|
Winchester Speedway
WINCHESTER, Va. (June 8) - Forty-eight cars signed in for round 3 of the Appalachian Mountain Late Model Speedweek event, the first man out for time trials was Josh Richards of Shinnston, WV who immediately busted out a huge 15.25 second qualifying lap, throwing him mere thousandths of a second off the track record held by Booper Bare at 15.247 that was turned in some 9 years ago.
This occurred despite a muggy night at the speedway and served notice quite early that Josh Richards would be the man to beat. But like a man awaiting his execution Richards would have to set through 47 other qualifiers to determine his fate, and when all was said and done it was Josh Richards turning in the fast time.
The World of Outlaws regular then went on to take his heat race event, Steve Francis who has been hot on the World of Outlaws circuit as of late took the win in the second heat event as the Ashland, KY driver looked strong from the get go.
The third heat event say Greencastle, PA driver Gary Stuhler turn in an amazing run passing Jeremy Miller late to take it. The final heat event was secured by Hagerstown Speedway regular Mike Lupfer. The twin B-Mains saw Selinsgrove Speedway dominator Jeff Rine advance, while young Keith Jackson took the second B-Main.
Following the redraw the front row was headed by Gettysburg, PA driver Jeremy Miller, with "Kid Rocket" Josh Richards on the outside. At the green flag Jeremy Miller took the pole spot and turned into the lead.
The race was quickly yellow flagged when on the second lap Nathan Durboraw spun his car in turn two, and the rest of the field was able to avoid. At the green Miller took the lead again, but Josh Richards quickly took the low side of Miller, and on lap four Richards had secured the lead spot.
Jeremy Miller soon also was relegated to the third spot when Steve Francis was able to get by. Meanwhile Josh Richards had the lead and was setting a torrid pace over the rest of the field. Also advancing was Gary Stuhler who saw himself began to march forward from the sixth spot and advancing to third, passing Miller, as the field quickly marched through the race.
Richards began to see his lead dwindle though as the field moved towards the final half as he began to encounter lapped traffic, and took some time to get past the backmarkers who were racing hard for position themselves. Soon Francis and subsequently Stuhler had caught up to Richards, moving within a couple carlengths of each other.
But behind him a battle was occurring with Jason Covert, coming off a win in the first round Saturday nite at Hagerstown, and Tommy Armel that ended in spectacular fashion with Armel and Covert vying for the same spot. Armel ended up bouncing off the inside berm in turn one and up into Covert with the two crashing hard, though both drivers would continue.
Erasing the advantage that Francis had with lapped traffic pretty much eliminated any chance of beating the fleet Richards. Following the lap 33 caution the green flag would fly, and Richards would take wing and pull a huge lead.
In the late laps Ronnie DeHaven, Jr., who had won last weekend, was advancing with his Ford, and in the closing laps he would use the high side to advance into fourth over the fading Jeremy Miller. At the stripe it was most definitely Josh Richards with a dominate win, Steve Francis was second, Gary Stuhler got the recent monkey off his back with a strong third, DeHaven was fourth, Miller was fifth.
Rounding out the top ten was Austin Hubbard, Andy Anderson(who had come from 16th), Jason Covert, Jamie Lathroum, and Booper Bare.
1. 25 Josh Richards
2. 19 Steve Francis
3. 90 Gary Stuhler
4. 1D Ronnie DeHaven, Jr.
5. 24 Jeremy Miller
6. 11A Austin Hubbard
7. 25A Andy Anderson
8. 43A Jason Covert
9. 6 Jamie Lathroum
10. 00B Booper Bare
11. 87 Walker Arthur
12. 9P Frankie Plessinger
13. 70J D.J. Myers
14. 91 J.T. Spence
15. W11 Rob Blair
16. 15 Tommy Armel
17. 27 Jim Yoder
18. 2J Jeff Rine
19. 06 Mike Lupfer
20. 78 Kenny Pettyjohn
21. 88J Keith Jackson
22. 21D Dan Stone
23. 41 Nathan Durboraw
24. 93 Tony Crim
25. 7 Darryl Hills
Cautions: 2 (lap 3, lap 33)
Lap Leaders: Jeremy Miller 1-3, Josh Richards 4-50
Heat 1: Josh Richards, Austin Hubbard, Tommy Armel, Jason Covert, Booper Bare, Jeff Rine, Jason Dupont, Scott Lebarron, Scott Merryman, Tony Crim, Al Cheney, Mike ALtobelli, Jr.
Heat 2: Steve Francis, Nathan Durboraw, Jamie Lathroum, J.T. Spence, Jim Yoder, Keith Jackson, Nick Dickson, D.J. Myers, Brian Wright, Brad Omps, Chris Cromer, Troy Miller
Heat 3: Gary Stuhler, Jeremy Miller, Ronnie DeHaven, Jr., Dan Stone, Rob Blair, Darryl Hills, Scott Cross, Jere Wierman, Alan Sagi, Bryon Sipe, Tim Wilson, Mike Hardy
Heat 4: Mike Lupfer, Walker Arthur, Frankie Plessinger, Andy Anderson, Kenny Pe ttyjohn, Brian Booze, Brian Bernheisel, Jason Miller, Tyler Hershey, David Williams, Matt Quade DNS: Bo Feathers
B-Main 1: Jeff Rine, Darryl Hills, Alan Sagi, Jason Dupont, Scott Lebarron, Tony Crim, Scott Cross, Mike Hardy, Scott Merryman, Jere Wierman, Tim Wilson, AL Cheney, Bryon Sipe DNS: Mike Altobelli, Jr
B-Main 2: Keith Jackson, D.J. Myers, Nick Dickson, Brian Bernheisel, Jason Miller, Brian Booze, Tyler Hershey, Brad Omps, Chris Cromer, Troy Miller, David Williams, Brian Wright DNS: Matt Quade, Bo Feathers
|
