Neikens makes up some lost ground in Mini Stock class

St. Petersburg's Marty Neikens drove his red, white and blue No. 70 Mini Stock from no-man's land to the winner's circle Saturday night, redeeming himself after blowing a motor the previous week.

Starting 12th in a 16-car field, Neikens had his work cut out.

A few lucky breaks and some entanglements at the front of the pack helped bring the 12th-year Mini driver to the checkered flag. Most of all, though, it was the shocks.

"The biggest thing we've done with the car was to play with the shocks," Neikens said.

"A lot of people don't think shocks are that important, but we come out every Thursday and mess with them," he said. "That's why we're so good on the outside. Everyone likes to run on the inside, so we run on the outside."

The race began with a yellow flag as Port Richey's Rick Taylor spun his No. 5 out of third place in the first lap and landed at the back of the pack.

Yellow seemed to be a popular color for the duration of the feature, as the trend of mistake-propelled breakouts and overzealous bump-and-runs continued. Tina Reiner, No. 14 of St. Petersburg, started on the pole, with New Port Richey's Glenn Kelley breathing down her neck in the inside position. Reiner held on to first for much of the event before she and Mike Birk (No. 10 of Pinellas Park) made contact in the seventh lap coming out of Turn 4.

Although Reiner's vehicle was drivable, the damage was enough for officials to throw the black flag. Birk was sent to the rear.

Thanks to rules that allow passing on the outside during moving starts and restarts, Neikens, who captured third in time for the Lap 7 restart, was able to capitalize.

A lap after the restart, Neikens moved to first and stayed there. Largo's Tom Zimmerman drove his No. 55 to second, and Rick Beineke (No. 93 of Clearwater) took third.

Neikens was near the top of the points standings before his misfortune. He hopes to bounce back and compete in the new traveling Florida Mini Stock Challenge Series that begins next week in New Smyrna.

"Last week I blew a motor and dropped from second place to eighth in points," Neikens said. "This (win) will make up for a lot of that. "I'm hoping to finish in the top 10 here at Sunshine and race all nine in the Challenge."

Neikens is expecting to sacrifice six weeks of Sunshine Speedway racing to run in the Mini Stock Challenge.

NOTES: Cliff Rousseau (No. 3, St. Petersburg) finished first in the Figure 8 division, ahead of Shane Grigsby (No. 28, Pinellas Park) and Wayne Calkins (No. 7, St. Petersburg).

Rousseau started the race six points behind leader and defending champion Ron "Hollywood" Davis (No. 89, Pinellas Park), who placed fourth.

Darren Jackson (No. 7, Lakeland) gained on his bid for the top spot in Open Wheel Modifieds, finishing second in a 25-lap feature.

Points leader Chet Senokossoff (No. 6, Pinellas Park) took fourth. The two drivers were 16 points apart entering the night. Tony Meehan (No. 3, Tampa) posted the win, and John Gerstner drove his No. 77 to third.

As usual in the Street Stock class, consistency was impossible. So many cars, so few laps.

James Ellershaw (No. 50, Largo), won the race. He was followed by Rex Hawkins (No. 99, Pinellas Park) and Jeff Lacey (No. 02).

Points leader Earl Bowman (No. 20, Pinellas Park) placed fifth. Last year's champion, Roger Welch (No. 98, St. Petersburg), second in the points, finished sixth in his backup car.

Ed Kidd (No. 6, Pinellas Park) hung on to his Outlaw Late Model points lead with a second-place performance.

Robert Crisp (No. 2, Clearwater) took first, and Scott Holly (No. 1, Dunedin) placed third.

Dennis Valdez's fourth-place Mini Stock finish keeps him atop the division.

But Zimmerman's runner-up showing closed the gap between them. The drivers were 15 points apart entering the event.

Robert Nappi (No. 99, Pinellas Park) took first in Enduros.

Ashley Larson (No. 58, Pinellas Park) placed second, and Pete Miley (No. 91, Pinellas Park) was third.

Speedway promoter Frank Hill retired from his post as a district fire chief Thursday.

He had been a firefighter 25 years, and working two full-time jobs was taking a toll on Hill.

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