Senoia Raceway
July 26, 2015
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HORTON, BLACK AND STANSEL SWEEP AT SENOIA RACEWAY’S MARATHON RACE NIGHT
 
Senoia Raceway
SENOIA, GA (July 25) - Due to weather issues the past few weeks, Senoia Raceway hosted eleven feature races on Saturday night at the 3/8ths mile clay bull ring.  Grantville’s Austin Horton, Douglasville’s Matt Black and James Stansell made the most of their double racing opportunity clean sweeping their respective class features.  Horton and Black led every lap of their races en route to victory lane.
 
Horton bolted to the lead at the drop of the green in both Limited Late Model features leaving the rest of the field to tussle for position.  In the first race, Senoia’s Joey Armistead chased him until lap six when he developed problems and stopped on the track.  Armistead would have to start at the rear of the field rejoining the race after a quick pit stop.
 
Armistead along with Monroe’s Jimmy Johnson and Carrollton’s Carey Smith put on a clinic through the final nineteen circuits on how to work competitors.  The trio of drivers sliced and diced their way to the front of the pack by using the inside and outside racing grooves to near perfection.  Unfortunately, Johnson’s climb ended on lap 16 just after making the pass for the second place position.
 
Nobody was able to get to Horton who cruised to a several car length victory over Carrollton’s Clifton Moran and Mansfield’s Matt Wilson.  Carey Smith and Armistead would run out of time, but not before they had raced their way into the top five.
 
The ‘Grantville Grenade’ Austin Horton checked out on the second race as well with Joey Armistead providing the chase.  Fayetteville’s Glenn Morris, Carey Smith and Clifton Moran had the fans glued to the classic bull ring battle for third through fifth.  These three drivers swapped their positions several times while racing side by side and nearly three wide at times.
 
In the end, Horton won for the second time on the evening with Armistead second.  Morris claimed third place as Smith jumped past Moran on the final circuit to nab fourth.
 
Matt Black had never won a race in his Crate Late Model racing career.  The Douglasville veteran had been close a few times at Senoia Raceway and Dixie Speedway, but had not cracked into the elusive victory lane.  That changed on Saturday night as Black visited not only once, but twice clean sweeping the racing action.
 
Black led every lap in both features claiming the wins over Dacula’s Russell Fleeman in the first race and Alabama’s Monte Skinner in the second race.  Both Fleeman and Skinner could stay close to Black, but neither had enough speed to overtake the focused leader.  Those two each had a second place and a third place finish behind Black.
 
The closest race of the night was in the B Cadet main event.  Newnan’s Brandon Bright led all but two yards of the race as Columbus Joseph Brown stole the glory.  Bright led from the drop of the green with Brown and Whitesburg’s Blant Duke coming through the field to run second and third.  Bright, Brown and Duke raced clean with all trying to either pass or block their fellow competitors.
 
Bright crossed the stripe on lap 19 leading Brown who was on his inside quarter panel.  Duke was looking for the track bite on the top side setting up a great sprint to the checkered flag.  As the three drivers came out of the final turn, Brown charged up alongside of Bright and out muscled him to the finish line beating him by only a foot.  Duke would end up in third right behind the lead duo.  Seventeen-year-old LaGrange racer Jake Traylor was fourth with Alabama’s Marc Gooden climbing through the field to snare a top five finish.
 
In other racing action on Saturday night, Senoia’s Clint ‘Cat Daddy’ Smith bested the field of Super Late Models pocketing the $2000 top prize.  Milner’s Ben Wells won for the third straight week outrunning Franklin’s Chris Steele and Newnan’s Scott Sherrer in the Hobby Stock feature and Palmetto’s Bubba Harry picked up his fourth Legends Cars feature victory of the season.
 
Whitesburg’s Blant Duke found success in the Bomber division as the double-duty driver worked his way past Senoia’s Winford Minix with five laps remaining to win for the first time in that division.  Conyers Tim Harmon was third followed by Senoia’s Chris Holt and Griffin’s David Johnson.
 
James ‘Showtime’ Stansel dominated the Mini Stock double features as he won by several car lengths in both races.
 
The racing action at Senoia Raceway’s bull ring continues this Saturday, August 1st as the track presents the first round of Hot August Nights.  All eight divisions of racing will be competing along with a special opportunity for fans and drivers to meet some of the short track racing community’s greatest champions.  Former racing champions Leon ‘Slick’ Sells, Mike Head, Bud Lunsford, Stan Massey, Roscoe Smith, Charlie Bagwell, Sammy Cooper and others will be at Senoia Raceway this Saturday, August 1st for autographs, photographs and reminiscing with the fans.
 
“These are some great drivers that provided so many great memories,” said Senoia Raceway promoter Bill Massey.
 
Grandstand ticket prices are $12; ages 5-12 are $5; four and under are admitted for free.  Access to the pit area is available for $25; ages 5-12 are $12; four and under are free. Trackside parking is available on a first come, first serve basis.  Trackside parking is only accessible through the pit area and pit passes must be purchased.  
 
The pit gates will open this Saturday at 4pm, grandstands at 5pm, hot laps will begin at 7pm and the night’s first race will be at 7:30pm.  The ‘Storied Stars of Senoia Raceway’s History’ will be signing autographs and meeting with fans before the racing begins, but most plan to stick around for the night’s racing action.
 
“They would probably still like to get behind the wheel and chase the checkered flag,” laughed Massey.
 
For additional information, schedules, rules and more, visit the Senoia Raceway website at www.senoiaraceway.com.  The track also offers an e-mail newsletter (sign-up on the website), Facebook page and twitter feed for social media access to news and information. You can also contact the track directly at 770.599.6161.  
 
Official results from Saturday,  July 25, 2015

Super Late Models (Feature):  1-Clint Smith, Senoia  2-Joe Armistead, Jr.  3-Ricky Williams, Fayetteville  4-Shane Fukcher, Thomaston  5-Matt Dooley, Brooks  6-Mike Nasworthy, Macon  7-Austin Brumbelow, Winder  8-Lamar Haygood, Douglasville  DNS-Mason Massey, Douglasville  Fast Qualifier: Smith (14.379/101.0 mph)  

Limited Late Model (Feature #1):  1-Austin Horton, Granville  2-Clifton Moran, Carrollton  3-Matt Wilson, Mansfield  4-Carey Smith, Carrollton  5-Joey Armistead, Senoia  6-Richie Williams, Fayetteville  7-Jayce Southwell, Brooks  8-Corey Payton, Newnan  9-Hunter Worley, Alvaton  10-Shane Barrett, Villa Rica  11-Jimmy Johnson, Monroe  12-Glenn Morris, Fayetteville  13-Jamie Maurice, McDonough

Limited Late Model (Feature #2):  1-Horton  2-Armistead  3-Morris  4-Smith  5-Moran  6-Southwell  7-Payton  8-Williams  9-Maurice  10-Barrett  DNS: Wilson; Worley; Johnson  Fast Qualifier: Horton (14.750/91.5 mph)

Crate Late Model (Feature #1 ):  1-Matt Black, Douglasville  2-Russell Fleeman, Dacula  3-Monte Skinner, Saraland, AL  4-Jason Deal, Cooper Hill, TN  5-Bobby Mills, Griffin  6-Chris Carr, Newnan  7-Chris Justus, McDonough  8-Sean Sweatnam, Griffin  9-Phillip Deal, Tyrone

Crate Late Model (Feature #2): 1-Black  2-Skinner  3-Fleeman  4-Justus  5-Carr  6-Dorough Bright, Newnan  7-J. Deal  8-Mills  9-Sweatnam  DNS: P. Deal

B Cadet (Feature):  1-Joseph Brown, Columbus  2-Brandon Bright, Newnan  3-Blant Duke, Whitesburg  4-Jake Traylor, LaGrange  5-Marc Gooden, Lafayette, AL  6-Jake Sanders, Camp Hill, AL  7-Parrish Duncan, Newnan  8-Wesley Lyle, Carrollton  9-Johnny Stinchcomb, Newnan  10-Brian Womack, Villa Rica  11-Bennie Croy, McDonough  12-Josh Copeland, McDonough  13-Bailey Temples, McDonough  14-Dow Kirkland, Lake Spivey  15-Jamie Simmons, Tyrone  16-Robbie Quinton, Stockbridge  

Hobby Stock (Feature):  1-Ben Wells, Milner  2-Chris Steele, Franklin  3-Scott Sherrer, Newnan  4-Wesley Scott, Hiram  5-Clyde Alexander, Locust Grove  6-Wilson Boozer, Locust Grove  7-Kerry Carden, Brooks  8-Sam Carter, Covington  9-Steven Tippens, Douglasville  10-Mike Jenkins, Brooks  11-Ben Steele, Franklin

Bomber (Feature):  1-Blant Duke, Whitesburg  2-Winford Minix, Senoia  3-Tim Harmon, Mansfield  4-Chris Holt, Senoia  5-David Johnson, Griffin  6-Michael Couch, Senoia  7-Richie Taylor, Douglasville

Mini Stock (Feature #1): 1-James Stansel, Douglasville  2-Brandon Jones, Newnan  3-Bo Chambers, Griffin  4-Robert Caldwell, Senoia  5-Jamie Nicholson, Locust Grove  6-Denver Stepp, Powder Springs  7-Rocky Johnson, Douglasville

Mini Stock (Feature #2):  1-Stansel  2-Jones  3-Caldwell  4-Nicholson  5-Chambers  6-Stepp  DNS: Johnson

Legends Cars (Feature):  1-Bubba Harry, Palmetto  2-Zach Leonhardi, Cartersville  3-Dwight Pilgram, McDonough  4-Jason Treschl, LaGrange  5-Joshua Hicks, Senoia  6-Jeremy Lundy, Hurley, MS  7-Mike Kennedy, Alpharetta  8-John Ponzio, Fayetteville  9-James Meredith, Locust Grove