K-C Raceway
July 30, 2011
________________________________________

Chamberlaim gets second win of the weekend with AMRA victory at K-C Raceway

by Scott Wolfe
CHILLICOTHE, OHIO-Richmond, Indiana driver "Insane" Duane Chamberlain passed Jason Montgomery on the 15th circuit, then fended off hard-charging Montgomery for the win Saturday night (July 30, 2011) in the AMRA Late Model feature at Jeff and Vicki Schrader's K-C Raceway. The "Murray City Bandit" Jeremy Berwanger claimed the AMRA Modified main over a stout field of open wheelers in the Advanced Service headliner and Jamie Adams claimed yet another win in the Hobby Stock division.

Said Chamberlain in victory lane, "Jason (Montgomery) was just as good as me. He raced me clean and fast, but the lapped traffic put me in the right place at the right time. The track was good again tonight and it makes two in a row." ( Chamberlain won the night before at Moler Raceway).

The points race tightened up after defending champ Delmas Conley was eliminated in a first heat accident. That pitted Chamberlain and Montgomery against each other early after Kevin Wagner and Mike Wilson paced the field after the redraw.

Wagner experienced some early difficulty after Wilson blasted into the lead. Wilson and Montgomery scrapped hard with a pair of cross-over moves that exchanged the lead on several occasstions over the first three laps. Meanwhile, heat winner Wagner was blasting off the tail in his new Rocket toward a solid top ten run."

Audie Swartz had another good run, shaking a pesky Dean Boyd early in the race, then overtaking Wilson by lap ten. Wilson was a solid top three early, but faded as the race progressed.

Billy Gullion was strong during the mid-sector of the race, dueling hard with Boyd and Swartz for position until Boyd's mount broke and went pitside. Ralph Withem, Athens, Oh. had his second straight strong finish at K-C, winning a battle with Dylan Huron and Mark Frazier. For ten laps, the three-- sometimes four with Gullion in contention-- battled for position.

Chamberlain chased Montgomery ferociously after the Jackson native took the lead from Wilson. Montgomery was masterful in traffic until Chamberlain saw his window of opportunity coming out of turn two and used a lapped car in a successful pick and roll. With the tables now turned, Montgomery now gave chase of Chamberlain right down to the wire.

Although Wagner had a great run after going to the tail in a gallant, hard-charging effort, the official "hard charger of the race" was young Nick Latham in a 21st to 13th place run. Wagner fought from last to seventh. Rounding out the top ten were Chamberlain, Jason Montgomery, Audie Swartz, Ralph Withem, Mark Frazier, Dylan Huron, Kevin Wagner, Billy Gullion, Mike Wilson, and Tony Roush.

A great team celebrated a special moment in the Advanced Services AMRA Mod main victory lane as owner Dave Rawlins and the "X-Crew" joined talented driver Jeremy Berwanger in an emotional moment of glory. Rawlins' longtime companion Gina Davis, widely known around area racing circles, passed away at Mid-week, leaving a void in the local racing community.

Said Berwanger, "I don't know what it was or what we've done; the car was the best it's ever been. (pausing) I think I had a co-pilot tonight. We dedicate the win tonight to Gina."

Berwanger, the former AMRA National Champion struggled through an off-season last year, but has found renewed life this season with several big wins.

Points leader and reknown local racing talent Dave Fireball Pinkerton and J.P. Roberts paced the field to the initial green. Pinkerton was whistled for the jump and set back two positions, placing Mark Bailey on the point. Immediately it became a four-car dash among initial leader J.P. Roberts, Berwanger, Pinkerton and Stambaugh. The four fought viciously for three laps when Berwanger took aim at the lead and never looked back.

The race for second, however, was abundantly exciting. Roberts, Stambaugh, and Pinkerton pressed hard for position until several bouts with the wall sidelined the point leader. Roberts and Stambaugh continued the feud with Scott Edmisten, Brian Whiteman, and Deana Groves battling hard in multiple position swaps for a top five.

Jeremy Rayburn, the magicman during this month of July, once again transformed bad luck into mega-thrust charges from the tail to a top five. Rayburn, the hard charger came from 20th to fourth in a run that entertained all in attendance. Kevin Delany, Tim Rayburn, and Rick Venham, Jr. also had good runs on a night where some hot iron speckled the top ten of the highly competitive division.

Rounding out the top ten at the finish were Berwanger, Rob Stambaugh, J.P. Roberts, Jeremy Rayburn, Scott Edmisten, Brian Whiteman, Deana Groves,Kevin Delany, Tim Rayburn, and Rick Venham, Jr.

Nearly speechless in victory lane, Jamey Adams said after his 12th Hobby Stock win, "I just don't know what to say. The car worked well again tonight and as I've said before, it takes a lot of hard work and support from a bunch of people to get here. Thanks to everyone who helps me."

Adams has said it all in victory lane and where it counts--On the track! But this win was not so easy. For most of the 20 laps Bruce Grary, Jr. sat squarely on Adams' back bumper. Although Gray has been to victory lane several times himself, this race may very well have been his best run. Gray never bobbled, but neither did Adams.

By lap 14 of the 20-lapper Brandon Thompson made it a three way race. Thompson was closing the gap fast. On the 18th circuit Gray blasted low alongside Adams, but couldn't make it stick, thus setting up for a last lap bid. The pass attempt pulled the three cars within feet of one another as Gray made another bid in turns three and four of the final lap. With Adams barely a car length ahead, Gray and Thompson passed side-by-side with Gray second.

Solidly in fourth was Brandon Mather who repelled the efforts of Dave Akers--the hard charger in a 9th to 5th place run. Besides Mather and Akers, Mike Brust had a strong run to best Tracey Ross and Jim Hildebrand. Rounding out the top ten were Adams, Bruce Gray, Jr., Brandon Thompson, Brandon Mather, Davey Akers, Mike Brust, Tracey Ross, Jim Hildebrand, Jason Holstein, Butch Eblin, Tim Cutler, and Richard Trego.

K-C is idle for the next two weeks, closing for local area fairs. The track will reopen Saturday, August 20 and come back on August 27 for two big weekends of racing.

The summary: Sat. July 30, 2011 K-C Raceway

AMRA Late Models (22)
Fast Time: Duane Chamberlain 13:992
Heat One: Duane Chamberlain, Ralph Withem, Dylan Huron, Brian Huron, Willie Bigham, Josh Bivens, Delmas Conley Heat Two: Jason Montgomery, Audie Swartz, Dean Boyd, Billy Gullion, Kenny Spencer, Jason Perry, Ted Johnson, Jr.
Heat Three: Kevin Wagner, Mike Wilson, Mark Frazier, Brian Eaton, Tony Roush, Randy Wynett, Nick Latham
Feature: Duane Chamberlain, Jason Montgomery, Audie Swartz, Ralph Withem, Mark Frazier, Dylan Huron, Kevin Wagner, Billy Gullion, Mike Wilson, Tony Roush, Brian Eaton, Kenny Spencer, Nick Latham, Ted Johnson, Jr., Randy Wynett, Josh Bivens, Dean Boyd, Willie Bigham, Brian Huron, Jason Perry (DNS), Delmas Conley (DNS)

MALTA AMRA Modifieds (28)
Advanced Services Modifieds
Grooms Trucking Fast Time: Jeremy Berwanger 15:717 Heat One: Jeremy Berwanger, Tim Rayburn, Scott Edmisten, Deana Groves, Rick Venham, Jr., Kevin Delany, Phillip Bapst, Brad McCown, Chris Moore Heat Two: David Pinkerton, Mark Bailey, Bob Crace, Bud Frazier, Greg Oliver, Miles Cook, Eric Arledge, Bob Hurst, Jr., Jeremy Rayburn Heat Three: Rob Stambaugh, J.P. Roberts, Brian Whiteman, Donnie Stewart, John Arthurs, T.J. Harper, Dean Collier, Lonnie Kidd B-Main One: Miles Cook, Kevin Delany, T.J. Harper, Jeremy Rayburn, Lonnie Kidd, Phillip Bapst, Eric Arledge, Dean Collier, Bob Hurst, Jr., Brad McCown, Chris Moore
Feature: Jeremy Berwanger, Rob Stambaugh, J.P. Roberts, Jeremy Rayburn, Scott Edmisten, Brian Whiteman, Deana Groves, Kevin Delany, Tim Rayburn, Rick Venham, Jr., Miles Cook, Bob Crace, Jr., John Arthurs, Lonnie Kidd, Donnie Stewart, Greg Oliver, T.J. Harper, David Pinkerton, Mark Bailey, Bud Frazier

Hobby Stocks (12)
Heat One: Brandon Mather, Brandon Thompson, Mike Brust, Richard Trego, Tim Cutler, Jason Holstein (DNS) Heat Two: Jamey Adams, Bruce Gray, Jr., Tracey Ross, Davey Akers, Jim Hildebrand, Butch Eblin
Feature: Jamey Adams, Bruce Gray, Jr., Brandon Thompson, Brandon Mather, Davey Akers, Mike Brust, Tracey Ross, Jim Hildebrand, Jason Holstein, Butch Eblin, Tim Cutler, Richard Trego

Sprints (4)
Exhibition One: Randy Fink, Nathan Skaggs, Nick Forcum, Jeff Conrad Exhibition Two: Nick Forcum, Randy Fink, Jeff Conrad, Nathan Skaggs


2011 Late Model Points
Delmas Conley 357
Mike Wilson 333
Mark Frazier 306
Rod Conley 284
Jason Montgomery 266
Billy Gullion 260
Dean Boyd 243
Dylan Huron 216
Kenny Spencer 214
Tony Roush 206
Paul Davis 198
Kevin Wagner 189
Ken Howell 188
Duane Chamberlain 185
Audie Swartz 180
Shannon Roese 163
Russ Frohnapfel 154
Chad Smith 154
Jason Perry 151
Brian Eaton 150