Trackside Now: Smyrna Speedweeks - Saturday, Feb. 16th

Trackside Now: Smyrna Speedweeks - Saturday, Feb. 16th

World Series Wraps Up With Pete Orr & Champions

2008 Smyrna Speedweeks

Super Late Models

Tour-Type Mods

Much More

Feb. 8th-16th

New Smyrna Speedway

New Smyrna, Florida

Saturday 11:45pm ET - Scott Bishop was able to grab his second Speedweeks win in the Pro Truck Series on Saturday night. The race went off much better than the race last night. There were no black-flagged trucks.

Pro Trucks Results

Scott Bishop

Larry Jordan

Ricky Moxley

Scott Reeves

TJ Duke

George Gorham Jr.

Michael Pilla

Pat Mahoney

Mark Evans

Zach Jarrell

Tyler Laing

Mike Marcelino

Philip Luizzo

Paul Antley

Cole Powell

Tim Gertsch

Les Law

James Campbell

Kevin Henry

Heath MacDougall

Logan Bordeau

Saturday 11:15pm ET - All week long, Jeff Choquette has made New Smyrna Speedway and Speedweeks his personal playground. He was winning races most of the week, and making it look easy most of the time he was doing it.

So, it played out perfect that on Saturday night, during the Pete Orr Memorial 100, that Choquette really had to work hard for another Super Late Model win.

Choquette jumped out to an early lead, but had to hold off a charging Tim Russell to secure the win and the Speedweeks Super Late Model Championship.

“We were always good on the shorter runs,” said Choquette. “We were good on them all week long. But there toward the end, Russell was a little bit better. We were just good on the short runs. But the race ended our way, just like everything else this week. It just fell our way tonight. I don’t even know what to say. We were just extremely lucky.”

Russell started deep in the field, but made a charge toward Choquette. The longer the race ran under green, the better Russell was too. However, a late caution that resulted in a green-white-checker finish hurt Russell’s chances of the win.

“I saw him coming in the mirror,” said Russell. “He was better on the long runs. I couldn’t get my car to turn in the middle. I finally figured it out there at the end and got the car to come off the corner. It just took me too long to figure it out. He was just better at the end.”

“I think if we would have stayed green the rest of the way, it would have been interesting,” said Russell. “We started running him down late in the race. But you have to hand it to him, he had a better car and he was better off the restarts. They really helped him.”

Even better is that it capped off what was a great week for Choquette. And it was a race named after one of the biggest and brightest stars that Florida had ever seen.

“This win means a lot to me,” added Choquette. “You know, I was never able to meet Pete Orr. But I know he was an awesome, awesome guy. This is my second win in this race. I just enjoy coming to win his race. That means a lot to me.

“This whole week couldn’t have went any better. We could have won two more races I guess. You can’t win them all though. Just to win one, I feel fortunate. Just to be out here competing, I feel fortunate.”

Super Late Model Results

Jeff Choquette

Tim Russell

Jack Landis

Ryan Sieg

Louis Mechalides

Ricky Carmichael

Trevor Sanborn

Patrick Conrad

Justin Drawdy

Scotty Crockett

Kurt Jett

Darrell Midgley

Kevin Bayless

Jeremy Gerster

Eddie Gainey

Chris Staggs

Steve Weaver Jr.

Gary Terry

Derrick Wood

Nevin Gainey

Travis Kittleson

Jay Middleton

James Andrews

Rusty Ebersole

David Rogers

Brad Bischoff

John Coffman

Saturday 10:25pm ET - The Pete Orr Memorial is halfway over and Jeff Choquette has dominated up to this point. Choquette leads Tim Russell, Justin Drawdy and Jack Landis.

Saturday 10:00pm ET - The Pete Orr Memorial has just taken the green flag. It didn't start without a bang though... as David Rogers, Brad Bischoff and John Coffman all wrecked on the frontstretch.

Saturday 9:30pm ET - It was a dream week for Jimmy Blewett. So needless to say, its almost perfect that it ended with another SK Modified win and the SK Modified Championship as well.

“You know, it is all this team, and that is something that I really learned from my brother,” said Jimmy. “He taught me to always treat your guys well. Even if you had a bad night, he told me to make sure you told your guys good job. And because of that, they were always there to make the car better and make things good. That is why we won this Championship.”

Blewett took the lead right from his outside front-row starting spot in Saturday night’s shortened 30-lapper (the race was originally scheduled to be a 50-lap race, but with only 13 cars starting, the race was shortened) and led all the laps to win his fifth SK Modified event of the week.

The amazing stats on Jimmy Blewett. He won eight total Modified races here last here (5 Tour Mod wins, 3 SK win). This year, he backed it up with eight more wins (3 in the Tour Mod, 5 in the SK).

Speed51.com will have more with Jimmy Blewett this coming week on his thoughts of two Modified Championships.

SK Modified Results

1 Jimmy Blewett

2 Glen Griswold

3 Eric Goodale

4 Butch Perry

5 Jimmy Zacharrias

6 George Brunnhoelzl, III

7 Billy Anderson

8 Chris Jensen

9 Josh Sylvester

10 Don King, Jr.

11 Shelly Perry

12 Phil Wehrkiem

13 Jason Migonia

Saturday 8:45pm ET - It’s never good when someone wrecks a car. But when Joe Winchell wrecked his Super Late Model earlier in the week, it might have been a blessing in disguise.

After that, he and his team went home, worked on getting their Limited Late Model together, brought it out and won the final three Limited Late Model races of Speedweeks.

“That was a bad deal for that team, but we went home and worked hard to get this Late Model together,” said Winchell. “We put it all back together and we got three out of four. I really appreciate everyone that helps me on this thing.

How do you do something like that during Speedweeks when you weren’t even planning to run?

“The first day we ran the car, we were behind and kind of got down on ourselves. We just kept digging and digging and digging and we hit on something. We stayed with it, just stayed with basic stuff and it really worked with this car. Keep it simple.”

The battle for the title was something else in the Late Models. Derrick Kelley came into the day with a solid lead over Drew Brannon. However, a wreck as the field was coming to the green severally damaged Kelley’s car, who had started on the pole. While he rode around the rest of the night, Brannon was able to finish third.

It wasn’t enough though… as Kelley was able to win the title after the two tied in points. The tiebreaker was Kelley’s two wins, compared to Brannon’s zero.

Limited Late Model Results

Joe Winchell

Jessica Murphy

Drew Brannon

Kevin Ingram

Kirk Hooker

JR McMichael

Steven Simpson

Derrick Kelly

Ben Bargnesi

CJ Faison

Ginney Quinones

Alan Bruns

Donald Williamson

Saturday 8:15pm ET - For the last two seasons, the guy that has been the face of Tour Modifieds at Speedweeks has been sorta absent.

Ted Christopher, better known at TC, has been the guy everyone has always wanted to beat at Speedweeks. And if he is not winning races, he’s normally right in the middle of things, with rivalries and sometimes even a few fights here and there.

But TC didn’t win a single Modified race at Speedweeks in 2007. And, through the first eight nights of the 2008 version, he still hadn’t won a race.

However, that changed on Saturday night, as TC did all he could to try and win the championship, by winning the 25-lap finale for the Tour Modifieds.

Jimmy Blewett, by virtue of his fifth-place finish, earned the Tour Modified championship.

Tour Modified Results

1 Ted Christopher

2 Eric Beers

3 Chuck Hossfeld

4 Bobby Grigas III

5 Jimmy Blewett

6 Billy Pauch, Jr

7 Rowan Pennick

8 Marisa Neidermeyer

9 Butch Perry

10 Jon McKennedy

11 Andy Seuss

12 JR Bertuccio

13 George Bierce

14 Billy Anderson

Saturday 7:40pm ET - The Tour Modified are rolling out onto the track. They will run first tonight, with Jimmy Blewett looking for the champinship.

Saturday 7:20pm ET - All eyes and ears were on the driver's meeting here tonight. A lot of people wanted some clarification on the restart rules after last night's Pro Truck fiasco where the top three drivers were all black-flagged on consecutive restarts for bring the field down too slow.

Scott Jackman, the Race Director of the World Series, also thanked all of the competitors for their patience and for coming out and supporting the show.

Saturday 6:15pm ET - The SK Modified feature event tonight has been shortened to 30 laps. Shelly Perry has drawn the pole for the event after the redraw.

In the Tour Modifieds, Jon McKennedy drew the pole starting spot.

Saturday 5:20pm ET - Scott Bishop took the quick time in the Pro Truck event. Bishop won the first night of competition here.

Pro Truck Qualifying Results

Scott Bishop

19.712

Kevin Henry

19.893

Ricky Moxley

19.995

Larry Jordan

20.059

George Gorham Jr.

20.113

Logan Bordeau

20.124

Les Law

20.177

Scott Reeves

20.215

Paul Antley

20.271

Pat Mahoney

20.308

Cole Powell

20.372

TJ Duke

20.463

Tim Gertsch

20.756

Tyler Laing

20.777

Zach Jarrell

21.145

James Campbell

21.275

Mike Marcelino

21.557

Philip Luizzo

21.634

Heath MacDougall

23.101

Michael Pilla

23.684

Saturday 4:45pm ET - A total of 11 SK Modifieds took times in qualifying. To no one's surprise, Jimmy Blewett was the quickest qualifier.

SK Modified Qualifying Results

Jimmy Blewett

17.292

Josh Sylvester

17.557

Glen Griswold

17.601

Eric Goodale

17.641

Jimmy Zacharrias

17.655

Shelly Perry

17.663

Butch Perry

17.704

Chris Jenson

18.016

Russ Savoy

18.258

Don King Jr.

18.984

Jason Migonia

20.861

Saturday 4:30pm ET - With the Richie Evans Memorial event all done, several of the Tour Mods have already loaded up and went home. Only a total of 10 cars took times for tonight's 25-lap finale. There will likely be a few backup cars added to the field, but the race will be sparce tonight.

Ted Christopher was the quick qualifier.

Some of the cars that went home included Ryan Preece, Charlie Pasteryak, Kevin Goodale, James Civali and Ronnie Silk.

Tour Modified Qualifying Results

Ted Christopher

16.646

Andy Seuss

16.813

Eric Beers

16.888

Bobby Grigas III

16.921

Chuck Hossfeld

16.980

Jimmy Blewett

16.988

JR Bertuccio

17.050

Jon McKennedy

17.110

Rowan Pennick

17.193

Billy Pauch Jr

17.232

Saturday 4:10pm ET - Jack Landis earned the quick time for tonight's Pete Orr Memorial 100. Landis is one of three Super Late Model drivers to have won feature events during this Speedweeks.

There was a rather scary incident just as practice started. As the back gates were secure, the first qualifier, Jeff Choquette, took off to start his qualifying run. At the same time, a crew member from one of the SK Modified teams opened the back gate to let a Modified across the track. Choquette locked up the brakes to not t-bone the Modified of Don King Jr., and King was smart enough to see the car coming and hit the gas to avoid a collision.

Super Late Model Results

Jack Landis

17.222

Ryan Sieg

17.274

Jeff Choquette

17.276

Tim Russell

17.330

Jay Middleton

17.392

Scotty Crockett

17.406

Justin Drawdy

17.461

Patrick Conrad

17.463

Trevor Sanborn

17.500

Kurt Jett

17.533

Ricky Carmichael

17.571

Gary Terry

17.604

Travis Kittleson

17.644

Justin Larson

17.660

BJ McLeod

17.676

Louis Mechalides

17.715

Darrell Midgley

17.843

Eddie Gainey

17.948

Kevin Bayless

18.034

David Rogers

18.220

Brad Bischoff

18.232

Derrick Wood

18.274

Chris Staggs

18.290

Rusty Ebersole

18.586

Steve Weaver Jr.

18.657

John Coffman

18.845

Jeremy Gerster

No Time

Saturday 3:15pm ET - Practice for today's events has been moved up. It will now begin at 3:45.

Saturday 2:45pm ET - A couple notes of interest… Jeff Scofield will not return tonight to run the #50 Super Late Model. The car’s regular driver, Eddie Gainey, will be back behind the wheel.

All of the teams that “boycotted” last night’s race after the qualifying snafu are back here today. Also here is Brad Bischoff, a PASS South regular and Florida veteran.

Also, all three of the Pro Truck teams that were black-flagged while leading the event last night are back today as well to race in the 50-lapper.

Saturday 2:05pm ET - Well, today is the final day here at New Smyrna Speedway for the 42nd running of the World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing.

Last night, the Tour Modifieds took center stage with their 100-lap feature. Eric Beers came out victories in that. Tonight, the Super Late Models will run their 100-lapper… the Pete Orr Memorial 100.

The pits are a little thinner today, with some guys leaving after a week’s long activities. Also, with the Crate Late Models gone, the pits are a little less crowded.

Qualifying will begin at 4pm today, with Super Late Models, Pro Trucks, Tour Modifieds and SK Modifieds all qualifying.

The race order today is the Tour Modifieds (25 laps) first, followed by Limited Late Models (25 laps), SK Modifieds (50 laps), Super Late Models (100 laps) and Pro Trucks (50 laps)

CHECK OUT PAST TRACKSIDE NOWS FROM SMYRNA

FRIDAY (2/15) - CLICK HERE

THURSDAY (2/14) - CLICK HERE

WEDNESDAY (2/13) - CLICK HERE

TUESDAY (2/12 - RAINOUT) - CLICK HERE

MONDAY (2/11) - CLICK HERE

SUNDAY (2/10) - CLICK HERE

SATURDAY (2/9) - CLICK HERE

FRIDAY (2/8) - CLICK HERE

THURSDAY (2/7) PRACTICE DAY - CLICK HERE

Click Here For Speedweeks Point Standings

Scott Bishop is on the pole for the 50-lap Truck Series event.

Jack Landis is hoping to pick up another win in tonight's Pete Orr Memorial 100.

The pits are a little thinner today, the final day of Speedweeks here at New Smyrna Speedway.

Jimmy Blewett (#12) has been taking the checkered flags all week long in the SK Modifieds. (Jim DuPont photo)

Ted Christopher (#00) is on the pole for tonight's Modified event. (Jim DuPont photo)

All ears were on Race Director Scott Jackman after last night's issues in the Pro Truck race.

Scott Bishop burns 'em down for the second time during Speedweeks in the Pro Trucks. (Jim DuPont Photo)

Jeff Choquette (left) celebrates his Pete Orr Memorial 100 victory with the Orr family.

Tim Russell (#36) battles Jack Landis (#10). (Jim DuPont Photo)

Jeff Choquette (#70) faced a stiff challenge from Russell. (Jim DuPont Photo)

Travis Kittleson, in a second Justin Drawdy entry, had a good run end with this trip into the turn-two wall. (Jim DuPont Photo)

Glenn Griswold (#60) ran strong all week long, but it was Blewett (#12) that stole the SK show. (Jim DuPont Photo)

Sparks fly as Shelly Perry has problems in the SK Modified race. (Jim DuPont Photo)

"Showtime" was the man throughout the week in the SKs. (Jim DuPont Photo)

Even with a wrecked racecar in the race, Derrick Kelley was able to win the Late Model Championship thanks to a two-win tiebreaker.

Allen Bruns suffered some serious damage in the Late Model race. (Jim DuPont Photo)

TC (left) brought car owner Joe Brady (right) his 42nd career Speedweeks victory.

Ted Christopher climbs from the #00 a Speedweeks winner again.

Christopher (#00) battles Jon McKennedy in the Tour-Type Modified feature. (Jim DuPont Photo)

Andy Seuss sits on the back of the tow truck and looks back on a torn-up racecar. (Jim DuPont Photo)