Steve Lade made his debut at Putnam County Speedway a success as he handily defeated 15 other challengers in Limited Late Models. Lade started on the pole and drove a strong, consistent race in his #00 machine and had his car properly set up for the extremely dry-slick track conditions. The race was relatively smooth until the last five laps when the late hours and dusty conditions caused many cars to spin and bring out yellow flags. Travis Rhoden's #02 held off a charging Marion Sizemore for second while #9 Rod Burton and #33 "Wild Bill" Kopka followed. The weekly purse for this divsion was increased to $800 to win and the strong field rewarded the track's effort.
How tough IS the Street Stock division? One competitor wrecked on the pace lap! The green fell on the 18-car field and #XX Scott Clarkson was able to pull away in the early stages as the rest of the pack fought tooth and nail for each position. Mitch McCoy's #M44 reeled in Clarkson after a caution and grabbed the lead on lap 6. Contenders such as Kenny Hall, George Flanders, and Billy Costello found the early going tough as they were involved in "racing deals". When the dust settled McCoy took the win. Newcomer Chris Vogel did well by bringing his #4 Monte Carlo home second. #42 Robert Ammons fought from the rear of the pack - twice - to finish third ahead of Costello and Clarkson.
The night's special attraction was the Limited Sprints. Twelve cars answered the call for the start. Polesitter Jimmy Ballew was quickly overhauled by #02 Gene Lasker and #88 Bruce Brantley. The duo battled several laps before making contact and knocking each other out of contention. Tim George's Milk Movers Inc. #1 wasn't as fast as Lasker and Brantley, but drove error-free and was quick enough to lead the remaining laps for the win. David Kelley's #12 was several lengths behind George for second while #85 Clyde Poole finished third. Fourth and fifth were Lasker and #11 Andy Kelley.
Late Models ran a 20-lap feature. Phillip Cobb made the 4 1/2-hour tow worth his while as he easily ran away with the honors in his #03. The drivers found the dry track extremely tough for their 700+ horsepower cars to handle as there were many spins in the beginning laps. Bobby Alexander Jr's #0 overcame some of those early spins to come back for second. #3 Mark Bope, #64 David Wells, and #10 David Crews comprised the rest of the top five.
Despite high-dollar races at two nearby tracks, Modifieds brought a healthy 16-car field to Putnam. Once again Sizemore took the checkers. This time, however, it was Paul Sizemore who crossed the line first as his uncle Marion Sizemore had to eat a little dust for a change. Marion made Paul work for it and cut Paul no slack. The duo ran away from the pack and battled fiercely yet cleanly throughout the 20-lap feature. Tim Zackery's #12 Mopar was the best of the rest finishing third ahead of #14 Gary Flynn and #96 Randy Hecker. The Modified field was also bolstered by a pay raise as the new weekly winner's share increased to $800 beginning this evening.
L. J. Klemons took his second feature of the 2001 season. His car passed tech with flying colors this week after being called for a small infraction the previous week. Klemons swapped positions with newcomer #19 Skip Talbot throughout the event and held Talbot off at the line. Another newcomer did well as #59 Scott Nolan got paid for the show position with #24 Ken Durham and #9 Paul Gladin behind.
Hobby Stocks put on an entertaining 20-lapper. Polesitter Dave Dowling Sr. took his #66 to an early lead. #21 David Miller was looking to pick up his first win and was making the high groove work to his advantage. He moved to second and challenged Dowling until suspension problems forced him out. #25 Bobby Gigon found a line under Dowling but Dowling aggressively defended his territory and Gigon plowed a little infield. Dowling was sent to the rear by the officials and Gigon was returned to the front. Gigon held off #72 Mike Scranton until lap 18 and finished second at the line to Scranton. Gigon mistakenly failed to drive his car through tech which earned an unfortunate automatic disqualification. Shane Nichols' #65 got a promotion to second while Dowling Sr. worked his way up to third. #22 Dave Dowling Jr. followed Sr for fourth.
Scotty Williams made a nifty last-lap pass to take the 14-car Mini Stock feature. #74 Mike Gibbs was on the receiving end of the pass and wound up second. #15 Don Strosahl's Celica finished a solid third with #72 Matt Hartley in tow.
