by Jon Harney SATSUMA, FL - The fans at Putnam County Speedway were treated to a special event for Super Late Models that was organized only two days prior to race night. Many drivers from the Tampa Bay area made the three hour pull to Satsuma in hopes of taming the 3/8-mile clay oval.
Keith Nosbisch had never seen Putnam County Speedway, but that didn't prevent him from outclassing several racers who had previous track experience. Keith led all 25 laps of the feature to take the checkers. Roger Kraus prevented a Nosbisch exacta by passing Jack Nosbisch on lap 15. Kraus made several bids for the lead, however, Keith proved too strong in the final laps and pulled away. Following Kraus and Jack Nosbisch were Bobby Alexander Jr. and Bill Howard.
The best race of the night was in the Pure Stock division. The Pures ran with a minimum of cautions despite many instances of rearranged sheetmetal and bashed bumpers. Floyd Martin Jr. led early and looked to be a winner until Mike Tripp overhauled Martin at the halfway point. The duo deftly negotiated heavy lapped traffic throughout the remainder of the event. Martin came close many times but fell short at the line as Tripp took the win. David Miller Jr. held off several would-be contenders for the third spot.
"No Holds Barred" was the theme for Hobby Stocks and Dave Dowling Sr. proved to be stronger than all. Daniel Miller led the early going followed by David Miller and Ronnie Soltis. The Millers swapped positions, then Soltis passed Danny and looked to have the pass made on David when the two made contact, knocking both cars out of the race. Danny tried to make tonight Miller Time but was foiled as Dowling made a quick move on the inside that relegated Miller to second. Dowling has run well and come up short on several nights but was not to be denied a trip to Victory Lane this evening. Brad Pilinko charged from the back of the pack to take second and was followed by Bobby Gigon, Dave Dowling Jr., and Glen Baum.
Mitch McCoy made the most of his pole starting spot to lead every lap of the Street Stock feature. Chris Vogel gave hot pursuit but couldn't get a good run on McCoy and finished second. Richard Adams held off Robert Ammons for third while Kenny Hall rounded out the top 5.
J. O. Nobles and Marion Sizemore were the class of the Limited Late Model field as they ran away from the pack and hotly dueled each other. Despite some scares from lapped cars swinging in their paths they continued their battle to the end with Nobles proving the stronger. "Wild Bill" Kopka was the best of the rest and extended his points lead but had nothing for the leaders. Raymond Larsen was fourth and Raymond Rogers was fifth.
Sizemore avenged his defeat in Limiteds by taking the honors in Modifieds. Sizemore wrecked his primary car in practice and was somewhat less dominant in his backup ride, however he was strong enough to keep up with the leaders and capitalized on their errors en route to victory. Gary Sexton looked strong throughout and came in second. Robby Barris came from mid-pack to pick up third while Will Sizemore and Ike Walker were fourth and fifth.
Mike Gibbs looked to be the sure Mini Stock winner until a flat rear tire ended his run. Jake Hartley inherited the lead and never looked back as he captured his first win of the 2001 season. Stanton Mills had his best finish of the year as well in second with Art Souther, Marlon Durbin, and Dewayne Yeomans in tow.
This Saturday night the Super Late Models return for another action-packed night of heat and feature racing along with all six regular divisions.
