Jake Wood Top ClaimeOpen Wheel Modifieds At North Florida Speedway
By Jon Harney
Saturday Night was a coming out party as four of the five feature winners celebrated their first ever feature win. The first race of the Brown Motorsports Summer Spectacular series for the Hobby Stocks was the only event where the Old Guard triumphed tonight. Heath Walker and Kevin Durden fronted the pack of twenty cars that started the race. Durden outgunned Walker into the first turn for the lead. Walker immediately had his hands full with Scotty Nolan and the ensuing battle for second allowed Durden to stretch his advantage. Nolan finally picked up the second spot on lap 13 when Walker's car gave out. A late caution bunched up the field and Durden began feeling the same pressure that Walker felt in the opening laps. Nolan tried but Durden stayed steady and got the better of the exchange at the checkers. Durden picked up win number three of the 2007 points season while Nolan's second place finish kept him in pace with the overall points. David Dowling Sr. was never far from the leaders and finished a strong third ahead of Travis Barnes and David Miller Jr. The second race of the series is scheduled for April 21.
It was finally David Ponton's night as he kicked off the parade of first time feature winners. Ponton won the opening green flag drag race over Tim Dowling and that was the difference in the Street Stock main. Ponton stayed ahead of the war for second where Dowling tried hard to stay ahead of Randy Merwin and Dean Sands. The race ran many laps under the green and traffic reared its head on lap twelve. Leader Ponton got through unscathed; second through fourth places did not as several cars tangled down the front stretch. Sands and Merwin were finished for the night while Dowling got his spot back due to the lapped car rule. Ponton had a good restart and with a clear track ahead sailed off to victory. Dowling raced uncontested for second ahead of Richard Adams, Nick Reid, and Cliff Crawford.
Justin Carney captured his first win when he blew out the Mini Stock field. After a first lap caution, the Minis ran the remainder of their race under the green flag and Carney took a dominating half-lap victory over runner-up James Conway. Denny Conway finished third, Jonathan Rutledge finished fourth, and Kenn Devane finished fifth.
Jake Wood took the early lead in the B-Modifieds. Ronnie Chance has had the hot hand in both A and B Modifieds and even in a different car was a threat to win. He overtook Kenny Blair and Pete Timbie in a three car shootout for second and was gunning for the lead, but Wood would not be denied this evening as he held Chance at bay and earned victory #1 in his career. The finishing order was Wood, Chance, Blair, Timbie, and Mike Tripp. The B-Modifieds are a great class for those who want to race open-wheeled cars but don't have an unlimited wallet. An engine claim rule and hard tires keep the engine prices reasonable.
Pure Stocks are a fan favorite at NFS and tonight's race only added to their allure. Twenty cars made the start and Jesse Sullivan passed early leader Chris Rowe on lap two but had no time to enjoy the moment as Shawn Taylor immediately challenged for the point. Taylor grabbed the lead on lap seven and Shane Taylor soon passed Sullivan for second. Tonight it was Shane doing the pursuing as Shawn looked stronger as the race progressed. Shane's night ended with one lap to go when his left front tire parted ways with the rest of the #82 machine. Shane's loss was Shawn's gain and the latter was the first across the line and another first time winner was crowned. Unfortunately things didn't go as well for Shawn in the post-race technical inspection and the winner's trophy was awarded to Sullivan who, yes, earned his first victory ever. Gerald Lewis was credited for second and was trailed by Rick Reed, Russ Moseley and Shane Taylor.
The B-Modifieds return this Saturday night along with the Late Models and a Powder Puff race for ladies who are not regular competitors at NFS. There will also be racing for the Street Stocks, Hobby Stocks, and Pure Stocks. For more information and 2007 race schedules please visit www.northfloridaspeedway.com.
Race Results For March 31, 2007
Claimer open wheel modifieds: 1st -Jake Wood #16 2nd-Ronnie Chance #7S 3rd- Kenny Blair #410 4th- Pete Timbie #28T 5th- Mike Tripp #61 6th- Frank Premorel #7P 7th- John Timbie #02 8th- Nick Kirkus #28T
Mini Stock 1st- Justin Carney #57 2nd- James Conway #60 3rd- Denny Conway #00 4th- Jonathan Rutledge #01 5th- Kenn Devane #10 6th- Michael Bagley Jr. #3 7th- Sky Sanford #21
Street Stock 1st- David Ponton #10X 2nd- Timmy Dowling #55 3rd- Richard Adams #23 4th- Randy Merwin #NINE M 5th- Cliff Crawford #49 6th- David Hart #21 7th- Timmy Harrell #46 8th- Dean Sands #44 9th- Kevin Davis #86 10th- Lisa O’Conner #61
Pure Stock 1st- Jesse Sullivan #88s 2nd- Gerald Lewis #65 3rd- Rick Reed #66 4th- Russ Moseley #99 5th- Shane Taylor #82 6th- Clay McRae #85 7th- Michael Knight #17 8th- Robbie Disbrow #25 9th- Shawn Creech #07 10th- Tim Gigon #13
Hobby Stock 1st- Kevin Durden #56 2nd- Scotty Nolan #59 3rd- David Dowling Sr. #66 4th- Travis Barnes #5 5th- David Miller Jr. #21 6th- Robert Hicks #9 7th- Jimmy Dowling #77 8th- Jason McMillan #86 9th- Kevin Hodge #37 10th- Jeff Terrell #35
