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| Gainey Wins, Then Throws Down Challenge at Lake City Speedway | by Jon Harney
Lake City, Fl - Eddie Gainey ran away with top honors in
the GA/FL Late Model Sportsman Challenge Series opener at
Lake City Speedway. He established his dominance early
by rushing past polesitter Eric Platt at the start and
was challenged only by negotiating slower traffic through-
out the 40-lap event. Gainey had a two-thirds of a lap
lead when the only caution of the race fell on lap 25.
When the race resumed Gainey continued to decimate the
field and easily guided Pop Norton's #8 to victory.
Second through forth were more hotly contested as Platt,
Brett Carlton, and Earl Boyett gave the fans a good show
throughout the night and finished in that order. Rance
Phillips completed the top five.
The next race of the series will be held on May 4th.
When asked about the next event, while Gainey admitted
his car wasn't 100% of what it could be, he also threw
down the gauntlet, asserting "Still, I don't see anyone
having anything for me at this track, especially those
Georgia boys." He continued "Those Georgia drivers
better come hungry "cause I'll be feeding 'em a lot of
my dust!" Gainey, who started his career at Lake City
Speedway in the mid 1970s, has raced to success on both
dirt and pavement. Reflecting back on this evening's
victory, he said "The car hooked up on a rail tonight.
The crew and sponsor Bubba's Site Prep deserve much of
the credit. Tonight was kind of like homecoming for me.
It's good to be back at this track. Superman Gainey's
come back to dirt!" Whether anyone will bring
Kryptonite on May 4th remains to be seen, however, the
Man of Steel showed no rust this evening.
The Street Stocks were as rough as the Late Models were
smooth. Seventeen cars answered the challenge of the 3/8
mile high-banked track with only half able to complete
the time-shortened event. Yellow Fever gripped the field
as yellow flags were the rule rather than the exception.
No bumper or fender was safe as the Streets beat and
banged on each other for every spot. Shane Taylor looked
to be a repeat winner until Jason Garver took over just
past halfway. Taylor fell out with mechanical problems
shortly afterwards. Wayno Risner filled the void and
fought Garver in the closing laps for the win. Garver
proved too strong as he took all corners down at the
tripe. Dean Sands took advantage of a bobble by Risner
to steal second at the line. Risner held on to third
followed by John Boy Wood and Debbie Shepard.
The heat carried over to the tech area where a protest
was filed which was immediately followed by a counter-
protest. After some heated debate between the affected
parties, both sides chose to quit while they were ahead
and drop the claims on each other.
Marion Sizemore made a triumphant return in Modifieds and
picked up where he left off in his 1999 championship
season with an easy win. Sizemore and crew made
considerable changes to the chassis of his vintage mid-
1990s modified and saw the changes pay off as he caught
great traction out of the corners. The best race was
for second between brothers as Kyle Owen and Chip Owen
went tooth and nail for several laps until Chip came
out on top with a handful of laps remaining. While Chip
disposed of the rest of the field, he had nothing for
Sizemore and had to settle for the runner-up spot. Kyle
Owen was third followed by James Blackmer and Derek
Crawford. Modifieds are beginning to come on at Lake
City as nine cars entered tonight's race.
Pure Stocks put on the best show of the night. Polesitter
Larry Davis looked to have them all covered as he stormed
to the lead and was untouchable on restarts. While the
balance of the field was fighting for every inch of track
real estate. Davis was pretty much left alone. Davis
began suddenly slowing on lap 10 and was overhauled by
Jerry Fortner. The cause for Davis's pause became
apparent on the next lap as his car threw off its right
rear wheel on the frontstretch. Davis took a wild ride
but the field did a fine job of avoiding his car and
nobody else was involved. Fortner's night was not over,
though, as Coleman Jandle gave him all he could handle
and made the pass for victory in the closing laps. Jandle
won on the track but lost in tech as he refused to tear
down after his car was protested. Fortner inherited the
win with last week's winner Joey Rolling finishing second.
Mike Havard came home third, Butch Galbraith was fourth,
and Troy Davis was fifth.
This Saturday night will see the Winged Sprint Cars
invade Lake City Speedway for heat races and a 25 lap
feature. All regular LCS racing divisions will also
be on hand for heat and feature races. The next race
in the GA/FL Late Model Sportsman Challenge Series
will take place on May 4. With no competing events in
the area that weekend a strong turnout of Late Model
Sportsman cars is expected. For more information,
contact the track at 229-891-2886.
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