.
Hights run to the checkers in the first of the twin 25s was under pressure from Travis Roland. Roland could not get a run on Hight and had to settle for second with division point leader James Wright III running in third. Ron Lofquist and Steve Ware, the two drivers second and third in Street Stock points, were fourth and fifth.
Jason Bennett made his way to the point early and went on to win the second leg of the Twin 25s. James Wright came home second and padded his overall point lead heading into double points night next Saturday night. Winner of the first 25 lapper, Richard Hight was third followed by Michael King and Ron Lofquist. Lofquist takes over second in points from Ware by 4 markers.
Mike Rudder cruised to his fifth feature win of the year in the 25 lap Modified Mini Stock main and continues to hover in the fifth spot in the point standings. Rick Sirmans motored to second followed by division point leader Eugene Davidson, who posted an additional 8 points to the 25 point advantage he held coming into the night's action. Michael Seeright and Wayne Weaver completed the top 5 finishers.
The V8 Pure Stock feature bumped and ground its way to a 15 lap conclusion and Willie Lacey notched his first win for 1999. Josh Haranda improved his best finish of the year by placing second ahead Gene Dunn. Greg Bacon and newcomer Pete Cracolici rounded out the top 5 at the checkers.
Jim Lawrence notched his first win during 1999 as he crossed the start/finish line first in the 15 lap 4 Cylinder Pure Stock feature. George Gorham and Randy King, sporting a new number and paint scheme, gave chase from second and third but could not reel in the leader. Scott Taylor recovered from a problem with the right front wheel in his heat race to finish fourth. Matthew Craig was fifth.
The Racing for Kids Club took to the track with Al Abbott snaring the win in the Junior Division followed by Sean Bass, Charlene Lewis and Orrin Wright. The Senior Division win went to Aaron Williamson. Larry McCormack, Freddie Lucas and Richie Acres were second through fourth.
The racing schedule shifts back to the normal Saturday night racing on July the 10th with the Mid-Season Championships offering double points. As a result of the recent rains the schedule for the month of July has been revised and several touring divisions have been rescheduled to appear during the month. July 17th the Top Cops will be in action along with the regular line-up of Limited Late Models, Street Stock, Modified Mini Stock, V8 Pure Stock and 4 Cylinder Pure Stocks. The TBARA Winged Sprints will take to the quarter mile on July 24th. Joining the sprints will also be the Dwarf Cars. The Southern Pro Trucks will cap off the month when they join the full line-up of regular divisions on July 31st. Grandstand gates open at 5 PM and racing gets underway at 7.
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