IT'S TIME TO RACE!!

June 26, 2005 FSCR It's a Hall, Hall World at Putnam by Jon Harney SATSUMA, FL (6/25) - Victory Lane at Putnam County Speedway Park was a family affair as two drivers named Kenny Hall won their respective races. Kenny Hall Jr. won his first feature ever as he dominated the 40-lap Hobby Stock special while Kenny Hall Sr. was even more dominant in capturing his fourth win this year in Street Stocks. Ricky Adams was the polesitter for the 40-lap Hobby Stock race and was able to convert for the lead. He had plenty of company, however, and on lap five the company overstayed their welcome as several cars made contact and slowed. Hall Jr. was leading a second pack of cars and somehow found a path through the confusion to take a lead he would never give back. Forty laps is twice the distance that these cars are normally called on to perform and the race soon became a maintenance check as those who had been lax in this department found themselves dropping out as laps went by. The starting field of 16 cars had dwindled to five when the checkered flag came out. Following Hall was Adams, Randy Moody, Robert Hicks, and Rusty Wortman. Hall Sr. was buried in the pack for the start of the Street Stocks, but had no plans to remain there. He quickly raced to the second position and seemed to be an even match for leader Marc Kinley. Despite being several car lengths ahead, Kinley could not sustain his advantage and spun his car in the fourth turn. From that moment forward Hall faced no serious threats en route to victory. Kinley recovered from his earlier mishap to finish second. Richard Tipton was third, Tim Dowling was fourth, and Dustin Sanders was fifth. Modifieds put on one of the best lead battles seen at the track in 2005. Robert McCormick seemed to have the field covered until his ride failed him on the fifth circuit. Jamie Burrows inherited the lead but quickly encountered competition from Jason Lowe. For the next ten laps both drivers tested, bobbed, weaved, and kept the fans on the edges of their seats as they raced wheel to wheel. Lowe's break finally arrived with four laps remaining when he got a good bite coming off the second turn and overhauled Burrows on the backstretch. Burrows remained close but could not return the favor and had to be content with a second place showing behind Lowe at the finish line. Bobby Balkcom finished third well behind the leaders with Ed Rosier finishing fourth ahead of Kenny Blair. Race traffic has been a blessing and a curse to Eric Platt this year. The curse came several weeks back when a lapped car was used as a pick to relegate Platt from the lead to a runner-up finish. The blessing came this week as he patiently tailed Travis Rhoden and Tony Lewis Sr. for the first half of the race before using traffic to his advantage with a move on Lewis that became the defining moment of the event. Rhoden also used a similar opportunity to slip past Lewis, but would have needed more than just traffic to catch Platt. The finishing order was Platt, Rhoden, John Reiter, Tate Singler, and Lewis. A mini field of Box Stock Minis took the green, but this didn't deter Bruce Denman as he took maximum opportunity by quickly taking the lead and holding off the field to take his first win of his career. Trailing Denman's Dodge Neon was Randy Strehle, Jim Henderson, Art Souther, and Kevin Hawkinberry. Racing next Saturday evening features the return of open wheel racing in both the Winged Sprint Cars and the Mini Sprint Cars. Other divisions that will race will be the Hobby Stocks and the Box Stock Minis. For information contact the track at 386.649.5210 or log on to www.putnamcountyspeedway.com. Have an opinion on this story? Post a message on our Message Board! news@karnac.org or send a letter to the editor!