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Michael Despain
BARDSTOWN, Ky. (July 26) - The Battle of the Bluegrass Modified Series would visit Bluegrass Speedway on Saturday evening and Kentucky Cooperage Modified track points leader Jason Wheatley of Loretto, KY would score his first ever "BoB Mod Squad" series win and claim a $1,500 payday. In other action, Jordan Bland of Campbellsville, KY would take his first career Super Late Model victory by winning the 44 Auto Mart Super Late Model main event and Roger Cecil of Bardstown, KY would win his second WBRT 1320-AM Sportsman feature of the season.
The start of the 30 lap Battle of the Bluegrass Modified 8th Annual Bluegrass Rumble A-Main would be called back when Rocky Wilson spun his mount in turn one. The start would go green on the second attempt and a three-wide for the lead would see Jason Wheatley take the race lead, with Benji Lee, Shawn Tolson, Joey Kramer, and Kelly Warren giving chase. Caution would fly again on lap 2 as Mick Sansom spun in turn one. The attempted restart would not see a full lap scored as Jeff Stith spun in turn three, with Rocky Wilson, Blake Cook, Don Adams, and Jason Knoke all being collected, with Stith and Wilson done for the night. Back underway, Wheatley would show the way, while Kramer would take third from Tolson. Action would pick up on lap 5, was Lee challenged Wheatley for the top spot, with Kramer right on their back bumpers ready to strike. Wheatley and Lee would trade sliders for the lead on lap 5, with Kramer splitting the pair in a three-wide move on lap 6 to take the lead. Wheatley would retake the lead on lap 7 when Kramer nicked the concrete wall in turn four, allowing Lee to go back to second in the process. Lee would slidejob Wheatley for the lead in turn two on lap 11, only to lose the top spot back to Wheatley, who would fire a slider of his own one circuit later. The front duo would go side-by-side for the lead until lap 15 when Lee would loop his unit in the center of turn three and four. On the restart, Wheatley would hold the lead over now second place Kramer, while Warren, Tolson, and Dion Benningfield held down third through fifth. Warren would slide past Kramer for second on lap 16, only to have Kramer reclaim the position from him one trip later. While Warren repeatedly dogged Kramer for the runner-up slot, Wheatley would slowly pull away from the second place battle. With Kramer finally winning the battle for second, he would make one final run on Wheatley in the final five laps of the event, but Wheatley would not falter and would score his first series win aboard the Tommy and Kaylee Wheatley owned, B&W Metals/ Rosewood Bar and Grill/Gootee and Mattingly Heating and Air/Central Kentucky Plumbing and Electrical Supply/Cozy Corner/Hawk's Place/VFM Manufacturing/ Wheatley Tile Flooring/Wheatley Seamless Gutters/Wheatley Auto Sales/Brady Excavating/Springfield Auto and Farm/St. Joe Garage/Top Notch Landscaping/Nukem Graphics sponsored #7 Jason Hughes Racing Chassis, Mullins by Wheatley Race Engines powered machine.. Kramer would take second, with Warren third, while Tolson and Benningfield would complete the top five. The remainder of the top ten would be Robbie Gullion, Josh Lucas, Benji Lee, J.T. Ayers, and Timmy Glazer. In preliminary action, Joey Kramer was top qualifier among 21 entries with a lap time of 16.848 seconds.
In 44 Auto Mart Super Late Model feature action, Jordan Bland would take the lead at the drop of the green flag, while Dustin Neat and Johnny Wheeler would battle for second, with Bobby Carrier, Jr. and Bryant Woodcock going fourth and fifth. Woodcock would spin his machine on lap 4 after losing the fifth spot to Lee Devasier. Back underway, Bland would continue to hold the top position, with Wheeler winning the battle for second from Neat on lap 6. Devasier would begin to roll as well at this point and would battle with Bobby Carrier, Jr. for several circuits before moving into the fourth slot on lap 11. Meanwhile, Bland was beginning to lengthen his lead over second place Wheeler, who was also pulling away from third place Neat at this point. But on this evening, it would be the 19 year old second-generation racer who would score his first ever Super Late Model feature victory in the cockpit of the Jeff and Vicki Bland owned, B&W Metals/Longshot Farms/Osborne Construction/Bay Insulation/Wave Length Hair Salon/Cox Auto Repair/Stuckey Enterprises sponsored #12 MasterSbilt Race Cars, Pro Power Race Engines powered machine. Wheeler would take runner-up honors, with Neat scoring the third place finish. Devasier would drive home to a season-best fourth place finish, while Jarryd Holshouser would complete the top five. Wheeler was top qualifier at 15.552 seconds, with Bland winning the dash, while Devasier won the heat.
The WBRT 1320-AM Sportsman main event would turn out to be a dandy as Pat Hagan and Roger Cecil would race wheel to wheel over the final 6 laps of the 15 lap feature event, with Cecil making a turn four, last lap pass of Hagan to claim his second feature victory of the season behind the wheel of his 44 Auto Mart/El Jimadore Restaurant/First Financial Credit/Teamsters Local 89/RER Concrete/Cecil Trucking/M&M Get-N-Go sponsored #5 Chevy Monte Carlo, powered by a Dale Meers Race Engine. Hagan would settle for second, with Avral Thompson taking third, while Rob Jones would score fourth, with Paul Lewis, Jr. completing the top five. Heat race checkered flags would fall to Hagan and Jones.
SUMMARY-Bluegrass Speedway-Bardstown, Kentucky-July 26, 2008
Battle of the Bluegrass Modifieds (21 entries)
Racing Optics Top Qualifier- Joey Kramer 16.848
Wayne Bowen Racing Supply 1st Heat- Benji Lee, Joey Kramer, Jeff Stith, Freddie Garmon, Joe Mattingly, Brad Schlosser, Mick Sansom
K&N Performance Engineering 2nd Heat- Jason Wheatley, Dion Benningfield, Robbie Gullion, J.T. Ayers, Timmy Glazer, Jason Knoke (DNS-Blake Cook)
Graphic Impressions 3rd Heat- Shawn Tolson, Kelly Warren, Josh Lucas, Johnny Lee, Rocky Wilson, Brian Hash, Don Adams
8th Annual Bluegrass Rumble A-Main- Jason Wheatley, Joey Kramer, Kelly Warren, Shawn Tolson, Dion Benningfield, Robbie Gullion, Josh Lucas, Benji Lee, J.T. Ayers, Timmy Glazer, Joe Mattingly, Brad Schlosser, Jason Knoke, Mick Sansom, Freddie Garmon, Blake Cook, Don Adams, Jeff Stith, Rocky Wilson, Johnny Lee, Brian Hash
44 Auto Mart Super Late Models (10 entries)
Top Qualifier- Johnny Wheeler 15.552
Dash- Jordan Bland, Dustin Neat, Johnny Wheeler, Bobby Carrier, Jr., Bryant Woodcock (DNS- Larry Greer)
Heat- Lee Devasier, Jarryd Holshouser, Jason Keltner (DNS-Scotty Earl)
Feature- Jordan Bland, Johnny Wheeler, Dustin Neat, Lee Devasier, Jarryd Holshouser, Bobby Carrier, Jr., Bryant Woodcock, Jason Keltner (DNS- Larry Greer, Scotty Earl)
WBRT 1320-AM Sportsman (12 entries)
1st Heat- Pat Hagan, Roger Cecil, Nathan Wells, Elton Martin
2nd Heat- Rob Jones, Avral Thompson, Daroyl Samples, Grady Moore, Jr.
Feature- Roger Cecil, Pat Hagan, Avral Thompson, Rob Jones, Paul Lewis, Jr., Grady Moore, Jr., Lois Campbell, Daroyl Samples, Nathan Wells, Sam Mull, Matt Lewis, Elton Martin
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