IT'S TIME TO RACE!!

June 1, 2004 FSCR Tripp, Costello, and Barris Continue Streaks at Putnam by Jon Harney SATSUMA, FL (5/29) - Robby Barris led the Modified feature at Putnam County Speedway from stem to stern; however, his ride was anything but routine. After a rough start that saw numerous cautions, the race settled down for some good green-flag action. Jason Lowe methodically picked his way through the pack in his newly reconstructed #4 and caught Barris with a handful of laps remaining. Lowe appeared to have the faster car and gave the leader all he could handle, but Barris remained steady, denied every challenge, and registered his third consecutive victory. Finishing behind the lead duo was Pete Timbie, Kenny Blair, and Mark Wortman. Once in Victory Lane, Barris revealed the true significance of this moment as he dedicated the win to his father who died of injuries suffered in a sprint car racing accident on Memorial Day Weekend 1978. The Florida Mini Sprint Association returned to Putnam after a two-year absence with a vengeance as nineteen cars took the green flag. Mini Sprints make for Maxi excitement as on three separate occasions cars got airborne and rolled, necessitating the red flag and immediate action by the track safety crews. The good news is that all drivers were uninjured and one driver – Cory Spencer – got right back in his damaged racer and continued the event! Harold Matthews led the first third of the race until spinning and handing the reins to Jesse Teed. Teed’s reign was short lived as he was passed three laps later by John Craddock. Matthews made great strides slicing through the field and raced into second with two laps remaining. By this time, Craddock had enough of a margin built up to overcome anything Matthews could dish out and held on for the win. Craddock and Matthews were trailed by Matt Tiffany, Teed, and Stephen Crabtree. Mark Kinley converted his pole position start to the early lead in Street Stocks with Kenny Hall in hot pursuit. Their battle lasted up to lap six when both cars made contact with each other in the first turn. Hall was knocked out of contention and was several laps down when he returned. Kinley continued, but was never the same. At this point the event was practically handed to Jared Cooper and he made the most of the opportunity by racing error-free to the checkers. Mitch Wise and Richard Adams spent much of the race slugging it out for second when they made contact on the last lap and forfeited that position. The finishing order was Cooper, Kinley, Floyd Martin Jr., Wise, and Adams. Billy Costello made it two wins in a row in Limited Late Models when he beat out polesitter Kevin Mills to the first turn and led every lap. Rick Singler, who had dominated the heat race, had no answer for Costello and settled for second over Brandon Cameron, Bug Rose, and Mills. Costello will spend the next few weeks trying his hand at some National Late Model Sportsman series races before returning sometime in July. Dave Dowling Jr. led pure Stocks for the first four laps until Mike Tripp quickly disposed of Dowling and the rest of the field to take an uncontested victory. Tripp, who earned his fourth consecutive victory, has been a juggernaut since repairing his car from a highly damaging early season altercation. The battle for the remainder of the top five was much more competitive and delivered plenty of work for the paint and body repairmen. Dowling was the best of the rest and wrestled second from Rick Ferraro, L. J. Klemons, and Kenny Durham. Richard Tipton took another Mini Late Model win over Art Souther, Troy Kruse, and Casey Murphy. This week's special event features the Winged Sprint Cars. 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!