The fast speeding bullets of the Florida Sprint Car Association and the Florida Mini Sprint Association descended on Putnam County Speedway in a re-scheduled race from a rained out July 8th event. Sprint car fans did not leave disappointed as these racers thoroughly entertained the crowd!
Greg Skyta took the lead at the green flag drop with John Craddock quickly taking second and pulling alongside of Skyta before hard racing caused both racers to slide sideways into turn 2. The restart handed the lead to T. J. Raymond. Russ Heider, Jesse Teed, Matthew Wilson, and Paul Gottschalk flew to the front with Heider and Teed dueling each other for the right to take the lead. Teed took the lead coming out of turn four on lap 5 and once out front, Teed proved he had the car to beat tonight.
The field scrambled for position behind Teed with Wilson and Heider taking second and third respectively and Paul Gottschalk determined to wrest those positions from them. Gottschalk succeeded, pulling into position behind Teed on lap 11 with Andrew Griffin pulling behind Wilson. Craddock, who ran into trouble on turn two, quickly recovered but lost four positions. Teed led Gottschalk, Wilson. Griffin, and Gavin Thomas to the checkered flag.
Mark Chicca took the lead in the 360 sprint feature with Scott Anderson moving into second. After a couple of cautions, Mike Love, and Wes and Otto Scrape, a father-son duo, began a move to the front after starting deep in the field of 18 sprinters. By lap 4, Love and both Scrapes were hotly challenging Anderson’s position. Love passed Anderson and set his sights on Chicca while Otto Scrape and young Dakotah Stephens were dueling for position.
Love wrested the lead from Chicca and gained a good lead over the field with Wes Scrape pulling into second before Scrape looped his sprinter in turn 2. The restart found Otto Scrape inheriting his son’s position with Stephens hot on his tail. Scrape in turn hotly challenged Love before the checkered flag flew for Love, Otto Scrape, Stephens, Brett Cole, who ran a steady feature, and Matt Kurtz.
Street stocks put on a show as Grady Christian found himself defending his lead from Kevin Mills. Mills took the lead as Marc Kinley moved into second, and Tim Dowling began moving thru the field, setting the stage for a battle. A caution on lap 9 for a wreck between turns 3-4 found Mills relinquishing his lead as he exited for the pit area.
The restart found Mills at the rear of the field as Kinley took a lead he refused to release to Dowling. Kinley and Dowling gained a good lead over the rest of the field as Mills began moving back up. A caution on lap 18 gave Dowling the edge he wanted as he placed challenges on Kinley. Time ran out before Dowling could prevail and Kinley held Dowling off as he took the Long’s Garage Ford to victory lane over Dowling, Mills, Jimmy Dowling, and Floyd Martin Jr.
Mini stocks had a highly entertaining feature as the race came down to a battle of wits between Blake Spencer and Kyle Van Sickle. Van Sickle wrested the green flag lead from Joey Brinson and fought off a hotly challenging Spencer as Steve Bennett and Jay Farris entertained with great side by side racing.
Farris won that battle as Van Sickle continued to hold Spencer off and Bennett pressed challenges on Farris in an attempt to get his position back from Farris. Bennett ultimately prevailed as Justin Carney dueled for position with Jake Hartley for several laps before Carney dispatched Hartley and set his sights on Farris. Spencer, meanwhile, took the lead from Van Sickle and as Bennett also made a move around Van Sickle, Spencer led Bennett, Van Sickle, Farris, and Carney to the checkered flag.
Box stocks took to the track and three racers from the same team battled one another as Tallie Lewis took the green flag lead from Wayne Pawlak. Shawn Pawlak, whose car did double duty tonight, pulled into second behind Lewis with Wayne Pawlak and John Stacy following. The field froze in this position as Lewis led Shawn Pawlak, Wayne Pawlak, Stacy, and James Smith to the checkered flag.
The hobby stock feature boiled down to a battle between father and son as Michael Tovet took the green flag lead, a lead he would soon find himself defending from David Dowling Jr. Dave Jr. had his own battles in the form of Bubba Moore, while David Dowling Sr. began moving through the field. Danny Miller and Moore entertained with side by side racing before Miller passed Moore and set his sights on Dave Jr. Miller got around Dave Jr. but not without contact and a warning shake from the flagman.
A caution two laps later found Tovet sideways in turn 4 and Miller loose. Miller was sent to the pit for rough driving and the race resumed with Tovet placed at the rear, Dave Jr. in the lead, and Dave Sr. right behind him. Father and son entertained as Tovet began ticking off positions again in a move back to the front. By lap 7, Tovet was behind Dave Sr. and the stage was set for a highly entertaining battle royale.
Tovet placed multiple challenges on Dave Sr. to roars of approval from the grandstands and Dave Jr. left Dad to fend off Tovet’s charges. Dave Sr. held on to his position as Tovet tried every which way to pass the elder Dowling. Dave Jr. led Dave Sr., Tovet, Robert Hicks, and Dustyn Tyre under the checkered flag. Father and son celebrated an emotional win in victory lane.
Racing resumes at 7:30 pm on July 29th on Flagler County Citizen’s night and super late models as the featured event. Visit the speedway’s website at www.putnamcountyspeedway.com for more details.
