Florian drives to two Arena Racing wins

Published 10:17 pm Wednesday, January 13, 2010

HAMPTON – Defending series champion Adam Florian won his third and fourth victories of the season on Sunday during Arena Racing USA’s program at the Hampton Coliseum.

Florian capped his day by edging ahead of Robbie Davis off the final corner to win the 50-lap Top Dog race. Florian won the A Main race earlier in the evening.

In the Top Dog finale, Davis drew the pole for the start, sharing the front row with Denver Alvis. C Main winner Jason Styron started third, alongside Florian.

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As the event got under way, Alvis remained to the outside of Davis until they reached Turns 3 and 4 for the first time. There, Davis scooted ahead and opened the inside lane for Florian, who moved up to second.

After a caution on lap 8, Davis rocketed ahead of Florian on the restart. On lap 12, Florian momentarily slowed along the backstretch, giving way to Jordan Wood and Derek Miller.

The complexion of the event took a turn on lap 36 when Wood went after Davis for the lead in Turns 1 and 2 and the two briefly tangled. Davis drove away with his lead intact, but Wood wasn’t as fortunate, falling to fourth as Florian and Scott Prillaman slipped by.

The last of the race’s four yellow flags was unfurled on lap 38 when Josh Ayer spun off Turn 2.

The green flag waved for the final time as the field came around to complete lap 43. Davis won the drag race into Turn 1 to hang onto the top spot. Behind him, Prillaman poked a fender to the inside of Florian, his one-time teammate.

Florian finally cleared Prillaman on lap 47 and rapidly closed in on Davis. He drove to the inside of Davis on lap 48 and the two were still locked door-to-door as the white flag went in the air.

Exiting Turn 4 for the final time, Florian and Davis jostled a bit and Florian surged forward as they headed for the line, winning by 0.316-second. Wood emerged from the race-ending hornet’s nest in third, tangling with Davis as they crossed below the flagstand. Prillaman was fourth and Travis Wall rounded out the top five.

Florian nosed ahead of pole-starter Ayer at the beginning of the 50-lap A Main and led the rest of the way.

Four yellow flags were needed through the first 18 laps. On what would be the last restart of the race, Florian eked out a slim margin over Prillaman.

With the laps beginning to wind down, Florian ran up on lapped traffic. Prillaman pulled to within four lengths of the leader, but that’s as close as he would get as Florian drove on to the win.

Brittany Bangas took the lead on lap 2 and showed the way to her second feature win of the season in the 50-lap B Main.

Cody Turbitt drew the pole and shared the front row with Matt Leach. On lap 1, the two battled side-by-side. They made contact and Leach got wedged into the outside wall. The dust-up also claimed Turbitt, who pulled his machine to the infield. The lead passed to Bangas.

Back under green, Anthony Perez pressured Bangas for the top spot. As they reached Turn 4, Bangas spun at the head of the field. Third-place Michael Weddell overturned as cars began to stack up behind the incident. Officials returned Bangas to the lead for the restart, while Perez and Weddell retreated to the rear.

As the race resumed, Bangas forged a narrow margin over Denver Alvis. Within a few laps, her lead had grown to nearly three lengths as Alvis tussled with Landon Florian.

At the checkers, Bangas was the winner by two car-lengths over Alvis.

Jason Styron started on the pole and led all 50 circuits for his first victory of the season in the C Main.

Nelson Moody, who started third on the 10-car grid, moved up to second on the opening lap and tailed Styron until lap 42.

Derek Miller, usually an A Main constant, was bumped back to the C Main after mechanical problems prevented him from posting a qualifying attempt. Miller roared from the ninth starting spot and was in third by lap 11.

On lap 41, Miller ducked to the inside of Moody off Turn 4 and took over the runner-up spot as they headed back into Turn 1 to begin lap 42. Within two laps, Miller had closed on Styron’s bumper and was looking for an opening.

Despite pressure from Miller, Styron held firm over the waning circuits and won by a car-length.

Connor Hall moved out front on lap 10 and rolled to his second straight win in a 25-lapper for the Youth Series. Nine-year-old Macy Causey started on the pole and led the first nine circuits before Hall, 12, took the lead. Cullen Roberts, 11, was third to the checkers.