The Starstruck Report

Hello again friends and welcome to another edition of the Starstruck report. It was Friday the 13th at the old Speedway and weatherwise a very comfortable night to watch racing. With the date, you wondered if it would truly be an unlucky night for one or more of the drivers. As always, I will let you decide that as you read the results. Let's go to the action.

Late Model Sportsman: The night started with the LMS division. The last few races, we had been seeing them run twin 50's and tonite was more of a treat going a full 100 laps straight. I think this may be the format the rest of the year or atleast it should be. Doug Godsey (05) ran the fastest lap in qualifying. However, we inverted the top 7 of the race again and Bugs Hairfield (04) would start the race on the pole. The first start was called back. It appeared that Charles Lamb (5) had some damage. Note: This car is usually driven by Jason Pittman and the PA announcer also thought it was Pittman in the car. The second restart was a little wild. Lap 3, Chris Hopkins (43) saw the blackflag for a passenger side fender hanging which would end up being served under caution. J B Poates (88) had some contact with Brandon Hendrick (55) in the front stretch. Brad Davis (18) would go in the pits during this caution. Lap 5, Alan Purser (17) and Bubba Hubbard (14) wreck around turn two. Greg Fernandez (02) was almost involved. Hubbard (14) had the most damage with the hood in. Poates (88) would find himself in the pits during this caution. Lap 11, Hubbard (14) would go in the pits. Lap 15, Roy Hendrick (39) takes the lead from Bugs Hairfield (04). Lap 23 saw a caution called for an incident in turn 2. Lap 29, J B Poates  (88) hit very hard in turn 2 but continued in the race. Brad Davis (18) was in the pits during this caution. Lap 30, David Mooney (13) hit the wall very hard in turn 1 and would not return to the race. Lap 34 had one of the hard hits of the night when Doug Godsey (05) and J B Poates (88) made contact and Poates (88) hit very hard in the front stretch wall. Sonny Allen (20) would retire from the race during this caution. Lap 61 saw Bugs Hairfield (04) retire from the race and Charles Lamb (5) was also in the pits. Lap 69, Doug Godsey (05) makes contact with Russ Ellis (6) in turn 1. Godsey would retire from the race. After the race, Godsey (05) said he had brake failure. Lap 70, Jeff Oakley retires from the race and as he does, Wayne Patterson (16) hits the wall hard in turn 3. Lap 73 saw Brad Davis (18) return to the pits. The race would stay clean and green after this. Roy Hendrick (39) would make the trip to victory lane holding off a very strong challenge from Shane Lockhart (11). Eddie Johnson (59) would be DQed in this race for having his car too light. Here is the official finishing order. 1. Roy Hendrick #39 2. Shayne Lockhart #11 3. Chris Hopkins #43 4. Chris Dodson #0 5. Greg Fernandez #02 6. Rob Jenkins #89 7. Alan Purser #17 8. J. B. Poates #88 9. Russ Ellis #6 10. Brandon Hendrick #55 11. Wayne Patterson #16 12. Brad Davis #18 13. Jeff Oakley #15 14. Bubba Hubbard #14 15. Doug Godsey #05 16. Bugs Hairfield #04 17. Charles Lamb #5 18. Sonny Allen #20 19. David Mooney #13 20. Eddie Johnson #59 (DQ)

Street Stock: For a street stock race, this was very clean and green. Only one caution was called. James Loving (97) started this race on the pole.  Lap 2, John Foster (73) was blackflagged for jumping the restart. He also had complaints on the official's channel of passing below the rumble strips. Lap 6, Ethan Ayers (69) was off pace. No caution was called. Keep in mind, in this division, you almost have to have a car blocking the track to get one called. Lap 11, O K Wilson (32) and Melvin Brown (63) were all given blackflags. Lap 17, John Kantzler (00) was in the pits. He had his car smoking pretty bad. Lap 27, Robbie Groome (79) was blackflagged for a flat tire. Lap 32 brought out the first and only caution when Herbert LaRue (26) hit hard in turn 1. The cleanup got extensive with fluid so a red flag was shown at lap 36. Lap 38, the race restarted. Keep in mind, caution laps count in this division. Lap 39, Mike Ganoe (82) spins and it appeared at first some contact with Larry Lamb (71). However, Lamb (71) had no damage to his car and mentioned after the race that eh wouldn't race Ganoe (82) like that. Lap 42, Mike Harris (30) and Michael Sutphin (25) had contact in turn 2 and no caution was called. James Loving (97) would win this race leading flag to flag. Here is the official finishing order. 1. James Loving #97 2. Larry Lamb #71 3. Dan Crate #1 4. Mike Ganoe #82 5. Wayne Groome #08 6. Alex Ayers #96 7. Kevin Lee #35 8. Kevin Brown #53 9. Ricky Statler #92 10. Brian Smith #06 11. Timmy Tiblis #72 12. James Groome #31 13. Kyle Chittum #12 14. Justin Dunkum #13 15. Bobby Corbitt #58 16. Michael Sutphin #25 17. Chris Bryant #6 18. Brad Diggs #95 19. John Foster, Jr. #73 20. Travis Nicely #911 21. Patrick Seheneuk #74 22. James Smith #28 23. Jeff Arnett #07 24. Mike Harris #30 25. O. K. Wilson #32 26. Bobbie Groome #79 27. Herbert LaRue #26 28. John Kantzler #00 29. Melvin Brown #63 30. Ethan Ayers #69

Ucar: This division finished off the racing program that evening. George Dickson (19) started the race in the pits. Lap 4, the caution came out with Daniel Thomas (99) hitting in turn 3. Will Collins (0) would go in the pits during this caution. Lap 6, Steve Thomas (7) and  David Gonce (09) get together in turn 1 bringing out a caution. Will Collins (0) and David Kernn (78) make contact wtih them as well. They had no where to go. Billy Enroughty was blackflagged during this caution. Lap 7, Michael Hall (911) almost spins in turn 2, no caution. Lap 12, caution came out as Butch Mixell (22) was off the pace. Lap 14, Damon Fender (13) makes contact with Renna Marchetti IV (01) and they almost spin, no caution. Good save by both drivers. George Dickson (19) would hold on to win this race. David Gonce (09) spun in the front stretch right after being shown the caution flag. Here is the official finishing order. 1. George Dickson #19 2. Frank Silva #91 3. Renno Marchetti IV #01 4. Lindsay Bryant #81 5. Michael Hall #9 6. Mike Chapman #18 7. Mike Shiflett #12 8. Daniel Thomas #99 9. Billy Enroughty #90 10. Damon Fender #13 11. Joshua Thomas #72 12. Lauren Edgerton #24 13. Steve Thomas #7 14. Will collins #0 15. David Gonce #09 16. Ronnie Martin #21 17. Jordan Bell #11 18. Butch Mixell #22 19. Charlie Simons #2 20. David Kernn #78 21. Corey Lawrence #6
Now, let's have a little fun and analyze these races.

Sportsman of the week: When Russ Ellis, who usually drives 07, had car trouble, Shannon Marano (6) stepped in and let Ellis drive his car. Keep in mind, Marano isn't driving for points like Ellis is. However, it's nice to see sportsman like gestures to keep someone alive in the points race.

Performance of the week:  To be honest, all of our winners were very impressive this week. I had a hard time picking this one. I am going to give this award to George Dickson (Ucar 19). He won his race flag to flag. In the first 3 races of the season, he had a fast car and ended up with mechanical failures. Congratulations to Dickson (19) on the turn around. Honorable mention goes to Roy Hendrick ( LMS 39) for the same reasons.

Tough Luck Late Model Sportsman: J B Poates (88) was involved in several cautions and this landed him the award. Honorable mention would go to Bugs Hairfield (04) who went from leading the race to a DNF.

Tough Luck Street Stock: For such a clean race, this was hard to call. I think I would almost have to go with Mike Ganoe (82) who  had been dominate and a late spin kept him from winning this race and remaining the only winning driver for this division.

Tough Luck Ucar: This race was very clean and green too so it was a little bit harder to call. However, I think that early caution for Daniel Thomas (99) may have slowed his momentum to the front and would lean in that direction since he has been very competitive every week.

Whispers in the pits: I was glad to have more information on former Legends champion Cameron Patrick. I was informed by one source he is driving the same car Mike Rudy piloted to a runner up position in last year's modified season. There is talk of the Legends returning to Southside Speedway if there is enough fan interest shown. Let me start by putting my name on record and saying, I would love to see the Legends cars return. I think the track made a huge mistake when the eliminated that division from the schedule. Lindsay Bryant (81 Ucar) is also running a pro six car at Langley Speedway. Former modified competitor A J Winstead (99) is leading the points in the Rolling Thunder Modified Tour. Other familiar names would include Aubrey Thurston (21) who is currently 3rd in points, Billy Morris (running 55 on tour), Chris Hoylman (42),  Irvin Bell (11), Allen Marshall (17), David Kendall (3 on tour) and Michael Johnson (38). A Southside Speedway fan would have plenty to cheer for if they were to catch this tour.

Thoughts on season so far: The Late Model Sportsman division has truly been a legends resurgence. Local legends Roy Hendrick (39), Shane Lockhart (11) and Eddie Johnson (59) have all posted wins. Wayne Patterson (16) came back this year as well after a long absence. Thomas Stinson (4) appears to be the class of the field in modifieds this year again. He is currenly running for his 5th consecutive championship. Imagine this, a half a decade of dominance in one division. However, I see Chris Johnson (36) and Kyle Wood (19) being in the battle for points come September. Grand Stock will be a very close points race. A&M Motorsports and Chris Hott (01) have not been as dominate despite leading. Daniel Shelton (27) and Jamie Neely (77) have been consistently fast each week. Those two may be the cars to watch this year. Hott (01) right now is still the car to beat. Keep in mind, A&M Motorsports has had champions the last 5 years and spread over 3 drivers. Other than Stinson's team in modifieds, they are the most consistent race team at Southside. Ucar continues to have what may be the biggest historical story for the track. Do we have a woman like Lindsay Bryant (81) or Lauren Edgerton (24) be the first female track champion or does the rookie Renna Marchetti IV take the trophy. Either way it's a big historical moment. As far as I know, we haven't had a woman as champion or a rookie in any division.

Looking ahead: Racing will return to Southside Speedway next Friday night. The action will include twin 50's for modifieds, Ucars, Grandstock and an appearance by MACKA. Personally, I wish they would have modifieds run a full 100 laps too but the season isn't over yet.

Thank you again for joining me and taking time to let me tell you a story. As always, my thank you goes out to the drivers without whom, I wouldn't have a story to tell each week. I have grown to appreciate all of them over time as they go out of their way to put on a show for the fans each week. Till next time, this is Larry Starstruck saying, I will see you at the races.
*Larry Starstruck*