Putnam County Speedway raced threatening skies and dueled against the nearby Pepsi 400 to pull off a well-attended night of racing last Saturday. Cautions were the rule rather than the exception as most drivers received more of a challenge than they bargained for.
Ken Durham ended his streak of mechanical misfortune and overcame a solid field of Pure Stocks to take his first win of the season in his Durham Fencing #24. Durham outdragged L. J. Klemons on the initial start to grab the early lead and then held off several challengers and survived numerous restarts to earn the checkers. Klemons drove with a wrapped and splinted hand from a work-related injury to finish second. Hardy Jarvis came close on several occasions, but had to settle for third. Grady Lundquist and Floyd Martin Jr were fourth and fifth.
Street Stock was the only class not afflicted with Yellow Fever this evening. Their 20-lap feature ran relatively caution-free as drivers did a good job keeping things together. Mitch McCoy tried mightily to overtake Chris Vogel but just fell short at the line as Vogel captured his third Street Stock victory. The dogfight for third was missed by many fans due to the battle for the lead but was no less spectacular. Robert Ammons outdistanced the pack for third with George Flanders and Kenny Hall rounding out the top five.
Hobby Stocks put on the most bruising display of the night as no position went unchallenged. Driver after driver was knocked out of contention in a display as the relentless yellow flag aerobics severely tested the stamina of the flagman. The race ran up against the 30-minute time limit and Ronnie Soltis was awarded the win on lap 13 of a scheduled 20. After tech, however, the victory was passed to Danny Miller. Eddie Holton had a good PCS debut to take second. Al Robinson was third and David Miller was fourth.
Nobody could stop J. O. Nobles as he trounced the Limited Late Model field. Less than half of the field finished the 25-lap affair as no car went unscathed. "Wild Bill" Kopka was a distant second followed by David Shugart, Ronnie Grubb's brand new Mustang, and Floyd Martin.
Mike Gibbs avoided all the carnage in the Mini Stock feature to take win #6 of the 2001 season as 16 of the 23 starters failed to finish. Jake Hartley had a strong second place run with Charlie Staats close behind. Karen Bagent and Karla Phipps persevered for fourth and fifth.
All PCS racing divisions will take to the track Saturday July 14 for heat and feature racing. Grandstand gates open at 5 PM and the first green flag drops at 7 PM.
