“Cody Williams Wins UMP Modified Feature”
“Buddy Wilson Wins 3rd Straight Pure Stock Feature”
By Brent Hottle
Winchester(VA)- The local Apple Blossom Festival was in full swing this past weekend.
However, more importantly the sun was shining and for the first time in weeks the dreaded rain
word was not in the forecast! We would host five divisions on this beautiful Saturday. Only the
Limited Late Models and UMP Modifieds would hold timed hotlaps for heat race starting
positions. The Pure Stock, Hobby Stock, and SCDRA would all use a pill draw format for their
heat race lineups. We would then move into our heat races followed by our weekly Invocation
and the playing of our National Anthem.
The first feature of the night would be for our Pure Stock Division. Officials would call the initial
start back. The second try would be a good one and we would see pole sitter Buddy Wilson lead
the first lap. The caution flag would quickly fly as Jerry Jenkins Jr would spin in turn two
collecting Tony Catlett. Wilson would lead lap two after the restart before the field slowed once
again, as this time Delmar Grady would spin in turn two. Wilson would go on to lead lap three as
now a hard charging Michael Carter would battle his way into the third position after starting
tenth. On lap five Tyler Gray would challenge Wilson for the lead on the high side of the
speedway. The challenge would stall as the caution flag would once again wave. This time for
Tony Johnson as he would spin coming out of turn four. Wilson would continue to lead lap six as
Carter charged his way into the second position. Contact would send Jason Wilkins spinning in
turn four bringing out the fourth caution of the event. On the restart Wilson would hold onto his
lead as Gray pulled back into the second position. Carter would get a great run out of turn two
on the low side and pull alongside Gray for the second position. As the two crossed the
start/finish line, Carter would move past Gray and set his sights on Wilson, the leader who had
built up about a two car lead. By lap twelve Wilson would pull out to around a six car lead over
Carter. The caution flag would once again wave for a spinning Brandon Lowery in turn three. We
would complete one more lap before slowing once again for a spinning Trent Holmes in turn
four. This would set up a green white checkered finish. On the restart third place running Gray
would spin to prevent contact with Carter on the restart and collect Delmar Grady. On the next
restart we would see Tony Johnson and Delmar Grady both spin separately in turns one and
two. We would go on to complete the fourteenth lap after the restart before slowing for the last
time as Trent Homes would spin in turn two. This would now set up a one lap shootout. Buddy
Wilson would go on to win the fifteen lap event. Michael Carter and Walter Crouch would round
out the top three.
The next feature event would be for the UMP Modified Division. We would see outside pole
sitter Chris Arnold take the early lead followed by Ray Kable and Cody Williams. The first
caution of the event would wave on lap three as Davin Kaiser and Cody Oliver spun in turn one.
On the restart Arnold would continue to lead as Williams had now moved into second place.
Just as Arnold would begin to pull away the caution flag would once again wave as Justin
Cullum would spin in turn three. Williams would get a great restart and challenge Arnold for the
lead. Williams would take over the top spot as the cars completed the sixth lap. Williams would
now go on to build a five car lead over Arnold just before Cole Nagle would spin in turn four
bringing out a caution. During the restart Mike Corbin would spin in turn four collecting Sam
Reeder and Davin Kaiser. We would go caution free for the remainder of the twenty five lap
event. Williams would build out to around a half of a straightaway lead before navigating lap
traffic on the next to last lap. Cody Williams would go on to take the win, followed by Ray Kable
and Chris Arnold.
The Limited Late Model Division would pull out onto the speedway next. Polesitter Austin Stover
would take the early lead followed by Jonathan DeHaven and James Lichliter. Stover and
DeHaven would pull ahead of Lichliter about six car lengths by the second lap. Lichliter would
maintain his speed and not let the pair pull away any farther for the next several laps. On lap
nine DeHaven would get a run on the inside of Stover and challenge for the lead as the pair
charged into turn one. Dehaven would pull ahead and take the lead as the pair exited turn two.
As this battle was going on Lichliter had started to close in on the leaders. Dehaven would begin
to pull away from Stover on lap ten, as Lichliter would close in on Stover. By lap twelve
DeHaven would pull out to an eight car length lead as Lichliter had now moved into the second
place position. Both DeHaven and Lichliter would now begin to pull away from the rest of the
field. DeHaven would pull ahead of Lichliter by around a half of a straightaway length. However
by lap eighteen Licliter had cut the lead down to three car lengths. The pair would find
themselves in lap traffic on lap twenty. Lichliter would use it to his advantage and slip past
DeHaven to take over the lead. DeHaven wasn’t going to go away easily. As on the next lap he
would also use the lap traffic to his advantage and regain the lead. DeHaven would once again
begin to pull away as the laps wound down. DeHaven would take the win followed by James
Lichliter and Austin Stover.
Our Hobby Stock Division would take center stage next. Jason Wilkins would take the early lead
and pace the field. As he would build out to a half of a straightaway lead over Cody Sumption by
the halfway point of the fifteen lap event. It would look as if Wilkins would cruise to victory until
Matt Moore would go for a spin on lap fourteen. This would make for a one lap shootout. On the
restart Sumption would pull alongside Wilkins as the pair charged into turn one. They would
battle side by side down the back straightaway in through turns three and four. It would make for
an exciting and very close battle on the last lap. Wilkins would use the momentum of the high
side to his advantage and take the win. Cody Sumption and Kristopher Hutton would round out
the top three. Wilkins would go on to say in victory lane that he wanted to thank Cody for racing
him clean, it was a fun last lap.
The final feature of the night would be for the SCDRA Division. Calamity on the back straight
away ensued on the initial start, as Jason Jarvis, Lonnie Hobday, and Andrew Hoffner would
race three wide resulting in Hoffner hitting the wall and Jarvis going for a spin. The next restart
would be a smoother one. Hobday would lead lap one followed by Javid Fairall and Dale Kirby.
Fairall would challenge Hobday on the inside for the lead on lap two. Hobday would hold onto
the lead and lead the third lap. However, Fairall wasn’t going to go away easily as he would
make another challenge for the lead, this time on the highside. He would use the momentum
this time to take over the top spot. Fairall would now begin to pull away from the field. He would
also find himself navigating lap traffic on the tenth lap. The only caution of the event would come
out on lap eleven as Shawn Payne would slow to the top of turn two. During this caution period
we would see Hobday who was currently in the second position go pitside with a mechanical
issue. On the restart Fairall would continue to lead and go on to win the fifteen lap event. Allen
Griffith and Jason Jarvis would round out the top three.
We want to thank everyone for coming out to the track this past weekend. Another big shoutout
to our awesome track crew for giving us such a smooth surface to race on. We look forward to
seeing you back this Saturday night for our first super late model event of the season.
Pure Stock Results
Buddy Wilson, Michael Carter, Walter Crouch, Tony Catlett, Tyler Gray, Tony Johnson,(DNF:
Trent Holmes, Delmar Grady, Brandon Lowery, Jerry Jenkins Jr, Jason Wilkins)(DNS: Michael
Rippeon)
UMP Modified Results
Cody Williams, Ray Kable, Chris Arnold, Justin Cullum, Cody Oliver, Alyssa Rowe, Josh
Hughes, Nick Dibella, Cole Nagle (DNF: Davin Kaiser, Mike Corbin, Sam Reeder, TJ DeHaven,
Steve Axtell, Roy Clower)
Limited Late Model Results
Jonathan DeHaven, James Lichliter, Austin Stover, Mike Franklin, Gerald Davis, Craig Parrill,
Matt Adams, Brad Omps, Branson Woodward, Dylan Rutherford, Charles Smith, Lucas Adams
(DNF: Bubby Tharp Jr)
Hobby Stock Results
Jason Wilkins, Cody Sumption, Kristopher Hutton, Robert Wilson, David Barb, Matt Moore,
Bubba Sealock (DNF: Skylar Barnart)
SCDRA Results
Javid Fairall, Allen Griffith, Jason Jarvis, Dale Kirby, Larry Lamb, Tyler Kline, Jason Kline, TIff
Wilson, (DNF: Lonnie Hobday, Shawn Payne, Wayne Selby, Stephen Suite, Brian Skelly, James
Furley, Andrew Hoffner)