photo by Bill Carr

Suffolk's Adam Florian, driver of the No. 80 Great Atlantic Property Management car, won the 50-lap Top Dog race to cap Saturday night’s Arena Racing program at the Hampton Coliseum.

Florian gets first Arena win of season

Gary Daughtrey

Published Monday, November 9, 2009

HAMPTON — Defending series champ Adam Florian, of Suffolk, nosed into the lead on lap 10 and paced the field to his first victory of the 2009-10 Arena Racing season in the 50-lap Top Dog race, the featured event Saturday at the Hampton Coliseum.

Travis Wall drew the pole for the start of the race and vaulted out front as the initial green flag went in the air.

Wall and Florian shared the front row again as the field bunched for a double-file restart on lap 8. Back under green, they remained side-by-side with Florian edging ahead at the end of the 10th circuit. He cleared Wall at the entrance to Turn 1 on lap 13.

By lap 17, Florian had stretched his lead to half a straightaway over Wall, who was busy defending the second spot from Prillaman. Prillaman grabbed the position on lap 22.

With Florian mired in traffic, Prillaman quickly narrowed the gap, pulling up on the leader's bumper on lap 32. On lap 33, Prillaman motored to the outside of Florian off Turn 2 in a bid for the top spot.

Before that battle could develop further, the second caution flag waved as Charlie Green slowed to a crawl with a flat tire.

As the race resumed, Florian bolted ahead of Prillaman and left the inside lane open for Wall, who drove underneath Prillaman. Three laps later, though, Wall got loose and spun in Turn 4, prompting a caution.

Once again, Florian got a jackrabbit start on Prillaman. Officials weren't satisfied, though, and the yellow flag immediately came back out. During the caution period, Florian was warned about his restart tactics.

Prillaman remained in contention for the win until losing ground in Turns 3 and 4 with a couple laps to go. Suddenly granted some breathing room, Florian cruised on to the checkers. Wood tailed Florian and Prillaman to the finish, in third, followed by Spencer Saunders and Robbie Davis.

With three events in the books, the series will take next weekend off, then return to action at the Coliseum on Saturday, Nov. 21.

Jordan Wood snagged the lead on the first lap and led all the way for his first victory of the new campaign in the 50-lap A Main, which ran caution-free - an Arena Racing rarity.

Charlie Green was the pole-sitter for the event, sharing the front row with Wood. As the race got going, the two went door-to-door until they reached Turn 4. Exiting the corner, Green two-wheeled the turn and Wood shot ahead.

After giving up the lead, Green settled into second, followed by rookie Landon Florian, Matt Leach, Spencer Saunders and Travis Wall. Adam Florian, who started 11th in the 12-car field, emerged from the opening shuffle in seventh.

At the finish, Wood won by a car-length over Green. Saunders was third, followed by Adam Florian and Wall.

Aaron Leach led from pole to checkers and earned his first win of the young season in the 50-lap B Main.

Michael Weddell took the lead on lap 9 and showed the way to his first feature victory of the season in the 50-lap C Main.

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