Starstruck Report, Southside Speedway News and Notes from 7/17/09

The Starstruck Report, Southside Speedway News and notes from 7/17/2009

Hello friends and welcome to another edition of the Starstruck Report. It was a very warm and muggy night at the racetrack. As many of you heard, coolers are now allowed and many brought the extra water to stay hydrated during the races. There was some very intense action on the track and a story I thought I would never see. Let's go to the racing.

Modifieds 1 (30 laps):  Ryan Boggs (50) started this race on the pole. Lap 2, David Zimmer (55) went in the pits and parked for the remainder of the race. Lap 7, Mike Rudy (8) takes the lead. Lap 8, Michael Johnson (38) spins in backstretch. Lap 19, Stacey Wilbourne (23) spins in backstretch after contact with Scott Waters (22).  Waters (22) was blackflagged during this caution. First restart came off hard when Ryan Wilbourne (21) wrecked in the front stretch, which immediately brought out the caution. Lap 24, Chris Hoylman (37) spins in turn 3. Lap 28, Thomas Stinson (4) makes contact with Ryan Boggs (50). Boggs spins in turn 1 and Ryan Wilbourne (21) gets caught up in it. Mike Rudy (8) went to win this race. Here is the official running order.
1.          (8)       Mike Rudy
2. (19) Kyle Wood
3. (36) Chris Johnson
4. (20) Billy Morris
5. (38) Michael Johnson
6. (41) Alan Purser
7. (17) Irvin Bell
8. (21) Ryan Wilbourne
9. (43) Warren Lipford
10. (42) Chris Hoylman
11. (50) Ryan Boggs
12. (4) Thomas Stinson
13. (22) Scott Waters
14. (23) Stacey Wilbourne
15. (55) Dave Zimmer

Street Stock (50 laps): Note: cautions count in this division. Paul Clemmons (29) started this race on the pole. Michael Sutphin (25) was in the pits during the warm up laps. Lap 1, Herbert LaRue (26) spins in turn 1, but no caution was called.  Lap 3, Brian Smith (06) takes the lead. Lap 14, Ricky Stotler (92) spins in turn 4, no caution. Lap 18, Mike Ganoe (82) claims the lead. Lap 20, Paul Clemmons (29) and Herbert LaRue (26) get together in turn 2 bringing out the caution. Lap 23 was the restart. Lap 25, Chris Kantlzer (01) exits the race through the back pits. Lap 30, Robbie Groome (79) was blackflagged. Lap 32, Chris Jones (59) spins in turn 1, no caution was called.  Lap 37, Ricky Stotler (92) was blackflagged. Michael Sutphin (25) was in pits. Lap 43, Shawn Sutphin (15) and Paul Clemmons (29) got togehter in turn 3. No caution for this and the spin in lap 46. Mike Ganoe (82) got the checkered flag. The top 4 cars went to tech and all of them failed the inspection. This lead to Brian Smith (06) being declared the winner. Here is the finishing order.
1. (06) Brian Smith
2. (96) Alex Ayers
3. (13) Justin Dunkum
4. (17) Gary Turner
5. (97) James Loving
6. (911) Travis Nicely
7. (15) Shawn Sutphin
8. (81) Nicholas Hemesath
9. (70) Charles Thacker
10. (92) Ricky Stotler
11. (32) O. K. Wilson
12. (41) Jason Beck
13. (59) Chris Jones
14. (29) Paul Clemons
15. (79) Robbie Groome
16. (26) Herbert LaRue
17. (01) Chris Kantzler
18. (25) Michael Sutphin
19. (82) Mike Ganoe DQ
20. (35) Kevin Lee DQ
21. (08) Wayne Groome DQ
22. (69) Ethan Ayers DQ

Modified 2 (30 laps): Michael Johnson (38) started the race on the pole. However, Billy Morris (20) would lead the first lap. Lap 5, David Zimmer (55) brought the car in the pits. Lap 8, Chris Hoylman (37) makes contact with Alan Purser (41) in front stretch. The race went clean for the most part till lap 27, where Chris Johnson (36) and Michael Johnson (38) got together in turn 2. Billy Morris (20) claimed the win after leading the entire race. Here is the official finishing order.
1. (20) Billy Morris
2. (4) Thomas Stinson
3. (19) Kyle Wood
4. (8) Mike Rudy
5. (50) Ryan Boggs
6. (42) Chris Hoylman
7. (43) Warren Lipford
8. (41) Alan Purser
9. (17) Irvin Bell
10. (38) Michael Johnson
11. (36) Chris Johnson
12. (22) Scott Waters
13. (55) Dave Zimmer
14. (21) Ryan Wilbourne
15. (23) Stacey Wilbourne

MACKA (20 laps): Mike Mitchell (3) started this race on the pole. David Henderson (62) would lead the first lap. Lap 5, David Henderson (62) loses the lead when he spins in turn 1 and no caution was called. Stan Holmes (01) takes the lead. Lap 9, Brad Davis (18) takes the lead. Lap 10, caution came out when Buzz Moore (11) spins and was out of the race at this point. Lap 16, Stan Holmes (01) regains the lead. Holmes (01) would take the checkered flag. Here is the official finishing order.
1. (01) Stan Holmes
2. (38) Stanley Holmes
3. (18) Brad Davis
4. (12) Wesley Givens
5. (16) Wes Simmons
6. (8) Tommy Chambers
7. (3) Mike Mitchell
8. (62) David Henderson
9. (55) Ryland Craze
10. (28) Ricky Gum
11. (11) Buzz Moore

Ucar (25 laps): Jason Marshall (57) started this race on the pole.  Lap 2, Mike Shiflett (12) goes in the pits. Lap 10, Chris Farmer (52) and Albert Lamont (07) spins around turn 2. Thist would be the only caution of the race while business picked up hard for position. Jason Marshall (57) would claim the checkered flag. Here is the finishing order.
1. (57) Jason Marshall
2. (99) Daniel Thomas
3. (91) Frank Silva
4. (24) Lauren Edgerton
5. (87) Austin Dodge
6. (18) Mike Chapman
7. (77) Michael Harper
8. (3) Charlie Simons
9. (34) Bryan Scott
10. (92) Rusty Bennett
11. (4) David Blankenship
12. (22) Timmy Mixell
13. (6) Corey Lawrence
14. (88) Wes Simons
15. (5) Jody Young
16. (07) Albert Lamont
17. (09) David Gonce
18. (52) Chris Farmer
19. (12) Mike Shiflett
20. (04) Jamie Hite

Modifieds 3 (30 laps): Mike Rudy (8) started this race on the pole. Lap 9, Chris Hoylman (37) and Ryan Boggs (50) get together in turn one. Lap 12, Thomas Stinson (4) takes the lead. The race would remain clean and Stinson (4) claims the checkered flag.
1. (4) Thomas Stinson
2. (8) Mike Rudy
3. (36) Chris Johnson
4. (19) Kyle Wood
5. (20) Billy Morris
6. (43) Warren Lipford
7. (38) Michael Johnson
8. (41) Alan Purser
9. (42) Chris Hoylman
10. (55) Dave Zimmer
11. (17) Irvin Bell
12. (50) Ryan Boggs
13. (22) Scott Waters
14. (23) Stacey Wilbourne
15. (21) Ryan Wilbourne

Now it's time to analyze what happened in the races.

Performance of the week: Stan Holmes (MACKA 01) takes this one for his win. He fell backwards and got enough of a draft to hang on to win. Honorable mentions goes to Jason Marshall (Ucar 57) and Mike Rudy (8) for their performances this week.

Tough Luck award modifieds: Ryan Boggs (50) gets the nod this week for being involved in two cautions in the three races. It was a really tough night for him after starting the first race on the pole. The Wilbournes (21 and 23) get an honorable mention. It's been a tough season for them all year.

Tough luck Street Stock: This was easier, I am giving this to the ones who finished in the top 4 in this division. This was the first time I have ever seen all the cars that went to tech disqualified for illegal parts. In many ways, this was the big story of the night. Brian Smith (06) was awarded the victory as the 5th place car.

Tough Luck MACKA: David Henderson (62) wins this one. He was leading the race and spun out in turn 1 to bring out the caution and the lead went to the eventual race winner Stan Holmes (01).

Tough luck Ucar: The award goes to Chris Farmer (52) and Albert Lamont (07) for being the only caution in this race.

Points races: The modifieds have a new points leader. Billy Morris (20) now leads defending champion Thomas Stinson (4) by 80 points. This is heating up to be the race to watch this year. This race is the tightest one so far. Chris Dodson (0) leads the Late Model Sportsman series over Brandon Hendrick (39) by 120 points. Grand Stock is also the same margin where Mark Simpson (35) is leading over Donnie Newman (69). In this race, you can have a relatively new driver win the race or some like Newman (69) who has come close the last few years. Mike Chapman (18) leads the Ucar division over Daniel Thomas (99) by 280 points. This is the largest margin any points leader has at Southside this year. James Loving (97) is the new points leader by 120 points over Brian Smith (06). The former leader Mike Ganoe (82) fell back to 4th due to the disqualification. Brad Davis (18) leads MACKA by 120 points over Stanley Holmes (38). Only the Ucar division appears to be close to being already decided. This could be the most competitive summer we have had in a long time.

Looking ahead: The next race will be July 24th and will feature twin 30's for the Grand Stock and twin 50's for the Late Model Sportsman division. The Ucars will also be featured in 25 lap action. The points races are heating up so buy your tickets. That is all for now and I will see you at the races.

*Larry Starstruck*