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| Sexton Bests Strong Modified Field At Putnam | SATSUMA, FL (10/20) - It was "Double Trouble" weekend at Putnam County Speedway as points, purses, and nights of racing were doubled for local drivers. The end result was full fields and an abundance of competitive driving. Heat races took place on Friday night while consolations and features ran Saturday night.
A strong field of 20 Modifieds took the green from new flagman Kenny Marshall and Mike Haseleu immediately proved to be the class of the field as he built a solid lead on his pursuers. His luck ended on lap 14 as his ride fell out with mechanical difficulties. Gary Sexton was the benefactor of Haseleu's misfortune and proved himself worthy of the inherited leader spot as he maintained a commanding lead to take the checkers. Robbie Barris had a very good night but could not catch Sexton and finished second. Marion Sizemore was third with Donnie Higginbotham fourth and Pete Timbie fifth.
Ronnie Soltis and Eddie Holton put on a "how-to" clinic on the subject of clean, hard door-to-door racing. Mike Scranton grabbed the early lead but fell out on lap seven, which set up the side-by-side duel. The duo distanced themselves from the pack and put on one of the most exciting duels seen at Putnam this year. Holton was set on making the high groove work and led several laps while Soltis doggedly worked the bottom. Both did an excellent job of respecting the other's presence while simultaneously not giving any more ground than necessary. The battle remained in doubt up to the end as Soltis nabbed a narrow victory over Holton. Dave Dowling Sr. held off David Miller for third and Jimmy Heffner came home fifth.
Another good battle ensued in Pure Stocks. L. J. Klemons could not convert his pole starting spot to a victory as Hardy Jarvis and Ken Durham proved too strong this evening. Jarvis took the lead while Klemons, Durham, and Floyd Martin battled for runner-up honors. Heavy traffic prevented Jarvis from making the race a runaway as Durham negotiated traffic more effectively. Durham had nothing for the leader on open track, though, and Jarvis took home his second win. Durham beat Klemons to the stripe for second, Martin was fourth, and Glenn Castro came from dead last in the 24-car field to finish fifth.
Mitch McCoy beat polesitter Shane Williams to the first turn on the start and that proved to be the race in Street Stocks. The real battle was for second as Williams fended off Kenny Hall throughout the 30-lap event. The duo swapped paint on numerous occasions but Williams was not shaken and earned a hard-fought second while Hall had to follow for third. John Reiter finished fourth and Richard Adams was fifth.
Limited Late Models ran sloppy, brawling heat races and transferred this attitude to the feature. Contenders Steve Lade, J. O. Nobles, and Travis Rhoden were early casualties while others fell to mechanical difficulties. Bill Kopka was the only car that didn't get banged up in the carnage and made his way back to the winner's circle with a half-lap conquest of the survivors. Pete Parkes hung in for second over Rod Burton while Tony Lewis crossed the stripe fourth over Floyd Martin Sr. Kopka's win gives him some breathing room in his points battle with Nobles.
Mini Stocks put on another wreckfest as less than half of the 24-car field finished the feature. Jake Hartley survived an early race incident to seize the win. Following Hartley was Charlie Staats Donnie Ashford, Doug White, and Marlon Durbin.
Regular racing returns this Saturday night as all classes run heats and features. The first green flag drops at 7 PM.
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