Saturday, June 7, 2002
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Saturday, June 7, 2002 |
It may have rained ALL DAY Friday, but you couldn't tell by looking at the track tonight. The dust was flying in hot laps, so they decided to bring the water truck back out for a few laps! Even with the extra water, it still didn't take the track long to dry out and get slick! Again tonight, the temperature was VERY COOL, and we even had some light sprinkles throughout the Feature events. There were several fast lanes around the track again tonight, which made for awesome side-by-side racing all night long!
The #29 of Chad Terwillger lined up in 5th for E-Mod heat #1, but he was up front and battling the #52 of Don Entrekin for the lead on the first lap. Once out front, the #29 stayed out front and Chad Terwillger scored the heat race win. The #4 of John Winters finished in 2nd, followed by the #27W of Greg Ward in 3rd. The #7W of Mark Branch led E-Mod Heat #2 from flag to flag. Mark Branch started on the pole, and he kept his #29 E-Mod out front all the way to score the win. The #M3 of chuck McDonald finished in 2nd, followed by the #M17 of Brent Munson in 3rd.The #8 of Dave Collins started on the pole in the Thunder Truck Heat, and he kept his truck out front all the way to the end. Dave Collins scored another victory for the #8 team, followed by the #29 of David Boyer in 2nd, and the #31 of Harry Fourdyce in 3rd.
So far, the pole was the place to be for the start, and Modified Heat #1 was no exception. The #17 of Rick Scott, Jr. started on the pole, and he ran out front all the way to the checkered flag to score the win. The #48 of Casey Lappin, who started back in 5th, raced his way to the front for a 2nd place finish, followed by the #7 of Floyd Jordan, Jr. in 3rd, and the #72 of Brian Lynn in 4th. The #7M of Kevin Moffit started on the pole in Modified Heat #2, and like nearly everyone before him, he also stayed out front all the way to the end to score the win. The #28 of Phil Schnarr moved up one spot for a 2nd place finish. The #20 of Ed Barth raced his way from a 6th place start to finish in 3rd, followed by the #25 of Butch Weisser in 4th. The #24 of Jerry Stringham ran out front from flag to flag in Modified Heat #3, but Stringham didn't weigh in after taking the checkered flag, and was disqualified from the race. The #26 of JD Beal was named the Heat winner, followed by the #42 of Matt Smith in 2nd, the #87 of Jamie Rife in 3rd, and the #4T of Tony Hibser in 4th. The #96 of Kirk Anderson jumped into the lead on the first lap in Modified Heat #4, and once out front, he stayed out front until the end and scored the victory. The #22B of Richie Biswell finished in 2nd, followed by the #28 of "Jammin" Jimmy Hibser in 3rd, and the #34 of Bill Anderson in 4th.The #12T of Tom Turnbull was another driver tonight that started on the pole and stayed out front all the way to the end. Tom Turnbull opened up some breathing room between himself and the rest of the field early in the race, and scored a very convincing win in his #12T Pro Street. The #81K of Mark Ross ran the entire race in the 2nd position, and brought home the 2nd place finish, followed by the #18 of Terry Pratt in 3rd.
We had some cars back with us tonight that we haven't seen yet this season, and one of them was the #M40 Late Model of Scott "Scooter" May. May, who has always been a favorite amongst the fans, didn't waste any time giving the fans exactly what they wanted. Scott May started in the 3rd position, but by the end of lap #1, the #M40 had a HUGE lead, and quickly "checked out" on the rest of the field to score the win. The #B12 of Roger Nelson finished in 2nd, followed by the #25K of Bill Kettering in 3rd. The #29 J of Lindell Jewell, who lined up in 2nd, moved into the lead on the first lap in Late Model heat #2. Once in the lead, he stayed in the lead, and Lindell Jewell scored a strong win in his #29J Late Model. The #4C f Rob Colson finished in 2nd, followed by the #11 of Brad Denney in 3rd.The #35 of Josh Smith started on the pole in Hobo Heat #1, but he soon had LOTS of company up front! The #42 of Tim Bishop and the #91 of Nick Christian quickly moved up to the front of the field, and they were side-by-side and racing three wide with Smith for the lead. This was probably one of the closest races we've had this year, with the three cars trading the top positions back and forth from start to finish. The #35 of Josh Smith made his way out front at the end and took home the checkered flag, followed closely by the #91 of Nick Christian in 2nd, and the #42 of Tim Bishop in 3rd. The #68 of Lance Alcorn started Hobo Heat #2 from the pole, and Lance Alcorn stayed WAY out front from start to finish to score the win for the #68 team. The #8 of Eric Wisher finished in 2nd, followed by the #11 of Scott Denney in 3rd.
We had thirty Modifieds on hand for tonight's races, which are too many to start in the Feature; so next on the agenda was the Modified Semi-Feature. The top four finishers from each heat automatically qualified for the feature, leaving fourteen cars to battle it out for the last four remaining starting spots in tonight's main event. The #192 of Brian Allen started the Semi on the pole, and like most of tonight's pole-sitters, Allen led the race from flag to flag, scoring the Modified Semi-Feature win and securing himself a starting position in tonight's Feature. Brian Allen may have run the entire race out front all by himself, but there was PLENTY of battling for position going on behind him. Caution came out on lap #1 with SEVERAL cars getting together in turns #1 & #2. The #M21 of Justin Munson, who started in 5th, made it through the chaos, and moved up to the 3rd spot for the restart. The #1P of Jack Ferguson, who started behind Munson in 6th, also made it through the pile up clean, and lined up for the restart in the 4th spot. The #24 of Stringham started the race way back in the 9th spot, but he picked the cars off one by one on his way to the front, and by the time the white flag waved, he was up in the top 5. Behind Allen, and also qualifying for tonight's Feature, the #M21 of Justin Munson finished in 2nd, followed by the #1P of Jack Ferguson in 3rd, and the #24 of Jerry Stringham in 4th.The #96 of Kirk Anderson started on the pole in the E-Mod Feature, but he had LOTS of company up front in a hurry! The #28 of Phil Schnarr, who started in 3rd, and the #M17 of Brent Munson, who started in 5th, quickly made their way through traffic and into the top 3 by a lap #1 restart. Anderson, Schnarr, and Munson broke away from the rest of the field on the restart, leaving the #M3 of Chuck McDonald and the #4 of John Winters battling it out behind them for the 4th spot. Caution came out again on lap #7, bunching the field up for the restart. Anderson, Munson, and Schnarr were out front fighting for the lead again on the restart, and the three cars were THREE WIDE for a couple of laps, all wanting to move into the top spot. With all three race leaders racing side-by-side for the lead position, Winters and McDonald were able to close in and also join in the fight for the lead. Munson took over the lead on lap #9, but caution came out again on lap #14, once more bunching the field back up for another restart. The white flag had already waved, so it was a one lap shoot out to the end, and all five cars were VERY FAST, and they were all still up front and racing for the win. Anderson got a GREAT run through turns #3 and #4 on the very last turn, and was able to take the lead just before the start finish line, and Kirk Anderson claimed the E-Mod Feature win for the #96 team. The #M17 of Brent Munson crossed the start finish line in 2nd place, followed by the #4 of John Winters in 3rd, the #28 of Phil Schnarr in 4th, and the #21J of Joe Wagner in 5th.
Another driver that was back with us tonight for the first time this season was the driver of the #30 Thunder truck, Gerald Carter. Carter, who was pretty dominant in the Truck class all last year, proved that his "GM Goodwrench" truck still has what it takes. Carter started on the pole, and he opened up a BIG lead for himself on the very first lap, and by lap #4, he was a half a lap ahead of the rest of the field. The #31 of Harry Fourdyce and the #88 of Dave Collins were racing each other hard for the 2nd spot, but contact between the two brought out the caution on lap #6, and sent Collins to the back of the pack. Carter quickly opened up another BIG lead on the restart, leaving Fourdyce and the #29 of David Boyer to battle it out for the 2nd position. Gerald Carter took his #30 Thunder Truck to victory lane with a VERY convincing Feature win. The #31 of Harry Fourdyce held off the competition and finished in 2nd, followed by the #29 of David Boyer in 3rd, and the #88 of Dave Collins in 4th.The #22B of Richie Biswell sat on the pole for the Modified Feature, and he did lead the first 11 laps, but he had his hands full trying to hold off the #42 of Matt Smith every step of the way. Several cautions came out early in the race, the worst one being for a HARD front stretch crash involving the #25 of Butch Weisser and the #24 of Jerry Stringham. A hit from the side broke something on the #25 car and sent him straight into the front-stretch wall, leaving Stringham nowhere to go but right under the Weisser's rear end. Biswell held on to the lead throughout all the caution flags, but Smith kept the pressure on him all the way. Smith appeared to have the faster car, but catching the race leader and passing the race leader are two different things! Lap after lap, Smith tried high & low, and every groove in between he could find, to get around Biswell and move into the lead. Finally, on lap #12, Smith got a GREAT run out of turns #3 and #4, and was able to clear Biswell and finally take over the top spot. Once out front, Smith was able to put a little bit of breathing room between himself and the rest of the field, leaving everyone behind him to battle it out for position. And battling they were! Every lap was filled with three wide, side-by-side racing, with all the drivers going for EVERY position like it was for the lead! The #28 of Phil Schnarr also made his way around the #22B car and took over the 2nd spot on lap #15. Matt Smith kept his #42 Modified out front all the way to the checkered flag, and scored himself his 2nd Feature win for the season- CONGRATULATIONS MATT! The #28 of Phil Schnarr crossed the start-finish line in 2nd, followed by the #22B of Richie Biswell in 3rd, the #48 of Casey Lappin in 4th, and the #17 of Rick Scott, Jr. in 5th.
Due to a lack of cars in the Pro Street division, they ran the Late Models and the Pro Streets together for tonight's Feature event. The #4C of Rob Colson jumped to an early lead on lap #1, but on lap #2, Colson went into the turn WAY too hot, and spun his car, sending him to the back of the pack for the restart. The #11 of Brad Denney took over the lead position for one lap, but on lap #3, the #M40 of Scott "Scooter" May got under Denney and took over the lead. Denney got loose in turns #3 & #4 and had to get out of the gas, letting the #29J of Lindell Jewel get by him and move up into the 2nd spot. By lap #5, a couple of the Pro Street cars had raced their way up into the top 6. The #27 of Greg Arnett and the #81K of Mark Ross were leading the race for the Pro Street division, and they were also running 5th and 6th amongst the Late Model cars. Caution came out again on lap #5 when SEVERAL cars got together on the front-stretch, with the #45 of Dwayne Walters once again suffering the worst of the damage. Contact on lap #8 brought out yet another caution due to contact between Denney and Jewell, and Denney restarted from the back of the field. Arnett had moved up a couple of more spots, still leading the Pro Street race, and running in the 3rd spot with the Late Models. Brad Denney may have been in the back for the restart, but in just two short laps, he had made his way through most of the traffic and was once again up in the top 5. By lap #15, May quickly put A LOT of room between himself and the rest of the field, opening up an entire straightaway lead by the time the white flag came out. Scott "Scooter" May took his #M40 Late Model to victory lane with a very convincing win over the rest of the field. The #29J of Lindell Jewel finished in 2nd, followed by the #11 of Brad Denney in 3rd, the #4C of Rob Colson in 4th, and the #B12 of Roger Nelson in 5th. The #27 of Greg Arnett scored the Pro Street Feature win, followed by the #81K of Mark Ross in 2nd, the #18 of Terry Pratt in 3rd, the #4S of Justin Smith in 4th, and the #27C of Jim Carter in 5th.The #68 of Lance Alcorn lined up in the 5th position for the Hobo Feature, but by lap #2, Alcorn was up to 2nd, and he took over the lead at the start-finish line to score lap #3. The #11 of Scott Denney, who started on the pole, ran the first 6 laps in 2nd place, but something went away on his car, and he had to take it into the pits on lap #7, handing the 2nd spot over to the #8 of Eric Wisher. Alcorn opened up some room between himself and the rest of the field by lap #9, but the #42 of Tim Bishop was all over Wisher's back bumper challenging for the 2nd spot. Wisher and Bishop's battle for the 2nd spot allowed a couple of other cars to close in and join in also. The #06 of John Nash, Jr. started the race way back in the 12th spot, but he had quickly made his way through the field, and by lap #11 he was in the 4th spot and on the back bumper of Wisher. Caution waved again on lap #11, bunching the field up again, but they pretty much spread out on the restart, and ran the last 4 laps single file. The #68 of Lance Alcorn got out front on lap #3, and he stayed out front all the way to the checkered flag and scored himself another Hobo Feature win. The #8 of Eric Wisher raced his way to a strong 2nd place finish, followed by the #42 of Tim Bishop in 3rd, the #06 of John Nash, Jr. in 4th, and the #35 of Josh Smith in 5th.
We had another GREAT night of racing again tonight at Spoon River Speedway, but the evening did have a certain sadness about it. We'd like to send our condolences to the Denney family. They had a death in the family earlier that morning, but the entire family was at the track Saturday night, setting their emotions aside, so they could put on a GREAT show for all of us to enjoy. Our thoughts and our prayers go out to the entire family in their time of sorrow. We'd like to thank all the drivers and crewmembers that pitched in, and contributed in memory of Marilyn's father. I know your thoughtfulness and generosity are greatly appreciated by the entire Denney family.
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