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Michael Despain
BARDSTOWN, Ky. (May 17) - The Battle of the Bluegrass Modified Series visited Bluegrass Speedway on Saturday evening at Joey Kramer of Hanover, IN picked up his second consecutive win in this event. Other feature winners were Johnny Wheeler of Campbellsville, KY in 44 Auto Mart Super Late Models and Jason Priddy of Weasetown, KY won the Street Stock feature event.
The 25 lap feature event for the 44 Auto Mart Super Late Models would see the first pair of attempted starts voided due to spinouts, with the third time the charm, as Jordan Bland would take the race lead, followed by Zach Carney, Aaron Hatton, Johnny Wheeler, and Cody Mahoney. Caution would fly on lap 2 as Matthew Rigdon and Michael Coontz would spin in turn two, with Aaron Hatton pulling his mount pitside during the caution period. The restart would see Bland scoot away from the pack, with Wheeler pressuring Carney for second, while Tim Tungate would begin to pressure Mahoney for fourth. Wheeler would take second from Carney on lap 5, with Tungate taking fourth from Mahoney one circuit later. Dustin Neat would make his way into the top five on lap 9, with Bland continuing to drive away from the pack. But trouble would strike leader Bland on lap 11 when he exploded a right rear tire exiting turn two, thus, drawing a caution flag. The restart would not see another lap completed as fifth place Neat would stop in turn two with a flat right rear tire, with Neat and Bland both able to return, with both still on the lead lap. This would put Wheeler on the point, with Tungate now putting the heat on Carney for second, while Bland would pressure Tungate for third. With Wheeler now driving away from the field, Tungate would take second from Carney on lap 15, while Bland would pressure Carney again for third, with Bland going to third on lap 17. The final eight laps would see no challenges for Wheeler and he would become the third different 44 Auto Mart Super Late Model feature winner of the season at Bluegrass Speedway aboard his Cedarwood Restaurant/Farris Plumbing/Chad Jones Excavating/ Quick Lube Oil Express/Budda Bert Transmission Sales and Service sponsored #31x C.J. Rayburn Race Cars, Cornett Race Engines by Greg Oakes powered machine. Tungate would nip Bland by a car length for second, while Carney and Mahoney would round out the top five. Mahoney would be the fastest qualifier among 11 entries with a lap of 14.681 seconds, with Bland winning the dash, while Neat won the heat.
The start of the 25 lap, $1,500 to win Battle of the Bluegrass Modified Series A-Main would see Tim York take the initial race lead, with Joey Kramer going to second, followed by Don Adams, Randy Turpin, and Skylar Marlar. Caution would fly on lap 3 for a backchute spin involving Kelly Warren and Freddy Garmon. The restart would also be unsuccessful as fourth place Turpin looped his mount in turn four, collecting Mick Sansom, Rocky Wilson, and Robbie Gullion, who spun to avoid the incident. The next attempted restart would also be void when Jeff Johnson did a 360 degree spin in turn four, with Casey Payton spinning to avoid Johnson. Once back under green, York and Kramer would set a torrid pace at the front, with Jason Wheatley making his way into the top five and taking fourth from Marlar on lap 5. With York and Kramer pulling away from the field, Wheatley would take third from Adams on lap 7, only to lose it back to Adams on lap 8, but regaining it again on lap 9. By lap 10, York has Kramer nipping at his heels for the lead, while Brandon Green had made his way into the top five on the same circuit, taking fourth from Adams on lap 11. As the leaders began working slower traffic, Kramer would make his move on lap 14 as grab the top spot with a turn two slidejob, while Wheatley and Green would battle for third side-by-side on lap 15. Green would take second on lap 17, while Gullion, Ayers, and 22nd starting Kelly Warren battled for fourth.
Kramer would then encounter an anxious moment on lap 19 when Kevin Bryant smacked the concrete wall in turn three directly in front of the leader, with Kramer clipping the car of Bryant and suffering severe right-rear quarter panel damage. During the caution to remove Bryant's disabled mount, second place running York would pull to the infield with mechanical issues on his machine. The restart would see Wheatley slidejob past Green, only to see Green drive back under Wheatley in turn three to reclaim second, as the final caution of the event flew on lap 20 for a spin by Casey Payton. The final circuits would see Kramer drive away from the field, with Green putting some distance on Wheatley for second, while Ayers, Gullion, and Warren battling three-wide on laps 22 and 23 for the fourth slot. At the checkered flag, it would be the Claudette Kramer owned, FOX Custom Cabinets/Wild's Restoration Service/Larry's Truck Service/Hill's Historic Painting/Bright Beginnings Child Care/SuperATV.com/PBM Performance Products/AFCO Racing Products/NAPA/Valvoline sponsored #77 Lightning Chassis, Bullock Race Engines by Kramer machine of Kramer, with Green and Wheatley trailing in second in third, followed by Gullion and Ayers in fourth and fifth. The remainder of the top ten would be Warren, Adams, Dion Benningfield, Mick Sansom, and Johnny Lee. In preliminary action, Joey Kramer was top qualifier among 25 entries with a new Bluegrass Speedway Modified track qualifying record at 15.997 seconds. Qualifying heat race events were won by Don Adams, Tim York, and Randy Turpin.
The 12 lap Street Stock feature event would conclude the racing activities for the evening and it would be all Jason Priddy up front for this event as Priddy would take his first ever Street Stock feature event victory at Bluegrass Speedway behind the wheel of his Wells Family Racing/Uptown Graphics sponsored #11 Chevy Impala unit. Darrell Bevins would claim runner-up honors, with Robbie Settles claiming third, while Brad Leake would score fourth and Joe Blair completing the top five. Rounding out the top ten would be Jason Bartley, Terry Greenwell, Joe David Humphrey, Joe Walker, and Johnny Cecil. Heat race assignments were determined by the pill draw and those checkered flags fell to Settles and Priddy.
SUMMARY-Bluegrass Speedway-Bardstown, KY-May 17, 2008
44 Auto Mart Super Late Models (11 entries)
Top Qualifier- Cody Mahoney 14.681
Dash- Jordan Bland, Aaron Hatton, Zach Carney, Cody Mahoney, Johnny Wheeler, Tim Tungate
Heat- Dustin Neat, Bryant Woodcock, Jacob Webber, Michael Coontz
Feature- Johnny Wheeler, Tim Tungate, Jordan Bland, Zach Carney, Cody Mahoney, Jacob Webber, Dustin Neat, Matthew Rigdon, Bryant Woodcock, Michael Coontz, Aaron Hatton
Battle of the Bluegrass Modified Series (25 entries)
Top Qualifier- Joey Kramer 15.997 (New Track Record)
1st Heat- Don Adams, Joey Kramer, Brandon Green, Robbie Gullion, Joe Mattingly, J.T. Ayers, Jeff Stith, Shawn Tolson (DNS- Kevin Copher)
2nd Heat- Tim York, Skylar Marlar, Josh Lucas, Kevin Bryant, Freddie Garmon, Johnny Lee, Jeff Johnson (DNS-Timmy Glazer)
3rd Heat- Randy Turpin, Jason Wheatley, Dion Benningfield, Mick Sansom, Rocky Wilson, Casey Payton, Vernon Soeder, Kelly Warren
8th Annual Mod Squad Bash A-Main: Joey Kramer, Brandon Green, Jason Wheatley, Robbie Gullion, J.T. Ayers, Kelly Warren, Don Adams, Dion Benningfield, Mick Sansom, Johnny Lee, Jeff Stith, Shawn Tolson, Casey Payton, Tim York, Kevin Bryant, Jeff Johnson, Skylar Marlar, Randy Turpin, Timmy Glazer, Rocky Wilson, Freddie Garmon (DNS- Josh Lucas, Joe Mattingly, Kevin Copher, Vernon Soeder)
Street Stocks (13 entries)
1st Heat- Robbie Settles, Johnny Cecil, Willie Edelen, Darrell Bivens
2nd Heat- Jason Priddy, Terry Greenwell, Jason Bartley, Joe Blair
Feature- Jason Priddy, Darrell Bivens, Robbie Settles, Brad Leake, Joe Blair, Jason Bartley, Terry Greenwell, Joe David Humphrey, Joe Walker, Johnny Cecil, Willie Edelen (DNS- Paul Lewis, Jr., Shane Lafollette)
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