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Clarksville Speedway
Dirt Track Racing
September 26th, 2009
Tyler O’Donnell
The rain stayed away from the Clarksville Speedway on Saturday night with temperatures perfect for a great night of racing. After having last Saturday off, drivers were anxious to get back in their cars and continue their pursuit of the points championship.
It began with qualifying. The pro street class kicked it off. Anthony Jackson got the pole for heat race. In the crate late model class, it was Caleb Ashby with a time of 13.622 seconds getting the pole. Chris Hunter got the mini sprint pole with a time of 12.623 sec. Next was the open wheel class where Gregg Brown recorded a time of 13.992 to steal the pole away from Michael Neighbors. Last was the late model class with Jeff Walston taking the lead spot with a time of 12.201 sec.
The first feature race of the night was crate late model feature. Ashby and Tony Albright started on the front row. When the green flag waved, Ashby immediately drove by Albright on the inside. Tait Davenport was able to close in on Albright. He was pressuring his back side for several laps. Ashby was in the process of lapping cars before long and had about a 20 car link lead by the time the checkered flag waved. He led every lap in the win. Albright held off Davenport for second. Ashby was running in second in the late model standings before the night’s events.
The mini sprints raced next. Ben Rushing came in as the point’s leader. He started fourth for the race. Hunter had the pole and was able to pull away on lap one. Eric Edwards was holding steady in second. Brian Nance was in third. Rushing was stuck in a battle for fourth with Jeremy Anderson. Anderson eventually got by him but then had trouble. It appeared like Anderson’s machine had mechanical problems and was forced out of the race. Edwards then had trouble as well after having a great run going. That moved Rushing up to third. Hunter avoided any trouble that some of the drivers were having and managed to take the win. He led every lap. Nance finished second and Rushing was third. Hunter was able to take away the points lead from Rushing with the win.
The pro street feature was next. Jackson led the field down to the green flag. He led the opening lap with Mike Hodges right behind. Michael Zimmerman was running third, but was falling behind the front two cars. It looked like Hodges would be the only one who had a shot at the lead. He was able to slip by Jackson on the inside coming out of turn four to take the lead. Jackson fought back and almost collided with Hodges. They continued racing close until the end. On the last lap, Jackson was able to close to within a car link of Hodges as a result of lap traffic. He tried making a move to the inside on the front stretch but did not have enough momentum to get by. Hodges would win and widen his lead on the rest of the field for the championship. Zimmerman finished the night third.
The street feature was next. Chuck Bailey and Raymond Clinard Sr. comprised the front row. Ronnie Hedgepath, one of the pre-race favorites and point’s leader, started fourth. Clinard Sr. was able to lead the first lap. Josh Taylor climbed up to second. Bailey fell back to fifth just two laps in. Hedgepath and Taylor were banging on each other before a caution came out as a couple of cars tangled in the back of the field. Clinard Sr. was the leader at the restart but Taylor was able to get underneath him on the backstretch. That’s when disaster struck. Taylor and Clinard Sr. collided coming out of turn four, causing both cars to hit up against the wall. Both cars sustained some heavy damage. The questionably two fastest race cars were now out of the race. That scored Hedgepath as the leader. The race restarted single file. Bailey was right behind Hedgepath on the restarted and had several looks inside. Both drivers were pulling away from Jeff Joiner in third. Hedgepath took the checkered flag, followed by Bailey and Joiner. Hedgepath was able to extend his points lead with the win.
The open wheel class was on the track next. Gregg Brown and Zach Fair were on the front row. Fair took the top spot using the high line. Michael Neighbors was all over Brown for second. The top three pulled away from everybody else. Brown was now trying to get back to the lead as Fair had to deal with lap traffic. Neighbor’s was suddenly losing ground. He fell about 10 car links back. Brown was having a hard time keeping up with the leader as some more laps ticked by. Kyle Robertson brought out a late caution after spinning out in turn two. There were five laps to go. Fair got a good restart. He opened up a lead with Neighbors diving to the inside of Brown’s machine. Brown would manage to hold off for second place while Fair got the win. Fair was 31st in the points standings before the night started. He would move up the leader board after the upset win.
The late model feature was next. Jeff Walston led them down to the green flag. Steven Ashby would not allow him to lead for long as Ashby would get around him on the outside. Proctor got around Terry English for third. Then the caution came out for a fluid leak from Bryan Rupe’s car. They restarted single file. English got back around Proctor for the third spot after the caution. English then was closing in on Walston. Proctor was still in the mix as well. Tony Albright was in a heated battle for fifth. He ended up losing the spot when Randy Welch got by him. Ashby continued to lead. Levi Ashby spun out to bring the caution out with four laps to go. Proctor lost a rear wheel just when Levi Ashby spun out. He would have to retire from the race. That would allow many drivers to catch him in the point’s standing as he was the leader coming in. Ashby got the field restarted again and made easy work of the last few laps. He took home the victory. Walston was second and English finished third.
The pure mini stock feature was next. Justin Booth had a slim lead in the point’s going into the race. Bradley McGhee led the first lap before James Turner slammed the wall hard entering turn one. Something seemed to break on the front of his car which sent him up into the wall. It would be McGhee, Diolen Keith, and Booth leading the field down to the restart. Keith was keeping pace with McGhee down the stretch but could not get to his back bumper to make a move. Michael Rittenberry was making it through the field after starting at the back. He made it three wide through the middle of Keith and Booth. He made the pass work and ended up finishing second. Keith had a third place finish. Booth would finish fourth.
The last race of the night was the mini mod feature. Gavin Schmidt, the point’s leader, started the race in fourth. Clyde Petty took control of the first lap and put some distance between him and second place Roger Merritt. Merritt would slow down, having some sort of mechanical issue. This allowed Thomas Clinard Jr. to pull into second. Schmidt restarted third. Schmidt made it around Clinard Jr. and was quickly pressuring the leader. They eventually got side-by-side and Petty ran it too hard into the corner up top and slammed the wall. There was no contact between the two cars. Petty just ran out of room to run. Schmidt would be the leader. He made it look easy once the green flag came out again. He cruised to a win and opened up a larger lead in the standing. Joseph Schwinn Jr. was second.
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