Monty Morgan, Clint Foley Return to Bronson Winners Circle !!
by Rick Warren
The Weatherman cooperated once again Saturday night, and it was a beautiful night for racing, as Bronson Motor Speedway welcomed College Students to the racing activities. The racing fans were given a full night of racing, with some new faces competing with the familiar racers of the Bronson Racing Series.
The heat races were very competitive, as the racers competed for starting positions in the Feature races. One of the highlights of the evening was Tim Riviere of Keystone Heights returning to the winners circle in his heat race. As many may recall, Tim was seriously injured last year when a car fell on him. We all are glad to see the recovery and return to racing of this popular driver.
The feature races lived up to their billing, and were action packed and exciting. First up were the Open Wheel Modifieds, and what a show they put on !
After a couple of false starts, the green flag finally waved, and the race was under way. Ronnie Simpson and Monty Morgan started on the front row, and Morgan managed to take the lead early. In just a few short laps, Morgans mirror was filled with the cars of Gene Owen, Darren Jackson, and Gary Southard. Owen was the first to try Morgan, and used all the track hunting a way to pass Morgan.
On lap 11, Owen was trying to work under Morgan coming off turn 4, when they made contact. Caution came out, and Owen was relegated to the rear of the lead lap on the restart. When the race restarted Southard slipped by Jackson, and went to work on Morgan. Southard would work close to Morgan in the turns, and Morgan would pull away on the straights.
While all this was going on, Jackson was working to re-pass Southard, and Owen was making a big charge from the rear of the field. Owen finally caught Jackson with only a few laps remaining, and managed to get by him when Jackson slipped and went high in turn 1. With the white flag displayed, Southard gave it one last try for the lead, and worked under Morgan in the 4 turn. The two cars made contact, and Morgan crossed the finish line backwards, and claimed the win. Southard finished second, followed by Owen and Jackson.
Next on the track was the rapidly growing Mini-Stock class. These guys race hard, and put on a great show. Clint Foley finally got rid of the bad luck he has been plagued with this year, and took the checkered flag in first place. However, it wasnt an easy win by any means.
Foley had his hands full with Jeff Stalnaker Jr. and Don Faunce following tight behind him, trying to make him run hard enough to make a mistake. Foley was up to the task, and never gave them an opportunity to make a good run at him. They finished in that order, with Tim Reviere in fourth, and B. smith in fifth.
The Pure Stocks once again gave us a great race, with action all around the track. Early in the race, Arthur Conquest broke into the lead, but if he thought he would cruise to the win, he was wrong. Bobby Johnson worked his way into second place, and with the help of a caution flag, managed to give Conquest all the competition he could handle. Conquest and Johnson opened a lead on the rest of the field, but neither one could gain an advantage over the other, and finished nose to tail. Third was Tommy Smith, Followed by Jason Holbrook and Doug Webster.
The V8 bombers heard the saying drive it like ya stole it, and all took it to heart, racing like there was no tomorrow. What a wild race it was, with a great deal of sheet metal being left on the track. Klaus Sweat picked up the win, his first feature win ever ! Congratulations, Klaus!!
Justin Durbin picked up a hard fought win in the 4cyl bomber class.
Be sure to join us next week for all the racing action, plus the dwarf cars return to the high banks of Bronson Motor Speedway, and also the Outhouse Race !
