Saturday Night under the lights, weather was great but the Friday night rains certainly took it’s toll on the track surface, definitely not the best track of the year. Bringing out the grader at intermission and moving the infield tires up a bit helped but it still made for a challenging track. That’s what we love about dirt track racing, always changing, always challenging and always exciting.
Nick Osborne saw the checkered flag first in the ThunderStock Trophy dash, a fitting reward for the last minute arrival at the track after thrashing on the car making last minute repairs. I was once told, ” if your not racing to go racing, your probably not racing “. Nick’s work paid off so far, but the night was young.
Mark Thompson in the #28 Pinto extended his point lead in Modified Mini Stocks after Larry Thacker Jr. lost second gear in the #00 Toyota.
The Street Stock division was up next as the track surface started to shows signs of wear and the infield tires kept getting pushed down by drivers looking for the short way around the corners. Del Powell dominated the first half in his #14 until lapped traffic changed Del’s night. Tommy Hill lead the tenth lap in the 1H but Rick Osteen decided it was his turn to win a race and showed the field his rear bumper all the way to the checkered flag. Gary Champion and Ron Regula got around Tommy on the last lap to take second and third.
Next was the first of the nights two 30 Lap, $500 to win Features and by far the wildest race of the night. The Limited Late Models and the Open wheel Modifieds agreed to run together for the bigger payouts. That decision proved pretty exciting for the fans. John Wilson on the #64 started third and lead the first lap followed by the #61 of Thomas Scott. The #5 of Ron Regula came from seventh to second in three laps and the #11 of Waylon Haynes wanted back up front after losing several positions on lap one. John Wilson was out front until lap 10 when Waylon figured out a fast line on the tricky surface and got around Wilson. Five laps later Wilson took the lead back until traffic and a flat tire changed John’s night. Behind the leaders was an incredible amount of passing for positions every corner but lurking around was Thomas Scott, Bob Regula and Don Sniff. Waylon Haynes became victim to the track suface on lap 20 and Mark Thompson in his #28 Open Wheel Modified pounced on the opportunity to fight Wayne Hildebrand for the lead, Mark worked his steering wheel hard to lead the next eight laps with what turned out to be a bent A-arm, with two laps to go Regula found a way around the #28 and brought another win, another big trophy and a nice payday.
The last race of the night was the V-8 Thunder Stock 30 lapper. Tommy Hill started on the pole and never looked back. The only cars he saw all night were the ones he was lapping. Cody Allen and Mike Delveccia put on quite a show for second place while J.R. Fitch was trying to make the high line work which proved to be very difficult but fun to watch. John Basquin in the 5R stayed out of trouble and battled with J.R. for the last ten laps to finish third, J.R. finished second. Robbie and Phil Peterson rounded out the top five.
It is a well deserved week off at Hendry County Motorsports Park next weekend. The Street Stocks will be battling for the big trophy (and payout) on April 6th.
Limited Late Models/Open Wheel Modifieds
1 5 Bob Regula
2 61 Thomas Scott
3 28 Mark Thompson
4 10 Don Sniff
5 88 Brett McCammon
6 99 Wayne Hildebrand
7 15 John Bledsoe
8 11 Waylon Haynes
9 17 Scott Thompson
10 64 John Wilson
11 02 Chris Broedell
Street Stocks
1 7R Rick Osteen
2 23 Gary Champion
3 3 Ron Regula
4 1H Tommy Hill
5 13 Steve Jones
6 60 Wayne Flick
7 5 Jeff Bobst
8 14 Del Powell
9 08 Lee Disbennett
Modified Mini Stocks
1 28 Mark Thompson
2 17 Scott Thompson
3 00 Larry Thacker Jr
V-8 Thunder Stocks 30 Lap Race
1 5H Tommy Hill
2 9 J.R. Fitch
3 5R John Basquin
4 1 Robbie Regula
5 1X Steve Colon
6 911 Phil Peterson
7 6 Nick Osborne
8 99 J.D. Moran
9 57 Mike Delvecchio
10 98 Cody Allen
11 80 Kevin Cassaday
V-8 Thunder Stocks Trophy Dash
1 6 Nick Osborne
2 80 Kevin Cassaday
3 911 Phil Peterson
4 1X Steve Colon
5 99 J.D. Moran