2014 INEX Winter Nationals Practice Day – February 16th, 2014

2014 INEX WINTER NATIONALS at WINTER HAVEN, FLORIDA

Our Practice Day coverage is presented by Josh Langille Racing.

The 2014 INEX Winter Nationals get warmed up today, February 16th, 2014 with an optional practice day from Noon to 5pm at Auburndale Speedway in Winter Haven, Florida. Atlantic Canadian drivers in attendance include Newfoundland’s Dylan Rumbolt, Nova Scotia’s Cole Butcher, Jarrett Butcher, Braden Langille and Nicholas Naugle and New Brunswick’s Gary Bursey and Cory Hall.

Note: In order to receive the latest updates, be sure to refresh this page or check out our Twitter feed, which can be found below.

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LATEST UPDATES (All Times Eastern):

5:01pm – Practice is now complete for the day. The PA announcement has been made for the pizza party, so we are jetting out. Rentals will go on later tonight, but none of our camp is looking at the extra track time tonight.

We are shutting down the mobile office for the day and we’ll be back tomorrow at 8:30am for the opening of the 2014 racing season and INEX Winter Nationals!

Be sure to follow along on Twitter below or at @TweetTimsCorner for any updates from tonight.

5pm – Dylan Rumbolt tells me the car is getting there but he is still getting adjusted to the race track and knows seat time this week will be key.

4:55pm – The Hall Family Racing team believes they hit on something. While we couldn’t get a time on that run, Cory reports the car is “awesome” and is the best it has been all day. Woody is happy with how he is progressing as well.

4:48pm – We just had DJ Lyon of LegendsRacingNetwork.com stop by the BCR/TCM Mobile Office a few moments ago. DJ will be recording all the racing action when it comes to Legends this week and posting it on his website the week leading out of INEX Winter Nationals. So if you are stuck in the snow at home, bookmark his website too for not only this week’s videos, but cool Legends and INEX related news from this side of short track racing.

4:45pm – We had some ask for us to split times from the Race Monitor for Bandoleros and Legends. The track is looking after timing and scoring and they are running everyone through the same system and running the timing as one practice, as you can see on the Race Monitor. We do not have an entry list to sort through, so we will do our best tomorrow to keep you abreast of who is who.

4:40pm – Practice is winding down here (20 minutes left) and there is still a lineup of Legends wrapping around the pits to the backstraight (track entrance is in Turn Four) of drivers who want to practice. There is a pizza party at 5pm followed by track rentals from 6pm to 10pm. Our coverage for the day will end here shortly after 5pm and we will have any further updates via Twitter.

4pm – Cory Hall had a small scrape in practice earlier today, rubbing some paint off the right rear after the 14 car cut down on him. No spin or further contact and Hall is back to dialing in his, and Dylan Rumbolt’s car. Hall hopped into Rumbolt’s car to shake it down. We currently do not have times from his transponder.

3:50pm – Danny Harvey, multi-time feature winner at Scotia Speedworld, sent us a picture of the beginning of his rebuild, which you can see below. More photos will be coming in the coming weeks. Thanks for submitting it Danny!

3:37pm – Jarrett Butcher just stopped in the mobile office. Instead of telling me how his car is handling, he said “Hi Emily,” asked me for a hose clamp and left. Ladies and gentlemen, Jarrett Butcher.

3:30pm– Fast times for our locals after three and a half hours of racing, of what we are able to gather, are below.

Fast lap times after an hour of practice for our locals include:

BANDOS:

Braden Langille – 16.074
Dylan Rumbolt – No Official Data Available
Cory Hall – 16.277

LEGENDS:

Cole Butcher – 15.016
Jarrett Butcher – 15.102
Nicholas Naugle – 15.336
Gary Bursey – 15.563

Grant Quinlan (ON) – 14.967
Ira Laughy (AB) – 15.189

As a reference for Legends, last night’s big money winner and current JRM Late Model driver William Byron has put up a time of 14.769 this afternoon.

3:25pm – We have a bit of audio for you, Braden Langille took a couple moments out while Matt and Craig changed a rear gear to talk about last night, the day and the goals for the end of the week. Click here or check below to listen to the piece, presented by Finish Line Vinyl Design.

2:45pm – Nicholas Naugle has once again picked up to a 15.440 and continues to make gains on the car. Jarrett Butcher in the last Legends session was a 15.163.

2:22pm – Deer Lake, NL’s Dylan Rumbolt is learning the car and track today at Auburndale Speedway. Compared to his car at Thunder Valley in Bishop’s Falls, NL, the car the way it is set up and the track are completely different. Rumbolt has about seven or eight races under his belt and is excited to learn against the best drivers in America this week.

2:16pm – For those of you that may be still digging out of the latest storm that passed through last night, some of our drivers are complaining about heat, believe it or not. The temperature has been hovering around the mid-70s (low 20s Celsius) and not a cloud in the clear, blue sky. It’s calling for temperatures climbing into the 80s by mid-week, with a high of 85F (about 30 Celsius) by Thursday.

2:10pm – Nicholas Naugle has made three runs so far today and has picked up his fast lap each time, with this last run putting in a 15.686. He said the car is continuing to get better as the day goes on and the team is now breaking in tires for the week. Naugle is about to head to staging to get his fourth run of the day in.

2:05pm – Woody is real happy with the way the #03 car is running today. The car was a bit loose on the last run with new tires but is getting great drive off and is carrying speed down the straights. He says that Dylan Rumbolt is still adjusting to the race track but is showing great potential in his first laps at Auburndale Speedway.

1:50pm – Also spoke with Craig Langille, father of Braden Langille, in between sessions. He said that he’s accomplished the goal he set out to do – bring home hardware. With Braden coming in third last night, they already have a trophy from the event. He explained that he knows the field this week is deep in talent in the Outlaw class, which Langille is now apart of because he just turned 12. Guys like Jensen Jorgensen, Ashton Winger and Chase Purdy will be tough to beat, but Craig would be happy with a top eight run overall for the week.

Check out a picture of Craig as he helps Braden get strapped in below. You’ll also see a sneak peek of their new 2014 scheme!

1:45pm – Talked to two-time Scotia Speedworld champ Jarrett Butcher for a moment as he strapped into his car – he is very happy with his car so far and is heading back out to the staging line to get more track time.

1:27pm – Cory Hall tells me the car was as good as it was prior to the gear change. His goal has been trying to get the car to cut down to the bottom and has been driving it in a bit harder to accomplish that goal. In his words, “it drivers better if you get angry at it.”

Audio interviews will likely be more of a common thing tomorrow. Most drivers, especially those in Legends, do not have a lot of turn around time. With there being so many Legends here, they seemingly end up in the long staging line moments after they come in for adjustments. There are quite a few less Bandoleros there than there are Legends. We’ll have a count, as official as we can get, for you tomorrow. We have, however, been posting some photos below and some tweets on our Twitter feed. Tim has been busy for sure!

1:20pm – Cory Hall’s team stripped a rear end gear after their first eight lap run of practice at the start of the afternoon. The team has since repaired the car and Scott Hall, Cory’s father and former multi-time Mini Stock feature winner at the CENTRE For Speed, says the car is fine and they are happy with it so far.

1:12pm – Fast lap times after an hour of practice for our locals include:

BANDOS:

Braden Langille – 16.074
Dylan Rumbolt (waiting for first run, on track now)
Cory Hall – 16.277

LEGENDS:

Cole Butcher – 15.121
Jarrett Butcher – 15.216
Nicholas Naugle – 15.719
Gary Bursey – 15.563

Grant Quinlan (ON) – 15.550
Ira Laughy (AB) – No Current Data

As a reference for Legends, last night’s big money winner and current JRM Late Model driver William Byron has put up a time of 14.786 in this session.

12:30pm – Going to head up, soak in some Florida sun and take in some practice. Follow along with the Twitter block below!

12:27pm – Cory Hall did an eight lap run before pulling his Bandolero in. His quick lap was a 16.503.

12:20pm – Nicholas Naugle is in after a ten lap run. He said the car is good, but was mired behind a slower car. The crew now has fans on the car and the driver is debriefing with Chris “Woody” Woods on his run.

12:18pm – Cole Butcher (15.121) is currently the quickest of our three that have taken laps very early in this practice. Jarrett (15.357) and Nicholas Naugle (15.832) have also been out on the track in the opening minutes of practice.

12:12pm – There are two “groups” per say of Atlantic Canadian drivers in the pits. On my doorstep, we have Nicholas Naugle, Cory Hall and Dylan Rumbolt. Across the path we have the Butchers and Langille (their pit is now pictured below prior to practice) and Gary Bursey is a few stalls down behind the back straight. Had a nice conversation with Gary about what he’s been doing and the week off the mic, and we’ll cut something early in the week with Gary so you can hear for yourself what the Moncton, NB driver has been up to – and what he’ll be doing in 2014!

For those coming to Auburndale, be sure to look for us. We are located in Turn Three, almost exactly in the same stall as last year.

12pm – Drivers are on the track for their first practices for INEX Winter Nationals. Timing can be followed along with RACE MONITOR here, but keep in mind, it may take them a bit to sort out names and numbers.

11:25am – We have five divisions to look at this week. Unless something has changed, Dylan Rumbolt, Cory Hall and Braden Langille are running in Bandolero Outlaw, Jarrett Butcher is a Young Lion, Nicholas Naugle is a Semi Pro Legend, Gary Bursey and Ira Laughy (Calgary, AB) are Masters and two-time Scotia Speedworld champion Cole Butcher is a Pro. That is the order they will be running in, feature wise, throughout the week with Beginner Bandits and Bandits leading off each show.

11am: Practice is slated to begin at noon and most of our Atlantic Canadian teams are here preparing their cars.

Our first photo of the day is now posted below. Braden Langille and his father Craig received their banner this morning for the 2013 TCM Best Looking Car. Their scheme is a bit different again this year and will be a contender once again in 2014 for the award. We’ll have plenty of photos throughout the week.

..oh, and it seems to be fast. Braden finished third in the Auburndale Speedway Bandolero feature here last night. Cole Butcher finished 13th in the Icebreaker, $1,000 to win Legends feature while Jarrett barely missed the 25 car field. Over 30 attempted to make the show. All other drivers will be making their 2014 season debut today.

10:57am: Welcome to our live updates of 2014 INEX Winter Nationals from Auburndale Speedway in Winter Haven, Florida! We are still currently getting set up in our mobile office, which is located this year inside the Brycon Construction Racing hauler. Big thanks to Bryan Naugle for the cabinet space and plug in!

A bit different from last year – our live pit updates will be available here at the top of the page (refresh or hit F5 throughout the day for latest updates). When it comes to the race, we will be heading up to the track, which is not far from the trailer but far enough not to drag a generator or power source up to it and you’ll be able to follow along on our Twitter feed, which is below this LATEST UPDATES section.

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TWITTER FEED (Live Race Updates, etc.)

Tweets by @TweetTimsCorner

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RACE RESULTS:

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QUALIFYING and PRACTICE RESULTS (As available to us by track):

RACE MONITOR LINK!
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PHOTOS:

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AUDIO:

3:25pm – Braden Langille, presented by Finish Line Vinyl Design

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 Be sure to also check our FACEBOOK pagefor updates throughout the week.