| Bronson Fans Love Their School Buses | By Rick Warren
Mother Nature threatened and rumbled, but she held off the rains long enough for a full night of racing Saturday night at Bronson Motor Speedway.
The stands were packed in anticipation of some great racing, topped off by the school buses racing on the figure 8 track. No one was disappointed , and the racing was wild! The heat races went quickly, with only a few brief cautions, but as it turned out, this was the calm before the storm.
The Open Wheel Modifieds were first on the slate for their feature. When the green flag waved, Chip Owen powered to the early lead, followed by Gene Owen and Kevin Durden. Lap 4 saw the caution displayed for a multi car incident off turn 2.
The 92 of Steve Perez, the 86 of W.L. Busbee, and the 0 of Glen Ervin all made contact with the wall. The car of Perez almost achieved flight, but luckily stayed in the ballpark. Ervin was the only one of the three cars involved that was able to continue when the race resumed.
Gene Owen applied big pressure to Chip Owen on the restart, and Chip Owen slipped out of the groove in turn 3, allowing Gene Owen and Durden both to slip by. For the rest of the race, Owen had his hands full with Durden dogging his every move. Durden was quicker in the corners, but Owen had the horses to hold on to his lead.
The race finished with Owen claiming the win, with Durden right on his heels. After the race, Owen and Durden both had their engines protested, and after tear down and inspection, both were found to be legal, and the finishing order was official.
The Sportsman feature was another wild affair. It more than one try to get a clean start. Once the race finally got rolling, things turned ugly. Lap 2 had Dwight Pinner and Matt Blum battling for the lead. They made contact coming off turn 4, and down the front straight, with Pinner spinning into an infield barrier, causing major damage to his racer. Blum also had a lot of damage to his car, and neither were able to continue.
 The race restarted with Bobby Dixon in front, and a pack of cars on his bumper. The race was slowed for several cautions, with very few cars undamaged.
With body pieces and broken race cars littering the infield, Rob Cooper made steady progress thru the pack and was finally able to challenge Dixon for the lead. After several laps of trying to rattle Dixon, with no success, Cooper went to the outside. Dixon and Cooper raced side by side for a couple of very exciting laps before Cooper was able to edge by Dixon for the lead. Cooper went on to take the win, with Dixon right behind.
The Pure Stock Division put on quite a show also. A.J. Northup took the early lead, and was driving a very smooth race. A large pack of cars was racing right behind him, trying to get close enough to challenge for the lead. Donnie Roberts finally managed to get loose, and pass Northup for the lead. The race finished with Roberts in front, followed by Northup, Jason Holbrook, Joey Hunt, and William Long.
However, after the race, the engine in Roberts car was protested. Roberts chose not to present his car for inspection, and was disqualified, giving the win back to Northup.
Clint Foley came from the middle of the pack to claim another win in the Mini Stock division, followed by Billy Smith and Ronnie Hicks.
The V8 Bombers had a very good race, with Glen Colyer taking the early lead, and running hard. As the race wound down, Randy ONeal and Charlie Kennedy both were able to slip by Colyer, withONeal taking the win.
The figure 8 cars put on a great show as well. Lots of near misses, a lot of bumping and rubbing, and some very gutsy passes all combuned to make a very exciting race. Robbie Powell overcame an early race mishap to take the lead, from a hard running Dwayne Fults, and hold on for a solid win.
Finally, the grand Finale, the School Buses rolled onto the track. What a wild show !!! Two big booming collisions at the crossing. Busses rubbing, sparks flying !
The fans loved every minute, and the drivers had a ball. When the smoke and dust cleared, Gary Southard came home the winner in one of Rob Coopers busses.
After the race, Southard said that it (the race) "was the most d*** fun I've ever had at a race track!"
Second went to Gary Swain, followed by Robert Aaron.
Final Results 07-31-2004
Open Wheel Modified
1. #11 Gene Owen
2. #56 Kevin Durden
3. # 2 Chip Owen
4. #27 Jason Garver
5. # 0 Glen Ervin
6. #56x Dave Barber
7. # 1 Greg Owen
8. #14 Buddy Hughes
9. #92 Steve Perez
10. #86 W.L. Busbee
Sportsman
1. #98 Rob Cooper
2. #21 Bobby Dixon
3. #30 Doug Anderson
4. # 5 Kimbo VanAernam
5. #13 Eddie Sapp
6. #12 Scott Wilkerson
7. # 0 David Christopher
8. #40 Dwight Pinner
9. # 1 Matt Blum
10. #15 Terry Sapp
Pure Stock
1. #25 A.J. Northup
2. #17 Jason Holbrook
3. # 5 Joey Hunt
4. # 0 William Long
5. #99 Steve Brown
6. #17x Richard Byrd
7. # 6 Jody Skinner
8. #78c Tommy Conquest
9. #02 Mike Baker
10. #38 Dot Kelly
Mini Stock
1. #7 Clint Foley
2. #00 Billy Smith
3. # 8 Ronnie Hicks
4. #7x Clint Foley Sr.
5. #25 Billy Davis
6. # 5 Jeff Barnes
7. # 2 Wayne Smith
V8 Bomber
1. #22 Randy O’Neal
2. #34 Charlie Kennedy
3. # 4 Glen Colyer
4. # 7 Berlon Weeks
5. #85w Larry Welters Sr.
6. #26 Michael Reilly
7. #53 Eric Gellman
8. #48 Gerold Bryant
Figure 8
1. #25 Robbie Powell
2. #98 Dwayne Fults
3. #81 Ken Crews
4. #27b Joey Brinson
5. #99 Steve Brown
6. #77 Bobby Fudge
7. #64 Ronnie Schreifels
8. #27 Seth Nistok
9. # 1 Gary Swain
10. # 6 Robert Aaron
School Bus Figure 8
1. #98 Gary Southard
2. #37 Gary Swain
3. # 1 Robert Aaron
4. #11 Dwayne Fults
5. #52
6. #25 Robbie Powell
7. # 6 Mark Wilson
8. # 3 Jerome Brown
9. #76 Aaron Robinson
10. Space Roger Damron
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