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Clarksville Speedway
Dirt Track Racing
August 15th, 2009
Tyler O’Donnell
Clarksville Speedway drew a packed crowd on Saturday night as racing got back in full swing. This marked the second week of the race to the chase, which counts down to the point’s championship. Saturday night’s events began with hot laps and qualifying. Then the heat races were ran in preparation for the feature races at the end of the night. The drivers now a little more added pressure to do well in the feature races because of the points racing. That meant some intense action with no give and a whole lot of take on the race track.
The first feature race of the night was the mini mod feature. The 12 lap event had eight cars competing for the win. Ronny Richardson got the pole for the event. When the race got underway, Gavin Schmidt was right on the bumper of Richardson for the lead. Then, a caution came out, as Michael Rittenberry had to be taken off the track because of mechanical issues. When the race resumed, Schmidt was once again on the bumper of Richardson, but he drove to hard into the corner and spun out. So Schmidt and Rittenberry, two of the pre-race favorites, were now out of contention. Thomas Clinard Jr. took over second as the race resumed. Richardson was not pressured this time and was able to pull away. After a few more laps ticked off, Schmidt was able to get back into third after having to restart in the rear. It was too late however for Smith to take second as the checkered flag flew. Richardson earned to win, leading every lap, while Clinard Jr. finished second and Schmidt third.
The next feature race was the pro street feature. The race was scheduled for 15 laps with Michael Zimmerman on the pole. When the race got started, there was early trouble. Before a lap even was completed Zimmerman went spinning out on the backstretch. It appeared he might have had contact with Mike Hodges who was in second. Zimmerman ended up having a broken drive shaft on his machine and was forced to retire from the race. So another favorite to win, this time in the pro street class, was knocked out of contention early. Michael Neighbors took over as the leader as the action got started up again. It did not take long for Hodges to get around him to take the lead. Smoke was billowing out of the back of his car as more laps went by. He pulled out to about a seven car link lead with 10 to go. Ryan Hehman was way behind in third. A caution came out from Brian Rapp spinning on the back stretch, tightening up the field. Hodges got a good restart which vaulted him to the victory. Neighbor’s was the only one who could keep up with the leader the whole race, but had to take home second. Hehman held on for third.
The street cars rolled onto the track next for their feature race. Ronnie Hedgepath got the pole for the event and was a heavy favorite going in this 12 lap event. He had to fend off 14 other cars to get the victory. Josh Taylor got a good jump at the start as Hedgepath and Taylor were side by side for the first several laps. They pulled away from everyone else until a caution came out for a multi car crash. Taylor had the slight advantage when the caution flag came out, so he restarted as the leader. Jonathon Wicks was sitting back there in third as the race got restarted single file. Hedgepath had a quick look inside Taylor, but Taylor had the high line working well for him. Hedgepath got a slight advantage with five to go, but it was not clear who was going to win. Then another caution came out, giving Wicks and Sam Morgan a possibility of making this a four car battle for the win. However, Wicks lost a tire before the race could get restarted which forced him out of the race. This was a devastating blow for Wicks, after he was seemingly was going to have a top three finish. Morgan took over third as the race resumed with five laps to go. Taylor quickly took to the high line, trying to get by Hedgepath, but it was Hedgepath who was pulling away. Things got worse for Taylor, as his car went up in smoke. He fell back and was leaking fluid which in turn, ended his night. Then Morgan’s car also went up in smoke, after what seemed like a good night for him. Hedgepath avoided any trouble and went onto win. Chuck Bailey finished second and David Cline came in third.
Next was the crate late model feature race. Tony Albright started from the pole in the 15 lap event. Guys were fighting for every inch of the track as the race started. Ronny Saunders settled in right behind Albright at the start. It did not take long for a caution to occur when Mitchell Lingauer spun out on his own coming out of a corner. The race restarted single file with Albright, Saunders, and Tait Davenport leading the way. Caleb Ashby made a move on the outside of Davenport for third and then looked on the outside of Saunders for second before getting too loose and spinning out. This brought out another caution and forced Ashby to go to the rear. Albright had no trouble pulling away at the restart. Matt Liner who restarted third, was looking in at Saunders for second. With five laps to go, Liner was at his back bumper. Liner was not able to make the pass in the final laps, while Albright went onto win. Saunders held on the second position and Liner was third. Ashby came all the way back to finish fifth.
The open wheel class had its feature next. It was a 15 lap event. Randall Sweeney had the pole. Michael Neighbors started to his outside. Things got single file early on the event. Most of the early battles were back in the pack. Cars were all over the track until Lincoln Epps spun out to bring out the yellow. Sweeney got the field back under green and was slowly pulling away. There was about a five car link separation from the second place man Neighbors and third place runner Gregg Brown. The top three had no trouble throughout the race and Sweeney led every lap for the win. Neighbors and Brown were forced to settle for second and third respectively.
The next feature was the mini sprints. This was a 20 lap race for the fastest class that takes the track every weekend. Justin Rapp had the early lead with Eric Wright and Chris Hunter in pursuit. The top three were within a half second of each other before a one car crash triggered the only caution of the race. Rapp seemed to have the fastest car, as he shot out on the restart for a sizeable advantage. Hunter was trying to hunt down Wright for second with only a few laps to go. Brain Nance came into the picture as well and was able to get by Hunter in the closing laps. Rapp led every lap for the win. Wright fended off the hard-charging Nance for second.
The Late Model feature race was due up. The race was 20 laps. Jeff Walston got the pole and used that to his advantage, by pulling away early. Randall Sweeney was not letting Walston pull away and eventually took the lead himself by powering to the outside. Walston now was trying to hold off Chuck Proctor in third. Sweeney was jetting away as there was a three wide battle for second with Proctor, Walston and Tony Albright in the mix. It would eventually settle with Waltson holding off for second and Proctor ending up third. Sweeney made it look easy in the win.
The last feature race was the pure mini feature. The race was 12 laps. Michael Rittenberry led the opening laps. Evan Taylor was close behind in second while Raymond Clinard Sr. made his way past a pack of cars into third. Taylor eventually got to the outside of Rittenberry but could not make the pass because of a caution. The caution came after a car made contact with the wall and ended up on its roof. The driver was okay. Rittenberry would have his hands full on the restart with nine laps left. Taylor got to the outside of Rittenberry going into one of the corner but was cut off. Taylor later got to his inside but nearly spun out. He lost a lot of ground but luckily a caution came out for another incident, which got Taylor back to the bumper of the leader. Taylor again was looking to the outside but Rittenberry was doing a good job fending him off. Taylor had six laps left to make a move. Clinard Sr. was not out of it yet, sitting in third. As the laps ticked off, Rittenberry was able to get a little separation from him self and Taylor as Rittenberry went onto win. Taylor held on for second and Clinard Sr. was third.
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