IT'S TIME TO RACE!!

April 11, 2004 FSCR Local Kids Among Winners at Putnam County Speedway by Jon Harney SATSUMA, FL (4/10) - A strong field of Modifieds took the green flag at Putnam County Speedway and were led by Jason Lowe into the first turn. Lowe had little time to enjoy his moment in the spotlight as Jason Fitzgerald quickly hunted him down and overcame his prey on lap 7. Robby Barris followed Fitzgerald’s wake and settled into second. Fitzgerald was clearly the class of the field and was in the midst of stretching his lead when his car suddenly pivoted like a basketball player and spun in the second turn. Barris inherited the point and enjoyed a rather leisurely stroll while Fitzgerald furiously fought his way back to contention. Barris’ vacation ended on lap 22 when the former leader caught him and started knockin’ on the door. By this time, however, Fitzgerald’s car tires had been used up and Barris kept going to the checkers. The finishing order was Barris, Fitzgerald, Lowe, Bobby Layman, and Kenny Blair. Fitzgerald was heard later in the evening explaining that his car had bottomed out and dug into the dirt surface, which resulted in his impromptu pirouette. Several members of Robby’s family were visiting over the Easter weekend and subsequently turned victory lane into a mob scene while he enjoyed his second consecutive win. Mark Davis carried out a successful second assault on the Limited Late Model division. He passed Bill Littell in the early going and led the remaining laps to victory. Littell pressed the action towards the close only to fall short at the stripe. Trailing Davis and Littell were Bill Kopka, John Reiter, and J. O. Nobles Hollywood Owen outduelled polesitter Ron Frank on the initial start and put his car in cruise control for the duration of the event en route to victory. While Owen never opened up a major gap between he and the pack, he was never seriously tested. This did not mean that the race was dull by any stretch of the imagination as every position from second on back was a free-for-all amongst the other 23 competitors. Paint, car parts, and driver mettle were tested and sacrificed during each of the 20 circuits of the 3/8-mile high-banked oval. The race for second was won by Mike Tripp, who was borrowing David Moody’s ride for the night as Tripp’s mount was still being mended from last week’s festivities. Kenny Durham settled for third ahead of Joe Watson and Jason Pipkins. The Street Stock main saw several cars and one truck start the race. Despite being outnumbered, the truck won with Jared Cooper leading every lap. Kenny Hall gave his detractors a few happy moments as he simply had a rough evening from stem to stern and saw two separate charges from the back of the field negated by on-track incidents. Richard Adams caught Cooper in the closing stages and even pulled alongside on lap 23, but fate intervened in the form of a late race caution. Cooper had Adams covered on the restart and never looked back. Glenn Kelly was third with Mitch Wise fourth and Fred Sowles fifth. Mini Late Models saw Richard Tipton take his second win as he outdistanced Troy Kruse to the checkers. Casey Murphy made a last-turn pass on Mike Gibbs to sneak off with third place. Justin Tipton was fifth. Among the winners at the Speedway were several youngsters in attendance. Easter baskets donated by local merchants were presented by drivers at trackside to lucky boys and girls who won a drawing. Both kids and racers who participated enjoyed the event and a few drivers earned some new number-one fans as a bonus. The track plans to continue with similar fan-appreciation events in the coming weeks. Winged sprint cars make their first appearance at Putnam County Speedway this Saturday night. A good showing is expected from area sprint drivers and all five regular divisions will be on board to support the show. April 24 will see the return of the Super Late Models. Pit gates open at 3 PM, Spectator seating opens at 5 PM, and racing begins at 7 PM. Have an opinion on this story? Post a message on our Message Board! news@karnac.org or send a letter to the editor!