by Dave Westerman
ORLANDO, Fla. (Dec. 8) - For the second year in a row, fantastic weather greeted fans and competitors alike as Orlando Speedworld played host to the third annual Performance Racing Industries “Mopar Classic.”
The sprint cars were the first to hit the track for their feature event. The standing room only crowd was poised to watch some of the best drivers in the country duke it out, but two heavy favorites in this race had early problems and were not a factor.
The race belonged to Brownsburg, Ind.’s Bobby East as he drove his dad’s house car in dominating fashion to score the win. East pulled away at will and won by several car-lengths over California’s Darren Hagen. Indiana drivers also filled the next two positions as Bryan Clauson and Aaron Pierce claimed third and fourth. Florida driver and Brian Gingras took home the fifth spot. Rounding out the top 10 were Kody Swanson, Jacob Wilson, Dakoda Armstrong, Tanner Swanson and Cole Whitt.
The Ford Focus midget field was smaller than the past two years, but they put on quite a show with lots of side-by-side racing before Jordan Pennington of Mishawaka, Ind., took charge and won by a full straightaway. It was actually the young driver’s first win of the year after several second place finishes. Rick Fedrizzi took home the second place finish ahead of Andrew Villarreal, Ryan Osborne and Craig Haack. Completing the finishers were Chris Lamb, Kyle Bonsignore, Mike Maier, Marc Dailey, Scott Hunter, Ginny Quinones and Shane McMillan.
As the midget feature rolled out, a yellow ribbon was tied to the roll cage of Bobby East’s car. East would start 24th, scratch on the field. If he could also win the midget feature from the last starting spot, he would earn a special bonus of $50,000. The midget feature would not start well for some.
A couple of cautions slowed the start of the race, but after the green flag came back out, there was no stopping young Dakoda Armstrong as he zoomed away from the talented field to score a well-deserved victory. The Middletown, Ind., driver gave the Hoosier state three winners out of four races. Texan Justin Melton had a great run but was well behind Armstrong at the finish. Ron Gregory, Josh Wise and Dave Steele completed the top five with sixth through 10th going to Bryan Clauson, Chuck Gurney Jr., Kody Swanson, David Byrne and Dave Darland. East struggled with his engine throughout the race and wound up 15th.
Results
SPRINT CAR
Feature
1. Bobby East, Brownsburg, Ind.; 2. Darren Hagen, Riverside, Calif.;
3. Bryan Clauson, Noblesville, Ind.; 4. Aaron Pierce, Muncie, Ind.;
5. Brian Gingras, Winter Haven; 6. Kody Swanson, Kingsburg, Calif.;
7. Jacob Wilson, Crawfordsville, Ind.; 8. Dakoda Armstrong, Middletown, Ind.;
9. Tanner Swanson, Kingsbury, Calif.; 10. Cole Whitt, Alpine, Calif.;
11. Brad Sweet, Grass Valley, Calif.; 12. Tim Barber, San Francisco, Calif.;
13. Brian Gerster, Fishers, Ind.; 14. Brady Bacon, Broken Arrow, Okla.;
15. Mario Marietta, Clinton, Ind.; 16. Bobby Santos, Frankin, Mass.; 17. Troy Decaire, Tampa;
18. Kenny Biro, Bragersville, Ind.; 19. Shane Cottle, Kohomo, Ind.;
20. T.J. Winegardner, Pierson; 21. Dave Baumgardner, Ottawa Lake, Mich.;
22. Shane Butler, Bushnell; 23. Chris Windom, Canton, Ill.; 24. Dave Steele, Tampa.
