New Smyrna Beach, FL (Monday, February 13, 2023) - The World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing is well underway from New Smyrna Speedway. On Sunday, two Michigan natives nearly punched their ticket to Victory Lane, but bad luck struck down both driver's chances of cashing in on a win. Dryden, Michigan's Katie Hettinger and Olivet, Michigan's Walt Obrinske, Jr are now left wondering, 'what if?
15 year old Hettinger is in her first season with Anthony Campi Racing, piloting their no. 81 Pro Late Model. Night one of the World Series washed out the Pro Late Model race, and night two was forgettable for Hettinger, who was forced to start from the back and got collected in a crash, battled back inside the top five and spun late in the race.
In last night's contest, Hettinger qualified 7th quick overall. An invert of 7 put her on the pole for the 35 lap feature. After fading slightly at the start, Hettinger battled back to the top spot, racing side-by-side with leader Carson Brown. Hettinger made a pass to his inside coming off turn two to take the lead, however, a caution flew before the next lap could be completed. Hettinger was six one thousandths of a second from leading the lap prior, putting her back to his inside for the restart with seven laps to go. Hettinger never could get back by Brown and had to settle for second.
For Walt Obrinske, Jr, the circumstances were slightly different. Obrinske set fast time in the E-Mods and rolled of third for their feature event. Obrinske clearly had the best car in the field as he quickly took the lead from Jeffrey White. Suddenly, Obrinske had company from White again after opening us a comfortable lead. With less than 10 laps to go, Obrinske lost the lead to White. Obrinske held on to second and revealed in Victory Lane that he had dropped a cylinder.
The racing continues tonight from New Smyrna with Tour Type Modifieds, Super Late Models, Pro Late Models, 602 Modifieds, and Florida Modifieds. Fans can watch the action tonight at 7:30PM on FloRacing.
Story - Zach Hiser
Photo - Rich Corbett