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| Putnam Sees New Faces Grace First Place | by Jon Harney
SATSUMA, FL (10/13) - Two new drivers cracked the winning ranks at Putnam County Speedway as David Miller took top honors in Hobby Stock and Charlie Staats won in Mini Stock. In addition Marion Sizemore continued his winning ways as he won features in two divisions for the fourth time this year.
Bobby Gigon took the lead from the outside pole position in a light Hobby Stock field. He could not fend off Miller, however, who swept past on the inside on lap 4 and led every subsequent lap to win in dominant fashion. Miller has been a hard-luck story in Hobbies as he has led several races but fallen to mechanical maladies. Misfortune was cast away this evening and Miller was a happy man in Victory Lane, giving thanks to his crew and supporters. Gigon still had plenty to be proud of as he held off hard-charging Ronnie Soltis and Jimmy Hefner for more than half the race to come home second. Soltis, Hefner, and Dave Dowling Sr. followed in that order.
On the whole, the Mini Stocks put in an abyssimal performance throughout the heats and feature. The Division That Couldn't Drive Straight ran extremely sloppy, spinning, yellow-infested events which brought massive cheers from the crowd when each race ended. Even in this there were a few points of light as Charlie Staats ran a solid, straight race to take his first win. Points leader Mike Gibbs also put in a good performance for second and made Staats earn his win. Survivors for third through fifth in the main were Steve Thompson, Drew Smith, and Stanton Mills.
What can be written about Marion Sizemore that hasn't already been printed? He has won virtually every Modified race he has entered this year and has picked up his share of Limited Late Model wins. Sizemore is the runaway leader in Modified points and had he not missed several Limited Late events might be points leader in that division.
Sizemore earned his victory the hard way in the Modified main. Teammate Chris Hammond looked strong leading the early stages. Sizemore followed in second, but Robbie Hager, who trounced Sizemore in the heat, rocketed past both to go to the point and built a seemingly insurmountable full-straightaway lead ahead of Sizemore, who had difficulty passing Hammond. A caution erased Hager's advantage and a stellar restart by Sizemore erased Hager's lead on lap 20 and sealed his victory. Hager had to settle for second while Hammond had one of his best performances of the year finishing third. Robbie Barris bested Gary Sexton for fourth.
Sizemore had an easier time taking the win in the Limited feature as he outran polesitter Travis Rhoden on the start. That proved to be the race as Rhoden kept pace but could not make a good run on the leader. Rhoden proved to be the best of the rest as he held off J. O. Nobles and Raymond Larsen at the stripe. Ronnie Grubb was fifth behind Larsen.
Pure Stocks saw Ken Durham, Mike Tripp, and L. J. Klemons slugging it out for the lead as they outclassed the rest of the 20-car field. Lead positions were swapped several times as Durham, who was celebrating a birthday, tried to give himself the gift of victory. Klemons spoiled Durham's party by making a solid pass on lap 8 to hold off his rivals and clinch the win. Tripp slipped past Durham also in the later stages for second. Durham stuck around for third with Floyd Martin Jr. fourth and Glenn Castro fifth. An emotional Klemons climbed out of his car and tipped his hat to the crowd, revealing a new hairdo which showed the top half of his head completely shaved except for a "5" (his car number) on the very top. Now THAT'S dedication!
Street Stocks closed out tonight's events with an exciting 20-lap event. Shane Williams stormed from the pole to take the lead and fought tooth and nail with Mitch McCoy until both cars tangled in turn 2. Officials judged McCoy held his position in the tangle and was allowed to keep his spot while Williams was relegated to the rear. When the dust (figuratively as the track was in very good shape) settled McCoy was the victor followed by Kenny Hall, John Reiter, Mike Howsare, and Billy Costello.
Next weekend will be the second installment of Double Trouble as purses and points will be doubled. Friday night will run heat races and practices for all divisions. Saturday night will run consolations and features. Races start Friday night at 7:30 and Saturday night at 6:30.
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