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Clarksville Speedway
Dirt Track Racing
July 18th, 2009
Tyler O’Donnell
The rain eluded the track this past Saturday night as dirt track racing got back into action for the first time in three weeks. In the last two weekends, racing was canceled because of rain. Drivers were therefore anxious to get back in their race cars and get back to racing. The night festivities began with hot laps and qualifying. That was followed by the heat and feature races.
The first feature event of the evening was the crate late model series. Nine cars made up the 15 lap event. Caleb Ashby brought the field to the green. He had no trouble leading the first lap and managed to pull out a couple of car links on Robby Sanders. Brian Singleton was in third. The racing got separated out quickly and Ashby was about to work on lap traffic just a few laps in. When Ashby got to one of the slower cars going into turn three, they collided and were both sent into the wall. Both cars were heavily damaged and could not continue. It ruined Ashby’s night, who could have easily led all the laps in the event. After some cleanup, racing got back underway. The single file restart had Sanders leading the pack. He was able to pull away because Gil Smith was working on second place runner Singleton. It took only a few laps after the restart for Sanders to pull out a ten car link advantage. The last thing he wanted to see was a caution. Sanders was able to avoid one to take the win. Singleton, who was running second, got caught up in a crash with Smith on the last lap that sent Singleton hard in the wall. Singleton was trying to hold on to second place at the time and was clearly frustrated with Smith after the incident. Despite the crash, Singleton was granted second place even though he did not complete the last lap. Don Young came up for third.
The next feature race was the pro street feature. The 15 lap event had eight cars competing. Michael Zimmerman had the pole position. When the green flag dropped, it only took two laps for a crash to happen. One of those cars involved Jennifer Barber. After a brief delay, drivers were ready for the restart. Zimmerman was still the leader followed by Mike Hodges and Anthony Jackson. Six cars were still in the hunt. Zimmerman had no trouble pulling away at the start. It did not take long though for Hodges to pull to Zimmerman’s bumper. They were side by side as they somehow dodged lapped traffic. Zimmerman got a slight advantage and put on a good block to slow a seemingly faster Hodge’s. It seemed like Hodge’s was out of hope, but a lapped car held up Zimmerman to the point where he tried a risky move to get around the slower car that did not work as planned. Hodge’s was able to get to the outside of Zimmerman to make the pass. He held on for one more lap to take the win. Zimmerman had to settle for second. Jackson took third.
Next was the street feature race. The 12 lap event had 18 cars competing. Blake Miller was on the pole. Before even one lap could be completed, a single car spin happened in turn one. On the opposite side in turn three, two cars got together and hit the wall pretty hard. This was right after the caution came out for the incident in turn 1. After a brief delay to get the damaged cars off the track, racing resumed. Miller was still the leader, followed by Jeff Joiner and Ronnie Hedgepath. Hedgepath and Joiner were battling for that second spot before two other cars tangled going into three. The caution shortened up the big lead Miller had during that brief run. Hedgepath could not stick to the bumper of the Miller at the restart. With only a few laps to go, it was Miller’s to lose. Chuck Bailey was looking inside of Joiner for third. Another caution came out with two laps to tighten up the field again. Miller handled the pressure from Hedgepath when the race resumed and crossed the line first. However, during post race qualifications, his car was disqualified because of weight issues with the car. Hedgepath was granted the victory, with Joiner moving up to second and Bailey rounding out third.
Next was the outlaw mini sprint feature. This race consisted of 20 laps involving 11 cars. Justin Rapp started on the pole. When the green flag waved, things began to spread out quickly. Jason Goodwin used the outside line to propel himself to the front after lap one. Rapp continued to keep pace with Goodwin as laps clicked by. Chris Hunter was lurking in third. A caution came out at the halfway point due to a spin in turn two. This brought the field together. At the restart, the top three of Goodwin, Rapp, and Hunter managed to pull away from the other drivers. With one lap to go, Rapp seemed to close in on Goodwin, but could never get on his back bumper. Goodwin got the win, followed by Rapp and Hunter.
The next feature race was the open wheel race. 18 cars made up the 15 lap event. Randall Sweeney started pole position with Clay Miller right by his side. Racing got started off clean was the field was able to turn some laps without any issues. Miller got in front of Sweeney after a few laps was in the books. Greg Brown was in third, not far behind. Sweeney was slipping and was about to give up that second spot. The first caution came out late in the race, preventing Miller from pulling away too much. This gave Sweeney time to gain his composure and try to get the lead back. When the race restarted, Sweeney tried passing on the high side. He got a run, but was impeded by another quick caution. Miller retained the lead. There were four laps to go. When the green flag waved again, Sweeney got a little too high on the track and lost some ground. Brown tried to take advantage but things would settle down as Miller would take home the win. Sweeney would hold on for second, with Brown finishing third.
The late model race was next. Jeff Watson started on pole, right next to Tony Albright in second. Terry English started third. The event was 20 laps and had 20 cars racing. As the race got underway, English was able to get under Albright for second. Now English had his sets sight for the lead. However, with the lap traffic in the way, English was forced to follow Watson to get by some of the traffic. A car that spun coming out of turn four resulted in a caution that tightened up the large pack. Albright still was in contention in third, and Jason McBride was back there in fourth. As the race got back into swing, English tried once again to get underneath Watson. English got a good run into the corner, but could not get enough momentum getting out. Meanwhile Albright was falling back as McBride slipped into third. In the last lap, English tried desperately to pass Watson on the high side but could not get by. Watson held on to get the deserving win. English finished a disappointing second, while McBride was third.
Next was the 12 lap pure mini race. Evan Taylor started as the leader, paired up along side Michael Rittenbury. Not even a lap could be completed before there was major trouble exiting turn two. Two cars collided that left Danny Taylor’s car on its roof. Taylor was okay, but the collision appeared otherwise. Drivers did not show any sign of caution as the race got back underway. They were all going hard at each other, all wanting to win. Taylor and Rittenbury got tangled together right at the restart that had both of them sideways. They each regained their composure but lost valuable ground. Not long after that, the Bobby Huff had contact with another car after, each were having good runs. Huff hit the wall hard which ended his chances of a good finish. That incident brought out a caution but when racing got back to speed, Bradley McGhee had his rearview mirror full of Rittenbury on the restart. It did not take Rittenbury long to get out front again. He had clear sailing in front of him, as there were only five cars out their running. Rittenbury got the win despite the earlier trouble he was in. McGhee finished second and Clint Schmidt came in third.
The last race of the night was the mini mod feature. Ronnie Richardson had the pole in this 12 lap event. Early on in the race, there was some three wide action. Gavin Schmidt was all over the bumper of the leader, Richardson, for about five laps before making the pass on the inside. Richardson was not done yet as those tow continued to fight for position. Meanwhile, Logan Phillips was in third just trying to hold his position, as he was far from the lead. On the last lap, Richardson got to the outside of Schmidt and made it stick. They were side by side at the line with the Richardson edging it out by a few feet at the line. Danny Taylor came in third. This ended a great night of racing full of wrecks, drama, and excitement at the Clarksville Speedway.
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