Putnam County Racers Duke it out at Putnam County Speedway in Highly Entertaining Hobby Stock Battle
By: Tera Gunter 5-26-06
Friday night racing at the Putnam County Speedway was held up by a rain shower, but that didn’t dampen the spirits of the racers and fans as racing got underway, albeit a little later than normal.
Hobby Stocks rumbled onto the speedway with fans anticipating a highly contested battle. The hobbies didn’t disappoint as David Miller took the initial lead, fending off challenges from last week’s winner, Danny Miller of Putnam County, while Michael Moore and Mike Scranton, also of Putnam County, proved to be worthy adversaries for the Millers. Scranton and David Dowling Jr. provided some great side by side action before Scranton dug in his heels and passed Moore on the back stretch of lap 7. As Danny Miller took the lead from David Miller, Scranton continued his charge to the front and by lap 12, Miller found himself fending off multiple hard charges from Scranton that thrilled fans for the remainder of the race. Miller persevered and led Scranton, Dowling, Jr., Robert Hicks, and Mick Kulak to the checkered flag for his second win of the season.
Street Stocks lined up for their feature race and the green flag dropped with Richard Adams taking the initial lead. Kevin Mills and Glenn Henry, Jr. battled for the right to take Adams on before Mills exited the track. Tim Dowling became the driver to watch for the night as he moved through the field from a last place starting position. As Dowling took the lead from Henry, Kenny Hall, Johnny Tilton and Ricky Cooper duked it out in a thrilling battle lasting several laps. Cooper moved up to challenge Henry as Tilton placed multiple challenges on Hall, pushing Hall down the front stretch before Hall exited the track. Dowling took the checkered flag in his first win of the season over Tilton, Henry, Rusty Wortman, and Josh Sanford.
The Open-Wheeled Modifieds roared onto the track with last week’s first and second place finishers, Kyle Owen of Gainesville and Jason Lowe of St. Augustine, leading the field under the green flag. Owen and Lowe rocketed down the front stretch and into turn 1 side by side before Owen pulled ahead coming out of turn 2. Chip Owen and Buddy Rohn entertained fans as both racers battled for the 4th position behind John Bradley. Lowe placed multiple challenges on Owen in the turns before Owen would pull out on the straights. Jeff Matthews became the biggest challenge to Lowe’s efforts to unseat Owen as Matthews flew through the field to pull behind Lowe. Owen maintained his lead and the battle of the night shifted to Matthews and Lowe when Matthews unseated Lowe for the 2nd position. Fans were riveted to the action in the second half of the race as Lowe strove to regain his position. The last lap of the race brought fans to their feet as Owen took the checkered with Lowe snatching 2nd from Matthews by a nose, followed by Steve Persinger and Chip Owen.
The Florida Micro Sprints made their debut at the speedway as Dave Van Raalte and Scott Green led the field under the checkered. These cars are small versions of full sized winged sprints but with 250cc motorcycle engines. Small engine nothwithstanding, these cars are miniature rockets. Unfortunately, attrition decimated the field and Van Raalte took the checkered flag over Neil LaRose, Jr., Green, Robert Ringo, and Neil LaRose, Sr.
Art Souther took the lead in the Mini Stock feature event as Blake Spencer proved to be Souther’s biggest challenge. Randy Strehle and Chris Heaney entertained the fans as Strehele challenged Heaney in the turns before running side by side with Heaney on the front stretch. Souther held onto his lead, fending off multiple challenges from Spencer for several laps. Souther took the checkered flag for his second win of the season over Heaney, Spencer, Strehle, Jay Farris, and Joey Brinson.
Dustin Sanders took the lead in the Box Stocks and held off challenges by Shawn Pawlak for the remainder of the race. Sanders took the win over Pawlak, Mark Comitale, Ashley Espy, and Justin Dean.
Racing resumes at the speedway on Saturday, June 3rd, with a Kid’s Night and all regular divisions running. Grandstands open at 5pm and hot laps start at 6:30. General admission is $8, with students and seniors getting in for $6. Visit the speedway’s website at www.putnamcountyspeedway.com for news and upcoming
