Street stocks had the main event tonight in a 40 lap showdown. In a rocking feature that brought fans out of their seats, Tim Dowling took the lead with Kevin Mills in hot pursuit. Dowling and Mills went on to duke it out in a side by side battle for two laps before Dowling pulled out ahead of Mills and Marc Kinley and Rena Hurley moved into 3rd and 4th. Dowling fended off several hard charges from Mills before Kinley began working Mills.
With Mills defending himself from Kinley, Dowling gained some ground over the field. Lapped traffic gave the race leaders a little grief, but none they could not overcome before several cautions ensued and tightened the field back up. Kinley overcame Mills and after an incident placed Hurley to the rear of the lead lap, Mills challenged Kinley in an attempt to gain his spot back. Dowling maintained his lead and David Cline put some heat on Mills before Cline’s ride broke and ended his night early.
Hurley picked off competitors, pulling in behind Martin Johnson before a fire in Johnson’s fuel line brought out the red flag. With Johnson safely out of his ride, Dowling once again took the lead. Kinley began working Dowling, snagging the lead out of turn four as Mills passed Hurley. After an official call that put Mills out of the race, Richard Adams moved into contention, and Kinley, Dowling, and Hurley provided some of the evening’s best entertainment in the last two laps. Holding Dowling off, Kinley suffered engine problems but kept his ride in the lead as on the last lap, Dowling spun out of contention and Kinley took the win over Hurley, Adams, Robert Hicks, and Jackie Bennett.
Sean Strama took the early lead in the Box stock feature over Jack Miller and Bruce Burk. Bennett challenged Strama and as Strama took the high line, Burk used the inside groove to his advantage to wrest the lead. Miller’s luck last week did not hold over this week as he suffered a rough ride tonight.
With Casey Feaster challenging Miller, Miller fell out of contention and Rodney Alexander pulled into position behind Feaster. The field spread out with Burk safely ensconced in the lead before Burk led Feaster, Strama, Alexander, and Mark Wolcott under the checkered flag.
Steven Bennett took the lead in the Mini stock division and was never seriously challenged. By lap 5, Bennett had a ½ track lead over Art Souther, Brack Gill, and Jamie Farris. As the checkered flag flew, Bennett had a ¾ lead over his competitors and took the win ahead of Souther, Gill, and Farris.
Twenty hobby stocks came to play but a caution marred feature caused the time to run out on this fun division. Tim Dowling took the lead as the field shuffled behind him in the first lap. By lap 2, David Miller, Jr., Ken Durham, and Ricky Adams were behind Dowling. Miller wrested the lead from Dowling but Dowling didn’t give up easily as he worked the inside groove trying to gain the lead back. Miller held Dowling off as David Dowling Sr. moved into contention from deep in the field.
Setting the stage for a repeat of last week’s exciting finish, Dowling overcame Ricky Adams for 4th, and bringing Bruce Birkett and Randy Moody with him, Dowling Sr. worked Ken Durham for his position. By lap 9, Miller got loose out of turn 4, and Dowling once again took the lead. Dowling gained ground over the field and as Dowling Sr. passed Miller, Tim Dowling led David Dowling Sr., Miller, Durham, and Randy Moody under the checkered.
Jamie Carter took the lead in the Modified division over Ed Rosier, Jason Lowe, and Scott Haas. Lowe took second over Rosier and set his sights on Carter. As the laps ticked down, Lowe bided his time until the white flag lap. Carter wasn’t guaranteed such an easy win this week as Lowe closed in on Carter for a nearly side by side finish. Carter took the win over Lowe, Rosier and Haas.
Late models had a rock ‘em, sock ‘em feature tonight with Billy Costello and David Crews battling for the lead. After the dust settled, Crews was in the lead and Clyde Herron was working Costello for 2nd. Herron overcame Costello, leaving the 2006 champion to fend off Kevin Mills as Mills held off Al Larson. Herron set his sights on Crews and thus began a highly entertaining battle for the lead. As Costello, Mills and Larson dueled, Herron worked both the outside and inside groove in an attempt to shake Crews down. Crews held his line despite Herron’s Herculean efforts for 14 laps. Coming out of turn 4 with the checkered flag in sight, Herron lost control of his ride and saw Crews sail to the win over Costello, Larson, and Mills.
Grandstands open at 5 next week and racing resumes with hot laps at 6:30 pm. For more information, visit the speedway’s website at www.putnamco
