Another Saturday night is in the books, and fans, was it a wild one or not?! Jay Eubanks scared the crowd when his machine flipped in the Classic feature and immediately burst into flames. He would be pulled out of his car and was ok. And in the Limited Late Model feature, Jason Cardwell would lead from the green flag until he could see the checkers, but never crossed the line as he drilled the turn 4 wall, rode up the fence and landed on his roof only 40′ from the line. Collins claimed the win. Here are the winners: Brad Hall (CLM), Adam Engel (C), Mike Lewis (TM), Bradly Lewelling (SS), Robbie Comer (ST/MS), Rocky McNabb (MM), Dalton King (MS), Josh Collins (LLM), Cody Courtney (M-LM)
Coming up this Saturday is extra money on the line in most classes (see ticker for more info)! In addition, it’s the 2nd Annual Alzheimer’s Awareness Night! Drivers will make their way through the grandstands during intermission with their helmets to collect donations! Every dollar goes to the Alzheimer’s Association! Alzheimer’s is a terrible disease with no current cure, but can be managed with medication if diagnosed early enough and research continues. In the 8 year span from 2000-2008, deaths from Alzheimer’s disease rose 66%! There is an estimated 5.4 MILLION people with Alzheimer’s, and 14.9 million unpaid caregivers and accounts for a total of $183 BILLION dollars in expense! For more information on this disease, please visit http://alz.org.
Crate Late Model – A-Main
Green flag in the air for the Crates, but David Crabtree quickly goes around in turn 2, so that’ll bring out caution.
Green flag in the air one more time, Brad Hall off with the lead off turn 2. Ryan King in 2nd, Crabtree back to 3rd now Adam Beeler looks inside for 3rd, falls back in line off 2. 5 laps now in the books as Hall is starting to walk away with this one. King in 2nd, 3rd is still Crabtree but that battle begins to heat up as Beeler is closing back in and Brian Courtney is closing in on both. Courtney now in the 4th spot off 2. Checkers in the air, Hall with the win, King in 2nd and 3rd goes to Crabtree.
Fast Qualifier: #23-Brad Hall – 15.653
Cautions: 1
Leaders: #23-Hall (1-30)
Classic
Adam Engel jumps the initial start, so we’ll try it again. Engel and Jay Eubanks your front row, and again Engel jumps, so we’ll send the 2nd row up front to give them a shot at a clean start.
Green flag in the air now as Charles Tharp nails the wall in the middle of 1 and 2, caution flies once again.
Green flag in the air again, Phil Blackford leads them across the line. Engel in 2nd and Eubanks 3rd. Bobby Pressley in 4th and rounding out the field is Marvin Ray who started on the rear due to a mechanical issue. Engel looking for the lead in 3, side by side off 4. Engel takes the lead off 2 but here comes Blackford looking inside in 3. Falls in line off 4, now Eubanks trying to reel in Blackford as he gets a boost from Pressley into 1. Engel your leader with 3 laps in, he’s pulling away as Eubanks looks inside Blackford, gets out of shape so Engel will pull away a little more. Eubanks tries again on the inside off 2, now Pressley looks on the outside of Eubanks, Eubanks falls to the 4th spot. Now Pressley trying to get around Blackford in 3, Pressley makes it stick and moves into 2nd here on lap 6. Engel about a 15 car length lead over Pressley. 10 laps on the board, Eubanks now looking inside Blackford for 3rd, they’ve got a lot of ground to make up if they want to catch Engel. Eubanks now falls back in line in 3. He’ll look inside on Blackford, off turn 4 looks to have it, he’ll drift up the speedway, Blackford is still there, Blackford hooks Eubanks and Eubanks goes HARD into the wall, flips over on his top, car bursts into flames, track officials running to the wreckage to yank Eubanks out of the car and now extinguish the fire. Scary crash off turn 4 and the red flag will be out a while as oil is all over the speedway.
Back to green flag racing, Engel will cruise to the win over Pressley and Blackford in this one.
Cautions: 3
Red Flags: 1
Leaders: #12-Blackford (1); #28-Engel (2-20)
Topless Modified
Green flag in the air for the Topless. Mike Lewis snatches the race lead and over the course of 20 laps holds off Brad Lowe to claim the win. Johnny Ridings comes home in the 3rd spot. With the win, Mike Lewis has clinched the 2011 Topless Modified championship!
Cautions: 0
Leaders: #15-Mike Lewis (1-20)
Street Stock
Green flag in the air for the Street Stock. Jonathan Sims leads the field into 1 as Bradly Lewelling looks inside, falls in line off 2. Now Dale Watson looks inside for the 2nd spot as they head into 1. Sims your leader, 2nd still up for grabs. Tracy Wolfe in the 4th spot with Dylan Lowe rounding out the top 5. Now Watson spins in the middle of 1 and 2, caution flies.
Green flag in the air one more time for the Streets. Sims dominating in this one but Chris Nix spins in turn 1 and Frye spins as well shortly after, but Nix the caution car and we’ll line him up at the rear and we’ll go again.
Green flag once again, Sims continues to dominate as Lewelling continues to stalk the rear bumper. Lowe in the 3rd spot. Now here on lap 10, Watson moves back into the top 3. Now trouble for the race leader, looks like that machine is overheating, it’s spraying water out, so he’ll pull into the infield and give up the race lead here on lap 11. Now Lewelling is your race leader and now Watson looking to close in on the race lead now, as he’s only 4 car lengths back. Now 6 laps remaining in this one. Watson still trying to reel in the race leader, both cars look equal now as the laps keep clicking away. Checkers in the air, Lewelling your winner, Watson in 2nd and 3rd goes to Lowe.
Cautions: 2
Leaders: #44-Sims (1-11); #10B-Lewelling (12-20)
Modified Street / Super Truck
Green flag in the air for the Mod Street/Super Trucks now as the lights go out in 3 and 4. Cory Cate now hard in the wall in 1 and 2, now he’ll go around and caution flies. Rocky Ogle will assume the race lead.
Green flag in the air one more time as Comer looks inside for the lead off turn 2. Give the lead to Comer and he’ll sail off into the sunset, easily cruising to the win over Ogle and Tom Huston.
Cautions: 1
Leaders: #92-Cate (1-4); #9-Ogle (5); #42-Comer (6-20)
Mod-Mini
Green flag in the air for the Mod-Mini. Rocky McNabb off with the early lead, Nick Perry in 2nd and 3rd is Chuck McMahan. Brian Dinkins goes around in turn 4 to bring out the caution here on lap 4.
Green flag back in the air. McMahan all over the back of Perry, now we see the Paul Birchfield machine lose a motor into turn 1, so the caution will fly here once again. 5 laps are in the books.
After a short delay, it’s time to go racing again, green flag back in the air! Brad Pressley quickly looks inside Jason Carter for position, but now he’ll get sideways and fall back in line off 2. McNabb continues to lead, McMahan in 2nd, Perry now back to 3rd, with Carter in 4th. Jeff Copeland trying to get back around Dinkins as he gives a bump draft down the backstretch and again on the front stretch, now takes the spot off 2. Now Dinkins goes around off 2, caution will fly here with 12 laps in.
Green flag in the air one more time. Carter now slows off turn 2, Pressley takes evasive action, now Carter pulls into the infield so we’ll stay green. McNabb still showing the way over McMahan and Perry. Now Copeland pulls up behind Pressley and gives him a boost with 4 laps remaining. McNabb working higher and higher, getting closer and closer to the outside wall. Now Pressley goes around in turn 4. His machine kept getting looser and looser, and he just couldn’t hang onto it anymore.
Green flag in the air one more time with only a couple laps to go. Copeland now in the 4th spot. Now Dinkins goes around in turn 2, he’ll get his machine refired and we’ll stay green. McNabb almost gets the wall again, but it’s all “Blue”, Rocky McNabb with the win, McMahan in 2nd and Perry comes home 3rd.
Cautions: 4
Leaders: #01-McNabb (1-20)
Mini-Stock
Green flag in the air for the Mini-Stock, as Jeff Thatcher takes the lead, but now Shane Taylor makes hard contact with the outside wall, he’s slowly looking for a place to pull off, he’ll stop on the backstretch and caution flies.
Green flag back in the air, 2 laps are in the books. Thatcher leads the field to the green, Dalton King in 2nd, Tommy Metler in 3rd, Keith Sands in 4th with Sam Burgess in 5th. Now the Ronnie Bibbins spins in 1 so caution flies one more time.
Green flag in the air, 5 laps now in the books, Thatcher your leader, but now Sands makes heavy contact with the turn 1 wall, looks like he’s ok, so caution flies one more time.
Green flag back in the air one more time now with 6 laps in the books. Thatcher continues to show the way, King in 2nd and Metler in 3rd. Now King looks inside for the lead off 2, can’t make it stick and looks again though in 3, side by side at the line. King down low, Thatcher up high. 3-way battle for the lead. Mike Townsend now pulls into the infield. 11 laps in the books, action is heating up. Metler now fallen a tad off the lead as King clears for the lead for a moment here with 13 laps in the books. Still side by side for the lead but King takes sole possession of the lead and gets sideways in 4. Now Metler looks to follow King through and take over 2nd off 2. Now 5 to go and Metler looks inside, falls back in line off 2. Metler and Thatcher side by side again as there’s now 3 to go. Flagman reporting a belt on the frontstretch, someone might be needing that soon. Metler now takes over 2nd but looks like he might be too far behind to reel in King. White flag in the air for King. Metler takes 2nd and 3rd goes to Thatcher.
Cautions: 3
Leaders: #75-Thatcher (1-13); #51-King (14-20)
Limited Late Model – A-Main
Green flag in the air for the Limiteds, 30 laps of heart-stopping excitement on the speedway now! 22 cars, we haven’t seen 22 cars on this track in a while–if ever, but we do now!! GREEN FLAG!!! Jason Cardwell quickly takes the lead into turn 1, Josh Collins in the 2nd spot, Crabtree in 3rd with Pierce McCarter in 4th. Ryan King now 5th as Layne Clifton is behind him. Now Chase King looks a little racy as he looks behind Rusty Ballenger, now Tony Schimsher goes around off the front bumper of Heath Alvey. Caution is out here with 2 laps in the books.
Green flag back in the air for the Limiteds, Cardwell off with the lead now over Collins. Crabtree in 3rd, R. King now looking inside McCarter. Now Crabtree looking inside for a moment on 2nd place Collins but falls back in line. Caution flies though as Bayless goes around, Mark Rosner also involved, Alvey spins in 1 to avoid, caution flies with 5 laps in.
Green flag back in the air, still 25 laps remaining in this one. Cardwell still your leader as Collins tries to pull inside in 1. Now Crabtree powers inside Collins in 3, falls in line off 4. Clifton around Ballenger as they race door to door off 2. Crabtree looks inside Collins once again off 4 as the groove is way up the track. Clifton now closing in on R. King for the 5th spot. Brian Courtney looking inside Adam Beeler for a moment now as we see Alvey get sideways off 2. The leader is only a straightaway behind now as Junior Overstreet goes around in 2, collects Alvey and Rosner. No heavy damage to any machine it doesn’t appear. Caution flies here on lap 9.
Green flag in the air one more time, still 21 laps remain. Cardwell gets a great jump off 4, as Collins tries to reel him back in. Looks inside in 3 for a second, falls back in line. Crabtree in 3rd, McCarter in 4th with R. King 5th. Racing all over the track right now. Collins looks inside for another moment, falls back in line into 1. Cardwell still your leader, Collins in 2nd, Crabtree in 3rd with McCarter 4th and 5th remains R. King. Clifton still shown 6th as he tries to reel in R. King. Now Courtney hits the infield in 4, kicks up a ton of dust here as a few cars have to slow somewhat to be able to see. Now we see Clifton with smoke from his machine, tough break for that young man here with 18 laps on the board. Cardwell your leader, Collins in 2nd as HEAVY lapped traffic is just ahead of the leaders. Cardwell working the high groove now with 10 laps remaining. It’s now a conveyer belt of cars with just 6 laps remaining. Cardwell still out front, Collins in 2nd, Crabtree in 3rd. McCarter still in 4th now as Mark King sends Bayless around on the front stretch. Caution flies with only 5 to go.
Green flag in the air one more time, 5 laps to go, who will win this one? Cardwell powers with the lead off 4. Collins now looks inside one more time, falls in line off 4. Cardwell almost into the outside wall as he’s trying to drive away from Collins. Now we see Josh Henry go around in turn 2, so caution flies one more time with 27 laps in the books.
Green flag in the air one more time. Cardwell again almost gets the wall, maintains the lead off 4 with 2 to go. White flag in the air, only 4 turns for Cardwell from victory. Off turn 4, Cardwell drills the wall off turn 4, his machine rides up the wall, he’ll tear into the fence! The car is up in the air, on the side, it’ll roll over! Lands hard on the top, and he’ll skid to a stop just 40 feet from the finish line! WOW, what a way to end the race right there fans! Collins the winner, Crabtree in 2nd and 3rd will go to McCarter!
Cautions: 5
Leaders: #07-Cardwell (1-29); #63-Collins (30)
Fast Qualifier: #63-Josh Collins – 15.021