IT'S TIME TO RACE!!

June 14, 2004 FSCR Lowe Tops Putnam Modifieds, Fitzgerald Wins in Supers by Jon Harney SATSUMA, FL (6/12) – With a four race winning streak and a front row starting spot, Robby Barris was atop the Modified division world at Putnam County Speedway and his reign was hardly threatened during the early laps of the feature. Despite the presence of other Modified powers in the race such as Jason Fitzgerald and Jason Lowe, Barris extended his lead without serious challenge. Lowe and Fitzgerald, meanwhile, waged war for the runner-up spot. Lowe took advantage of slower traffic to pick off Fitzgerald yet appeared to have nothing for the leader. Lap 17, however, saw his undoing when Barris’ mount broke while exiting turn two. A twenty-dollar lower ball joint on the left front snapped and rendered Robby a spectator for the remainder of the race. Lowe made the most of his inheritance and kept Fitzgerald at bay. Further in the field, Mark Wortman was giving as well as he got from the team cars of Pete Timbie and Kenny Blair with the trio trading places in a fight for the remainder of the top five. On the final lap, Fitzgerald suddenly dropped off the pace and the battling trio behind him had to scramble wildly to avoid him while simultaneously battling each other. Lowe won by a deceptively comfortable margin followed by Wortman, Blair, Timbie, and Fitzgerald, whose left rear tire divorced itself from his car at the finish line. With the win Lowe snapped a winless streak that had plagued him in the 2004 season. Fitzgerald saw his fortunes improve greatly in the Super Late Model main. He took the lead from the pole and led every circuit to take a dominant win. J. O. Nobles drove hard, but had nothing for the winner this evening. He did, however, keep the rest of the pack behind him in finishing second over Bo Allen, Al Larson, and Steve Harvey. Super Late Models will return on June 26 for more high-powered, three-wheeling action. Kenny Durham stole the lead in the Pure Stock feature from polesitter Jake Hartley but found his tenure at the top short lived when Hartley regained the point on lap three. He soon found company as Jason Pipkins and Mike Tripp – again this season in a borrowed car – made for a three-car contention for the lead. Tripp overcame on lap eight to take the lead and brought Pipkins along for second. The duo broke from the pack and while Pipkins maintained pace, he couldn’t mount a serious offensive and had to settle for second behind Tripp. Hartley hung on for third ahead of Joe Watson and Randy Moody. John Reiter led the first few laps of the Limited Late Model feature but lost that spot when he tangled with challenger Brandon Cameron. Rick Singler was able to avoid the fracas and took over a lead he never relinquished. Cameron fought through the pack to earn the runner-up spot, but it was too little, too late to catch Singler at the checkers. The final rundown after tech varied slightly from the finish with Ross Camerone credited with third over Bug Rose and Reiter. Street Stocks saw a familiar result as Kenny Hall passed Mark Kinley on the second lap and led throughout the remainder of the race to notch another win. Jared Cooper was the only other driver who kept a semblance of pace with Hall and wound up second. Richard Adams and Mitch Wise were all over each other for the balance of the event before Adams broke away in the final two laps to take third by a few lengths. Wise was fourth ahead of Glenn Kelly. Only four Mini Late Models entered tonight’s feature. Art Souther survived an early challenge from Richard Tipton to take his first win of the year in his #33 Honda Prelude. Casey Murphy was second ahead of Ephraim Souther and Tipton, who cut a tire early in the race. Putnam County Speedway is starting a brand new, entry-level division that will begin competition in the very near future. The yet-to-be-named division will feature completely stock vehicles and be geared for beginning and low-budget racers. Basically all that will be required to make a car ready to race will be to remove all glass, install a four-point roll cage, make some safety modifications, and find a way to haul it to the race track. For more information, contact the Speedway at 386-649-5210. Winged Sprint Cars will headline a five-division race card this Saturday evening. Gates open at 5 PM and racing initiates 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!