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Posted: 05/16/10
04:00 PM
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The Starstruck Report-May 14, 2010
Hello again friends and welcome to another edition of the Starstruck Report. I am a little late this week but I was also attending Langley this week and will comment on it in the commentary. We had some famaliar names race at Langley this week. This past Friday was a cool night and we were racing the weather all night. There was talk of storms in the area and also a sign the weather could come at any time. It finally did to end the second modified race and came hard. Pea size hail came with the heavy rains in this hit or miss storm. All the races had double file restarts.
Modifieds 1 (50 laps): Mike Rudy (8) was the fastest lap in this division. Alan Purser (41) won the pole on the redraw. The first start was called back. Greg Fernandez (34) took the lead on the first lap. Purser (41) would regain the lead on lap 3. On lap 8, Thomas Stinson (4) took the lead. The race stayed mostly green and Tim Layne (22) made pit stops on laps 16 and 24. The first caution came out on lap 26, when Alan Purser (41) got lose and smoked in the front stretch. During this caution, Greg Fernandez (34) would get a blackflag to remove some sheet metal from the back. The race remained green with Layne (22) making a pit stop on lap 28 and Greg Fernandez (34) making one on lap 32. Thomas Stinson claimed the checkered flag. Here is how they finished. 1. (4) Thomas Stinson 2. (36) Chris Johnson 3. (38) Michael Johnson 4. (8) Mike Rudy 5. (37)Chris Hoylman 6. (19) Kyle Wood 7. (23) Stacey Wilbourne 8. (21) Ryan Wilbourne 9. (34)Greg Fernandez 10. (41) Alan Purser 11. (22) Tim Layne
Champ Karts (20 laps): Randy Emory (00) started this race on the pole. Josh Barefoot (88) was off pace during the warm up hot laps. They made one attempt to start the race and David Emory (22) took the lead. However this start was called back when several cars wrecked on the front stretch. Daniel Davis (12) had flipped during this pile up. They tried doing the restart and Derek MacCauley (21) took the lead. Lap 6, Clint Gunn (02) went in the pits. Lap 14, J D Eversole (98) went in the pits. On lap 15, Buzz Moore (11) took the lead. Moore (11) would take the checkered flag. There was a fear during this race that the karts may not have had enough gas to finish but that didn't transpire. 1. (11) Buzz Moore 2. (55) Mark Claytor 3. (2) Mitch Bartholomew 4. (22) David Emory 5. (21) Derek MacCauley 6. (28) Ricky Gum 7. (00) Randy Emory 8. (01) Stan Holmes 9. (88) Josh Barefoot 10. (38) Stanley Holmes 11. (66) Tanner Aman 12. (18) Brad Davis 13. (8) Tommy Chambers 14. (02) Clint Gunn 15. (98) J. D. Eversole 16. (4) Kenny Miller 17. (16) Wes Simmons 18. (12) Daniel Davis
Grand Stock (50 laps): Tommy Tatum (62) was on the pole for one of this divisions longest race of the year. On lap 6, the caution came out when Doug Fields (44) came in contact with Bill Nixon (49) on the backstretch. On lap 12, Cory Willoughby (7) went in the pits. Lap 36, the caution came out when James Overton (36) spun in the backstretch. Donnie Newman (69) was in the pits during this caution. On lap 37, Daniel Shelton (27) hits Donnie Newman in turn 2 bringing out the caution. Doug Fields (44) was the lucky dog for this caution. Tommy Tatum (62) would claim the checkered flag. 1. (62) Tommy Tatum 2. (36) Mark Simpson 3. (3) Brian Myslivy 4. (84)Shawn Hopkins 5. (69) Donnie Newman 6. (27) Daniel Shelton 7. (98) J. D. Eversole 8. (01) Chris Hott 9. (47) Kevin Wilson 10. (11) Woody Ellington 11. (49) Bill Nixon 12. (44) Doug Fields 13. (43) Robert Lipford 14. (15)James Overton 15. (7) Cory Willoughby
Ucar (25 laps): Charlie Simons (3) started this race on the pole. On lap 5, Daniel Thomas (99) would take the lead. On lap 8, Jamie Hite (12) made a pit stop. On lap 12, Jason Marshall (94) spun in the front stretch. David Blankenship (4) won the lucky dog. On lap 15, David Kerns (78) took the lead and never looked back. On lap 23, David Gonce (09) made a pit stop. 1. (78) David Kerns 2. (18) Mike Chapman 3. (99) Daniel Thomas 4. (3)Charlie Simons 5. (91) Frank Silva 6. (87) Austin Dodge 7. (34) Bryan Scott 8. (92) Rusty Bennett 9. (6) Corey Lawrence 10. (72) Josh Thomas 11. (61) Tony Mills 12. (44) Shawn Hendricks 13. (77) Michael Harper 14. (36) Andrew Condrey 15. (5) Jody Young 16. (21) Jonathan Doane 17. (4)David Blankenship 18. (09) David Gonce 19. (94) Jason Marshall 20. (17)Mark Richards 21. (12) Jamie Hite
Modified 2 (50 laps): Ryan Wilbourne (21) started this race on the pole since Alan Purser (41) couldn't start. Lap 1, Greg Fernandez (34) took the lead. Lap 19, Stacey Wilbourne (23) wrecked on the front stretch. Kyle Wood (19) would gain the lead on the restart. Lap 29, Mike Rudy (8) and Thomas Stinson (4) make contact and Stinson (4) spins in the front stretch. It was ruled that Mike Rudy (8) had no where to go and kept his spot since it was ruled a racing incident. On lap 38, the caution flag waved for Chris Johnson (36). On lap 39, Mike Rudy took the lead. Lap 45, we had our last caution when Ryan Wilbourne (21) and Chris Hoylman (37) wrecked in turn 4. By this point, the rains started pouring down and the race would be called at lap 45. 1. (8) Mike Rudy 2. (38) Michael Johnson 3. (4) Thomas Stinson 4. (19) Kyle Wood 5. (36) Chris Johnson 6. (23) Stacey Wilbourne 7. (34) Greg Fernandez 8. (22) Tim Layne 9. (37) Chris Hoylman 10. (21) Ryan Wilbourne 11. (41) Alan Purser
Now let's analzye these races.
Tough luck modifieds: Alan Purser (41) gets the nod this week. He would have been on the pole for both races if he was able to start in the second one. Instead, his night could be summed up as two poles but two DNF's.
Tough luck Champ Karts: Daniel Davis (12) had the worst night. He was caught up in the first accident when they tried to start the race and ended up flipping over.
Tough Luck Grand Stock: Donnie Newman (69) gets the nod this week. He had an early pit stop and the contact with Daniel Shelton (27) seemed to have sealed his fate from having a chance to win this week.
Tough luck Ucar: Since this race was mostly green, I am not sure who I can give this one to except maybe Jamie Hite (12) who's fate was sealed by an early race pit stop.
Cone Restarts: This was one of the best rule changes that Southside Speedway has made this year. It makes the races more competitive. Each driver has a choice where they can start the race on the inside or outside. They have to commit at the start finish line and yes, a last place car could end up near the front if everyone else stays on the inside. The restarts do become more exciting and best of all, it's consistent with the other Nascar sanctioned tracks in the area.
Familiar names on the road: Thomas Stinson (4) finished 3rd in Langley's modified event. Former track champ Rusty Wood (69) finished second. In the pro six, Lindsay Bryant (81) was second to Matt Mullins (54) in that event. Eddie Johnson (driving 57) finished 11th in the late model race at South Boston. Brian Pemberton (00) had two second place finishes in the limited sportsman division at South Boston Speedway.
Flashback: In 1961, Junior Johnson, first ballot hall of famer, won the first Nascar Grand National event at Southside Speedway. Johnson had lapped the entire field of 19 cars. Richard Petty, another first ballot hall of famer, never won at Southside Speedway and his strongest finish in the 4 Grand National races was second. However, Petty does have win at other Virginia tracks like South Boston and Langley.
Looking ahead: We have an event co headlined by Late Model Sportsman (75 laps) and Modifieds (50 laps). Street Stock (50 laps) and Champ Karts (20 laps) will also see action. That's all for now. I will see you at races.
*Larry Starstruck*
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