By Jeff Bean-NFS Media

Lake City FL – Grady Christian of Umatilla Fl. ended up being the big winner in Saturday nights Street Stock feature after apparent winner Dave Dowling’s winning car failed post race tech inspection. Kyle Chappell topped the $1000 to win Sportsman feature by holding off a hard charging David Tyrrell. Jerry Fortner collected a $1000 victory in Pure Stock action with a green to checker run. 2010 Open Wheel Modified champion Kyle Owen returned to capture a thrilling finish over Paul Sizemore Jr. Bobby Denard capped off the action Saturday night with his second trip to victory lane in Box Stocks on the 2011 season.

Sportsman would be the first division to take to the speedway for the extra money on the line and Kyle Chappell would take advantage of his pole position start to grab the early lead from Jody Turner. The first trip down the back straightaway had an incident that saw perennial threat Kevin Davis nose first up against the wall with damage that would end his bid before one lap was complete. When action resumed another top contender Ed Gainey would spin to the bottom of turn one but he was able to continue with little damage to his ride. David Tyrrell would move into second and Jamie Dayhaw would settle into third as Chappell enjoyed a comfortable margin at the front of the field. With two laps to go the race leader would encounter lapped traffic and make contact with a lapped car but would still maintain his lead. Behind Chappell the traffic would collect Jamie Dayhaw and the caution would appear. On the restart Tyrrell would get the break he needed and take the lead away from Chappell. But lady luck would still favor Chappell as another caution would wave before a lap could be completed and Tyrrel’s hard work would be negated. On the next restart Chappell would be able to keep his hold on the lead and be the first car to the checkered flag. Tyrrell would hold on for second and Eddie Gainey would complete the top three.

Paul Sizemore Jr. would hustle to the early lead in the Open Wheel Modified feature by getting by pole sitter Brandon Cameron. As Sizemore would pace the field with Cameron giving chase Kyle Owen would be making his way to the front of the field and prepare to make his bid for the lead. After getting by Cameron the 2010 Mod champ Owen would close up to Sizemore and these two would wage a thrilling battle for the lead. Owen would throw everything he had at Sizemore and on the last lap the pair would make the battle for the win a physical one. Contact on the back straight would have the crowd going wild but Owen was not done yet. As the pair worked through the final turn Owen would find the room and bite he needed to win the drag race to the finish and edge Sizemore out by a few feet to claim the win.

The Street Stock main event would have the veteran pair of Dave Dowling and Randy Moody on the front row and those two would battle for the lead but a slew of cautions would make it difficult for the field to get a rhythm going early on. Once things got settled in Dowling would have to fend off Moody several times before Moody lost the handle and spun in turn four collecting Nevin Gainey. With the laps winding down Dowling would now find himself being chased by some stout competition in the form of Grady Christian, Tim Powers and Tommy Hill. Christian would apply heavy pressure to the race leader at times being able to pull up along side of Dowling but couldn’t quite find his way around the leader. Dowling would go on to be the first car to the finish line but the car did not pass the post race technical inspection. With Christian moved up to the winners spot Tim Powers and Tommy Hill continued their strong runs with top three finishes. Unable to get his interview in what he said was his biggest win Grady would like to thank the people that made his winning effort possible. Independent Drilling Contractors, his engine builder and brother Bo and the entire Christian Brothers Racing Team. Grady said he also wanted to thank the fans for coming out and supporting the race.

The Pure Stocks would be next up with $1000 dollars awaiting the race winner. Current point leader Jerry Fortner started on the pole and wasted no time moving to the lead over Dave Kinsey. Fortner would find himself being chased by a strong group of drivers but he would manage to keep his grip on the top spot. Windal Clark would emerge from the pack and spend several laps looking for a way to get around Fortner but the race leader would turn back all of Clark’s challenges. As the laps were winding down Eddie Gainey would rally from the back of the pack to put himself in contention for the win. With time running out Gainey would move around Clark for second and make his challenge on Fortner’s race long lead. In the end Gainey’s rally from the tail of the field would would come up one spot short as Fortner would collect his second win of the 2011 season.

In the night cap Bobby Denard would race past Daryl Larson for a lead he wouldn’t relinquish. Larson would settle in to the second spot and would soon have his hands full with Kevin Underwood trying to take the second spot away. Once clear of Larson the goal for Underwood was to close the gap on Denard and he would soon pull himself into contention. As the pair battled for the lead with the laps running out Underwood launch his attack only to have his efforts derailed by a flat tire with one lap left. Denard would then hold off John Windham and Larson for his second win of 2011.

Feature events contested Friday night would have Shane Taylor taking yet another feature event win in the Limited Modifieds over Adam Higginbotham and Kyle Arvin. Friday nights Box Stock feature went to John Windham.

Next week August 8th the Late Models return along with Pure Stocks, Street Stocks, Limited Modifieds, Sportsman and Box Stocks. For more info visit www.northfloridaspeedway.com or call 386-754-8800
Official Results July 30th
Sportsman
1. Kyle Chappell #66c
2. David Tyrrell #69
3. Eddie Gainey #8
4. Tim Powers #44
5. Jamie Dayhaw #21
6. Wayne O’Neal #0
7. Sonny Thompson #75
8. Amber Williams #25
9. Thomas Scott #61
10. Dave Ponton #10x
11. Jody Turner #74
12. Kevin Davis #86
13. Ricky Land #66L
14. Terry Pless #11
Open Wheel Modifieds
1.Kyle Owen #2
2. Paul Sizemore Jr. #1s
3. Brandon Cameron #20a
4. David Crews #10
5. Travis King #231
6. Tim Brown #429
7. Johnny Mullner #28
8. David Wansley #28w
9. Cody Garner #8s
10. Brian Scott #14
11. Shawn Taylor #83
12. Chris Northrup #60n
13. James Edgley #95
14. Bobby Layman #69
15. Donnie Hall #31 DNS
16. Shane Williams #2h DNS
Street Stock
1. Grady Christian #36
2. Tim Powers #44
3. Tommy Hill #1h
4. Dave Dowling Jr. #55
5. Kevin Durden #56
6. Ray Wheeler #74
7. Charles Christian #04
8. Heath Walker #nine
9. Del Powell #14
10. Marty Smith #18
11. Trish Taylor #31
12. Dave Bange #2
13. David Tyrrell #69
14. Jimmy Peele #07
15. John Clark #80j
16. Nevin Gainey #17
17. Randy Moody #13
18. Dennis Peterson #00
19. Jerry Ferrel #98f
20. Jason Bennett #88
21. Devin Walker #55jr.
22. John Windham #65
23. Tim Harrell #29
24. Scotty Kay Jr. #21
25. Scott Stewart #20
26. Dave Dowling #66 DQ
Pure Stock
1. Jerry Fortner #F16
2. Eddie Gainey #5
3. Windal Clark #17
4. Kevin Durden #27
5. Billy Smith #00
6. William Martin #06
7. Chris Rowe #23
8. Doran Cheney #98c
9. Andy Olson #13
10. Billy Brock #30
11. Shawn Creech #07
12. Swede Melgaard #15m
13. Rick Reed #91
14. David Hess #15h
15. William Edwards #09
16. Jimmy Dowling #88
17. Shane Taylor #82
18. Chris Shea #76
19. David Kinsey #96
20. Grady Christian #36
21. Lenny Long #3L
22.William O’Quinn #03
23. James Trowell #58
24. Nevin Gainey #57
25. Travis Melgaard #4
Box Stock
1. Bobby Denard #7L
2. John Windham #65
3. Daryl Larson #15d
4. Corey Crews #21
5. Bryar Zimmerman #lil ooz
6. Billy Wilson #32w
7. Amber Willis #12
8. Kevin Underwood #5
9. Dylan Hurston #26
10.Steven Wethrington #311
11.Shaylynn Taylor #88
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