Batson Takes Bronson 50 Lap Sportsman Feature, Morgan Gets OWM Win
By: Rick Warren
What a night ! It was non-stop action from start to finish. After being rained out last week, and a brief delay in starting the program due to some earlier rain showers, every one was chomping at the bit start racing.
The Sportsman racers were ready to hit the track for their qualifying attempts. All of the Sportsman drivers were taking the qualifying very seriously, as the fastest qualifier was going to win a prize of $450 !! When all the cars had taken there best shot at the fastest lap, the #30 car of Doug Anderson had turned the track in a time of 14.469 seconds to claim the top prize.
The top 7 drivers drew numbers to determine the final starting position, with Dwight Pinner and Doc Batson starting on the front row. On the first attempt at a start, Pinner and Roger Damron made contact in turn 4, with both cars spinning. On the next start, Batson jumped to the lead, followed closely by Pinner, Damron, Rob Cooper, Doug Anderson, Frank Buchanan, and John Smith.
The race was slowed by several cautions, the first of which came on lap7, when Eddy Sapp spun in turn 3. Caution was out again on the restart when Doug Anderson and Frank Buchanan got together. Caution was displayed again on lap 10 as Pinner and Charles Hornbeck got together. In between the cautions, there was some furious racing going on. Drivers were jockeying for position all through the field.
Cooper had managed to work his way by Batson for the lead, and from third place on back it was still anybodys race. On lap 25 as Cooper was working thru lapped traffic, the car of Eddy Sapp spun directly into the path of the leader, causing significant damage to Cooper’s car. The damage to Coopers racer was bad enough to cause him to pit for quick repairs, forcing him to start from the rear after the track was cleared and the field reset.
Batson once again had the lead, and was chased hard by Buchanon and and Smith. Caution again was displayed on lap 37 for debris on the track. The restart brought out another caution as the cars of Smith and Bubba Hodge made hard contact. On the subsequent restart, Batson looked like he was getting faster as the race went on, with Buchanon running close behind. Cooper had worked his way back to third when the final caution was displayed on lap 42 for Dwight Pinner, as his motor grenaded coming off turn 4. During the caution period, Cooper retired his racer with mechanical problems. The race restarted, and Batson led the field to the checkered flag, followed by Buchanon, Smith, and Kimbo VanAernam.
The Open Wheel Modifieds were next, and it too was a wild race. Rick Maguire zoomed to the early lead, and looked to have things well in hand. However, that was not to be. As Maguire entered turn 3, the car swapped ends, bringing out the caution. On the restart, Monty Morgan took the lead, with Larry Goolsby and Gene Owen right on his bumper. As Morgan and Goolsby fought for the lead, Goolsby got into Morgan, turning him around. The restart saw Goolsby at the end of the lead lap, and Morgan back on front. Gene Owen went to work on Morgan , but Morgan had enough motor to keep out front and take the win.
The Mini Stock Feature was wild and crazy also. Dave Westrich took the early lead, and looked strong. As the race wore on, Clint Foley was reeling Westrich in, getting closer, lap by lap. With only a few laps remaining, Foley worked under Westrich, but Westrich wasn’t giving up. The two cars raced side by side, until coming off turn 2, with Westrich on the high side, the two cars bumped, and Westrich got on top of the wall, nose down, the entire length of the back straight, coming to rest in turn 3. Fortunately, Westrich walked away uninjured, but his racer was seriously damaged. The race restarted, and Foley went on to win.
The Pure Stocks put on there usual great show, with Arthur Conquest, Bobby Johnson and Cliff Erhardt racing hard the entire race. Conquest came out on top of the 18 car field, but he had to work very hard to get there. Johnson, Erhardt, and Joey hunt were all snapping at his heels, trying to get the win.
The V-8 Bombers saw Ken “Mr. Excitement” Sheffield pick up his first feature win, but it was not without it’s difficulties. Ken, a rookie this year, and already in his second car of the season, held the lead from a hard charging Kevin Hodge. As Sheffield was coming to the checkered flag, his car got loose off turn 4, and after taking the checkered flag, whacked the tires that mark corners for the figure 8 track, causing big damage to his front end.
The figure 8 feature was , to put it bluntly, INSANE !!!! What a race ! Action at both ends of the track, near misses at the crossing, and some that didn’t miss ! Robbie Powell and Ethan Nistad held the front two spots, and raced each other tooth and nail for the entire feature, all the while dodging wrecks and spins. Ronnie Schreifels made his presence felt as he ran a very competitive race, putting pressure on the leaders. Powell held on for the win, followed tightly by Nistad and Schreifels.
The 4Cyl bombers were the only division to run caution free the entire feature, and it too was an exciting race. John DeGeorge held the early lead, Joey Durbin dogging him at every corner. Durbin finally forced a slip, and got by DeGeorge, and went on for the win.
