Day: June 5, 2017 | Karnac Racing News

Jason Pope Wins Late Model Sportsman and Beats Mother Nature At East Bay Raceway Park

GIBSONTON — At East Bay Raceway it was Tim Gay winning in the Hobby Stocks. Also winning tonight was Greg Pae in the Outlaw Fours, Jason Pope in the Late Model Sportsman, Jamie Tinkham in the Mini Sprints and in the Daytona Antique Auto Racing Association was Bob Jordan in the Midgets, Dan Darnell in the V8/6 Cylinder class and Josh Rynd in the Sprints.

In the Hobby Stocks 15-lap feature it was Tim Gay winning with Thomas Pratt finishing in the second spot and Jim Baker picking up third.

In the Outlaw Fours 15-lap feature it was defending Champion Greg Pae picking up his second win of the year over Brandon Yates who finished second and Billy Dukes, Jr. third.

In the Late Model Sportsman 15-lap feature it was Jason Pope picking up his second feature of the year with Roger Crouse second and Trent Wilson third.

In the Daytona Antique Auto Racing Association it was Bob Jorden winning in the Midgets division, Dan Darnell in the v8/6 Cylinder division and John Runn in the Sprints Division.

And in the Mini Sprints it was Jamie Tinkham winning the feature.

Action continues next Saturday June 10th with the Donnie Tanner Memorial 50-lap Late Model Feature. Also racing will be the Gagel’s Open Wheel Modifieds, V8 Warriors, 4 Cylinder Bombers and the Micro Sprints and will be a Special Event. For information, visit eastbayracewaypark.com or call 813-677-7223. (more…)

By Scott|2017-06-05T21:06:07-04:00June 5th, 2017|East Bay Raceway Park, Front Page News, Local|Comments Off

Brad Sweet Wins The War Scores $25,000 With Victory at the 39th annual AGCO Jackson Nationals

By Tony Veneziano

JACKSON, MN. – June 3, 2017 – Brad Sweet looked at the first two nights of the 39th annual AGCO Jackson Nationals for the World of Outlaws Craftsman® Sprint Car Series at Jackson Motorplex as battles that would ultimately put him in position to win the war. He did exactly that on Saturday night to the tune of $25,000, adding his name to the illustrious list of past winners of the tradition-laden event.

For Sweet, it was his third win of the season and second on a half-mile. Sweet now has 23 career World of Outlaws Feature wins, which ties him for 19th on the Series’ all-time win list with fellow competitors David Gravel and Shane Stewart, who also both finished in the top-five on Saturday night.

“It feels awesome to win the Jackson Nationals,” said Sweet. “We’re just ecstatic. I can’t thank Tod Quiring and all the guys enough for taking a chance and putting on a three-day show that pays big money like this. It’s a breath of fresh air and great to race for that kind of money. Hopefully the fans saw a good show.”

Sweet lined up second for the 30-lap main event and challenged pole sitter Kerry Madsen in the early going. Sweet hung with Madsen for a number of laps, especially in lapped traffic, mainly while working the bottom lane of the track.

Just before the halfway point of the race, Donny Schatz got by Sweet for second, with the latter getting back by a couple of laps later. Sweet took the lead from Kerry Madsen on the back straightaway on lap 18 and led the remainder of the race. He did have to withstand a pair of restarts with 11 laps remaining. The first was a double-file restart and the second single-file. Strong restarts each time propelled him to a solid lead over Madsen.

“I was in attack mode the whole time,” noted Sweet. “I was a little frustrated with myself. When I got behind Kerry (Madsen) I made a few mistakes and let Donny (Schatz) get by me. Usually you don’t get that back. Then I was able to get by both of them. Once I was able to get in control of the race, I knew I was in good shape and just tried not to screw it up. I almost messed up a few times and didn’t know how big of a lead we had, but I drove as hard I could those last 11 laps.” (more…)

By Scott|2017-06-05T21:14:13-04:00June 5th, 2017|Front Page News, National, Sprint Cars|Comments Off

Second to None: Kerry Madsen Wins Night 2 of AGCO Jackson Nationals

JACKSON, Minn. — June 2, 2017 — Kerry Madsen was part of a historic finish on the opening night of the 39^th Annual AGCO Jackson Nationals for the World of Outlaws Craftsman® Sprint Car Series at Jackson Motorplex, finishing second to his brother Ian, which made them the first-ever Australian-born brothers to finish 1-2 in an Outlaws race. K. Madsen felt as if he didn’t get the job done, though on Thursday night. He made up for the near-miss on Friday night, leading flag-to-flag in the 25-lap main event to earn his first World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series win of the season and the 20^th of his career.

Madsen withstood a trio of yellow flags and one red flag period en route to the win. For the native of St. Marys, NSW, Australia, who now calls Knoxville, Iowa home, it was his second win of the season at Jackson Motorplex, which is owned by his car owner, Tod Quiring.

“The car was working everywhere until we lost the front wing, then we lost our front downforce,” said Madsen. “I had to run not as hard as I wanted to going into (turn) one and gave up a lot of speed there. I just kept watching the front wing and it was still on so, I kept trying harder. I saw Kraig and thought, ‘Oh no,’ but I saw the lapped traffic and knew if I could get to the outside of the lapped traffic it would block the lane and I would be okay. I was just hanging on at the end and it was a handful in (turn) one and two. It was great to get the job done tonight.”

Madsen, who entered the night as the overall event point leader, put himself in a very solid position to go for a repeat in the AGCO Jackson Nationals, which he won for the first time last season.

“This track is all about being in the right place and being in the right line,” explained Madsen. “You can’t just stick to a line. You have to constantly search and keeping your eye out. It’s going to take 30 good laps to be in contention again tomorrow.” (more…)

By Scott|2017-06-05T21:14:13-04:00June 5th, 2017|Front Page News, National, Sprint Cars|Comments Off

Grooving on the Gumbo

SENOIA, G.A.— June 3, 2017— The World of Outlaws Craftsman® Late Model Series took the track at Senoia Raceway for the first time ever for the third annual Billy Clanton Classic. Despite this race being many of the drivers first time on the unique gray gumbo surface, everyone seemed to enjoy how racy the track was all night long. It was ultimately Brandon Sheppard who was able to hold off the field to land his fifth Series win of the season.

“We got the win and it was tough racing out there,” said Sheppard. “Lap traffic was tricky and if you hit the top just right it was awesome and you couldn’t hardly move off of it and be fast. Congratulations to Terbo. He raced me hard and we had a lot of fun out there.”

Tyler Erb left everything he had on the track come the checker flag but he came up just a little short. The young gun was putting Sheppard to work throughout all 50-laps as he was trying find the line to his first Series win. With the help of lap traffic, Erb was able to cut down Sheppard’s lead to only .6 seconds but unfortunately a few cautions would throw away the ground he had gained on the leader and eliminated the obstacles for Sheppard.

“I hated to see all of those cautions,” said Erb. “Every time I would catch lap cars was when Brandon would start having to move off of that top. I might have had a shot but we gave it everything that I had so we will just have to try to come back next year and try again.” (more…)

By Scott|2017-06-05T21:14:13-04:00June 5th, 2017|Front Page News, Late Models, National|Comments Off

Clanton Tames Tazwell

Tazewell, TN—June 2, 2017— Shane Clanton proved he is bad fast and fearless as the 31-degree banking at Tazewell Speedway didn’t hold him back from leading all 50-laps of the Ray Varner 50 in order to land his third Series win of the season.

“We were just buying our time waiting for the checker flag to come out,” said Clanton. “Our car has been working real good the past month and that just shows what hard work that Penske and Ronny Crooks, Aaron and Nick and all of them guys have done to get me back on top here.”

Clanton’s win broke the two-year streak of Tennessee top-guns overtaking the Outlaws at the third-mile but Jimmy Owens was looking to carry on the tradition. Owens landed fast-time and a heat win before unfortunately drawing a sixth place start in the feature. After steadily passing three cars, Owens passed Ricky Weiss on lap 40 for the second position. After an unsuccessful effort to reel in the lap-leader, Owens finished in second and Weiss rounded out the podium

“We had an awesome race car tonight the track just kind of locked down a little quicker than we needed it to,” said Owens. “I would’ve liked to see what we had for Shane there if we could’ve gotten to race a little more but he had a good car. He’s been good for a while so congratulations to Shane and his crew and I’m glad that we get to come home with a good second place finish.” (more…)

By Scott|2017-06-05T21:14:14-04:00June 5th, 2017|Front Page News, Late Models, National|Comments Off

HICKS TAKES SECOND FASTRAK WIN OF THE SEASON AT VMS IN USA 100

JAMAICA, VA – Benji Hicks of Mt. Airy, NC was awarded his second FASTRAK Pro Late Model Series win of the season on Saturday night at Virginia Motor Speedway as a part of the 41st Annual USA 100. Hicks pulled his T&K Enterprises Longhorn into Victory Lane after the car of apparent winner Ross Bailes of Clover, SC was light at the scales.

Even before the penalty to Bailes, Hicks was pretty happy with a second-place finish, as Bailes was driving a car owned by Hicks’ Uncle Billy Hicks. When Hicks arrived in Victory Lane, his happiness went to pure emotion.

“It was two years ago tonight that my Namaw passed away and she was my everything,” Hicks said. “This win tonight is for her. I tried to win the Bill Hicks Sr. Memorial last Friday night at 311 Motor Speedway, but finished third. Bill Hicks Sr. was my Grandfather and my Namaw’s husband. Winning this race tonight with my family here is a pretty good consolation prize.”

For Hicks, family was the operative word, as he and Bailes driving his Uncle’s car were parked next to each other in the Garage Area of Virginia Motor Speedway. Hicks hinted that the fate of his win and Bailes being light at the scales may have been set at lunch time.

“My Mom made tacos for everyone at lunch time, so both teams dug in,” Hicks said tongue-in-cheek. “I ate more tacos than Ross did, so it didn’t really surprise me that he was light at the scales and we made weight. But in all seriousness, I hate that for them because they work as hard as anybody else.”

The $3,000 victory also gave Hicks the FASTRAK Pro Late Model Series point lead. Hicks now leads Jensen Ford of Piney Flats, TN by two points after the first four races of the 2017 season. The defending FASTRAK Pro Late Model Series Champion Cla Knight of North Augusta, GA is tied for the third spot with Ron Parker of Belwood, NC. Both drivers are ten points behind Ford. (more…)

By Scott|2017-06-05T21:11:00-04:00June 5th, 2017|Fastrak Late Model Series, Front Page News, Regional|Comments Off

Bloomquist Wins 4th USA 100 And First ULTIMATE Race At VMS

JAMAICA, VA – Despite dropping a cylinder on lap 23, Scott Bloomquist of Mooresburg, TN swept the 41st Annual USA 100 for the ULTIMATE Super Late Model Series at Virginia Motor Speedway on Saturday night. Bloomquist was the Fast Qualifier, won his eight-lap Heat Race, and then led all 60 laps to claim the $20,000 top prize driving the Reece Monuments Bloomquist.

The win now lists Bloomquist as the only four-time winner of the USA 100, and he seemed really impressed that is was his first career win with the ULTIMATE Super Late Model Series, after racing many times with the Regional series.

“I think we might have burned up a spark plug wire when we lost the cylinder, but the car was still fast, and those seven cylinders left gave all of the traction I needed,” Bloomquist said. “I didn’t realize I had never won a race with the ULTIMATE Series until tonight, so that’s something impressive.”

Earl Pearson Jr. of Jacksonville, FL and Dale McDowell of Chickamauga, GA battled side-by-side on the last lap of the race for the second spot, and they made contact on the backstretch. That put McDowell into the steel guardrail. Pearson finished second in the Dunn-Benson Ford/Lucas Oil Longhorn and apologized to MacDaddy after the race. McDowell was third in the TEXTRON Sweet/Bloomquist. (more…)

By Scott|2017-06-05T21:11:00-04:00June 5th, 2017|Fastrak Late Model Series, Front Page News, Regional|Comments Off