Hall Captures Street Stock Featued Event at Putnam County Speedway
By: Tera Gunter 7-15-06
The street stock division had the featured event Saturday night with a 40 lap $800 to win race. Kenny Hall, Sr. had the pole, a position that would prove to be prophetic. Hall and Ricky Cooper lined up in the front of a field of seventeen streets and the green flag dropped with Hall taking the lead. Timmy Dowling and Jared Cooper began a battle for third as Kevin Davis and Marc Kinley battled behind them. Hall sailed off with Dowling passing Ricky Cooper to take second. By lap 2, Jared Cooper fell out of contention, and one lap later, the same fate fell to Ricky Cooper as he exited the track after a wreck between turns 1 and 2.
The restart found Johnny Tilton and Kevin Mills moving into position to challenge the race leaders. Mills passed Tilton before Hall spun and Dowling tried to check up. With both Hall and Dowling at the rear, Mills inherited the lead. Hall’s misfortune continued one lap later as a disabled car tried to exit the speedway. With other racers in front of him, Hall wasn’t aware that Grady Christian was experiencing difficulties and as those racers broke off to avoid hitting Christian, Hall was unable to check up in time. The restart found another incident, this one between turns 3 and 4, involving five cars, including Hall and Dowling.
Mills once again lead the field with Tilton second and Hall working his way back through the field. As Hall gained on the race leaders, Dowling fell out of contention and exited the track. Hall took the lead once again and as time ran out, Hall took the checkered flag over Mills and Davis, as Tilton and Kinley thrilled fans with Tilton taking fourth over Kinley by just inches.
Fourteen late models lined up with Travis Rhoden and David Crews leading the field. Crews passed Rhoden as Jason Pipkins, Eric Platt, and J.O. Nobles entertained fans with three-wide racing. Robby Barris pulled into position behind Rhoden with Richard Ferry behind Barris. As Barris gained on Rhoden, taking Ferry with him, Ferry placed challenges on Barris.
Barris was enjoying a strong run before brake failure ended his night too early. With Barris down, Ferry chased down Crews and placed multiple challenges on Crews. Both Crews and Ferry and Platt and Nobles thoroughly entertained with great side by side racing. Crews appeared to be stronger as he pulled out from Ferry on the backstretch before contact between Rhoden and Platt spun Rhoden with Nobles and Clyde Herron caught up in the incident.
The restart found Crews and Ferry dueling once again before contact in turn 4 resulted in Crews spinning and Rhoden once again caught up in an incident. Flared tempers during the caution resulted in Crews being disqualified. Ferry took the lead and led Platt, Nobles, Herron, and Billy Costello to the checkered flag.
David Miller took the lead in the hobby stock feature as Danny Miller, William Martin, and Bubba Moore provided great three-wide racing down the front stretch. A couple of incidents resulted in cautions before racing resumed with Danny Miller in the lead and David Dowling Jr. challenging Miller. Michael Tovet showed his mettle as he pressured Dowling before passing Dowling.
Tovet had a strong run before going too high into turn 2, giving Dowling the opportunity to duck low and pull into position behind Miller once again. Miller gained a good lead as the rest of the field battled for position behind him. Bubba Moore, Ron Frank, and Robert Hicks pulled behind the race leaders as Miller led Dowling, Moore, Frank, and Hicks to victory lane.
Point leader Kyle Owen took the lead in the modified feature as Mike Tripp proved he is back in contention again with a strong run in his new modified. After a couple of cautions, Tripp took second behind Owen with Jason Lowe hot on Tripp’s rear. After gaining on Tripp, Lowe set his sights on Owen, running side by side with Owen for a lap with Owen pulling out on the front stretch.
Owens’ lead didn’t last long as Lowe once again challenged the race leader, pulling side by side with him on the front stretch and passing Owen out of turn 2. Owen next faced challenges from Carter as both dueled for position behind Lowe. Carter gained on Owen as Lowe gained a good lead over the rest of the field. Tripp, Chip Owen, Buddy Rohn, and Kevin Byers duked it out behind the leaders. Lowe led Carter, Tripp, Kyle Owen, and Chip Owen to the checkered flag.
Shawn Pawlak took the initial lead in the box stocks before James Strehle passed Pawlak going into turn 3. Strehle gained a good lead over the field as Tallie Lewis, Dewayne Yeomans, and Justin Dean pulled into position behind Pawlak. Lewis and Pawlak entertained with some challenging racing as the field spread out behind Strehle. Dean fell out of contention on the white flag lap before Strehle led Lewis, Pawlak, Lonnie Magruder, and Wayne Pawlak to the checkered flag. The field shuffled somewhat at the pay window as the win was handed to Lewis.
Blake Spencer took the pole in the mini stocks with Keith Briggs next to him. Briggs took the lead before he flew too high going into turn 2, a fate suffered by many at the speedway, giving Spencer the opportunity to fly low and take the lead. Spencer couldn’t rest on his laurels, however, as Briggs gave him an excellent run, thoroughly entertaining the fans. Briggs passed Spencer on the backstretch later in the game, only to see Spencer tell him Sayonara as Spencer passed Briggs a lap later in turn 2. Spencer maintained his lead, leaving Jay Farris to challenge Briggs. Farris passed Briggs only to see Briggs take second again as Spencer led Briggs, Farris, and Steve Bennett to the checkered flag.
Racing resumes at 7:30pm next Saturday as citizens of St. John’s County Citizen enjoy a $2 grandstand admission price. The winged sprints of the Florida Sprint Car Association and the Florida Mini Sprint Association return to thrilling action at the speedway. Visit the track’s website at www.putnamcountyspeedway.com or call the speedway at 386-649-5210 for more information.
