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Clarksville Speedway
Dirt Track Racing
September 5th, 2009
Tyler O’Donnell
Dirt track racing at the Clarksville Speedway was better than ever this past weekend. The battle for the point’s championship was heating up. Drivers were making aggressive and even desperate moves on the track to pick up any position they could. It made for some great racing and provided entertainment for the fans in attendance.
The night began with qualifying for each class. In the pro street class, Anthony Jackson got the pole with a time of 13.879 seconds. Then came the crate late model class with Jeff Walston picking up the pole with a time of 13.313 sec. The mini sprints were next to qualify. Chris Hunter got the pole with a lap of 12.756 sec. In the open wheel class, Clayton Miller was the quickest, with a time of 13.298. Last came the late model class where Chuck Proctor put down an excellent time of 12.530 sec. to grab the pole.
The first feature race of the evening was the mini mod feature. Joseph Schwinn Jr. started on the pole in the 12 lap event. As the green flag dropped, Schwinn Jr. immediately fell to the back. He did not seem to get a good jump like the other cars did. Roger Merritt took over as the leader and quickly pulled away from everyone. Thomas Clinard Jr. was in second, but Gavin Schmidt was all over his back bumper. Schmidt had several looks inside for the position but could not grab it. He finally was able to do so late in the race. Merritt was hanging on as the leader. He only had a few laps to go before he would see the checkers. Then engine troubles slowed him up. This allowed Schmidt to grab the lead. He hung on for the surprising win. Buck Gore came in second and James Lovelady rallied for third.
The next feature was the pro street feature. Anthony Jackson led the first lap but Michael Zimmerman got underneath him on lap two. So did Mike Hodges. Zimmerman did not enjoy the lead for long as he had a rearview mirror full of Hodges. Jackson was falling out of contention to win. Zimmerman was holding off Hodges but he still had to close out the deal. With five laps to go, Hodges was just three car links back, waiting for a mistake by Zimmerman. They both had to deal with slower traffic. Hodges had some trouble getting by one slower car and they collided. That slowed Hodges momentum down a little bit which allowed Zimmerman to open up a lead. Hodges came back to within a car link but could never make the pass. Zimmerman got the victory, followed by Hodges and Jackson.
The street feature race was next. Ronnie Hedgepath was the pole sitter. He would be side by side with Josh Taylor for the first few laps. Taylor was then able to power by on the outside. Jonathan Wicks was sitting back in third. Hedgepath wanted first place back as he had a look on the inside. Taylor was able to fend him off before the caution came out. James Black spun out in the corner. Taylor got a good restart when the race resumed. Wicks and Jeff Joiner were trying to get into the act sitting in third and fourth. They were battling each other when another caution came out; the result of Danny Stevens spinning out in turn two. That erased a sizeable lead that Taylor had. There were five laps to go. Taylor did not pull away this time as Hedgepath stuck on his back bumper. Taylor seemed almost unstoppable to pass running that high side. Hedgepath insisted on making the pass down low. He was trying the low line the whole race, but it was not working. As they took the checkered flag, it was Taylor who crossed the line first. However, after the post race, Taylor did not stand up to a protest with another driver and was disqualified. That meant that Hedgepath was rewarded the victory. Wicks would be awarded second and Joiner third.
The next race was the crate late model feature. Matt Liner and Caleb Ashby had the one and two positions at the start. Liner made the inside lane stick to lead lap number one. A three car incident on lap two brought out a caution. Mitchell Lingauer was involved. When the race restarted, Jeff Walston was able to get underneath Ashby before Jason Jones got loose and spun out. That brought the caution again. When the green flag waved again, Ashby had to peel off the track, apparently having some sort of issue. While Ashby went off the track, it was Liner and Walston battling for the lead. Walston eventually got by for the lead. He was coming up on lap traffic trying to maintain a fast pace. Liner was now in a battle to hold onto second. Credence Mott was looking on his outside with one to go. With two laps left, the two cars tangled and Mott slammed hard into the wall on the front stretch. Part of Mott’s car was up over the wall. His car was heavily damaged and without question, it was the hardest crash of the night. The red flag came out to clean up the debris left after the crash. There were two laps still left in the race. That meant a shootout to decide the winner. Walston restarted as the leader and never looked back. He had no trouble holding off Liner to get the win. Tony Albright came up finish third.
The next race was the open wheel feature. It was Gregg Brown and Michael Neighbors on the front row. Brown was able to lead lap number one before a few cars got tangled up on the front stretch to bring out the caution. The race got restarted single file. It was a three way battle for the lead with Neighbors, Brown and Clayton Miller all battling for the lead. Neighbors and Miller would pass Brown. Eventually, Levi Kissinger was able to get by him as well. It was then Neighbors trying to hold off Miller for the lead. Neighbor’s was doing a good job of it until Neighbors slowed down considerably. It appeared as though he was leaking fluid and was forced to retire from the race. The caution came out because of the fluid leak. Miller was scored as the leader. He led the field back to green but Kissinger was hanging in their closely. Miller was riding the very bottom of the track and managed to hang on by about three car links when the checkered flag waved. Brown was third.
The outlaw mini sprints raced next. Chris Hunter edged Ben Rushing for the pole position for the race. When the race started, Hunter took no time pulling away from everybody. Jason Goodwin managed to get past Rushing for second. Rushing continued to slip back to as far as fifth. Jeremy Anderson made his way into the third spot. Then Brian Nance made his charge to the front, passing Anderson for third and also getting by Goodwin for second. When the white flag came out, Hunter had himself a huge lead. He took the checkers, with Nance finishing second and Goodwin finishing third.
The next race was the late model feature. Chuck Proctor and Tony Albright started on the front row. Proctor was able to power by Albright using the inside line when the race started. Albright was then trying to hold on for second but Chris Shelton was able to get by on the inside. Shelton then had his eyes on the leader. They were both battling lap traffic. Levi Ashby brought out the caution with six laps to go after spinning out. Tim Brown was running in third and Albright was back in fourth when the race restarted. Shelton was pressuring Proctor for the lead in the final laps but Proctor was able to win it. Brown finished third.
The last race of the night was the pure mini feature race. Evan Taylor was the pole sitter. He had Jeff and Michael Rittenberry right behind him for the first several laps. Those two were in a battle of their own. Justin Booth was running in fourth. The top three continued to be bumper to bumper all the way around the track. Taylor still managed to hang onto the lead. A late caution made for an interesting finish. With six laps to go, the race restarted with both Rittenberry’s going at it. Taylor was able to give himself a few car links between him and Michael. He managed to hold off the two for the win. Michael finished second, followed by Jeff Rittenberry.
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