By- Jim Rouse, Bubba Raceway Park Media 4-7-12 Scorpion Racing Products Modifieds, Top Gun Sprints, Hobby Stocks, 1-800-ASK GARY Thunderstocks, and Rent-N-Roll Gladiators battled at Bubba Raceway Park with some first timers and returns to familiar places. On lap 1 Brian Jerrels and Mark Maresca made contact and brought the caution out while Howard O’Steen led Mike Stalnaker and Trevor Gamble. On lap 5 Tim Gay passed O’Steen for the lead which he wouldn’t let slip away easy. A few cautions came out in the middle but the final yellow flew on lap 13 when William Edwards found the wall. A 1 lap dash gave O’Steen a chance but Gay held on for another win. O’Steen wound up 2nd, Stalnaker 3rd, Brian Shea finished a strong 4th, and John Clark completed a tough top 5.
After a quick lap 3 caution Mark Whitener made the pass for the lead on Garret Stewart right before Jeff Mathews race ended as his right rear went down and apparently caused more damage than just a tire. After a lap 14 caution for Jason Davis, Tyler Clem, and Larry Mott “The Killer” went after “The Magic Man.” On lap 16 Bronson passed Whitener but 2 laps later they switched back. They again switched spots after another 2 laps and stayed that way even through the lap 23 caution for Charlie Hollowell. Bronson is now 3-for-3 while Whitener wound up runner-up. Buzzie Reutimann was a very quiet 3rd, Rich Pratt a strong 4th, and Garret Stewart completed the top 5 in the Chris Williams #2.
Tim Grubaugh flipped his #5 at the start. After that the lead changed when Matt Kurtz passed Brett O’Donnell on lap 2, vice versa on lap 4, and back to square 1 on lap 5 before O’Donnell flipped the #11. With O’Donnell now out it left the lead to…. Danny Martin, Jr. when Kurtz couldn’t refire! “The Hammer’ stopped once for a lap 12 caution but continues to prove that it’s the driver and not the car. Stephen Darvalics put the #24 2nd in front of Mark Ruel, Jr., Robbie Smith, and Andrew Griffin.
Tony Campbell passed Todd Roberts on lap 2 and held the lead until he spun on lap 8. And then the caution floodgate opened. The lead, of course, changed and Brian Mullins was the recipient of the Easter gift. On lap 9, however, Scranton took a birthday present when he took the lead from team-mate Mullins. The final caution flew on lap 14 when Justin Dean stopped in turn 3. Scranton held on to win with Shane Nichols barring down on him. Mullins made sure both Cheater Racing cars were on the podium while Jason Gamble with “A Terrible Push” and Jonathan Appleby finished the top 5.
On lap 8 John Johnson and Justin Taylor crashed out which set up a 7 lap dash for “Terrible” Tony LaPorta, Randy Harless, and Steve Johnson. Harless passed LaPorta 4 laps later and held on to take his first ever win. LaPorta was a disappointed 2nd, Johnson 3rd, Joey Brinson finished 4th, and Bobby Graham finished 5th just in front of Kody Fisher.
Next race is Friday night for the Mike Peters Open (and Saturday night as well). Friday’s events are a $3000 to win RaceCar Engineering Late Model battle with Limited Late Models, Mini Stocks, and Gladiators. Pits open at 4 and stands at 5. For more information you can check out www.bubbaracewaypark.com or call the Speedway at 352-622-9400!
Bubba Raceway Park Results (4/7) Top Gun Sprint Cars 1- 82 Danny Martin, Jr. 2- 24 Stephen Darvalics 3- 83 Mark Ruel, Jr. 4- 6S Robbie Smith 5- 88 Andrew Griffin 6- 3A AJ Maddox 7- 55 Kerry Gilbert 8- 1* Tim George 9- G6 Brandon Grubaugh 10- 14 Ryan Partin 11- 38 Tony Agin 12- 8 Rich Alexander 13- 3K Kurt Taylor 14- 0X Brandon Lineberger 15- 99 Tanner Witherspoon 16- 92T Tim Ysbrand 17- 0 Jimmy Ballew 18- 98 Sean Murray 19- 92 Matt Kurtz 20- 11 Brett O’Donnell 21- 5 Tim Grubaugh 22- 43 Terry Witherspoon DNS- 02 Gene Lasker
Scorpion Racing Products UMP DirtCar Open-Wheel Modifieds 1- 40B Kyle Bronson (Hammond Motorsports) 2- 58 Mark Whitener (Big Frog Motorsports) 3- 00 Buzzie Reutimann 4- 78 Rich Pratt (Tom Macaloso) 5- 2 Garret Stewart (Chris Williams) 6- 7S Ronne Chance 7- 11 Jim Passino (Chuck Gustafson, Jr.) 8- 1K Scott Kurtzner 9- 122 Ron Burgess (Lisa Burgess) 10- 10 Scott Mooers 11- 14 Tyler Clem (Bubba Clem) 12- 10C Jeff Bagent 13- 7M Mike McGauley 14- 77 Dalton Lanich (Kent Corbin) 15- 21 Charlie Hollowell 16- Z06 Larry Mott 17- 31 Jason Davis {unlisted owner} 18- 00D Shaun Daugharty 19- 33 Jeff Mathews (Jeff Mathews Motorsports) 20- 53 Ken Shaffer DNS- 40 Wayne Hammond (Hammond Motorsports)
Hobby Stocks 1- 90 Tim Gay 2- 88H Howard O’Steen 3- 9 Mike Stalnaker 4- 19 Brian Shea 5- 80J John Clark 6- 13 Phil Brown 7- 94 Robert Sirmons 8- 109 Brett Barrett 9- 89 Trey Cameron III 10- 04 Kevin Pearson 11- 77 Matt Kramer 12- 08 William Edwards 13- 7S Chad Scranton 14- 83 Joe Boyd 15- 15 Hunter Gustafson 16- 42 Josh Byrd 17- 77M Mark Maresca 18- 26 Brian Jerrels 19- 12 Trevor Gamble 20- 99 Rodney Wright 21- 2 Trey Isgette III
1-800-ASK GARY Thunderstocks 1- 27 Chad Scranton 2- 65 Shane Nichols 3- 28 Brian Mullins 4- 21 Jason Gamble 5- 69A Jonathan Appleby 6- 114 John Thorpe 7- 28E Brandon Elwood 8- 17K Eddie Kilbury, Jr. 9- 83 Joe Boyd 10- 09 William Edwards 11- 23 Glenn Baum 12- 121 Gordon Cade 13- 12L Jim Leconte 14- 49 DJ Horiski 15- 33D Donnie Dobbins 16- 15 Mike Valdez 17- 3 Jeff Baer 18- 14C Brian Cox 19- 28H Billy Holmes 20- X Justin Dean 21- 5W Eddie Kilbury 22- 44 Todd Roberts 23- 14S James Sullivan III 24- 21M David Miller, Jr. 25- 3W Vaughn Woodall 26- 6 Tony Campbell (11 drivers DNQ)
Rent-N-Roll Gladiators 1- 12 Randy Harless 2- 3T Tony LaPorta 3- 81 Steve Johnson 4- 8 Joey Brinson 5- 126 Robert Graham 6- 83 Kody Fisher 7- 30 Reid Christensen 8- 68 Tim McMillon 9- 23 Tiffany Shaw 10- 31 Jerry Taylor 11- 19 Trevor Allday 12- 57 Larry Swift 13- 26 Tim Sanderson 14- 7UK Stephen Frankland 15- 98 Justin Taylor 16- 87 John Johnson 17- 3H Brandon Haseleu DNS- 11 Dave Ladrie