By Michael Despain

BARDSTOWN, KY -May 10, 2008- It was the 5th Annual Jerry Rucker Memorial for the 44 Auto Mart Super Late Models on Saturday evening at Bluegrass Speedway and defending Super Late Model track champion Dustin Neat of Dunnville, KY turned in a dominant performance to pick up the $2,000 payday in the event. Other feature winners included Joe David Humphrey of Loretto, KY in Street Stocks, Randy Turpin of Lebanon, KY in Kentucky Cooperage Modifieds, and Pat Hagan of New Haven, KY in WBRT 1320-AM Sportsman.

After a pair of false starts, the 30 lap A-Main for the 44 Auto Mart Super Late Models would go green, with Neat taking the lead off of turn two, followed by Joey Daniel, Aaron Hatton, Terry English, and Johnny Wheeler. By lap 5, Neat would begin to start pulling away from the pack, while English would pressure Hatton for third continuously lap after lap. Fifth place Wheeler would see his initial start of the season go sour as he would pull to the infield on lap 10 with mechanical issues. With Neat motoring away at the point at a torrid pace, lapping of slower traffic would be fast and furious for the race leader, as he would have a full straightaway lead over Daniel by the lap 15 halfway signal. Daniel would continue to drive in second, while Hatton and English continued to battle for third. With Neat driving off into the night, English would turn the heat up on Hatton on lap 22, with the duo racing side-by-side for the position, with English snagging third from Hatton on lap 23. English would then set his sights on Daniel, with the pair wheel-to-wheel for second as Neat took the white flag. Neat would see the checkered flag first aboard his NWN Distributing/Neat Brothers Distributing/Kentucky Proud/Begley Properties/Tarter Gate/Barnett Construction/Wayne Bowen Racing Supply/SHY Suspensions sponsored #25 C.J. Rayburn Race Cars, Estes Race Engines powered machine. "We gambled on tires and it worked for us tonight. I have to thank my crew for all their hard work the past couple of weeks and we want to keep the family of Jenny Tarter Black in our thoughts and prayers after her untimely passing this week, and Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there tonight", stated the happy winner in victory lane. English would drive past Daniel and the final lap to claim second, with Daniel third, while Hatton and Brett Wyatt would complete the top five, being the only cars remaining on the lead lap. The remainder of the top ten was Ed Behn, Joey Jones, Rick Corbin, Kevin Colston, and Tommy Carlton. Hatton would be top qualifier among 17 entries, while Daniel won the dash, with Wyatt scoring the heat win.

In the 12 lap Street Stock feature event, Joe David Humphrey would jump to the race lead from his outside front row starting position and lead the entire distance in picking up his first ever Street Stock feature race victory aboard his Independence Stave Company/ Smart Shopper/St. Joe Garage sponsored #28 Chevy Monte Carlo. "This has been a long time coming for us and I need to thank all my guys on the crew, my wife for putting up with this, and Benji and Johnny Lee and all the gang at St. Joe Garage for their help, and to Timmy Glazer for building a fast race cars", stated Humphrey in victory lane. Robbie Settles would settle for second, with Willie Edelen claiming the third spot. Jason Priddy and Joe Blair would round out the top five. The rest of the top ten would be Shane Lafollette, Freddy Mercer, Johnny Cecil, Joe Walker, and Terry Greenwell. Greenwell was top qualifier among 17 entries, while Darrell Biven would score the dash win, with Lafollette winning the heat event.

The 20 lap Kentucky Cooperage Modified main event saw the front row duo of Josh Lucas and Randy Turpin trade the lead back and forth for the first five laps of the open wheel feature race, before Turpin would settle into the top spot, only to have Lucas dog him the entire distance, but it would Turpin taking the checkered flag first for his first-ever Modified feature victory behind the wheel of the Turpin Motorsports owned, Cedarwood Restaurant/Kay's Barber Shop/John Cox Martial Arts/Dr. Rod Coxon/Smith's Service/ Williams Repair/All About You Beauty Salon/Bloomfield Tile and Flooring sponsored #99 Bandit Race Cars, Dale Meers Race Engines powered mount. "This has been a long time coming for us. I need to thank all the guys on my crew and all of our sponsors for their help. I also need to thank Johnny Wheeler helping us out and helping to get us fast and to Dale Meers for a great engine that is a rocket. This is just awesome", stated the first-time victor in the post-race interview. Lucas would take runner-up honors, with Benji Lee scoring a third place finish. Jason Wheatley and Dion Benningfield rounded out the top five. Jeff Stith would head up the second five at the finish, followed by Freddy Garmon, Butch Shay, J.T. Ayers, and Casey Payton. Sixteen entries saw heat race checkered flags fell to Turpin and Lucas.

Pat Hagan would lead all 15 laps in driving to victory lane in the WBRT 1320-AM Sportsman main event, holding off the repeated challenges of defending track champion Barry Chesser to pick up his first win of the season in the Billy Holbert owned, Century 21 Realty/New Haven Car Wash/New Haven NAPA/New Haven Quick Stop/ Holbert Record Setters sponsored #88 Chevy Monte Carlo. "Our old car was really good tonight. I have to thank Billy (Holbert) and the crew for helping us getting this car fast as quick as we have", said Hagan from victory lane. Chesser would score second, with Avral Thompson claiming third. Rob Jones would score a fourth place finish after Roger Cecil did a 360 degree spin off of turn four coming to the checkered flag, with Cecil hanging on for fifth. Daryol Samples, Tim Lohden, Eldon Martin, Homer Barger, and Matt Lewis completed the finishing order. Ten entries saw Chesser win the division's heat race.

SUMMARY-Bluegrass Speedway-Bardstown, KY-May 10, 2008

44 Auto Mart Super Late Models (17 entries)
Top Qualifier- Aaron Hatton 15.060
Dash- Joey Daniel, Dustin Neat, Terry Englis, Aaron Hatton, Johnny Wheeler, Jordan Bland
Heat- Brett Wyatt, Ed Behn, Rick Corbin, Joey Jones
5th Annual Jerry Rucker Memorial- Dustin Neat, Terry English, Joey Daniel, Aaron Hatton, Brett Wyatt, Ed Behn, Joey Jones, Rick Corbin, Kevin Colston, Tommy Carlton, Jordan Bland, Bryant Woodcock, Johnny Wheeler, Jacob Webber, Matthew Rigdon (DNS- Scotty Earl, Jeff Watson)

Street Stocks (17 entries)
Top Qualifier- Terry Greenwell
Dash- Darrell Biven, Joe David Humphrey, Terry Greenwell, Robbie Settles, Johnny Cecil, Jason Priddy
Heat- Shane Lafollette, Jason Bartley, Freddy Mercer, Joe Walker
Feature- Joe David Humphrey, Robbie Settles, Willie Edelen, Jason Priddy, Joe Blair, Shane Lafollette, Freddy Mercer, Johnny Cecil, Joe Walker, Terry Greenwell, Darrell Biven, Casey Bryan, Jason Bartley (DNS- Paul Lewis, Jr., Brad Leake, Raymond Roberts III, Ray Jones)

Kentucky Cooperage Modifieds (16 entries)
1st Heat- Randy Turpin, Sam Murphy, Sr., Dion Benningfield, Casey Payton
2nd Heat- Josh Lucas, Benji Lee, Jeff Stith, J.T. Ayers
Feature- Randy Turpin, Josh Lucas, Benji Lee, Jason Wheatley, Dion Benningfield, Jeff Stith, Freddy Garmon, Butch Shay, J.T. Ayers, Casey Payton, Johnny Lee, Sam Murphy, Sr., Danny Blackwell, Timmy Glazer (DNS- Joe Mattingly, Danny Searcy)

WBRT 1320-AM Sportsman (10 entries)
Heat- Barry Chesser, Pat Hagan, Rob Jones, Roger Cecil
Feature- Pat Hagan, Barry Chesser, Avral Thompson, Rob Jones, Roger Cecil, Daroyl Samples, Tim Lohden, Eldon Martin, Homer Barger, Matt Lewis






Have an opinion on this story? E-MAIL KARNAC to send a letter to the editor!