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Posted: 04/25/09
04:45 PM
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The Starstruck Report, News and notes from 4/25/09
Hello friends and welcome again to another edition to the Starstruck Report. This last Friday was a nice day to watch a race with perfect weather to sit in the stands. The track is keeping it's commitment to being a family oriented show by adding some entertainment like a hula hoop contest. The action was great and one race had the best finish I have seen in a race at Southside in a long time. Let's go to the action.
Modifieds 1 (50 laps): Mike Johnson (38) started this race on the pole. On the first attempt at a start, Ryan Wilbourne (21) had his roof come out around turn 1. They ran several caution laps, letting Wilbourne get his roof taped up and get back in the race. Lap 2, Caution came out when Alan Purser (41) spun in turn 2. Lap 7, caution was called when Rusty Wood (57) hit hard around the front stretch. Lap 25, Billy Morris (20) takes the lead. Scott Waters (22) was in the pits during this lap. Waters (22) wouldn't return to the race and Brooks Lawson drove the car in the second race. Lap 29, Mike Rudy (8) was in the pits. Lap 31, Stacey Wilbourne (23) was in the pits and retired from the race. Billy Morris (20) would hold on to take the checkered flag at lap 50. Here are the official results. 1. (20) Billy Morris 2. (36) Chris Johnson 3.(4) Thomas Stinson 4. (38) Michael Johnson 5. (19) Kyle Wood 6. (50) Ryan Boggs 7. (21) Ryan Wilbourne 8. (57) Rusty Wood 9. (41) Alan Purser 10. (8) Mike Rudy 11. (23) Stacey Wilbourne 12. (22) Scott Waters
Ucar (25 laps): Justin Groome (82) started this race on the pole. Tony Mills (61) took the lead on the first lap right at the line. Lap 3, Lauren Edgerton (24) took the lead. Lap 5, Justin Groome (82) was blackflagged. Lap 16, caution came out. Mike Hall (57) appeared to be off the pace and Jody Young (5) hit the wall hard in turn 2. Lap 17, Charlie Simons (3) got into the back of the leader Lauren Edgerton (24) and she spun in turn 2. Both cars were sent to the back in this caution. Mike Champman (18) took the lead. David Kerns (78) was blackflagged during the caution. Lap 23, Rusty Bennett (92) appeared to be off the pace and no caution was called. Mike Chapman (18) held on for the checkered flag taking his second win in as many races this season. Brian Scott (34) ran a very close second. Right now, Mike Champman (18) is looking to be an early favorite for the points championship. Brian Scott (34) will atleast contend for rookie of the year. Depding on how this all plays out in the end, Scott (34) would have the type of year last year's champion and rookie, Renna Marchetti IV (01) had. Here are the official results. 1. (18) Mike Chapman 2. (34) Bryan Scott 3. (99) Daniel Thomas 4. (87)Austin Dodge 5. (91) Frank Silva 6. (77) Michael Harper 7. (71) Lindsay Bryant 8. (5)Jody Young 9. (04) Jamie Hite 10. (3) Charlie Simons 11. (12)Mike Shiflett 12. (24) Lauren Edgerton 13. (09) David Gonce 14. (78) David Kerns 15. (22) Timmy Mixell 16. (88) Wes Simons 17. (92) Rusty Bennett 18.(40) Marty Whitlock 19. (6) Corey Lawrence 20. (33) Ryan Garrett 21. (17)Jordan Bell 22. (61) Tony Mills 23. (82) Justin Groome 24. (57) Mike R. Hall 25. (7) Steve Thomas
Modifieds race 2 (50 laps): On the redraw, we inverted the first 7 cars from the first race. Therefore, first race winner, Billy Morris (20), started 7th and Kyle Wood (19) started this race on the pole. Lap 2, Brooks Lawson (22) went in the pits for what they believed at the time was an electrical problem. Lap 8, Mike Rudy (8) brings out caution by spinning in turn 2. Lap 14, Billy Morris (20) makes an incredible save by keeping the car out of the wall in turn 4. However, his car did appear to be lose for the rest of the race. Lap 26, Caution comes out when Ryan Boggs (50) comes in contact with Ryan Wilbourne (21). Both cars end up in the back. Lap 30, Ryan Wilbourne (21) brings out the caution when he gets a tire down and hits very hard in the wall in the backstretch. Lap 47, Billy Morris (20) and Chris Johnson (36) were racing side by side and made contact. Johnson (36) spins in turn 4 bring out the caution. Morris (20) wasn't sent to the back since it was side by side and the booth ruled it a racing incident. Lap 50, Wood (19) had lead the race all the way till Thomas Stinson (4) got side by side with him in the backstretch. They remained side by side in turn 4. Stinson (4) crossed the line first by a nose. What a finish. Those guys were racing each other hard the whole race. 1. (4) Thomas Stinson 2. (19) Kyle Wood 3. (20) Billy Morris 4. (57) Rusty Wood 5. (8) Mike Rudy 6. (38) Michael Johnson 7. (50) Ryan Boggs 8. (41)Alan Purser 9. (36) Chris Johnson 10. (23) Stacey Wilbourne 11. (21) Ryan Wilbourne 12. (22) Brooks Lawson
Street Stock (50 laps): James Groome (31) started this race on the pole. Keep in mind, all laps count in this division. Lap 3, Justin Dunkum (13) took the lead. Lap 7, Shawn Sutphin (15) spins in turn 4, no caution was called. Lap 9, Ethan Ayers (69) takes the lead. Lap 11, Matt Bryant (58) brings out the caution in turn 4. The race restarted on lap 15. Lap 16, Bryant (58) car seemed off pace and smoking, no caution was called. Lap 17, Mike Ganoe (82) takes the lead. Lap 18, 4 cars were in a wreck in turn 2 including Chris Kantzler (01) and Gary Turner (17). Turner (17) lost a wheel. The clean up lead to a red flag at lap 20. The race was restarted at lap 22. Lap 23, 4 cars hit hard in turn 4, no caution was called. Lap 30, the cross over gate seemed unlatched and this brought out a caution. Lap 35, the race was restarted. Lap 42, Wayne Groome (08) was blackflagged and parked for the race. Ganoe (82) would hang on to take the checkered flag for the third time this season in as many races. Ethan Ayers (69) was DQed in tech. 1. (82) Mike Ganoe 2. (06) Brian Smith 3. (96) Alex Ayers 4. (13) Justin Dunkum 5. (97) James Loving 6. (92) Ricky Stotler 7. (31) James Groome 8. (79) Robbie Groome 8. (81) Nicholas Hemesath 9. (4) Ed Barrell 10. (32) O. K. Wilson 11. (911) Travis Nicely 12. (01) Chris Kantzler 13. (08) Wayne Groome 14. (29) Paul Clemons 15. (17) Gary Turner 16. (25) Michael Sutphin 17. (58) Matt Bryant 18. (15) Shawn Sutphin 19. (69) Ethan Ayers DQ.
This made for a great night of racing. Now let's give out awards and some notes from the pits.
Familiar names on the road: Cameron Patrick (Legends 20) has been at Langley the last couple of seasons driving a modified. In time, there could always be a chance we see him return to Southside in the modfied division. Lindsay Bryant (Ucar 71) has also ran at Langley in the Pro Six division with the familiar paint scheme and car number 81.
Tough luck award modifieds: Ryan Wilbourne's (21) night was a nightmare from the first lap of the first race. From having the roof come up in the first race to blowing a tire and hitting the wall hard in the second race, it's hard to name anyone else in the division that had worse luck. Yes, he wins the award for both modified races.
Tough luck award Ucar: Lauren Edgerton (24) takes this award for being spun while in the lead. She had a strong car but the contact with Charlie Simons (3) was unfortunate. Simons (3) would be the runner up for this award since he also had a car to win.
Tough luck award Street Stock: Gary Turner (17) takes this award for the caution where he lost a tire.
Performance of the night: I am still buzzing at the last lap of the second modified race. Stinson (4) and Wood (19) side by side out of turn 4 is hard to turn down for the award. I wish I got to write about finishes like that more often. Honorable mention goes to Mike Ganoe (82) going all the way through the Street Stock field and Brian Scott's (34) charge to towards the front in the Ucar race.
Sportsman award: Thomas Stinson (4) gave his winner's trophy to Greg Fernandez's mother and made her day. This was truly a classy move by Stinson (4) who has won many races at Southside and on tour.
Looking ahead: There will be no Starstruck Report next week since I am unable to attend next weeks race. However, if you can make it, it's the biggest race at Southside this year. The Grand Stocks will race on a night headlined by 175 laps of Late Model Sportsman. Denny Hamlin, Curtis Markham, Kyle Busch and Tony Stewart are all slated to run this year. Bobby Allison will also return as Grand Marshall this year. Tickets are $20. That's all for now. I will see you at the races.
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