Kevin “Buzzy” Adams – Mike Horne photo
TAMPA, FL……A new series within the Open Wheel Modifieds brought new life to the l7th Annual Modified Winternationals under the sub-title of Sunshine State Modified Tour (SSMT) and along with promoting the show just for two months it resulted in bringing l5 first-time drivers to Florida to run the nine race series. Although the weather was a factor, raining out the practice date and the original first race of the new series, the 55 race cars were surprised by the way the hard-working crew at East Bay worked the track to perfection and produced a first-time winner, Kevin Adams from Cameron, WI.
Despite Adams starting on the pole of the 30 lap event, the field had nearly a dozen attempts to regroup under cautions but Mavrick Varnadore, the fast timer, came the closest to stealing the win at the end and was just a bumper away from taking the $l,500 prize for himself.
Adams was interviewed by Series Director, Chris Stephen in victory lane and explained the race like this, “It felt like we had l00 restarts although it was just 11 cautions, and my car got tighter with every restart. I had a lot of help from my Dad and Kirt and others, but this Jimmy Owens LG2 rode out the race on my first night on Billsteins with sponsors by Brandon Ford and Realtruck.com. There were many quality UMP cars here tonight but this place owed me one. I’ve been close but I’ve never won here before.
Second place Mavrick Varnadore made a lot of changes on all four corners as his father Dean and car owner Jay Carbery helped me every time I came into the pits. He thanked his sponsor’s Loescher’s Auto Parts and Evergreen Development.
Third place David Reutimann in his Beak Built Chassis said there were a lot of good guys in competition tonight and we weren’t as good as we should have been but will work on it for tomorrow.
Thank you,
Jean Lynch
Professional MotorSports Services
Sunshine State Modified Tour – Night One (UMP DIRTcar Modifieds 1/29/2016)
A-Main:1. Kevin Adams (Cameron, WI), 2. Mavrick Varnadore (Dover, FL), 3. David Reutimann (Sherrills Ford, NC), 4. Steve Miller (Tampa, FL), 5. Jeff Matthews (Dover, FL), 6. Max McLaughlin (Mooresville, NC), 7. David Pollen Jr. (Tampa, FL), 8. Mike McKinney (Plainfield, IL), 9. Matt Miller (Tampa, FL), 10. David Mitchell (Robards, KY), 11. Ray Bollinger (Kewanee, IL), 12. Buzzie Reutimann (Zephyrhills, FL), 13. Kenny Wallace (Concord, NC), 14. Mike VanGenderen (Newton, IA), 15. Nick Allen (Wheatfield, IN), 16. Bill Howard (Apollo Beach, FL), 17. Eric Moon (Zephyrhills, FL), 18. Dale Kelley (Dover, FL), 19. Josh Harris (Utica, KY), 20. Lucas Lee (Paris, TN), 21. Tait Davenport (Benton, KY), 22. KC Burdette (Parkersburg, WV), 23. Roger Crouse (Plant City, FL), 24. Rodney Wing (Meridian, MS),
B-Main 1:1. Lucas Lee (Paris, TN), 2. Josh Harris (Utica, KY), 3. Trent Young (Crofton, KY), 4. Brett Kennard (South Shore, KY), 5. Kyle Strickler (Mooresville, NC), 6. Jerry Bruce (Dover, FL), 7. Mike Potosky (Guys Mills, PA), 8. Austin Sanders (Seffner, FL), 9. Mike Hansen (Alta, IA), 10. Lance Dehm (Chatsworth, IL), 11. Zane Oedewaldt (Hanna City, IL), 12. Chris Osborne Jr (East Peoria, IL), 13. Mike Weber (Cincinnati, OH), 14. Thomas Sigler (St. Mary’s, WV), 15. John Clippinger (Evansville, IN), 16. Troy Girolamo (Williston, ND), 17. Anthony Kinkade (Zanesville, OH), 18. Jason Gross (Cushing, WI),
B-Main 2:1. Mike McKinney (Plainfield, IL), 2. Dale Kelley (Dover, FL), 3. Devin Dixon (Apollo Beach, FL), 4. Jeff Leka (Buffalo, IL), 5. Allen Weisser (Peoria, IL), 6. Jessie Hoskins (Longdale, OK), 7. Tim Lambert (South Shore, KY), 8. Preston Seratt (Dyersburg, TN), 9. Robin Lashley (Buffalo, OH), 10. Ryan Fowler (Pace, FL), 11. Dennis Haven (Brentford, SD), 12. Rich Pratt (Anthoney, FL), 13. Kyle Herbert (Greensburg, IN), 14. Nick Hoffman (Mooresville, NC), 15. Brad Goff (Zanesville, OH), 16. Zac Oedewaldt (Hanna City, IL), 17. Todd Neiheiser (Panama City, FL),
Heat Race 1:1. Kevin Adams (Cameron, WI), 2. Ray Bollinger (Kewanee, IL), 3. David Reutimann (Sherrills Ford, NC), 4. Mike VanGenderen (Newton, IA), 5. Josh Harris (Utica, KY), 6. Preston Seratt (Dyersburg, TN), 7. Jerry Bruce (Dover, FL), 8. Devin Dixon (Apollo Beach, FL), 9. Zane Oedewaldt (Hanna City, IL), 10. Ryan Fowler (Pace, FL), 11. Thomas Sigler (St. Mary’s, WV),
Heat Race 2:1. Buzzie Reutimann (Zephyrhills, FL), 2. Rodney Wing (Meridian, MS), 3. Steve Miller (Tampa, FL), 4. Max McLaughlin (Mooresville, NC), 5. Dale Kelley (Dover, FL), 6. Lance Dehm (Chatsworth, IL), 7. Jeff Leka (Buffalo, IL), 8. Brett Kennard (South Shore, KY), 9. Jessie Hoskins (Longdale, OK), 10. Mike Weber (Cincinnati, OH), 11. Todd Neiheiser (Panama City, FL),
Heat Race 3:1. Kenny Wallace (Concord, NC), 2. Bill Howard (Apollo Beach, FL), 3. Eric Moon (Zephyrhills, FL), 4. David Mitchell (Robards, KY), 5. Chris Osborne Jr (East Peoria, IL), 6. Robin Lashley (Buffalo, OH), 7. Troy Girolamo (Williston, ND), 8. Dennis Haven (Brentford, SD), 9. Austin Sanders (Seffner, FL), 10. Brad Goff (Zanesville, OH), 11. Kyle Strickler (Mooresville, NC),
Heat Race 4:1. Mavrick Varnadore (Dover, FL), 2. Roger Crouse (Plant City, FL), 3. Jeff Matthews (Dover, FL), 4. Tait Davenport (Benton, KY), 5. Mike McKinney (Plainfield, IL), 6. Lucas Lee (Paris, TN), 7. Allen Weisser (Peoria, IL), 8. John Clippinger (Evansville, IN), 9. Nick Hoffman (Mooresville, NC), 10. Trent Young (Crofton, KY), 11. Tim Lambert (South Shore, KY),
Heat Race 5:1. Nick Allen (Wheatfield, IN), 2. KC Burdette (Parkersburg, WV), 3. Matt Miller (Tampa, FL), 4. David Pollen Jr. (Tampa, FL), 5. Mike Potosky (Guys Mills, PA), 6. Rich Pratt (Anthoney, FL), 7. Anthony Kinkade (Zanesville, OH), 8. Kyle Herbert (Greensburg, IN), 9. Mike Hansen (Alta, IA), 10. Zac Oedewaldt (Hanna City, IL), 11. Jason Gross (Cushing, WI),
Qualifying 1:1. Kevin Adams (Cameron, WI), 2. Ray Bollinger (Kewanee, IL), 3. Josh Harris (Utica, KY), 4. Mike VanGenderen (Newton, IA), 5. Preston Seratt (Dyersburg, TN), 6. David Reutimann (Sherrills Ford, NC), 7. Jerry Bruce (Dover, FL), 8. Zane Oedewaldt (Hanna City, IL), 9. Thomas Sigler (St. Mary’s, WV), 10. Ryan Fowler (Pace, FL), 11. Devin Dixon (Apollo Beach, FL),
Qualifying 2:1. Buzzie Reutimann (Zephyrhills, FL), 2. Todd Neiheiser (Panama City, FL), 3. Max McLaughlin (Mooresville, NC), 4. Jeff Leka (Buffalo, IL), 5. Lance Dehm (Chatsworth, IL), 6. Steve Miller (Tampa, FL), 7. Rodney Wing (Meridian, MS), 8. Brett Kennard (South Shore, KY), 9. Dale Kelley (Dover, FL), 10. Jessie Hoskins (Longdale, OK), 11. Mike Weber (Cincinnati, OH),
Qualifying 3:1. Kenny Wallace (Concord, NC), 2. Austin Sanders (Seffner, FL), 3. Kyle Strickler (Mooresville, NC), 4. Bill Howard (Apollo Beach, FL), 5. Troy Girolamo (Williston, ND), 6. Robin Lashley (Buffalo, OH), 7. Eric Moon (Zephyrhills, FL), 8. David Mitchell (Robards, KY), 9. Dennis Haven (Brentford, SD), 10. Chris Osborne Jr (East Peoria, IL), 11. Brad Goff (Zanesville, OH),
Qualifying 4:1. Mavrick Varnadore (Dover, FL), 2. Nick Hoffman (Mooresville, NC), 3. Mike McKinney (Plainfield, IL), 4. Trent Young (Crofton, KY), 5. Tait Davenport (Benton, KY), 6. Roger Crouse (Plant City, FL), 7. Allen Weisser (Peoria, IL), 8. Lucas Lee (Paris, TN), 9. Jeff Matthews (Dover, FL), 10. Tim Lambert (South Shore, KY), 11. John Clippinger (Evansville, IN),
Qualifying 5:1. Nick Allen (Wheatfield, IN), 2. KC Burdette (Parkersburg, WV), 3. Kyle Herbert (Greensburg, IN), 4. Anthony Kinkade (Zanesville, OH), 5. Mike Potosky (Guys Mills, PA), 6. Matt Miller (Tampa, FL), 7. David Pollen Jr. (Tampa, FL), 8. Mike Hansen (Alta, IA), 9. Rich Pratt (Anthoney, FL), 10. Zac Oedewaldt (Hanna City, IL), 11. Jason Gross (Cushing, WI),
