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| GA Boy's Even Score At Lake City | By Jon Harney
Lake City, FL - Mark a win for the Georgia boys as Randy Ellenberg led all 40 laps of the GA/FL Late Model Sportsman Challenge Series and took the prize money back to his hometown of Valdosta, GA. Ellenberg also avenged a disastrous event that occured in his last outing at LCS where he had to be extricated from his car following a nasty wreck.
Ellenberg's qualifying time of 16.805 placed him on the point for the feature. Eddie Gainey was the only other driver who broke into the 16's and was on Ellenberg's wing. The race to the first turn was won by Ellenberg as the cars quickly sorted into single file. Gainey's 3-race win streak looked like a distant memory as he was steadily losing ground to the leader.
A caution on lap 28 erased Ellenberg's 1/4-lap lead and almost cost him the race as his car was fading while Gainey's was coming on. The duo battled nose-to-tail until another caution on lap 36. Upon the restart, Gainey missed a shift while third-place Eric Platt didn't. Platt tried to avoid an off-the-pace Gainey, but instead performed his best Joie Chitwood impression by driving up the side of Gainey's #8 and riding briefly on two wheels. The race was red-flagged and some tense moments ensued until Gainey climbed out of his car with a battered but unbroken shoulder.
The remaining four laps were no problem for Ellenberg as he won going away. Eric Platt's damaged machine rebounded from the two-wheel incident to finish second. Bobby Padgett overcame an early race problem to take third over Brett Carlton and Jeff Henry.
After the race Gainey explained the full impact of the wreck. During the incident one of Platt's tires invaded the driver's compartment, grazed Gainey's helmet, and made contact with his left shoulder and elbow. Fortunately no lasting damage was done and he quipped "For 27 years I've burnt rubber, but this is the first time I've WORN rubber!".
In an event that had more attrition than the "Survivor" TV shows, Randy Merwin took the measure of Jason Garver and Shane Taylor to win a shortened main event for the Street Stocks. The race ran afoul of the 30-minute time limit and was called complete on lap 11. Shane Taylor had a top three finish in the works until ducking into the pits during yellow on the 11th and eventually final lap. Merwin and Garver were trailed by John Boy Wood, Lee Brinkley, and Brian Scott.
Modifieds ran an almost caution-free event that saw Derek Crawford win his second consecutive race. Crawford had no competition as he led from the opening lap. Kenny Porter looked good in his first time out as he finished second over a determined Chip Owen. Kyle Owen and James Blackmer were fourth and fifth.
Pure Stocks gave the most cause for pause as two potentially serious incidents brought out the red before one lap of competition was scored. The second was the most spectacular as Tricia Taylor and Ronnie Webb both collided hard into the turn three dirt berm. Taylor had an opportunity for stargazing as her #28 was embedded in the berm with the nose pointing to the sky. Webb, however, did Taylor one better as his car completely jumped the berm and launched out of the arena. Webb survived his low-altitude Earth orbit and even drove his thrashed racer back to his pit stall. None of the drivers involved in the red flag incidents was injured, which again proves that safety is paramount in all divisions. Joey Rolling grabbed the lead on the third restart and at one point was starting to lap cars in the top five before having his half-lap lead negated by a late race caution. Rolling dominated the final restart and earned an easy win. Mike Havard finished an equally unchallenged second. The best battle was for third as Mike Sheffield, Gene O'Steen, and Troy Davis gave each other 15 laps of abuse and finished in that order.
Enough Mini Stocks crossed the pit gate to race and when the buzzing was done, Jeff Stalnaker Sr. bested his son Jeff Jr. for the win. Third through fifth was Joe Lawson, Curtis Clark, and Bill Stalnaker.
Lake City Speedway is calling on all Legends Cars in the region to come race on the 3/8-mile high-banked track. The frequency of Legends racing at LCS will be determined by the number of cars that participate. For more information on scheduling, call 229-891-2886.
This Saturday's main event will be the Florida Mini Sprints with heat and feature support from our regular divisions.
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