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Scott Wolfe
STEWART, Ohio (June 5) - Josh McGuire has established his second residence in victory lane of Skyline Speedway. Reportedly the Grayson, Ky driver has won on all but two occasions in his visits to Skyline Speedway. Friday was no exception.
After setting fast time, McGuire and Chris Garnes were poised for the battle of the year, with a pack of Fire-breathing competitors spewing flames behind them. The classic battle never unfolded. McGuire outclassed them all and a few scrapes along the way decimated the competition.
Said the always humble McGuire, "My Car was great, but I got lucky. When Chris (Garnes) and Ralph (Withem) and a couple of the others went out early, it made it a lot easier for me. I just got lucky. That's all I can say."
Lucky or not, the Kentuckian was fast. When asked if he was confident coming down the stretch with such a big lead and then having the yellow fall, McGuire said, "I'm never very confident, but I knew the car was good, and I was out of the lapped traffic at the end. It made my job a little easier."
Clear sailing or not, McGuire lapped all but the first five cars. Quite a feat for a hard charging lacking confidence.
On the second lap, Garnes and Nick Corbitt went pitside with flat tires ending what fans had hoped for-- a Garnes-McGuire Battle-rama. On lap five the field was reduced by three cars when several cars tangled. Three-time winner Ralph Withem went headlong into the concrete barrier collecting Jeff Wood in the process. Both cars rode the wall nearly 75 feet before Wood flipped to bring out the red. Fortunately, all driver escaped injury in the ugly crash. Withem, Wood, and Justin Powell were eliminated in the melee.
Lots of great racing took place back in the pack with Andy Bond anchoring third place early before suffering mechanical problems. Steve Bigley was the surprise of the night as the Coolville ace blasted into third place and challenged for second much of the race.
Besides Bigley's great run, only a paper-thin barrier separated Todd Smith and Larry Bond for much of the night. Smith had his best Skyline run of the year to third with Bond inches away in fourth behind point's leader Audie Swartz. Behind second place Swartz was Smith, Bond, Bigley, Ronnie Mayle, Dan Morrison, Tyler Carpenter, Mike McDaniel, and Tony Roush. Bigley spun but was able to bring his mount back to fourth ahead of a high-flying Mayle. Smith and Bond were the hard chargers of the race, each advancing 11 positions.
Jimmy Stinson's B& J Contracting JEI Chassis #84 survived a broken nose wing after zooming to a half track lead, then held off Aaron Higgins and Jimmy Nier at the checkered in another close sprint finish. Always hard charging Josh Davis took a nasty flip for the race's only stoppage. Davis was uninjured but his 22D sidelined for the night. Mitchell and Dickson battled much of the race after claiming position from Benson. Behind second place Nier was Aaron Higgins, Greg Mitchell, Dave Dickson, Brian Benson, Kory Crabtree, Freddie Staats, Alec Martin, and Bryce Dickson. Four of the top ten were teenagers.
Said Stinson, "I saw Aaron nosing in a few times and just kept on pushing. I felt the wing wobbling more and more, and I thought I've got to lose this wing or I'll never make it. Then I saw Jimmy on one side and Aaron on the other. They sure pressured me, but I was able to hang on. I hope it was a good race for the fans."
Late Models (36)
Fast Time-Chris Garnes, Josh McGuire 13.09
Heat One-Chris Garnes, Andy Bond, Ronnie Mayle, Doug Dodd, Todd Smith, Dan Morrison, Chad Todd, Matt Yates
Heat Two-Josh McGuire, Jeff Wood, Nick Corbitt, Ronnie Key, Bryan Wolfe, Bub Crum, Roy Roush, Randy Sprouse, Larry Bond
Heat Three-Jason Montgomery, Audie Swartz, Tyler carpenter, Jeff Burdette, Tony Roush, Ernie Hoscher, Nelson Freshour, George Klintworth, Frankie Roush
Heat Four-Ralph Withem, Steve Bigley, Chris Carpenter, Bryan Eaton, Mike McDaniel, John Gibson, Justin Powell, P.J. Corbitt
Consy One-Todd Smith, Larry Bond, Dan Morrison, Ronnie Key, Bub Crum, Matt Yates, Bryan Wolfe, Chad Todd, Roy Roush, Randy Sprouse (Doug Dodd and Carl Boyles DNS)
Consy Two-Mike McDaniel, Tony Roush, JUstin Powell, John Gibson, Frankie Roush, P.J. Corbitt, George Klintworth, Ernie Hoscher, Jeff Burdette (Bryan Eaton and Nelson Freshour DNS)
Feature-Josh McGuire, Audie Swartz, Todd Smith, Larry Bond, Steve Bigley, Ronnie Mayle, Dan Morrison, Tyler Carpenter, Mike McDaniel, Tony Roush, Andy Bond, Chris Carpenter, Jason Montgomery, Justin Powell, Ralph Withem, Jeff Wood, Chris Garnes, Nick Corbitt
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