Weather keeps Musgrave race from starting

Everything was set for Sunshine Speedway's most prestigious race of the year.

Drivers brought their Super Late Models, the biggest and fastest stock cars to run at the track, from all over the state to compete in the 100-lap Leo Musgrave Memorial Championship on Saturday.

The finely-crafted wood trophy stood in the pit office, waiting to be placed into the hands of the winner.

All of the division's best drivers were in attendance: points leader and Late Model veteran Dave Pletcher and his No.75 machine, No.07 racer Jeff Scofield, and past champions Sammy Coghill (No.22) and Dwayne Dempsey (No.15x)..

The drivers were ready, the cars were shining. Then, it started to rain. It took only a few minutes for speedway promoter Frank Hill to announce the first rainout of the year.

The Musgrave was tentatively rescheduled for July 27, upgrading a previously slated 50-lap Late Model event to the 100-lap championship level.

The race will mark the third appearance of the Late Models at Sunshine this season.

The first two, 100-lap events, were won by "The Old Man," as Pletcher is affectionately called by many, and Plant City's Scofield. Pletcher and Scofield are first and second, respectively, in the points standings.

Seminole's Brian Leverock (No.5), who finished second in points last year after a season-long battle with Dempsey, is tied this year for third with Pinellas Park's Wayne Jefferson (No.1).

Dempsey, the 2001 champion, is in a three-way deadlock for the seventh spot with Coghill and Mike Hinegardner (No.15).

The Late Model top 10 is separated by 44 points, so anything can happen. A missed race could cost a driver as many as 40 points and turn the field upside-down in a single night.

Mini Stock was the only class to complete its Saturday feature.

Tommy Bower took the victory in his No.51. He was followed by recent high school grad Mike Birk Jr. of Pinellas Park and Jay Zolciak (No.61).

Birk has taken control of the division in recent weeks in the No.5 car, which was loaned to him after his black and yellow No.10 was wrecked earlier in the season.

Birk maintains a 40-plus point lead over Tampa's Dennis Valdez (No.40), who led the class for the greater part of the year. Macky Mongold, No.6 of Largo, is three points below Valdez in third place.

Chet Senokossoff, No.6 of Pinellas Park, is back on top in Open Wheel Modifieds after sinking to second for a couple of weeks.

He leads Pinellas Park's Corky Craver (No.11) by nine points, meaning Craver could retake the lead by finishing five places ahead of Senokossoff.

Senokossoff recently made a flashy entrance into Figure 8s with his winged "White Knight" No.6.

Dan Partelo, No.9 of Largo, holds down third in the Open Wheel class.

Pinellas Park's Ed Kidd, No.6, has led in the Outlaw Late Model division most of the season. Forty points separate him and second-place driver Pete Coon. St.Petersburg's Coon (No.27) leads Robert Crisp, No.2 of Clearwater, by 11 points.

Crisp fell from second to eighth early in the season after blowing a couple of motors in feature races. He has since climbed closer to the top with 11 consecutive wins.

In Street Stock, No.61 driver Dave Ochsenwald of St.Petersburg heads the most competitive class by one point. Bryan Rogers is second with 10 more points than 2001 champ and No.98 driver Roger Welch of St.Petersburg.

St.Petersburg's Cliff Rousseau (No.3) is out in front in Figure 8s.

He is followed by 2001 points winner Ron "Hollywood" Davis, No.89 of Pinellas Park.

J.R. Meyer, No.21 of Pinellas Park, rounds out the top three with a two-point advantage over Art "The Master" Calkins, No.11 of St. Petersburg.

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