Monday, October 6, 2003 Owen Winner In Bronson Modifieds Gordon Brown Wins Figure 8’s! By Rick Warren Gene Owen, who recently took the lead in driver points in the modified division at Bronson Motor Speedway, added to his lead Saturday night. The field of Modified racers was shortened by several crashes in the heat race, but the remaining racers were still ready to rock and roll when feature time rolled around. The start of the race saw pole sitter Monty Morgan sent to the rear of the field for jumping the start two times in a row. The subsequent restart saw Owen on the pole, and when the green flag waved once more, Owen took the lead, and was virtually unchallenged for the win. The race for second, however, was far from dull. Buddy Hughes, Kyle Owen, and Morgan were involved in a battle royal, that saw several passes and lots of contact between the racers. At one point, the cars of Kyle Owen and Morgan made significant contact off turn 4, causing Morgan to pit with a flat left rear tire. The race ended with Owen claiming the victory, followed by Buddy Hughes and Kyle Owen. The Figure 8 Racers were back in town, and as expected these guys put on a wild show. The race started with Ronnie Powell taking the early lead, with loads of pressure being applied to his rear bumper by Robbie Powell and Gordon Brown and Ronnie Schriefels. On lap 2, Robbie Powell worked under Ronnie Powell in turn 3, and with Ronnie Powell hung on the outside, the pack shuffled Ronnie Powell way back. Robbie Powell appeared to be cruising to victory as Brown, (who was driving the car normally driven by Ethan Nistor), and Schreifels were having were engaged in a fierce battle for second position. Midway thru the feature, the 25 car of Powell developed a serious miss coming off the turns, and his lead was shrinking as the racers of Brown and Schreifels were still in serious pursuit. With only a few laps remaining, Brown and Schreifels were all over the rear bumper of Powell’s ill running racer, when Powell’s luck ran out. Powell’s car quit off turn 3, and Brown went by Powell to assume the lead. The final laps saw Schreifels mount a furious charge on Brown, but Brown had enough car to hold on for the win. Third went to Rick Botts. The Sportsman feature saw lot’s of excitement as well. With Rob Cooper, Arthur Conquest and Doc Batson starting on the front, the fans were primed for a real dogfight. The big shoot out never took place, however, as on lap 2 with Conquest outside of Cooper in turn 1, Conquest got loose and slightly sideways, and made contact with Batson, who was looking for a way around the two cars on the front row. The contact caused Conquest to slide toward the wall, but manage to get stopped before actually hitting the wall. Batson was forced to retire from the race with suspension damage to the right front of his racer. On the restart, with Cooper on the front and Conquest on the rear, there was action from one end of the track to the other. Cooper was out front cruising, followed by Kimbo VanAernam, while Conquest was coming thru the pack like a man on a mission. Conquest finally cleared traffic and took second place with 6 laps remaining, but Cooper had opened a big lead. Conquest was making up ground on the leader, but the checkered flag waved before Conquest could challenge for the lead. The Pure Stock feature saw Krystal Batson return to the winners circle after holding off a hard charging Bobby Johnson for most of the race. The race was red flagged early on, as Tommy Ausburn lost a motor on the front straight, and the oil and water on the track, caused major problems for most of the field. Joey Hunt, running right behind Ausburn, suffered the worst damage, with a BIG hit into the turn 1 wall. Fortunately, Joey escaped from his mangled racer with only a sore shoulder. After extensive track cleanup, the race resumed with Batson and Johnson putting on a great display of close racing and good sportsmanship. They finished in that order, with Batson holding on for a ½ car length win. Third went to Mike Baker. The Mini Stock Feature went to Clint Foley, who started on the front row, and was never challenged for the win. Foley, who won last weeks FMCS race, said in victory lane that his car was super, and he can’t wait for the FMSC series to return to Bronson. Second went to hard charger Dave Westrich, followed by last weeks winner Billy Smith. V-8 Bomber action had Kevin Hodge holding off Mike Carr for the win, and 4 Cyl Bomber action had Bubba Durbin winning #3 in a row. FINAL RESULTS 10-04-03 Modifieds 1. #11 Gene Owen 2. #14 Buddy Hughes 3. # 1 Kyle Owen 4. #46 Monty Morgan Figure 8 1. #27 Gordon Brown 2. #64 Ronnie Schreifels 3. #70 Rick Botts 4. #25 Robbie Powell 5. # 6 Robert Aaron Sportsman 1. #98 Rob Cooper 2. #78 Arthur Conquest 3. #69 Kimbo VanAernam 4. #47 Al Bouchard 5. #07 Frank Buchanan Pure Stock 1. # 4 Krystal Batson 2. #16 Bobby Johnson 3. #02 Michael Baker 4. # 0 William Long 5. #66 Bobby Taylor Mini Stock 1. # 7 Clint Foley 2. #38 Dave Westrich 3. #00 Billy Smith 4. #60 Tom Jones 5. # 8 Ronnie Hicks V-8 Bomber 1. #37 Kevin Hodge 2. #46 Michael Carr 3. #27 Andy Taylor 4. #96 Emmitt Bottoms 5. #8 Reed Gard 4Cyl Bomber 1. #33 Justin Durbin 2. #72 Terry Dunbar 3. #20 Jeff Pittsley 4. #23 John Hagans 5. #64 Clark Pittsley Have an opinion on this story? 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