After a washout the previous weekend, it was back to action and mother nature was in the mood for some racing as it was a warm and beautiful day.
After taking several weeks off, Wayne Rader was back and set fast time in Sportsman qualifying with a 15.451 second lap time. The green waved and it was youngster Kyle Courtney who took control of the 14 car field with Rader, and Brad Seagle in his tire tracks. The caution would wave several times early on for Austin Lawson who eventually had to retire from the race. Scott Gardner was on the move in the early laps as he powered past Joshua Sneed into the top six. Brad Seagle had a top three run going but coming off turn four he spun bringing out the caution and ending his night. Zach Sise had slid back a little on the start but seemed to have found his line as he was all over Rader for the third position. Sise would keep the pressure on the former track Champion and eventually made his move taking over the position. Sise would have his work cut out for him as Courtney had pulled away to a big lead up front. The #9 machine seemed to be getting faster as the race went on. With just 7 laps left he muscled his way past Clyde Stanton into the runner up spot. Sise would close the gap in the final laps but ran out of time.
1: #171 Kyle Courtney
2: #9 Zach Sise
3: #c11 Clyde Stanton
4: #01 Wayne Rader
5: #26 Scott Gardner
6: #33 Warren McMahan
7: #77 Jimmy Calloway
8: #3 Floyd Self
9: #79 Josh Sneed
10: #34 Philip Shockley
11: #332 Fireball Roberts
12: #18 Kyle Cole
13: #31 Brad Seagle
14: #X Austin Lawson
DNS: #97 David Sims
Up next was the 20 lap Mini Stock feature. Bryant Idles and Thomas Clark would lead a very strong field of cars to the green ahead of Steve Owens Jr and James Sharp who held down the 4th spot. After starting in the rear of the pack John Byers quickly moved his way up through the pack and was up to 7th after just a couple laps. Trouble for Joe Myers would slow the pace early on. Back under green and Clark was all over the lead as they thrilled the packed crowd in what was the best Mini Stock race of the season. Byers was already up inside the top four after just a handful of laps behind the battle for the top spot and a caution for a spinning Mitchell Fox was just what he needed to close the gap on the leaders. After working half the race Clark was finally able to put his #41 machine into the lead but Byers followed him as they two would fight it out the entire second half of the race for the win. Coming off turn four to the finish, Byers got a great bite on the bottom and it was a drag race to the checked flag. Even the fans in attendance weren’t sure which of the two won the race but race officials called it for Byers in a photo finish.
1: #83 John Byers
2: #41 Thomas Clark
3: #17 Steve Owens Jr
4: #13 Jamie James
5: #44 Tommy Metler
6: #25 Joe Myers
7: #31 David Darden
8: #3 Darrell Clark
9: #2 Bryant Idles
10: #77 Robert Burris
11: #5 Mitchell Fox
12: #46 James Sharp
13: #69 Jesse Hickman
14: #01 Anthony Dixon
Great racing was the theme of the night as usual and of course the Classic Cars never disappoint. Joe “hotrod” Keck would take the lead on the start of the 20 lap feature ahead of Lee Merritt and Justin Overton who started third. Merritt had a fast car and he put the field on notice immediately as he had the pressure on the leader. Eli Keck had moved into the third spot but would spin in turn four bringing out the caution. With a win already under his belt the night before Justin Overton was still hungry for another win and looked to be finding his groove as he took over second early on. It looked like Joe Keck might return to victory lane but trouble found him as he pulled off track with mechanical issues. Halfway in and Merritt and Overton had pulled away to a huge lead looking to settle the battle among themselves. Lap after lap Overton worked the low line coming off the turn looking for one slip up by the leader. On lap 14 he got an opening and kicked the door open as he powered past Merritt into the lead. Overton would hold on the final 6 laps to pick up another win.
1: #98 Justin Overton
2: #96 Lee Merritt
3: #8 Eli Keck
4: #65 Michael Maiden
5: #9 Richie Overholser
6: #00 Michael Branham
7: #00 Chris Nix
8: #18 Rusty Welch
9: #78 Joe Keck
Up next would be the 30 lap Late Model feature. Defending track Champion Jason Cardwell set fast time in qualifying with a 14.864 second lap time earning him the pole beside season point leader Trevor Sise. With the green in the air it was the Cardwell show as he took command of the field ahead of Sise and Jason Manley. Immediately Cardwell began to inch away from the pack with his strongest run of the season thus far. Manley held down the third spot but had has hands full with Jesse Lowe who wanted his position. The early laps looked like Cardwell was on cruise control but Trevor Sise began to eat away at his lead as the laps ticked off. Like a shark that smells blood, Sise was eating up the lead fast as Cardwell found himself in some slower lap traffic. By lap 13 Sise had pulled up on the back of the leader as the two set blistering fast lap times. Lap traffic would come into play as both drivers were slowed up at different points in the race. It looked like Sise had burnt his tires up chasing the leader down and his car began to slow in the closing laps. Cardwell would pick his way through traffic and pick up his first win of the season.
1: #07 Jason Cardwell
2: #73 Trevor Sise
3: #32 Jason Manly
4: #5j Jesse Lowe
5: #B00Josh Henry
6: #7 Marty Calloway
7: #F4 Sammie Russell
8: #20 Shannon Smith
The fifth and final event on the night was the 20 lap Street Stock feature. A 16.474 lap time in qualifying was enough to earn Rocky Ogle the pole with the returning Jerry hux keeping him company on the front row. The green waved and Ogle set sail putting his #9 machine into the lead ahead of Merritt, Hux and Dale Watson. After winning multiple races in a row and starting at the rear Skimp Henry found trouble early on as he spun bringing out the caution. It’d been several weeks of trouble free races for the Newport native but more issues for him as he and Dale Watson got together bringing out another caution. Henry would retire from the event after just a handful of laps. Watson had the heat turned up on Merritt for the runner up spot as Ogle pulled away with the lead. The top three were running away from 4th place Hux who pulled off track shortly after. The battle was intense between Merritt and Watson but it was well behind Ogle who cruised to the victory.
1: #9 Rocky Ogle
2: #14 Lee Merritt
3: #11 Dale Watson
4: #20 Glen Hounshell
5: #20 Scott Atkins
6: #01 Jerry Hux
7: #25 Skimp Henry
8: #2 Steve Hillard
9: #13 MJ Collier
