Elkins Speedway Promoters hold Organizational Meeting

By Bob Reed

Kerens, WV. 12/2/2007. Win Promotions, LLC (Wayne Feathers) the new promoters of the Elkins Speedway for the 2008 season held an organizational meeting for all 6 classes at the Leading Creek Volunteer Fire Department Building in Kerens on Sunday afternoon December 2nd.

Proposed rules for all classes were discussed and a payoff for regular racing was handed out.

A Registration fee of $25 will be assessed each driver for the year. This money will not be used by the track but will be put into a Kids fund which will be used to have something for the kids every racing night. Wayne Feathers also announced that his company, Feathers Roofing, will be giving away a bicycle each racing night.

Also an auction will be held sometime during the year to benefit needy organizations in the Elkins area. All drivers and owners in attendance were asked to save one or more of their used doors or quarter panels when they install new bodies this winter to donate to the auction.

For LM a tire rule was discussed but those in attendance decided that they would rather not have a tire rule at this time. Any tire brand or compound can be used at the track.

SL will be running under the AMRA/King of the Mountain rules for 2008. Rules were handed out with several scenerios discussed by those in attendance. Rocky Estep who is the founder of the King of the Mountain SL Series was on hand to answer all questions and did a fine job. He had everyone’s questions answered and I think that those in attendance will make a smooth transition from the previous open class to the rules of the King of the Mountain Series.

Modifieds this year will also be under the AMRA banner. Wayne will be discussing with the AMRA people the possibility of hosting a Road Warrior Tour race for 2008. He also discussed the possibility of raising the purse if and when the car count increases.

Pure Stocks had a hot and long session over body, engine and running gear rules. Voting was done to get some input from the drivers on these subjects and Wayne has taken these under advisement. Final rules on this class will be issued soon.

4 Cylinders also had a heated meeting over body and engine rules and car counts. Wayne and his tech people still have some of the suggestions under advisement. Final rulings in this class will be issued soon.

Scheduling was not discussed other than Wayne did state that he would like to open and close the season with a small car race. The opener would be in late March or early April with SL, Mods, PS and 4 Cyl. This would be to get some activity on the new track surface. Also for LM there are 4 IRS races, the Chuck Gear Memorial and the Armstrong Memorial, all paying $5000 to win, on the schedule.

The web site for the track will be up and running on Dec 17th. It is the same as before www.elkinsmotorspeedway.com.  In the meantime you can contact Wayne Feathers on his cell phone @ 540-974-1365 or WIN Promotions LLC @540-662-7285

Elkins Speedway leased for 2008 by Wayne Feathers

By Bob Reed

Bridgeport, WV. 11/11/2007. Wayne Feathers owner of Feathers Roofing & General Contracting of Winchester, VA and the father of LM driver Bo Feathers is the new promoter of the Elkins Speedway for 2008.

Wayne has leased the track for the 2008 season and also has an agreement with the present owners to purchase the track so this could be a long term arrangement.

Wayne who has been involved in racing for many years as both a driver and a car owner is anxious to get started and will be at the track on Monday Nov 12th to begin work. New clay is a top priority and will be the first item on the agenda. Misty Moffett, daughter of Wayne and sister of Bo, told me that they expect to spend $60,000 upgrading the facility prior to next years opening.

Meetings with drivers will be scheduled in the near future with a separate meeting for each class. Wayne is in possession of the 2007 Elkins Speedway driver’s list and will notify all drivers when the meetings are scheduled.

A schedule for 2008 will also be announced later.

At the present time there is not track phone or website. For the present time the only phone # available for information is the number for the Feathers Roofing @540-622-7285 and speak to Misty. You could also contact me at bobreed31@yahoo.com  and I’ll see if I can get you an answer.

October 7, 2007

Ricky Elliott wins night #2 of the Big Kahuna at the Rock, Allegheny Speedway

By Bob Reed

Cumberland, MD. 10/6/2007. Ricky Elliott, Seaford, DE, driving the Charles Jarvis owned Rocket chassis #45 led all 44 laps to win the 2nd night of the MACS sanctioned Big Kahuna at the Rock, Allegheny Speedway.

Elliott who won the Saturday night Big Kahuna race in 2006 said after the race: This is my kind of race track. I love a momentum race track and this is one. It reminds me of a track back home that I run and I love it. I could run wide out on the top and keep up my momentum. When I got up to lapped cars I tried the bottom and that is when Jeremy (Miller) gained on me.”

He also said that: “This is the same car that we took to WV Motor Speedway for the Lucas oil show and the World of Outlaw show at Bedford. We never made either show so we took two weeks off and changed all the suspension parts on the car. We also were still changing on the car this morning.” I asked him why he took two weeks to fix the car and he said: “We are a small group and don’t have any hired help so we stayed home and took our time to get it right.”

Elliott the 2nd quick qualifier managed a 2nd in his heat and pulled the #1 pill for the dash. He ran off and hid in the dash to earn the poll. He then led every lap for his 2nd Big Kahuna win in 2 years at The Rock. His only competition was quick qualifier Jeremy Miller but Miller never got much closer than 5 or 6 car lengths over the entire distance except when a caution came out. Then with a clear track Elliott immediately increased his lead.

At the drop of the green Elliot took off with Miller, Jack Pencil, Alex Ferree, Mike Balzano, Scott Haus, Gary Stuhler, Boom Briggs, Rod Conley and Steve Casebolt in tow. Elliott and Miller began distancing themselves from the rest of the field when 6th running Stuhler hit the wall in turn 4 bringing out caution #1. Stuhler went pitside while Doug Drown and Greg Fetters went to the infield.

At this point Elliot was leading Miller, Pencil, Haus, Ferree, Balzano, Briggs, Conley, Casebolt and Matt Lux. Jason Covert, last night’s winner, was on the move from his 17th starting position and was now 11th.

On this restart 5th running Ferree almost went over the wall in turn 2. The rear of his car was up on the wall. He came back down onto the track. The car restarted and he drove to the infield and then returned on the tail.

On the next start Covert continued his charge and by lap 8 was running7th. On lap 10 Covert got by Briggs for 6th. Then on lap 13 Dave Troutman stopped in turn 4 bringing out the 3rd caution. D.J.Troutman and Richard Jarvis also went pitside on this caution. The running order was now Elliott, Miller, Haus, Pencil, Covert, Briggs, Casebolt, Balzano, Conley, Dohm, Boggs, Lux, David Scott, Kirk Ryan, Jim Yoder, Donnie Lingo Jr, Drown and Ferree.

By the time the next caution flew when Scott had a flat right rear Casebolt had gotten by both Briggs and Covert for 5th. On this caution Jarvis also went pitside again but came right back out. Lingo darted to the pits just as the green was getting ready to fly but returned without losing a lap.

The field ran in the same order until lap 24 when 3rd running Scott Haus retired to the pits. Haus had a right rear quarter panel badly damaged early in the race but he was still running with the leaders when suddenly he sent pitside.

This moved Pencil to third with everyone moving up a position. Jackie Boggs was on the move and had moved around Balzano for 8th by lap 30 when Tim Dohm stopped in turn 4 with a flat and went to the pits. He changed a right rear and returned on the tail.

Three laps later 3rd running Pencil came to a in turn 4 with motor problems. This now moved Casebolt to 3rd with Covert 4th, Briggs 5th, Conley 6th and Boggs 7th. This caution actually was a break for leader Elliott. He had been closing on the rear of the field and had dropped to the bottom to pass and Miller had closed the gap to just a couple car lengths. But with the yellow he now had a clear track and at the green jumped to his large lead.

Elliott crossed the line followed by Miller, Casebolt, Covert, Briggs, Conley, Lux, Boggs, Yoder, Dohm, Balzano and Drown.

Earlier Lingo, Conley, Jarvis and Haus won heats while Elliot won the dash. Covert and Dave Troutman won the 2 B-Mains.

Notes: Elliott’s #45 Rocket is Charles Jarvis owned and is powered by a Pro-Power engine. Sponsors are Seaside Builders Custom Homes, Ocean RV Center, Starrette Trucking and Advanced Motorsports.

Notes: the 25 car field was made up of 4 from each of the four heats, 3 from each of the two B-Mains and 3 Provisionals (Drown, Blair and Scott).

Notes: 47 cars from 7 states (DE, IN, KY, MD, OH, PA, WV) took times with Jeremy Miller @ 19.832 the quickest.

Notes: Greg Fetters who was driving Bob Salathe’s #RG3 qualified 6th, finished 4th in the 2nd heat, but broke in the dash. For the feature he drove the #1 of Chris Harr, giving up his 8th place starting spot and starting on the rear.

Notes: By winning Friday night and by placing ahead of his nearest competitors tonight Jason Covert clinched his 2nd straight MACS seasons championship.

SUMMARY
Big Kahuna race #2 – Ricky Elliott, Jeremy Miller, Steve Casebolt, Jason Covert, Boom Briggs, Rod Conley, Matt Lux, Jackie Boggs, Jim Yoder, Tim Dohm, Mike Balzano, Kirk Ryan Jr, Doug Drown, Jack Pencil, Donnie Lingo Jr, Scott Haus, Richard Jarvis, Alex Ferree, David Scott, Dave Troutman, D.J. Troutman, Jamie Lathroum, Gary Stuhler, Robbie Blair. DQ - Greg Fetters.

Dash – Elliott, Ferree, Pencil, Miller, Balzano, Haus, Stuhler, Fetters.

Ht 1 – Lingo, Briggs, Pencil, Miller, Yoder, Randy Burkholder, Scott, Dave Bloss, Chris Haar, Bob Gordon, Ted Gallaher, Alan Sagi.
Ht 2 – Conley, Elliott, Dohm, Fetters, Keith Jackson, Mike Johnson, Gregg Satterlee, Lathroum, Blair, Eric Zembower, Mike McGarvey, Len Dobrielski.
Ht 3 – Jarvis, Balzano, Boggs, Ferree, Covert, D.J. Troutman, Wayne Johnson, Rick Holson, Bob Hershman, Chuck Harper, Drown. DNS – Devin Friese.
Ht 4 – Haus, Lux, Stuhler, Casebolt, Ryne, Dave Troutman, Jeff Rine, Clise, Shaun Claar, Jared Miley, Ray Davis Jr,

B-Main #1 – Covert, Yoder, D.J. Troutman, Scott, Burkholder, Haar, Wayne Johnson, Hershman, Gordon, Gallaher, Holson, DNS – Bloss, Harper, Sagi.
B-Main #2 – Dave Troutman, Lathroum, Ryan, Jackson, Davis Jr, Zembower, Miley, Claar, Cline, Dobrielski, Drown, McGarvey, Satterlee, Mike Johnson. DNS – Blair, Rine.

Qualifications - Miller 19.832; Elliott 19.867; Balzano 19.970; Haus 20.095; Pencil, 20.104; Fetters 20.121; Ferree 20.190; Stuhler 20.209; Briggs 20.214; Conley 20.230; Jarvis 20.250; Lux 20.294; Lingo Jr 20.305; Dohm 20.308; Drown 20.318; Casebolt 20.332; Burkholder 20.355; Mike Johnson 20.378; Covert 20.389; Clise 20.399; Yoder 20.401; Jackson 20.422; Harper 20.431; Ryan 20.473; Scott 20.475; Satterlee 20.564; Boggs 20.656; Rine 20.580; Sagi 20.656; Lathroum 20.658; Wayne Johnson 20.733; Claar 20.751; Harr 20.783; Dobrielski 20.790; D.J. Troutman 20.800; Dave Troutman 20.924; Bloss 21.002; Zembower 21.007; Hershman 21.045; Miley 21.058; Gordon 21.237; McGarvey 21.495; Holson 21.757; Davis Jr 21.823; Gallaher 22.717; Blair NT; Friese NT.

Jason Covert wins opening night of The Big Kahuna VII at the Rock, Allegheny Co Speedway

By Bob Reed

Cumberland, Md. 10/5/2007. Jason Covert, Lock Haven, PA driving the Barry Klinedinst Motorsports owned #43A led 43 of the 44 laps to win the Friday night half of the Big Kuhuna VII at the Rock, Allegheny Co Speedway.

Covert started on the pole but outside polesitter Rod Conley, Wheelersburg, OH got the jump and led the first lap over Covert, Mike Balzano, Steve Casebolt and Scott Haus. Coming off turn 2 on the second lap Covert got under Conley and going down the back straight took the lead which he never relinquished.

This was the order through the first 7 laps when Jeff Rine looped the #92 in turn 2. On this caution Gary Stuhler went pitside. The running order was now Covert, Conley, Balzano, Casebolt, Haus, Jack Pencil, Chris Harr, Rickey Elliott, D.J. Troutman, Mark Banal, Andy Anderson, Alex Ferree, Robbie Blair, Jamie Lathroum, Satterlee, Yoder, Miley, Mike Johnson, Jackie Boggs, Dohm, Drown, Lux, Fetters, and Rine. Almost immediately Balzano went by Conley for 2nd. The next lap Mark Banal and D.J. Troutman got together in turns 1 & 2 bringing out caution #2. Troutman went pitside but Banal continued.

On this restart Casebolt worked around Balzano in turns 3 & 4 and took over 2nd. The finishing order was now basically set except for Jackie Boggs who on lap 10 was still running 18th and was not advancing. At this point the only cars that he had passed either wrecked or went pitside with mechanical problems. Boggs who started 26th and was the last provisional suddenly about the middle of the race began passing cars almost every lap and at the finish had advanced to 8th.

Throughout the remainer of the race Covert maintained a 10 to 12 car advantage except for a couple cautions for tire problems. Covert went across the line with a 12 car length advantage over Casebolt with about an 8 car length advantage over Balzano who was followed by Conley, Pencil, Haus, Ferree, Boggs, Elliott and Yoder.

Earlier Elliott, D.J. Troutman, Covert and Casebolt won heats while Covert won the dash. Robbie Blair and Gary Stuhler won the two B-Mains.

Notes: 51 cars from 7 states (DE, IN, MD, OH, PA, WV, KY) took times with Jim Yoder the quickest at 20.393.

Notes: The feature was made up of 4 from each of the 4 heats, 2 from each of the 2 B-Mains plus 4 provisionals ( Drown & Lux (MACS) and Dave Troutman (Highest track points who didn’t make feature) and Jackie Boggs (Track)).

Notes: Covert’s #43A is a Rocket chassis with a Hershey Racing Engine. His sponsors are Red Wing Shoes, Hershey Racing Engines, Kuppy’s Diner, Bam’s Auto Center, Dennis Everly Building & Remodeling, Mazok, Autolite, Rocket Chassis, Baker Carburation and Pre-Mach Inc.

Notes: Greg Fetters was driving Bob Salathe’s #RG3. Bob who was injured several months ago in a hard crash at Williams Grove has not been cleared to drive yet.

Notes: 8th quick qualifier Steve Shaver who won one of the Big Kahuna features in 2006 was involved in a crash on the first lap of his heat and failed to make the feature. The car was bent so bad that it needs a front clip.

Notes: Quick qualifier Jim Yoder had to run a B-Main in order to make the feature. Yoder started 4th in the first heat and only managed to finish 6th. He did run 2nd in the first B-Main to qualify.

SUMMARY

Big Kahuna VII (Friday) – Jason Covert, Steve Casebolt, Mike Balzano, Rod Conley, Jack Pencil, Scott Haus, Alex Ferree, Jackie Boggs, Ricky Elliott, Jim Yoder, Gregg Satterlee, Chris Harr, Robbie Blair, Jared Miley, Tim Dohm, Mike Johnson, Matt Lux, Doug Drown, Greg Fetters, Mark Banal, Andy Anderson, Jeff Rine, D.J. Troutman, Jamie Lathroum, Gary Stuhler, Dave Troutman.

Dash – Covert, Conley, Balzano, Haus, Casebolt, Harr, Pencil, D.J. Troutman.

Ht 1 – Elliott, Balzano, Conley, Rine, Blair, Yoder, Drown, Randy Burkholder, Boom Briggs, Boggs, Shawn Claar, Ray Davis Jr, Shawn McGarvey.
Ht 2 – D.J. Troutman, Lathroum, Banal, Pencil, Johnson, Stuhler, Dohm, Bob Gordon, Chuck Clise, Kirk Ryan Jr, Ken Gallaher, David Scott, Jeremy Miller.
Ht 3 – Covert, Harr, Haus, Miley, Fetters, Wayne Johnson, Ron Delano, Keith Jackson, Devin Freise, Eric Zembower, Chuck Harper, Richard Jarvis, Scott Cross.
Ht 4 – Casebolt, Anderson, Ferree, Satterlee, Doug Dodd, Bob Hershman, Bob Close, Dave Troutman, Alan Sagi, Steve Shaver, Matt Lux, Shane Beegle.

B-Main #1 – Blair, Yoder, Fetters, Boggs, Drown, Delano, Burkholder, Briggs, Harper, Zembower, Claar, Cross, Davis Jr, Jarvis, McGarvey, Friese, Wayne Johnson.
B-Main #2 – Stuhler, Mike Johnson, Dohm, Scott, Close, Sagi, Hershman, Dodd, Clise, Gordon, Davis Jr, Ryan, Lux.

Qualifications – Yoder 20.393; Miller 20.415; Haus 20.462; Casebolt 20.599; Conley 20.615; Pencil 20.645; Harr 20.650; Shaver 20.669; Balzano 20.690; D.J. Troutman 20.727; Covert 20.752; Dodd 20.757; Elliott 20.762; Lathroum 20.795; Miley 20.804; Close 20.847; Rine 20.857; Dohm 20.887; Fetters 20.887; Anderson 20.895; Burkholder 20.926; Ryan Jr 20.939; Jackson 20.975; Sagi 20.985; Briggs 20.994; Banal 21.014; Delano 21.018; Dave Troutman 21.020; Blair 21.022; Mike Johnson 21.040; Friese 21.065; Lux 21.070; Drown 21.074; Scott 21.140; Wayne Johnson 21.160; Satterlee 21.191; Boggs 21.273; Stuhler 21.284; Harper 21.298; Ferree 21.310; Claar 21.407; Gordon 21.552; Zembower 21.598; Hershman 21.635; McGarvey 21.718; Clise 21.727; Cross 21.922; Beegle 22.018; Davis Jr 22.113; Gallaher 22.835; Jarvis NT.

September 16, 2007

Jimmy Owens wins Lucas Oil sanctioned RaceFest @ the West Virginia Motor Speedway

By Bob Reed

Mineral Wells, WV. 9/15/07. Jimmy Owens, The ‘O’ show, Newport, TN driving the Mike Reece owned Bloomquist Race Cars #20 picked up $20,000 by winning Saturday night’s 75 lap annual RaceFest@The West Virginia Motor Speedway. This was Owens 5th Lucas Oil series win of 2007.

Owens who won last week’s World 100 at the Eldora Speedway told me after the race: “This win is almost more important to me than the World last week. This win proves that I am now consistent.” He also explained: “In hot laps I was good but since this was my first time here, we changed a lot on the car for the heat and it didn’t work. So for the feature we went back the opposite way plus a lot more.”

Owens qualified 16th, managed a hard earned 3rd in the 4th heat but at the drop of the green in the feature he was on the move. So the changes he made were the right ones and paid off with a win.

Donnie Moran, Dresdan, OH and Bart Hartman, Zanesville, OH, who don’t live too far apart, led the 24 car field to the green with Hartman getting the jump and leading the first lap over Moran, Tim McCreadie, Scott James, Billy Drake, Earl Pearson Jr. and Scott Bloomquist. On lap 2 McCreadie got by Moran for 2nd. Owens was on the move from the get-go and moved into the top ten on lap 2 and was advancing. On lap 4 John Blankenship slowed the action when he spun between turns 1&2 bringing out the first caution. At this point the running order was Hartman, McCreadie, Moran, James, Pearson, Bloomquist, Drake, Owens, Tim Dohm, Steve Shaver, Dan Schlieper, Jackie Boggs, Justin Rattliff, Steve Casebolt, Steve Lucas, Freddie Smith, Mike Balzano, Eddie Carrier Jr, Davey Johnson, Rod Conley, Michael England, Terry English, Damon Eller and Blankenship.

With the Delaware start Hartman again led the while Moran got by McCreadie on the start. Some shuffling but only at the back of the top ten. Hartman began checking out when Shaver slowed on the back straight and stopped on lap 6. He was pushed to the infield and was done for the night. At this point Hartman led Moran, McCreadie, James, Pearson, Bloomquist, Drake, Owens, Schlieper and Balzano.

The next caution flew just a lap later when Boggs and Casebolt who were running together had contact with Boggs hitting the outside front straight wall and receiving damage to his steering. He was done for the night. The only change in the top ten at this point was Dohm had gotten back by Balzano for 10th. Still 22 cars running.

On this start McCreadie again took 2nd from Moran while Owens was challenging Drake hard. 17th starting Lucas was on the move as he moved by Balzano, Schleiper and Dohm to get into the top 10. By lap 10 Hartman had increased his lead to 10 car lengths over McCreadie and was pulling away. Moran was 3rd followed by James, Pearson, Bloomquist, Drake, Owens, Lucas and Dohm.
At this point Hartman was running the middle of the track while McCreadie and James were on the top on the cushion with Moran stuck on the bottom. All three grooves seemed to be good at this time.

On lap 12 Carrier slowed in turn 1 with a flat left rear. He went into the pits, put on tires and returned on the rear. Blankenship also took another trip to the pits and returned.

When the green flew Moran began dropping back as both James and Bloomquist got by him. At lap 15 Hartman had a 15 car length lead over McCreadie, James, Bloomquist, Moran, Owens, Pearson, Lucas, Johnson and Drake. Moran, Pearson and Drake were losing spots almost every lap.

The next yellow flew on lap 17 for Dohm, who stopped on the track with a flat tire. Hartman was still leading while Owens had gotten by Moran. Mike Balzano was just outside the top 10 in 11th with Schlieper 12th and 19th starting England on the move into 13th.

On the restart Owens got by both Bloomquist and James to move into 3rd behind McCreadie. Pearson was now coming alive again as he was challenging Bloomquist for 5th. By lap 18 Moran had dropped to 8th.

On lap 25 Hartman led McCreadie by 15 car lengths with Owens 3rd followed by Bloomquist, Pearson, James, Lucas, Johnson, England and Moran. On the next lap Hartman began lapping cars as he caught and passed Blankenship. Also on lap 26 Owens passed McCreadie for 2nd.

Then on lap Hartman going down the back straight suddenly slowed and limped to the pits with a broken rearend. This gave the lead to Owens who was followed by McCreadie and Bloomquist. Owen began immediately opening up a 12 to 15 car length lead over McCreadie who was holding off Bloomquist in every turn on every lap.

By lap 40 Owens had lapped up to the 15th spot and had a 15 or more car length lead with 2 lapped cars between him and Bloomquist, who had gotten around McCreadie, Pearson, McCreadie, James, Johnson, England, Balzano, Conley, Carrier Jr, Casebolt, Drake, Dohm and Schlieper.

On lap 41 the 6th caution flew when Schlieper stopped with a flat tire. Schlieper returned on the rear after changing tires. Lucas, Rattliff and Smith also went to the pits for tires. At this point 20 cars were still running.

When the green flew Owens immediately began rebuilding his lead over Bloomquist who was building a lead over 3rd place Pearson. England also moved by Johnson for 5th. On lap 44 Carrier from 22nd moved into 8th when he passed Balzano. The same lap he went by Johnson for 7th and looked to be on the move.

On lap 45 Owens held a 15 car length lead over Bloomquist with Pearson 10 car lengths behind in 3rd followed by McCreadie, James, England, Carrier, Balzano, Johnson, Drake, Conley, Casebolt, Schlieper, English, Lucas, Rattliff, Moran, and Smith. At this point the 7th caution flew for Dohm stopping on the track. Dohm, Smith and Blankenship went pitside for tires and returned on the rear. Eller also stopped but never came back. Still 19 cars running.

When the green flew this time the yellow came out immediately. Pearson looked to jump as he got by Bloomquist before the 1st turn. Not much passing for the next few laps.

On lap 50 Owens led Bloomquist by 15 car lengths, 10 lengths back to Pearson, 10 lengths back to McCreadie, England, James, Balzano, Carrier, Johnson, Conley, Drake, Moran, Casebolt, Schlieper and English.

The field remained in this order until lap 60 when caution #8 for Steve Lucas who hit the outside wall in turn 1 & 2 and stopped. At this point only 16 cars were still running. Owens led Bloomquist, Pearson, McCreadie, England, James, Balzano, Carrier, Conley, Drad, Moran, Casebolt, Schlieper, Dohm, English and Rattliff.

When the green flew Owens again started building his lead while Bloomquist was putting distance between himself and Pearson. Only Balzano was moving as he got by both James and McCreadie. England followed him by James but could not get around McCreadie. At the finish this was the order: Owens, Bloomquist. Pearson, Balzano, McCreadie, England, England, James, Carrier, Moran, Casebolt, Drake, Conley, Schlieper, Dohm, English and Ratliff.

Earlier Hartman, McCreadie, Moran and James won heats while Steve Lucas and Johnson won the B-Mains.

Notes: Owens Mike Reece owned Bloomquist Race Car #20 is Chevrolet powered by a Cornett Racing Engine. It is sponsored by Gantte Appraisals, Reece Monument Co, Performance Rod & Custom, Red Line Oil, VP Racing Fuels and Aiwee Trucking Co.

Notes: 47 cars from 11 states (DE, FL, IL, IN, KY, NY, OH, PA, TN, WI and WV) took time with Earl Pearson Jr. the quickest @ 20.01 for the 5/8 mi oval. The feature was made up of 4 from each of the 4 heats, 3 from each of the 2 B-Mains plus 2 provisionals (Jason Eller and John Blankenship).

Notes: 24 cars started the feature with 16 running all 75 laps. 8 cautions slowed the action. Hard Charger was Carrier who started 22nd and finished 8th, a gain of 14 spots. Carrier had quite a night. He qualified 8th but in his heat stopped on the track while running 3rd, a transfer spot. He then started 12th in the 2nd B-Main and charged up to a 3rd place finish, the final transfer spot. He finished this off with his fine run in the feature. Justin Rattliff was the Lucas Oil highest finishing Rookie as he ran 16th.

Notes: All 3 Bloomquist cars finished in the top 6 (Owens won with Bloomquist 2nd and England 6th).

Notes: Tim McCreadie was driving a GRT out of the Richard Childress stable. The car is usually driven by Richard’s grandson.

Notes: Mark Banal took the checkered as the winner of the 2nd B-Main but was light at the scales and was disqualified.

SUMMARY
Lucas Oil RaceFest Feature – Jimmy Owens, Scott Bloomquist, Earl Pearson Jr, Mike Balzano, Tim McCreadie, Michael England, Scott James, Eddie Carrier Jr, Donnie Moran, Steve Casebolt, Billy Drake, Rod Conley, Dan Schlieper, Tim Dohm, Terry English, Justin Rattliff, Steve Lucas, Davey Johnson, Freddy Smith, Damon Eller, Bart Hartman, John Blankenship, Jackie Boggs, Steve Shaver.
Ht 1 – Hartman, Pearson Jr, Shaver, Smith, England, Conley, Paul Wilmoth Jr, Bobby Kitchen, Steve Wilmoth, Chad Hina, Anthony Huber.
Ht 2 – McCreadie, Drake, Dohm, Boggs, Steve Lucas, Jared Hawkins, Blankenship, Corey Conley, Jeff Burdette, Jerry Bowersock, Tre Martin, Brad Hutson.
Ht 3 – Moran, Schlieper, Casebolt, Balzano, Mark Banal, Johnson, Jason Flory, Chris Garnes, Danny Mitchell, Robbie Scott, Charlie George Jr, Chad Todd.
Ht 4 – James, Bloomquist, Owens, Rattliff, English, Chuck Harper, Eller, Kenny Riddle, Ricky Elliott, Carrier Jr, Rick Lucas.
B-Main #1 – Steve Lucas, England, Conley, Hawkins, Blankenship, Paul Wilmoth Jr, Conley, Kitchen, Steve Wilmoth, Burdette, Bowersock, Hina, Wood, Martin, Huber.
B-Main #2 – Johnson, English, Carrier Jr, Flory, Harper, Eller, Elliott, Garnes, Rick Lucas, George Jr, Mitchell, Todd, Riddle, Banal.

Aug 26, 2007

Butch McGill wins 2nd Budweiser LM feature of the year at t he Elkins Speedway

By Bob Reed

Kerens, WV. 8/24/2007. From the outside pole Butch McGill, West Union, led all 25 laps of the Budweiser LM feature to capture his 2nd win of 2007 at the speedway.

From the pole McGill got the jump on outside polesitter Shawn Poling. Poling was all over McGill and threatened for the lead several times but his fine effort ended on lap 8 when he slid up towards the wall coming off turn 4 and stopped. He then went pitside. Billy Holbert then took over 2nd but could never get close enough to McGill to challenge for the lead over the final 18 laps. Points leader Steve Wilmoth who started 6th moved to 3rd when Poling went out but Wilmoth suddenly went off the track at the pit entrance on lap15. Wilmoth missed the pit entrance and hit one of the tires in front of the pit. The red flag flew but Wilmoth was alright and his car was towed off.

McGill then led to the finish with Holbert 2nd, Bob Gordon 3rd, L.C. Powers driving Chuck Howdershelt’s #1H 4th and Richard Frazier 5th. McGill and Poling won the heats.

Notes: McGill’s #1MC Leggett Motorsport’s Ford Fusion is a Rocket chassis and is powered by a Malcuit engine. Sponsors are Jenkins Ford, Mitchell Drilling, KFC Weston/Elkins/Buckhannon, NAPA Auto & Truck Parts, West Union, Poske’s Performance Parts, Lee Phillips Enterprises, Snap On, Energy Contractors and Hoosier.

Notes: 11 cars started the feature with only 6 running the full 25 laps. Hard charger was Powers who started 10th and finished 4th, a gain of 6 spots.

Notes: The action in the LM class was all in the first heat. At the start of the heat 4th starting Robbie Scott wedged his way between 2nd starting Skip Hare and 3rd starting McGill. He made contact with Hare at the flagstand and then with McGill. He and McGill were almost hooked together going into turn 1. Scott then dove under polesitter and leader Joe Loudin. In the middle of turn 1 & 2 he suddenly shot up the track and into the side of Loudin. This sent Loudin off the top of the track sideways. He then flipped violently. He barrel rolled a couple times and then the car almost stood on one end and crashed down. Loudin’s #5 was totally destroyed. The frame was bent, all 4 shocks were broken and even the carburetor was broken. Scott also spun around and landed off the top of turn 2 right next to Loudin.

The action then started. First off Loudin was alright but dazed. He was sitting on the back of a four wheeler when Scott came over to apologize. At this point Loudin hit Scott in the face. He also was beating on Scott’s #18 with his helmet. Several other crew members from both crews then became involved. It took track officials quite a while to get everything under control and everyone settled down.

Under the circumstances I didn’t get to speak with either driver but Robbie Scott was quoted as saying that the throttle stuck on his car which caused him to veer up the track and into Loudin. One of the track officials told me that when the hood was lifted on Scott’s car to hook the cables so that it could be towed off, the throttle was still stuck.

After this mess was cleared up and the track cleared, the heat was restarted. Then on lap 7 Skip Hare caught a rut in turn 4 and suddenly turned right and went off the top. His car made some contact with the dirt bank in that area and suffered front end damage. Again the red flag flew. Hare was alright. After the car was towed to the pits, repairs were made and Hare drove the car back onto the track before the caution period was over. He also started the feature but lasted only 4 laps.

While this wreck was being cleared up the ambulance transported Robbie Scott and his dad Bob to the hospital with injuries from the fight.

Because there was no ambulance at the track the race remained red flagged until a replacement ambulance arrived at the track. Total time spent running the 10 laps, cleaning up the wrecks and waiting for an ambulance was almost 1 hour. This is probably a record of some kind. 1 hour to run a 10 lap heat race that takes less than 2 1/2 minutes without cautions.

The WV State Police were called and stayed the rest of the night to keep everything under control.

In J&M Grafix SL action Kris Southern won his 3rd in a row and 3rd of the year. From the outside pole Southern sped to a lead which was almost a straight over the rest of the field. Fourth starting Jim McCloud finally worked around polesitter Tracy Sampson on lap 10 for 2nd and began closing the gap on Southern. McCloud came up just short as Southern hung on to win by 1 car length over McCloud. Sampson finished 3rd with Chad Green 4th and Billy Beachler 5th. Heats to Sampson and Southern.

Notes: Only 10 cars started the feature with only 5 running after 20 laps. Kevin Keene was pushed off on the pace lap while L.P. Roy exploded an engine on lap 16. Last week’s winner Brad Harris only ran 4 laps. Stanley Spooner was running last and dropped out on lap 17. Ricky Vest went pitside on the pace lap, returned on lap 2 and then went back to the pits on lap 5.

Phil Jeffries won his 5th of the year and 2nd in a row Miller’s Used Car Modified feature of 2007. Jeffries from the pole had leads of ½ track as he completely outclassed the field. Third starting Jason Defibaugh dropped to 5th on lap 2 and it took him until lap 12 to get to 2nd when he got by outside polesitter Scott Harper. A caution on lap 9 had closed up the field but Defibaugh was almost a straight behind when he got to 2nd and finished a distant 2nd with Robert Radcliff 3rd, Rod Lanham 4th and Mike Murphy 5th. Heats to Jeffries and Harper.

Notes: 11 cars started the feature with only 7 running after 15 laps. Only 2 cautions slowed the action. Hard Charger was Lanham who started 9th and finished 4th, a gain of 5 spots.

In Elkins Builders Supply/Guardian Fiberglass SS action Dusty Swecker won his 2nd feature of the year. From the pole Swecker raced out to a big lead and the 2nd place car was only close on the 6 restarts. The numerous restarts and delays resulted in the race running out of time. On lap 10 when 2nd running Todd Collet spun and was hit by 3rd running Randy Thornhill the time limit was met and the field was frozen. Swecker won with Spec Yokum 2nd, Kirby Callahan with his best run of the year 3rd, Teresa Vaughn in her best run of the year 4th and Dustin Isner 5th. Heats to Swecker, Callahan and Thornhill.

Notes: 24 cars in the pits with 21 starting the feature. 16 were running after 10 laps. 6 cautions slowed the feature. Hard Charger was Robin Maxson who started 16th and finished 6th, a gain of 10 spots. Sara Vaughn gained 9 spots as she started 13th and finished a strong 4th.

Notes: Callahan won his 1st ever SS heat race. New cars were David Reynolds, Lexington, Va, Dennis Graham and Jason McDonald. The Graham car is the ex-Kris Southern K2 and is numbered G3.

Dave Mullenax won his 13th Leslie Equipment Co 4 Cyl feature at the Elkins Speedway for 2007.

At the drop of the green polesitter Gary Lester jumped to a big lead over outside polesitter Mullenax and led the first lap. This lead only lasted 1 ½ laps until the only caution of the night flew. On the restart Mullenax went by Lester and won going away. Lester finished 2nd followed by Travis Mullenax, Steve Sisler and Michael Cromer. Heats to Lester and Dave Mullenax.

Notes: Only 8 cars started with 7 running after 12 laps. Joe Mullenax dropped out on lap 2 with mechanical problems. Only 1 caution.

Notes: Lester was substituting for the vacationing Rick Kesner in the #2 Ranger PU.

Zak Kimbrew won his 3rd in a row and 6th Broughton’s Sports & Trophy World Mini Wedge feature of 2007. Megan Davis finished 2nd followed by Garrett Paugh, James Nelson and Ryan Watson. Heats to Kimbrew and Watson.

Next week is the final points race of 2007 at the Elkins Speedway. Also on the schedule is another Enduro.

SUMMARY
BUDWEISER LM
Feature – Butch McGill, Billy Holbert, Bob Gordon, L.C. Powers, Richard Frazier, John Parsons, Dusty Hamrick, Steve Wilmoth, Tim Senic, Shawn Poling, Skip Hare. DNS – Joe Loudin, Robbie Scott.
Ht 1 – McGill, Gordon, Holbert, Senic, Hare, Loudin, Scott.
Ht 2 – Poling, Hamrick, Wilmoth, Frazier, Powers, Parsons.

J&M GRAFIX SL
Feature – Kris Southern, Jim McCloud, Tracy Sampson, Chad Green, Billy Beachler, Stanley Spooner, L.P. Roy, Brad Harris, Ricky Vest, Kevin Keene.
Ht 1 – Sampson, Green, Beachler, Roy, Vest.
Ht 2 – Southern, McCloud, Keene, Harris, Spooner.

MILLER’S USED CARS MODIFIEDS
Feature – Phil Jeffries, Jason Defibaugh, Robert Radcliff, Rod Lanham, Mike Murphy, Delmas Whiteman, Scott Harper, Jamie McCloud, Kevin Helmick, Sparky Davidson, Sam Henderson.
Ht 1 – Jeffries, Defibaugh, Murphy, Henderson, Lanham, Helmick.
Ht 2 – Harper, Radcliff, McCloud, Whiteman, Davidson.

ELKINS BUILDERS SUPPLY/GUARDIAN FIBERGLASS PS
Feature – Dusty Swecker, Spec Yokum, Kirby Callahan, Teresa Vaughn, Dustin Isner, Robin Maxson, Dennis Graham, Brandon Kerr, Dennis Egan, Randy Thornhill, Johnny Singleton, Todd Collett, Robert Isner, David Reynolds, Ted Nice, Bill Vandevender, John Isner, Tim Jones, James Owens, Mac Weimer, Randy Bohan. DNS – Jason McDonald, Randy Arbogast, Jeff Hess.
Ht 1 – Swecker, Yokum, Collett, Robert Isner, Vaughn, Maxson, Nice, Vandevender.
Ht 2 – Callahan, Dustin Isner, Weimer, Singleton, Egan, McDonald, Owens, Arbogast.
Ht 3 – Thornhill, Kerr, Bohan, Graham, John Isner, Reynolds, Jones. DNS – Hess.

LESLIE EQUIPMENT CO 4 CYL
Feature – Dave Mullenax, Gary Lester, Travis Mullenax, Steve Sisler, Michael Cromer, Zac Williams, Allen Sisler, Joe Mullenax.
Ht 1 – Lester, Williams, Cromer, Allen Sisler.
Ht 2 – Joe Mullenax, Travis Mullenax, Steve Sisler, Joe Mullenax.

BROUGHTON’S SPORTS & TROPHY WORLD MINI WEDGES
Feature – Zak Kimbrew, Megan Davis, Garrett Paugh, James Nelson, Ryan Watson, Elliott Newlon, Kaylee Yokum, Kaitlyn Frazier.
Ht 1 – Kimbrew, Davis, Paugh, Newlon.
Ht 2 – Watson, Nelson, Yokum, Frazier.

August 21, 2007

Photos of Elkins Speedway by Bob Reed

Steve Wilmoth wins 6th Budweiser LM feature of 2007 at the Elkins Speedway

By Bob Reed

Kerens, WV. 8/17/2007. John Parsons and Wilmoth led the field to the green with Wilmoth getting the jump on Parsons and leading all 25 laps for his 6th Budweiser LM feature of 2007 at the Elkins Speedway.

On the first attempt at a start Wilmoth took the lead but Rick Smith looped his #38 in turn 2 negating the start. On the next start Wilmoth from the outside pole got the jump on polesitter John Parsons and never looked back. Parsons chased Wilmoth the entire distance as he held off Joe Loudin for the first 15 laps and then L.C. Powers the final 10. Powers got by Loudin on lap 15 as the two were lapping John Ward. Loudin ran 4th until lap 24 when he stopped on the track and then retired to the pits. At the checkered Wilmoth led Parson with his best ever LM finish, Powers, Dusty Hamrick and Charlie George in the #62 car. Rick Smith recovered from his first lap spin for 6th with Shawn Poling 7th, Bob Gordon 8th, Ward 9th and Loudin 10th. Heats went to Wilmoth and Parsons.

Notes: Wilmoth’s Phoenix Drilling owned #13 Pontiac GTO is a Barry Wright chassis with a Malcuit 388ci GM engine. Sponsors are Phoenix Drilling, Javins Specialty Directional Services, Joes Welding Service Inc, CRI, Hutchins Bit Service, Sandy’s Hardware, DKM Hauling, Blue Dot Services Inc and NAPA Auto & Truck Parts, Clarksburg.

Notes: 13 cars started the feature with 9 running after 25 laps. Only 3 cautions slowed the action. Hard charger was Poling who started 11th and finished 7th, a gain of 4 spots. He probably passed more cars as he went to the tail on lap 20 when he and Ward got together as he was trying to lap Ward.

Notes: The heat win was the first ever LM heat win for John Parsons and his 2nd place finish was his best ever.

Notes: Charlie George has parked his own #98 for the present time and is now driving the #62 from Parkersburg. Rick Smith was at Elkins for the first time ever running LM.

In the regular J&M Grafix SL feature Kris Southern won his 2nd in a row as he led all 20 laps from the outside pole. He led comfortably over Billy Beachler for the first 3 laps until 5th starting Jim McCloud passed Beachler and took up the chase. Only a caution on lap 7 for a tangle in turn 2 between Stanley Spooner, Brad Harris, Chad Green and Beachler slowed Southern. At the finish Patterson led McCloud, Kevin Keene, Green, Harris, Beachler, Spooner, Ricky Vest, Kelly Cooper and Billy Brown. Heats to Beachler and Southern.

Notes: This is Southern’s first year driving in SL as he moved up from PS. The car that he drives was bought from Steve Wilmoth. Steve ran the car several years and won a lot of SL features at Elkins and Interstate. Steve bought the car from brother Paul who won many features with it. Paul purchased it from Mike Balzano who also won a couple times with it. This car has probably won over 100 features total.

In the make-up J&M Grafix SL feature from 8/3 outside polesitter Brad Harris got the jump on polesitter Chad Green and led all 20 laps for his 5th win of 2007 but the first since June 15th. Brad won 4 in a row in May and June but lost the touch the last several weeks.

Green lost it coming off turn 2 and without spinning dropped to 7th on the first lap. Third starting Spooner chased Harris for the first 14 laps but then McCloud, Beachler and Green got by him in the final 5 laps. At the finish Harris led Beachler, McCloud, Green and Spooner. Heats on 8/3 were won by Green and Harris.

Notes: In the regular feature 11 cars starting the feature with 6 running after 20 laps. Cory Hardesty, Ronnie Clevenger and Larry Yanero had problems and didn’t start the feature. Clevenger lost an engine in hot laps.

Notes: On the first lap of the regular feature Green got loose coming off turn 4. After touching the wall he came down toward the middle of the track. Hardesty who was right behind and had no time to stop went between the wall and Green’s car. His right side came in hard contact with the rear of Green’s car. All the sheet metal off his left side was immediately torn off and he was trapped in the car for a few minutes. The firemen were immediately on the scene and helped a shaken Hardesty out of his car. He was unhurt and was helping the wrecker hook the car up later.

Notes: In the make-up feature 18 cars were eligible to run but only 10 started with 4 running after 20 laps. Rusty Ball, Tom Harris, Junior Payne, Nick Corley and Greg Hauger never returned while Ron Clevenger and Yanero broke in hot laps.

The Miller’s Used Cars modifieds also ran two features with Mike Murphy winning his first ever modified feature in the make-up from 8/3 and points leader Phil Jeffries winning his 2nd in a row and 4th of the year in the regular feature.

In the make-up feature from 8/3 polesitter Andre Layfield dropped out on the pace lap. Vic Vandergrift then moved from outside to the pole and when the green flag flew took off. He had a huge lead when he suddenly slowed on lap 11 with a flat right rear tire.

This gave the lead to Sam Henderson but Henderson almost lost it in turn 2 on the restart and Murphy and Jamie McCloud passed him. Murphy led the final 4 laps with McCloud chasing him. Vandergrift changed a tire and came back to finish 3rd with Kevin Doyle 4th and Delmas Whiteman 5th. Henderson who was running 3rd dropped out on the white flag lap. Heats on 8/3 were won by Layfield and Vandergrift.

Notes: Only 9 of 11 eligible cars started the feature. Only 2 cautions slowed the action. Both Robert Radcliff and Shawn Davis were towed off and were done for the night in their heat.

Notes: Not only was this Murphy’s first ever modified win but 2nd place Jamie McCloud also had his best run ever.

In the regular feature Jeffries from the outside pole lead all 15 laps for the win. Fourth starting Jason Defibaugh passed McCloud for 2nd on lap 4 and Vic Vandergrift passed McCloud on lap 10 for 3rd. Neither one had anything for Jeffries as he won by several lengths. At the finish Jeffries led Defibaugh, Vandergrift, Kevin Doyle and McCloud. Heats to McCloud and Jeffries.

Notes: Only 10 of 14 cars started the feature with 8 running after 15 laps.

Notes: McCloud’s heat win was his first ever. He has only been running modified this year.

Lynn Moore won his first Elkins Builders Supply/Guardian Fiberglass feature of 2007 as he led all 12 laps from the pole. Johnny Singleton had his best finish of the year as he finished 2d. Brandon Kerr finished 3rd with Dustin Isner 4th and dad Robert Isner 5th. Heats to Moore, Singleton and Randy Thornhill.

Notes: This was Moore’s first feature win since opening night 2006.

Notes: 17 of 21 cars started the feature with 15 running after 12 laps. One casualty was last years points champion Anthony Arbogast who lost an engine on lap 2 while running 2nd.

Dave Mullenax won his 12th Leslie Equipment Co 4 Cyl feature of 2007 as he led all 12 laps. Mullenax pulled the #1 pill, started on the pole of his heat and won and then started on the pole of the feature. Rick Kesner was 2nd followed by Joe Mullenax, Zack Williams and Michael Cromer. Heats to Dave Mullenax and Larry Hoover.

Only 9 cars in the pits with 8 starting the feature and running all 12 laps. Only 1 caution slowed the action.

Zak Kimbrew won his 5th Broughton’s Sports & Trophy World Mini Wedge feature of the year over Megan Davis, Lindsey Smarr, Garrett Paugh and James Nelson. Heats to Smarr and Davis.

SUMMARY

BUDWEISER LM Feature – Steve Wilmoth, John Parsons, L.C. Powers, Dusty Hamrick,
Charlie George, Rick Smith, Shawn Poling, Bob Gordon, John Ward, Joe Loudin, Tim Senic, Billy Holbert, Chuck Howdershelt.
Ht 1 – Parsons, Loudin, Hamrick, Smith, Senic, Poling.
Ht 2 – Wilmoth, Powers, Gordon, George, Holbert, Ward, Howdershelt.

J&M GRAFIX LLC SL Feature – Kris Southern, Jim McCloud, Kevin Keene, Chad Green, Brad Harris, Billy Holbert, Stanley Spooner, Ricky Vest, Tracy Cooper, Billy Brown, Cody Hardesty. DNS – Ron Clevenger, Larry Yanero.
Ht 1 – Beachler, Keene, McCloud, Harris. DNS – Clevenger, Yanero.
Ht 2 – Southern, Green, Hardesty, Vest, Brown, Spooner.

Make-up Feature from 8/3 – Brad Harris, Beachler, McCloud, Green, Spooner, Yanero, Keene, Hardesty, Brown, Cooper. DNS – Rusty Ball, Junior Payne, Tom Harris, Nick Corley, Greg Hauger.

MILLER’S USED CARS MODIFIEDS – Feature – Phil Jeffries, Jason Defibaugh, Vic Vandergrift, Kevin Doyle, Jamie McCloud, Mike Murphy, Delmas Whiteman, Sam Henderson, Sparky Davidson, Rod Lanham. DNS – Kevin Hamrick, Andre Layfield, Robert Radcliff, Shawn Davis.
Ht 1 – McCloud, Vandergrift, Doyle, Davidson. DNS - Hamrick, Lanham, Layfield.
Ht 2 – Jeffries, Defibaugh, Murphy, Henderson, Whiteman. DNS – Radcliff, Davis.

Make-up Feature from 8/3 – Mike Murphy, McCloud, Vandergrift, Doyle, Whiteman, Henderson, Hamrick, Lanham, Layfield. DNS - Radcliff, Davis.

ELKINS BUILDERS SUPPLY/GUARDIAN FIBERGLASS SS Feature – Lynn Moore, Johnny Singleton, Brandon Kerr, Dustin Isner, Robert Isner, Kirby Callahan, Mark Wimer, Chad Smith, Todd Collett, Spec Yokum, Randy Thornhill, John Ford, Jeff Hess, Samantha Rogers, Ted Nice, Anthony Arbogast, John Isner. DNS – Chris Nice, Nelson Bise, Kenny Vest, Dusty Swecker.
Ht 1 – Moore, Arbogast, Wimer, Callahan, Ford, Rogers, Kerr.
Ht 2 – Singleton, Smith, Hess, Robert Isner, Ted Nice, Collett. DNS – Vest.
Ht 3 – Thornhill, Yokum, Chris Nice, Dustin Isner, John Isner, Bice. DNS – Swecker.

LESLIE EQUIPMENT CO 4 CYL Feature - Dave Mullenax, Rick Kesner, Joe Mullenax, Zack Williams, Michael Cromer, Larry Hoover, Travis Mullenax, Steve Sisler. DNS – Alan Sisler.
Ht 1 – Dave Mullenax, Kesner, Travis Mullenax, Joe Mullenax. DNS – Alan Sisler.
Ht 2 – Hoover, Steve Sisler, Williams, Cromer.

BROUGHTON’S SPORTS & TROPHY WORLD MINI WEDGE Feature – Zak Kimbrew, Megan Davis, Lindsey Smarr, Garrett Paugh, James Nelson, Ryan Watson, Kaylee Yokum, Kaitlyn Frazier, Elliott Newlon.
Ht 1 – Smarr, Kimbrew, Watson, Yokum, Newlon.
Ht 2 – Davis, Paugh, Nelson, Frazier.

Jared Hawkins wins the RH Armstrong Memorial at the Elkins Speedway

By Bob Reed

Kerens, WV. 8/3/2007. Jared Hawkins, Fairmont, driving the Seymour Motorsports #17H passed early leader Tim Dohm on lap 15 and led the final 36 laps the win the RH ‘Dick’ Armstrong Memorial sanctioned by the Independent Racing Series at the Elkins Speedway.

Hawkins and Chuck Gear winner Rickie Williams led the 25 car field to the green but it was 4th starting and quick qualifier Tim Dohm that came out on top on the first lap. Hawkins hung on to 2nd followed by 6th starting Robbie Scott, 8th starting Davey Johnson, 5th starting Charlie George, 3rd starting Wayne Chinn, 10th starting Billy Holbert, 7th starting Sammie Stiles, 9th starting Robbie Blair and 13th starting Keith Barbara. Williams dropped back quickly and then to the pits on the 1st lap.

The only move in the top ten through the first 5 laps was on lap 2 when George moved by Johnson for 4th. On lap 6 Trey Martin stopped on the track bringing out the first caution of the night. Both Martin and DJ Miller went to the pits at this time. Dohm led Hawkins, Scott, George, Johnson, Holbert, Chinn, Stiles, Blair and Barbara. 18th starting Chuck Harper was on the move and was now 11th.

After the green flew George moved by Scott for third on lap 8 as the rest of top ten remained the same. 7th starting Mike Benedum exited on lap 8.

Dohm remained in command with Hawkins and George pressuring him every lap. Then on lap15 both Hawkins and George went by him in traffic. The top ten remained basically the same thru lap 20 when Ryan Markham had a flat right rear and stopped on the track bringing out caution #2.

After waiting for Markham to change the tire the action resumed with Hawkins, George, Dohm, Scott and Johnson leading the field. At this point Harper was 8th, 22nd starting Mike Balzano was 11th while 24th starting Steve Wilmoth was 14th. On the next green run Balzano moved into the top 10 on lap 20 and to 9th lap 22. Wilmoth was also advancing as he was 11th on lap 20 and 10th on lap 23. On lap 23 Dohm retook 2nd from George. This run came to a halt when 12th running Dusty Hamrick stopped in turn 4 on lap 24 bringing out caution #3. Hamrick was towed pitside with a broken tie rod. Robbie Blair who was running 7th also went pitside.

Hawkins now led Dohm, George, Scott, Johnson, Harper, Chinn, Balzano, Wilmoth and Holbert.

When the green flew this time Scott got into the rear of George going into turn 1 and tore off his front nose piece. It was hooked in George’s rear bumper and flew off going down the back straight. Scott retired immediately while George continued but was dropping back. Johnson, Harper, Balzano and Wilmoth all got by George very quickly. George dropped to 7th followed by Tim Hitt, Booper Bare and Holbert.

During the next long run the top 6 remained the same while Tim Hitt moved to 7th and Booper Bare to 8th. George had dropped to 10th by lap 32 when Chinn had a flat tire and stopped on the track bringing out caution #4.

This time the green lasted one lap when 10th running Holbert stopped in turn 4 and brought out caution #5. Holbert went pitside after trying one more lap. This left only 12 cars running. Hawkins now led Dohm, Johnson, Harper, Balzano, Wilmoth, Hitt, Bare, Markham who was on the rear on lap 30 and George.

During the next 8 laps Markham got by Bare on lap 37 and Hitt on lap 41. On lap 42 Wilmoth’s fine run ended. He broke a left rear shock and stopped in turn 4 bringing out the final caution of the night.

Over the final 9 laps the only moves were when Bare passed Hitt for 7th and Rick Aukland got by George for 9th.

At the finish Hawkins led Dohm, Johnson, Harper, Balzano, Markham, Bare, Hitt, Aukland and George. Earlier Williams, Scott, Benedum and Johnson won heats while Hawkins won the dash.

Notes: This was Hawkins first ever win at the Elkins Speedway and his first win in the Seymour Motorsports #17H.

Notes: In qualifications for the 37 cars Tim Dohm set a new track record @13.987. This was almost 1.5 seconds faster than the slowest qualifier Bob Gordon @ 15.586.

Notes: 37 cars signed in with 35 taking time. 25 started the feature with only 11 running after 50 laps. Hard charger was Balzano who started 22nd and finished 5th, a gain of 17 spots.

Notes: Even though the track was extremely rough only one wreck and it didn’t bring out a caution. All 5 cautions were for broken suspension parts or flats. Every driver that I talked to either broke a shock, tie-rod or A-frame. Even Tim Hitt who was running at the end had steering problems. His crew thought that he had a bad tie rod which was causing this problem. Charlie George had a different problem. The electrical motor that supplies air to his helmet shorted out and quit working. From lap 23 on Charlie could not see. His shield kept fogging up and he had to lift it and use his glove to wipe which added to the problem. .

Because of track problems the show didn’t get started until almost 10 PM. The track was graded before hot laps and again before qualifying. The LM feature did not get started until after midnight. The fog started to set in while the SL heats were being run but the LM kept it up and the LM feature was clear. After the LM feature was over the first modified heat was red flagged and the races were called when the fog set back in and would not go away.

The heats for the J&M Grafix SL were run with Chad Green and Brad Harris winning them. The feature will be run at a later date.

Notes: During the first SL heat the red flag flew when several cars got together on the back straight on lap 1 with Kevin Keene ending up on his top. His #56 looked to have extensive sheet metal damage but Kevin was out of the car before the medical crew got to him. He was walking around and was unhurt.

In Broughton’s Sports & Trophy World Mini Wedge action Zak Kimbrew won his 4th feature of the year as he bested Garret Paugh, Megan Davis, James Nelson and Ryan Watson. Heats were won by Davis and Lindsey Smarr.

Next Friday August 10th is the Intermountain 30 for SL paying $1000 to the winner. Regular racing in all other classes. Trophies for all classes will be presented by the Elkins Lions Club.


SUMMARY

RH Armstrong Memorial – Jared Hawkins, Tim Dohm, Davey Johnson, Chuck Harper, Mike Balzano, Ryan Markham, Booper Bare, Tim Hitt, Rick Aukland, Charlie George, Chris Wilson, Steve Wilmoth, Billy Holbert, Wayne Chinn, Joe Loudin, Robbie Scott, Dusty Hamrick, Robbie Blair, Keith Barbara, Tim Senic, Sammy Stiles, Tre Martin, Shawn Poling, D.J. Miller, Ricky Williams.
Dash – Hawkins, Williams, Chinn, George
Ht 1 – George, Dohm, Williams, Chinn, Aukland, Martin, Bare, Tracy Sampson. DNS – Paul Wilmoth, Jeremy Miller.
Ht 2 – Scott, Hawkins, Hamrick, Barbara, Hitt, Richard Frazier, Poling, Skip Hare. DNS – Butch McGill.
Ht 3 – Benedum, Blair, Senic, Markham, Harper, Stiles, Balzano, Zack Dohm, Bob Gordon.
Ht 4 – Johnson, Holbert, DJ Miller, Loudin, Wilson, Devin Freise, Jason Edge, Kris Southern. DNS – Steve Wilmoth.
B-Main #1 – Hitt, Bare, Poling, Sampson, Frazier, Martin. DNS – Aukland, Hare, Paul Wilmoth, McGill, Jeremy Miller.
B-Main #2 – Harper, Wilson, Balzano, Steve Wilmoth, Stiles, Friese, Gordon, Zack Dohm, Southern, Edge.

BROUGHTON’S SPORTS & T ROPHY WORLD MINE WEDGE
Feature – Zak Kimbrew, Garrett Paugh, Megan Davis, James Nelson, Ryan Watson, Kaylee Yokum, Kaitlyn Frazier, Eliot Newlon, Lindsey Smarr.
Ht 1 – Davis, Paugh, Nelson, Yokum, Frazier.
Ht 2 – Smarr, Kimbrew, Watson, Newlon.

Elkins Speedway Cancels for Friday, 7/27

By Bob Reed

Kerens, WV. 7/27/2007. Persistent rain throughout North Central WV forced the promoters at the Elkins Speedway to cancel all racing for Friday, July 27th.

The Intermountain 35 for Semi Lates paying $1000 to the winner has been rescheduled for Friday night August 10th. On the 10th regular racing in all other classes with trophies being presented by the Elkins Lions Club plus Enduro #3.

Next Friday night at the Elkins Speedway Rick Sturms Motorsports, J Rods Vending and Fibernet have combined to sponsor the 19th annual RH ‘Dick’ Armstrong Memorial for Budweiser LM which this year is sanctioned by the Independent Racing Series. The event pays $5000 to the winner with $400 to start.

Also on the schedule is racing in all other classes plus A GIANT FIREWORKS DISPLAY DURING INTERMISSION.

This is the first ever visit of the IRS to the Elkins Speedway and promises to be an exciting event.

Some of the drivers who are scheduled to attend are current IRS points leader Rick Aukland, 2nd in points Wayne Chinn who is also leading the Rookie points, 3rd in points Ryan Markham, Dave Hess Jr, Chris Wilson, Robbie Scott, Corey Conley, Robbie Blair, Bart Hartman, Cody Parker, Mike Balzano and Paul Wilmoth. All of the regulars from the track including current points leader Steve Wilmoth, Charlie George, Shawn Poling, Joe Loudin and Dusty Hamrick will be joined by former winners of the Armstrong Memorial Chuck Harper, Mike Benedum and Butch McGill. Possibilities who have expressed an interest are Chuck Gear Memorial winner Ricky Williams, Jeremy Miller, Eddie Carrier Jr, Tim Dohm, Jared Hawkins and John Blankenship.

This should be the largest field of LM at the Elkins Speedway this year. Come on out and see a fantastic show.

General Admission is only $15 with pits $35.

July 22, 2007

Photos

Steve Wilmoth wins 3rd LM Feature in a Row at the Elkins Speedway

By Bob Reed

Kerens, WV. 7/20/2007. From his pole position Steve Wilmoth, Clarksburg, led all 25 laps of the Budweiser LM Feature to claim his 3rd win in a row and 4th of the year at the Elkins Speedway.

At the drop of the green outside polesitter Joe Loudin pulled Wilmoth going into turn 1 but Wilmoth stayed under Loudin in the turns 1 & 2 and came out on the backstraight with the lead which he never relinquished.

Loudin held 2nd over Chuck Harper until lap 8 when Harper used the lapped car of John Ward to take the spot. Loudin had followed Ward for 2 laps and slowed just barely coming off turn 4 which allowed Harper to jump to the inside and take the spot. Loudin with his best run of the year then ran 3rd until lap 18 when he almost lost it in turn 4. Both Robbie Scott and Charlie George went by before Loudin could get straightened out.
Loudin finished the race in 5th.

Harper chased Wilmoth and except for cautions never was close enough to challenge for the lead. Scott ran 4th for the first 17 laps and then 3rd for the final 8. Charlie George caught up to Scott on lap 9 when he got by Ron Parrish. From this point on he was all over Scott almost every turn and got up beside Scott several time but could never make the pass.

Ron Parrish started 5th and ran there until lap 3 when George got by. He was involved in an incident with Dusty Hamrick on lap 13 and seemed to be slower the rest of the race. Hamrick had a run on Parrish coming off the 4th turn, Parrish came up the track like he didn’t know Hamrick was there and pinned Hamrick against the outside concrete wall. He scraped the wall for almost the whole straight and then came to a stop in turn 3. After checking his car he drove to the pits.

At the finish Wilmoth had about a 10 car length lead on 2nd place Harper with 3rd place Scott and 4th place George another 10 lengths back with 5th place Loudin and the rest another 10 car lengths back. Heats to Wilmoth and Loudin.

Notes: 14 cars started the feature with 10 running after 25 laps. 5 cautions slowed the action. Hard charger was Bob Gordon who started 14th and finished 5th, a gain of 8 spots.

Notes: Ron Parrish ran LM tonight. Steve Cook who owns the car said that they installed one of Ron’s aluminum motors and were trying LM. John Ward was out for the first time this year.

Notes: Wilmoth’s Phoenix Drilling owned #13 Pontiac GTO is a Barry Wright chassis with a Malcuit 388ci GM engine. Sponsors are Phoenix Drilling, Javins Specialty Directional Services, JWS, CRI, DKM Hauling and Blue Dot Services Inc.

Notes: Wilmoth has 3 wins in 4 races since he began driving the Barry Wright chassis of Phoenix Drilling.

Tracy Sampson won his first J&M Grafix SL feature of the year by leading all 20 laps. Kevin Keene chased him the entire distance and was under him several times in the turns but could never make a pass. Polesitter Chad Green dropped to 3rd at the start and chased the leaders the entire distance. Brad Harris made a steady charge from the rear to finish a strong 4th while Billy Beachler was 5th. Heats to Green and Sampson.

Notes: 10 cars in the pits with only 8 starting the feature. 7 cars were running after 20 laps. Tom Harris dropped out with overheating problems on lap 12. Only the one caution for Harris slowed the race. Hard charger was Brad Harris who gained 3 spots from 7th to 4th.

Notes: This was Sampson’s first win since June 17, 2006.

Notes: One new car the T1 of Junior Payne.

Andre Layfield won his 2nd Miller’s Used Cars modified feature of the year when he passed a slowing Jacob Hawkins coming for the flag on the last lap.

Hawkins from the outside pole got the jump on polesitter Layfield and led the first 14 and ¾ laps of the race. Coming out of turn 4 for the checkered flag the #37 of Hawkins threw its driveshaft and Layfield, Jason Defibaugh and Phil Jeffries got by to drop him to 4th at the finish.

Hawkins led by as much as a half straight while Layfield, Defibaugh and Jeffries were duking it out. They ran nose to tail and side by side almost every lap. They were so close together that when Hawkins slowed they almost wrecked trying to miss him. In fact they did do some paint trading. The final rundown was Layfield, Defibaugh, Jeffries, Hawkins and Jack Young. Heats to Layfield and Hawkins.

Notes: 11 cars in the pits with 10 starting the feature. If you count Hawkins 9 were running after 15 laps. Hard charger was Defibaugh who gained 3 spots from 5th to 2nd.

Notes: One new car was the #67 of Jack Young.

Dusty Swecker from the outside pole led all 12 laps of the Elkins Builders Supply/Guardian Fiberglass SS feature for his first win of 2007 at the Elkins Speedway.

When the green flag flew Swecker got the jump on polesitter Mike O’Brien. This was the race as O’Brien chased him the entire distance but never was close enough to challenge for the lead. At the checkered Swecker led O’Brien, Johnnie Singleton, Mac Wimer and Robin Maxson. Heats to O’Brien and Swecker.

Notes: 18 cars started the feature with 12 running after 12 laps. Only 2 cautions slowed the action. Hard charger was Maxson who started 12th and finished 5th, a gain of 7 spots.

Notes: Randy Thornhill’s night ended on the pace lap as he was pushed back to the pits. Pat Frazier was driving the #8 normally driven by Nelson Bise. Kris Southern had his PS out tonight instead of his SL. One new car was the 11 of John Isner.

Dave Mullenax continued his assault on the Leslie Equipment Co 4 Cyl class with his 10th win in 11 races in 2007. This week he won by over ½ track and lapped up to the 4th place car. Daniel Simpson was 2nd with Rick Kesner a distant 3rd, Joe Mullenax 4th and Steve Sisler 5th. Heats to Larry Hoover and Travis Mullenax.

Notes: Only 12 cars in the pits with 10 starting the feature. Actually only 9 ran as Hoover was pushed off on the pace lap. Only 1 caution slowed the action.

Notes: Allen Sisler was the only new car.

Garrett Paugh won his 5th Broughton’s Sports & Trophy World Mini Wedge feature of 2007. Paugh led all 8 laps and barely beat Lindsey Smarr at the line. Megan Davis was 3rd with James Nelson 4th and Ryan Watson 5th. Heats to Paugh and Nelson.

Notes: Kaitlyn Frazier is a new car. The car is painted exactly like the ‘0’ of Richard Frazier.

Next week Friday July 27th at the Elkins Speedway is the rescheduled Intermountain 35 for SL paying $1000 to the winner. Regular racing in all other classes.

The following Friday August 3rd is the annual RH Armstrong Memorial for LM sponsored by Rick Sturms Motorsports and J Rods Vending which pays $5000 to the winner and $400 to start. The race is sanctioned by the Independent Racing Series and will be their first ever visit to the Elkins Speedway.

SUMMARY
BUDWEISER LM
Feature – Steve Wilmoth, Chuck Harper, Robbie Scott, Charlie George, Joe Loudin, Bob Gordon, Billy Holbert, Ron Parrish, John Parsons, Richard Frazier, Skip Hare, Dusty Hamrick, Shawn Poling, John Ward.
Ht 1 – Wilmoth, Harper, Parrish, George, Poling, Ward, Frazier.
Ht 2 – Loudin, Hamrick, Scott, Parsons, Holbert, Hare, Gordon.

J&M GRAFIX SL
Feature- Tracy Sampson, Kevin Keene, Chad Green, Brad Harris, Billy Beachler, Rusty Ball, Junior Payne, Tom Harris. DNS – Ron Clevenger, Jim McCloud.
Ht 1 – Green, Keene, Tom Harris, Payne. DNS – McCloud.
Ht 2 – Sampson, Beachler, Clevenger, Brad Harris, Ball.

MILLER’S USED CARS MODIFIEDS
Feature – Andre Layfield, Jason Defibaugh, Phil Jeffries, Jacob Hawkins, Jack Young, Mike Murphy, Delmas Whiteman, Sam Henderson, Robert Radcliff, Kevin Helmick. DNS – Jamie McCloud.
Ht 1 – Layfield, Jeffries, Defibaugh, Whiteman, Murphy. DNS – McCloud.
Ht 2 – Hawkins, Young, Radcliff, Henderson, Helmick.

ELKINS BUILDERS SUPPLY/GUARDINA FIBERGLASS SS
Feature – Dusty Swecker, Mike O’Brien, Johnny Singleton, Mac Wimer, Robin Maxson, Brandon Kerr, Ricky Vest, Kirby Callahan, Robert Isner, Bobby Isner, Kenny Vest, Spec Yokum, Kris Southern, Dustin Isner, Dennis Egan, John Isner, Pat Frazier, Randy Thornhill.
Ht 1 – O’Brien, Southern, Wimer, Yokum, Thornhill, Kerr, Robert Isner, Callahan, John Isner.
Ht 2 – Swecker, Frazier, Dustin Isner, Singleton, Ricky Vest, Maxson, Bobby Isner, Kenny Vest, Egan.

LESLIE EQUIPMENT CO 4 CYL
Feature – Dave Mullenax, Daniel Simpson, Rick Kesner, Joe Mullenax, Steve Sisler, Travis Mullenax, Allen Sisler, Mike Cromer, Nick Nash, Larry Hoover. DNS – Kenny Rowback, Zac Williams.
Ht 1 – Hoover, Dave Mullenax, Joe Mullenax, Simpson, Rowback. DNS – Williams.
Ht 2 – Travis Mullenax, Kesner, Allen Sisler, Nash, Cromer, Steve Sisler.

BROUGHTON’S SPORTS & TROPHY WORLD MINI WEDGES
Feature – Garrett Paugh, Lindsey Smarr, Megan Davis, James Nelson, Ryan Watson, Zak Kimbrew, Kaylee Yokum, Elliott Newlon, Kaitlyn Frazier.
Ht 1 – Paugh, Smarr, Davis, Newlon, Kimbrew.
Ht 2 – Nelson, Watson, Yokum, Frazier.

July 15, 2007

Rains force cancellation of action at the Elkins Speedway for Friday 7/13

By Bob Reed

Kerens, WV. 7/13/2007. It began sprinkling a little Friday night around 8PM as the first SL heat race was on the track. It was completed but as the 2nd heat was running the rains increased in intensity and the race was stopped. After 40 minutes and much more rain the nights activities were called.

For details on when the Intermountain 30 for SL will be run check out website @ www.elkinsmotorspeedway.com  

July 15, 2007

Photos

Mike Benedum wins Tyler County and collects $1000 Bonus

By Bob Reed

Middlebourne, WV. 7/14/2007. Mike Benedum, Salem, won his 2nd LM feature of the year at the Tyler County Speedway and also collected a $1000 “Gambler’s Loot” bonus from BDS Promotions for breaking Paul Wilmoth’s win streak.

Benedum when asked why he was so good. He answered: “I am using the same setup tonight that I had on for last years Hillbilly. It works real well here.” When asked about his pass of Irwin he stated: “He was running on the top and I didn’t want to slide up into him so I just waited. I got the chance in lapped traffic, took it and passed him.”

Benedum and Scott Irwin led the 20 car field to the green with Irwin using the cushion in turns 1 & 2 to power around Benedum for the lead. Sixth starting Wilmoth moved to third on the first lap followed by Steve Wilmoth, Mark Banal and Dusty Hamrick.

The field was slowed on lap 2 when Dave Gorrell and Gary Midcap got together in turn 4. Neither car had much damage and both continued. At this point Irwin led Benedum, Paul Wilmoth, Steve Wilmoth, Banal, Hamrick, Charlie Maloney, Corey Conley, Greg Baumberger, Rick Conley, Donnie Dotson, Jason Edge, Richard Frazier, Bucky Rine, Steve Weigle, Mike Eaton, Doug Eaton, Jim Quaigg, Midcap and Gorrell.

At the green Irwin took off followed by Benedum, Wilmoth and the field. This green period lasted only 3 laps until Quaigg spun in turn 4. Edge took evasive action, was hit by another car and spun. Something went awry in the steering and Edge was towed off.

The next green session lasted until the checkered. Irwin on the cushion was holding off Benedum who was running in the middle and diving under Irwin every turn. Also Paul Wilmoth and brother Steve were putting on quite a battle for 3rd. At one point Paul slipped in turn 3 & 4 and Steve took the spot. Paul got going again on the top and passed Steve the next lap. He then began putting distance between the two.

On lap 16 Benedum worked around Irwin in lapped traffic and took the lead in turns 1 & 2. Irwin never let Benedum get much of a lead and ran 2nd until lap 21 when Paul Wilmoth got by and began closing on Benedum. These two put on a show as Wilmoth got under Benedum several times but lapped traffic on the final lap allowed Benedum to increase his lead and win by a couple car lengths.

At the checkered Benedum led Paul Wilmoth, Irwin, Banal, Steve Wilmoth, Hamrick, Corey Conley, Baumberger, Rick Conley and Dotson. Heats were won by Benedum, Irwin and Banal.

Notes: With the new policy of inverting the top 4 cars in each heat only Quick Qualifier Benedum won his heat. The 2nd quick qualifier Corey Conley only managed a 3rd in his heat while 3rd quick qualifier Paul Wilmoth did get to 2nd in his heat.

From the outside pole Arthur Payne took the lead and led all 20 laps of the SL feature for the win. Fourth starting Kyle Thomas followed him the entire distance with polesitter Sonny Conley dropping to 3rd on the start and staying there for the distance.

At the checkered Payne led Kyle Thomas, Conley, Joel Prosser, Mike Griffin, Robbie Thomas, Billy Brown, Gary Knollinger and Brian Rush. Heats to Conley and Payne.

I asked Payne why he was puffing and panting. He said: “This is hard work.” I also asked him what happened when Kyle Thomas got up beside him about 5 laps from the finish. He said: “I almost lost it!”

The AMRA modified feature got off to a bang when outside polesitter Mike “Bird” Wilson lost it in turn 4, came down into the side of Paul Wilmoth and caused a 9 car pile-up. Wilson was unhurt while Wilmoth received extensive damage to both sides of his car and the rear spoiler. Also involved were JR Nolan, Louie Krushansky, Shawn Davis, Dustin Sprouse, Mark Deitch, Randy Gray and Mark Dixon. Nolan drove to the pits while Sprouse and Gray were towed off.

On the restart Wilson took the lead followed by polesitter Darren Glover and Wilmoth. On lap two Glover and Wilmoth touched going into turn 3 and Glover Spun in front of the field but everyone got by unscathed.


On the next start Wilson was the leader but before the lap was completed Wilmoth with a damaged car went under him in turn 3 & 4 and took the lead which he never gave up. Wilmoth running the extreme top moved his lead to almost a full straight with 5 laps to go but seemed to slow and Wilson closed the gap to 4 car lengths on the last lap and even closer at the line.

Wilmoth won with Wilson 2nd followed by Davis, Krushansky, Donnie Nething, Tom Sigler, Dixon, Dale Keplinger, Dusty Boley and Lou Ennis. Heats were won by Glover, Wilson and Gray.

SUMMARY

LM
FEATURE – Mike Benedum Paul Wilmoth, Scott Irwin, Mark Banal, Steve Wilmoth, Dusty Hamrick, Corey Conley, Greg Baumberger, Rick Conley, Donnie Dotson, Charlie Maloney, Steve Weigle, Richard Frazier, Doug Eaton, Mike Eaton, Bucky Rine, Jim Quaigg, Gary Midcap Jr, Dave Gorrell, Jason Edge.
Ht 1 – Benedum, Maloney, Baumberger, Rick Conley, Rine, Mike Eaton, Gorrrell.
Ht 2 – Irwin, Hamrick, Corey Conley, Dotson, Frazier, Midcap, Quaigg.
Ht 3 – Banal, Paul Wilmoth, Steve Wilmoth, Edge, Doug Eaton, Weigle.


SL
FEATURE – Arthur Payne, Kyle Thomas, Sonny Conley, Joel Prosser, Michael Griffin, Robbie Thomas, Billy Brown, Gary Knollinger, Brian Rush, Mike McGinnis, Chad Green, Brad Clark, Randy Clark, Matt Flesher, Randy Gibson. DNS – Ron Deitch.
Ht 1 – Conley, Prosser, Robbie Thomas, Rush, Knollinger, Randy Clark, Flesher, Deitch.
Ht 2 – Payne, Kyle Thomas, Griffin, Brad Clark, Brown, Green, Gibson, McGinnis.

AMRA MODIFIED
FEATURE – Paul Wilmoth, Mike Wilson, Shawn Davis, Louie Krushansky, Donnie Nething, Tom Sigler, Mark Dickson, Dale Keplinger, Dusty Boley, Lou Ennis, Mark Deitch, Darren Glover, Dave Monteleone, Sonny Stutler, Scott Jones, Randy Gray, JR Nolan, Dustin Sprouse, Mark Deitch. DNS – Mike Sprouse.
Ht 1 – Glover, Wilmoth, Nolan, Keplinger, Ennis, Boley, Stutler.
Ht 2 – Wilson, Davis, Dickson, Nething, Mike Sprouse, Gerald Deitch, Jones.
Ht 3 – Gray, Krushansky, Sigler, Dustin Sprouse, Mark Dietch, Monteleone.

July 8, 2007  

Photos

Steve Wilmoth wins 3rd Budweiser LM feature of 2007 at the Elkins Speedway

By Bob Reed

Kerens, WV. 7/6/2007. Steve Wilmoth, Clarksburg, driving a Barry Wright chassis, Brad Ligget owned LM led all 25 laps from the outside pole to win his 2nd consecutive and 3rd Budweiser LM feature of the year at the Elkins Speedway.

Dusty Hamrick and Wilmoth led the field to the green with Wilmoth powering around the top in turns 1 & 2 and taking the lead which he never relinquished. Fourth starting Robbie Scott and 3rd starting Chuck Harper also got by Hamrick on the first lap. These 3 checked out as they were nose to tail and leaving the rest of the field. The top three continued to run close and were almost ½ straight ahead when a Tim Senic spin in turn 4 on lap 13 brought out the only caution of the night.

When the green flew Wilmoth jumped out to a 5 or car length lead over Scott and Harper who had almost a half straight over 4th place Hamrick who was fighting off Joe Loudin and Charlie George. Wilmoth maintained this lead for 2 or 3 laps when Scott got new energy and began closing the gap while increasing his lead over Harper. Scott in about 3 laps was only about 1 or 2 car lengths behind Wilmoth and challenging.

Over the final laps Scott pressured Wilmoth in every turn and at the checkered was at Wilmoth’s left quarter panel. Harper was 5 or 6 car lengths back in 3rd with several lengths back to 4th place Hamrick and George, who had passed Loudin on lap 23, 5th. Heats to Hamrick and Wilmoth.

Notes: Wilmoths #13 Pontiac GTO is a Barry Wright chassis with a Malcuit 388ci GM Engine. Sponsors are Phoenix Drilling and Javins Specialty Directional Services.

Notes: This past week all of the equipment belonging to Brad Liggett and formerly used by Steve Booth was moved to Wilmoth’s racing facility. Wilmoth owns a Rocket chassis which he drove to his other 2 victories at the track this year. The first night out in a different car and engine combination, Wilmoth gave owner Liggett his first ever Feature win and first ever Heat win.

Notes: 13 cars started the feature with 11 running after 25 laps. Only 2 cautions slowed the action. Only 1 caution tonight.

Kevin Keene won his first J&M Grafix SL feature of the year at the Elkins Speedway as he led all 20 laps from the pole.

At the drop of the green outside polesitter Nick Corley got the jump on polesitter Keene and led the first lap over Keene, Rusty Ball, Brad Harris and Billy Beachler. But in turn 4 Brad Harris got too high and hit the outside wall coming onto the front straight. This brought out the first caution and ended Harris’s night.

On the next start Corley again got the jump on Keene but in turn 2 slid high and dropped to 9th. This moved Beachler to 2nd followed by 7th starting Ron Clevenger, Rusty Ball and Stanley Spooner. These 5 remained in this order when on lap 5 Chad Green brought caution #2. At this point Corley was running 7th and charging.

When the green flew Spooner got by Ball for 4th. The next lap Corley moved by Jimmy McCloud for 6th and next lap by Ball for 5th. On lap 14 Corley went around Spooner for 4th. Chad Green who started on the tail got into the top five on lap 17 by passing Spooner and into 4th the next lap when he passed Corley. He then began pressuring Clevenger for 3rd when on lap 19 coming off turn 2 the two made contact and spun which sent both to the tail. The top 5 was now Keene, Beachler, Spooner, Corley and Kris Southern who dropped to the tail at the start and went to the pits for repairs on the lap 5 caution but returned on the same lap.

This caution cut Keene’s large lead down but on the restart he easily held of Beachler for the win. Beachler was 2nd with Spooner 3rd, Corley 4th and Patterson 5th. Heats to Keene and Corley.

Notes: 14 cars started the race with 9 running after 20 laps. 5 cautions slowed the action. Hard charger was Green who started 14th and finished 7th, a gain of 7 spots.

Notes: Tom Harris and Derrick Blake were new cars tonight. Harris had a new car and went back to his old #11 from his PS days. Harris ran well in his heat and the feature until the rear brakes locked up. They were glowing bright red and on a lap 6 caution he was towed off.

Notes: Corley had his best run of the year as he won a heat and also ran well in the feature. Rusty Ball also ran well but his night ended on lap 16 as he went pitside.

Jason Defibaugh won his 2nd Miller’s Used Cars modified feature of the year. Jason started 4th and on lap 2 passed polesitter Steve Wilmoth for the lead which he never relinquished. Wilmoth held onto 2nd but was almost a straight behind at times and never challenged Defibaugh. Phil Jeffries started 3rd and ran there all night. Mike Murphy finished a year’s best 4th while Kevin Doyle was 5th. Heats to Wilmoth and Sonny Stutler.

Notes: 14 cars in the pits with 12 starting the feature. 10 ran the entire 15 laps. Hard Charger was Jamie McCloud who started 10th and finished 6th, a gain of 4 spots.

Notes: Sonny Stutler was out for the first time this year. He won his heat, started outside pole but was shuffled back in the early laps and finished 8th.

Kenny Isner won his first ever Elkins Builders Supply/Guardian Fiberglass SS feature at the Elkins Speedway. Isner who started outside pole passed polesitter Dusty Swecker on lap 5 and led the final 8 laps for the win. Swecker held on for 2nd with Mike O’Brien 3rd, Ricky Vest 4th and Lynn Moore 5th. Heats to Swecker, Isner and Robin Maxson.

Notes: 25 cars in the pits with 23 starting the feature. Only 11 ran the entire 12 laps. Only 3 cautions slowed the action but it took 4 tries to get the feature started. I was told that all of this time relining the field caused this race to come within 3 minutes of the time limit. Hard charger was Lynn Moore who started 18th and finished 5th, a gain of 13 spots.

Notes: Multiple feature winner Mike O’Brien had a interesting night. He started 3rd but on lap 4 went over the hill in turn 1 trying to avoid the wreck between Jeff Hess and Bill Vandevender. From the tail he was in 3rd by lap 8 but could advance no further. Robin Maxon had a good start to his night as he won his first heat of the year but had clutch problems in the feature and finished 17th when he dropped out on lap 3.

Notes: New cars were Kenny Isner, John Isner, Bill Vandevender, Cooter Thorne and Tommy Lambert.

From the outside pole Dave Mullenax won his 8th Leslie Equipment Co 4 Cyl Feature of the year. The only car that could stay within a straight of Mullenax was Daniel Simpson who ran 2nd the entire distance. Travis Mullenax finished a best ever 3rd with Zac Williams a best ever 4th and Rick Kesner 5th. Heats to Simpson and Dave Mullenax.

Notes: Only 10 cars with 9 starting the feature. 8 were running after 12 laps.

Zak Kimbrew won his 3rd Broughton’s Sports & Trophy World Mini Wedge feature of 2007. Kimbrew passed early leader Garrett Paugh on lap 6 and led the final 3 laps for the win. Paugh finished 2nd followed by Lindsey Smarr, Ryan Watson and James Nelson. Heats to Watson and Kimbrew.

The races were held up tonight when the ambulance transported an injured man to the hospital. Another ambulance was summoned from Elkins but it was almost an hour before it arrived and racing resumed. As the mini wedges came off the track after the 2nd heat the grandfather of Elliot Newlon attempted to stop his car and was knocked down. He had a gash on his head but no other apparent injuries. Luckily it happened right in front of where the ambulance and fire truck park so they responded immediately. The firemen told me that the injuries were not life threatening. At this time I don’t have an update on his condition.

Next week at the Elkins Speedway is the Intermountain 30 for Semi Lates which pays $1000 to the winner. The following week July 20th will be autograph night for all classes. Bring a pen or pencel and something to write on and get your favorite driver’s autograph. Cars will be assembled on the front straight and fans will be allowed onto the track.


SUMMARY

BUDWEISER LM
Feature – Steve Wilmoth, Robbie Scott, Chuck Harper, Dusty Hamrick, Charlie George, Joe Loudin, Butch McGill, Shawn Poling, Bob Gordon, Richard Frazier, Billy Holbert, Skip Hare, Tim Senic.
Ht 1 – Hamrick, Harper, George, McGill, Hare, Senic, Holbert.
Ht 2 – Wilmoth, Scott, Loudin, Poling, Frazier, Gordon.

J&M GRAFICS SL
Feature – Kevin Keene, Billy Beachler, Stanley Spooner, Nick Corley, Kris Southern, Ron Clevenger, Chad Green, Billy Brown, Tracy Sampson, Jim McCloud, Rusty Ball, Tom Harris, Derrick Blake, Brad Harris.
Ht 1 – Keene, Ball, Beachler, Clevenger, Tom Harris, Brown, Blake.
Ht 2 – Corley, Brad Harris, Southern, Spooner, Sampson, McCloud, Green.

MILLER’S USED CARS MODIFIEDS
Feature- Jason Defibaugh, Steve Wilmoth, Phil Jeffries, Mike Murphy, Kevin Doyle, Jamie McCloud, Sam Henderson, Sonny Stutler, Delmas Whiteman, Kevin Helmick, Shawn Davis, Robert Radcliff. DNS – Sparky Davidson, Cliff Cochran.
Ht 1 – Wilmoth, Jeffries, Radcliff, Murphy, Helmick, Davis. DNS – Davidson.
Ht 2 – Stutler, Defibaugh, Doyle, Henderson, McCloud, Whiteman, Cochran.

ELKINS BUILDERS SUPPLY/GUARDIN INSULATION
Feature – Kenny Isner, Dusty Swecker, Mike O’Brien, Ricky Vest, Lynn Moore, Johnny Singleton, Randy Thornhill, Teresa Vaughn, Mac Wimer, Cooter Thorne, Kirby Callahan, Robert Isner, John Ford, Jeff Hess, Dustin Isner, Lenny Yokum, Robin Maxson, John Isner, Bill Vandevander, Kenny Vest, Spec Yokum, Tommy Lambert, Samantha Rogers. DNS – Dave Blankenship, Jimbo Owens.
Ht 1 – Swecker, O’Brien, Singleton, Spec Yokum, Robert Isner, Rogers, Callahan, Blankenship, Ford.
Ht 2 – Kenny Isner, Ricky Vest, Vaughn, Dustin Isner, Hess, Lambert, John Isner. DNS – Owens.
Ht 3 – Maxson, Thorne, Thornhill, Wimer, Vandervander, Moore, Kenny Vest, Lenny Yokum.

LESLIE EQUIPMENT CO 4 CYL
Feature – Dave Mullenax, Daniel Simpson, Travis Mullenax, Zac Williams, Rick Kesner, Steven Sisler, Michael Cromer, Mick Nash, Joe Mullenax. DNS – Larry Hoover.
Ht 1 – Simpson, Nash, Williams, Kesner, Hoover.
Ht 2 – Dave Mullenax, Joe Mullenax, Travis Mullenax, Sisler, Cromer.

BROUGHTON’S SPORTS & TROPHY WORLD MINI WEDGE
Feature – Zak Kimbrew, Garrett Paugh, Lindsey Smarr, Ryan Watson, James Nelson, Megan Davis, Kaylee Yokum, 0. DNS – Elliot Newlon.
Ht 1 – Watson, Nelson, Davis, Yokum.
Ht 2 – Kimbrew, Paugh, Smarr, Newlon.

Steve Wilmoth wins 2nd Budweiser LM feature of 2007 at the Elkins Speedway

Winners Photos

By Bob Reed

Kerens, WV. 6/29/2007.

Steve Wilmoth, Clarksburg, with a kamikaze outside move on lap 21 passed race long leader Tim Senic and led the final 5 laps for his 2nd Budweiser LM win of 2007 at the Elkins Speedway.

Wilmoth told the crowd: “I had a good run coming off the turn and Tim (Senic) raced me clean. He gave me just enough room on the top for the pass.” He also said: “If Tim had not given me room there could have been a big crash.”

Wilmoth and Senic led the field to the green with Senic using the high groove to power around Wilmoth and barely lead the first lap. Senic maintained his lead through the first 20 laps with Wilmoth hounding him almost every turn on every lap. Finally on lap 21 Wilmoth got a good run on the extreme top coming through turns 3 & 4. Somehow Wilmoth squeezed between Senic and the front straight wall to take the lead. He then increased his lead over the final 5 laps to 4 or 5 car lengths at the checkered.

Wilmoth was followed by Senic with Jerrod Hawkins on his bumper for 3rd. Fourth was Butch McGill who started last because he didn’t arrive until the heats were over while Bob Gordon ran 5th. Heats were won by Wilmoth and Senic.

Notes: 13 cars started the feature with 11 running after 25 laps. Charlie George who was running 4th on lap 10 began slowing and was pushed off on lap 12. Danny Mitchell after starting 4th slowed on lap 2 with oil smoke coming from the #18D and was pushed off . 6 Cautions slowed the action. McGill was the hard charger as he started 13th and finished 4th, a gain of 9 spots.

Notes: Wilmoth’s Rocket chassis #13 is self owned and is sponsored by Sandy’s Hardware, Andrew’s Welding, DKM Hauling, Mid-State Chevrolet-Buick, Driftwood Auto Sales, Hawkins Wrecker Service, J&M Grafix, NAPA Auto Parts and Blue Dot Services Inc. The engine is built by Joe DeFazio of Engine Machine Specialty Co, Clarksburg.

Billy Brown, Clarksburg, won his first ever J&M Grafix SL feature. This was also his first ever win at any track.

Brown won the heat and started on the pole but outside polesitter Billy Beachler led the first 13 laps. On the start Brown almost lost it coming off turn 4 and both Beachler and Brad Harris got by. Brown ran 3rd behind these two until lap 7 when Harris went high in turn 2 and spun bringing out the only caution. Brown then followed Beachler until lap 14 when Beachler scrapped the front straight wall and dropped to 3rd behind Brown and Chad Green.
Brown led Green and Beachler for the next 6 laps but on the last lap Green lost it between turn 1 & 2 and stopped. The final running order was Brown, Jim McCloud who worked under Beachler on lap 17, Beachler, Harris who came back after his spin and Green. Brown won the only heat.

Notes: Only 6 cars with 4 completing 20 laps. Only 1 caution.

Dave Defibaugh, Mill Creek, took home $1000 as he won the Miller’s Used Cars modified special. This was Defibaugh’s 3rd win of the year at the Elkins Speedway. For the 2nd week in a row Dave Defibaugh from the front row has led every lap. Again nephew Justin Defibaugh chased him the entire distance. This week Dave had a commanding lead the entire race and was never challenged.

Several cautions and/or incidents eliminated cars and jumbled the field behind this pair. On the first try at a start polesitter Dave Defibaugh and outside polesitter Louie Krushansky touched in turn 2 with Krushansky going off the top and bringing out the first caution of the night.

Then on lap 23 Krushansky was involved any another incident. Krushansky who had been challenging Brent Trimble for 3rd for several lap finally passed him in turns 1 & 2. Krushansky went under the lapped car of Sam Henderson while Trimble went around the top. The two made contact with Krushansky taking the lead. Going into turn 3 Trimble never let off and drove through Krushansky. Krushansky spun with Trimble going off the top at full speed. Fifth running Phil Jeffries in an attempt to miss the action also spun. The race was stopped for almost 10 minutes as both the ambulance and fire truck went to check on Trimble. He was finally pulled up over the bank but was sent pitside for his actions. Krushansky also went pitside. This then moved 11th starting Shawn Davis to 3rd where he ran the final 8 laps.

Dave Defibaugh led by several lengths at the finish over Jason Defibaugh, Davis, Jeffries from the tail and 14th starting Andre Layfield. Heats to Dave Defibaugh and Krushansky.

Notes: Only 14 cars started the feature with 8 running after 30 laps. 4 cautions slowed the action. Hard charger was Layfield as he started 14th and finished 5th a gain of 9 spots.

Notes: Shawn Davis was the only new car tonight.

Mike O’Brien from his 4th starting spot took the lead on the first lap and led every lap to win his 6th Elkins Builders Supply/Guardian Insulation feature of 2007 at the Elkins Speedway.

Robin Maxson and Spec Yokum led the field to the green but Maxson didn’t get a good start and Yokum almost lost it in turn 2. This gave O’Brien an opening which he took advantage of and never looked back. Yokum recovered to finish 2nd while Maxson ran 2nd or 3rd until he began smoking and dropped out on lap 10. At the checkered O’Brien had a good lead over Yokum with Dusty Sweckert a close 3rd, Ricky Vest 4th and Teresa Vaughn with her best finish of the year in 5th. Heats to Maxson and Spec Yokum.

Notes: 17 cars in the pits with 16 starting the feature. 12 were running after 12 laps. Hard charger was Mack Wimer who started 14th and finished 6th, a gain of 8 spots.

Notes: New cars were Lynn Moore (He finally got his new car ready!) and Lynne Yokum.

Notes: How’s this for trivia. Car number 1 (Robin Maxson) won the 1st heat while car #2 (Spec Yokum) won the 2nd heat. Yokum started 2nd in the feature and finished 2nd.

Dave Mullenax won his 7th Leslie Equipment Co 4 Cyl feature of the year. The news this week is that he elected to start on the tail and didn’t lead every lap. Rick Kesner led his first lap of the year when he led the first lap from the pole. Kesner hung on for a distant 2nd, with Zack Williams a close 3rd, Joe Mullenax, driving nephew Travis’ car, 4th and Michael Cromer 5th. Dave Mullenax won the only heat.

Notes: Only 6 cars started the feature with 5 running after 12 laps.

Next week at the Elkins Speedway is Double Points night in all classes.

The following Friday July 13th is the Intermountain 35 for SL paying $1000 to the winner.




SUMMARY

BUDWEISER LM
Feature – Steve Wilmoth, Tim Senic, Jerrod Hawkins, Butch McGill, Bob Gordon, Shawn Poling, Billy Holbert, Dusty Hamrick, Joe Loudin, Kris Southern, Skip Hare, Charlie George, Danny Mitchell.
Ht 1 – Wilmoth, Loudin, Gordon, Southern. DNS – Holbert.
Ht 2 – Senic, Mitchell, Hawkins, George, Poling, Hare, Hamrick.

J&M GRAFIX SL
Feature – Billy Brown, Jim McCloud, Billy Beachler, Brad Harris, Chad Green, Kevin Keene.
Ht – Brown, Beachler, Green, Harris, McCloud, Keene.

MILLER’S USED CARS MODIFIEDS
Feature – Dave Defibaugh, Jason Defibaugh, Shawn Davis, Phil Jeffries, Andre Layfield, Mike Murphy, Sam Henderson, Delmas Whiteman, Brent Trimble, Louie Krushansky, Sparky Davidson, Robert Radcliff, Vic Vandergrift, Cliffton Cochran.
Ht 1 – Dave Defibaugh, Trimble, Jason Defibaugh, Radcliff, Murphy, Davis. DNS – Layfield.
Ht 2 – Krushansky, Jeffries, Vandergrift, Cochran, Henderson, Whiteman, Davidson.

ELKINS BUILDERS SUPPLY/GUARDIAN INSULATION SS
Feature – Mike O’Brien, Spec Yokum, Dusty Swecker, Ricky Vest, Teresa Vaughn, Mack Wimer, Lynn Moore, Dustin Isner, Kenny Vest, Robert Isner, Tommy Lambert, Anthony Cacace, Dennis Egan, Jeff Hess, Robin Maxson, Johnny Singleton. DNS – Lynne Yokum.
Ht 1 – Maxson, Dustin Isner, Ricky Vest, Vaughn, Singleton, Kenny Vest, Robert Isner, Egan, Lynne Yokum.
Ht 2 – Spec Yokum, O’Brien, Cacace, Swecker, Hess, Moore, Wimer, Lambert.

LESLIE EQUIPMENT CO 4 CYL
Feature – Dave Mullenax, Rick Kesner, Zack Williams, Joe Mullenax, Michael Cromer, Steve Sisler. DNS – Travis Mullenax.
Ht – Dave Mullenax, Kesner, Sisler, Williams, Joe Mullenax, Cromer. DNS – Travis Mullenax.