LAKE CITY, FL (7/15) - Twenty Sprint cars took the opening gren flag at North Florida Speedway. Attrition and accidents quickly pared the field by half before the first six laps were raced. Darren Orth led during this stop and go period, but the numerous cautions allowed fast cars buried deep in the pack at the start to make up ground and accelerate their progress through the field. Matt Kurtz parlayed this to his advantage and took over the lead on the seventh lap. Dakotah Stephens looked strong as well and passed Orth for second two laps later. The 14-year-old Stephens was looking for his second consecutive victory at NFS, but the 15-year-old Kurtz would not be denied this evening and won the battle of the young guns. Finishing third behind Kurtz and Stephens was Lewis Beldock, while Mike Love and Otto Scrape trailed in fourth and fifth.
The four other competing divisions put on fine displays of racing that had few cautions. The Mini Sprints were led by John Craddock for the first couple laps before Jesse Teed made the power move of the night around Craddock on the backstretch to claim the point on the third circuit. Teed had little competition throughout the race and cruised to a solid win. Paul Gottschalk overcame Craddock at midway to earn second. Rounding out the top five was Andrew Griffin, Craddock, and Russ Heider.
Pure Stocks turned in a stellar, caution-free performance. Caution-free, however, does not imply that the race was dull in any shape or form. Many body panels and tempers were tested, but the drivers managed to keep their machines between the walls throughout the night. Michael Havard captured the lead on lap three from David Kinsey and steadily pulled away to a lead that spanned the length of the front straigt. The long green flag run meant that traffic was a factor, and Havard had many problems negotiating lapped cars. The cumulative effect of these delays allowed Kinsey to catch and pass Havard with two laps to go. Havard recovered to pressure Kinsey in the closing laps, but the damage was done and Kinsey outlasted Havard at the flag. Rick Reed finished a steady third, Dean Jarvis was fourth, and polesitter Clay McRae was fifth.
Hobby Stocks turned in thirteen green flag laps before the only caution of the event occurred when second place Timmy Roach's car fell out with transmission problems and coasted to a stop on the front stretch. Heath Walker had been doing battle with Roach, Sammy Hatcher, and Scotty Nolan in the ultra-competitive main event before the yellow flag. Walker got a good run on the restart, but so did Nolan and with two turns to go, Nolan made his bid for the win underneath Walker and had enough of a holeshot coming out of turn four to win by a narrow margin. Hatcher held on to third ahead of Tim Nolan and Jeremy Rich. Look for the Hobby Stocks to return with an even more competitive race this Saturday as the Brown Motorsport Summer Spectacular takes place with a top prize of $1000 awaiting the winner of that event.
Street Stocks were led early by polesitter Kelly Philman. Philman checked out on the field while Nick Reid and Dean Sands slugged it out for second. Sands eventually got the better of the exchange but catching Philman was going to require a bit of luck. Luck came in the form of slower traffic and Sands was able to gain on Philman when he got bottled behind a backmarker. Sands made his move on lap eleven for the lead and spent the last four circuits holding back Philman to earn win number seven on the year. The final top five were Sands, Philman, Scott Spears, Reid, and Marvin Hassell.
Lightning in July will strike NFS this Saturday night with twin specials headlining the racing action. The Modified division will race for $1100 to win and $100 to start while the Hobby Stocks will race for $1000 to win. Pure Stocks, Limited Sportsmen, and Street Stocks will also race that evening. All racing will take place on Saturday, July 22 with a full card of heats and features. For more information, log on to www.northfloridaspeedway.com.
