By- Jim Rouse, BRP Media
Joining the Top Gun Sprint Cars were the Hobby Stocks, 1-800-ASK GARY Thunderstocks, Barfield Law Group Mini Stocks, and the Rent-N-Roll Gladiators and they were all looking for the $1000 payday!
First up were the Hobby Stocks for 16 laps. DJ Nobles led lap 1 after Mick Kulak had troubles from pole. Lap 2 was Mike Stalnaker’s lap to shine. And, lap 3 saw “Ragin” Rodney Wright steal the lead. Josh Hughes spun the Don Woosley 81 out of turn 4 on lap 4 to slow the feature for the first time. “Sheriff” Trevor Gamble and Kevin Durden were charging but on lap 6 Durden went around in turn 2 setting “Ragin” Rodney up in front of “Sheriff” Gamble and Howard O’Steen for the restart. On lap 7 Wright made contact with Gamble out of 4 and both went reeling to the infield. As 1+2 sat, P3 Howard O’Steen took the lead. Wright’s dive into 4 was deemed rough driving and was disqualified as Gamble pitted for a new left rear. At the half-way point a debris caution was called setting O’Steen, Stalnaker, and Darran Jackson up with 10 on the board. By this point Durden had rebounded to 4th and Gamble had jumped up to 8th. Gamble stole the lead from O’Steen on lap 14 but before they crossed the line a caution came out for RJ Glazer’s turn 1 spin putting O’Steen in front of Gamble and Durden. Gamble jumped the start and O’Steen didn’t like it. Déjà vu in turn 1- result: Gamble to the back because of a flat; O’Steen disqualified. GWC with Durden, Mark Maresca, and Josh Hughes the new top 3. Maresca spun out of 4 and Durden won under yellow. Hughes was 2nd, Mick Kulak 3rd, DJ Nobles 4th, and Robert Sirmons completed the top 5.
Barfield Law Group Mini Stocks went 2nd and had to fight hard for 15 laps. On lap 6 Jesse Foster’s solo spin brought the caution out as Nick Kerr tried to pull away from “The Terror” Travis Staats and Stephen Hohlbough. On lap 10 Charlie Staats and Hohlbough made contact and brought the yellow out. Kerr took an easy win as “Charging Charlie” finished 2nd. “The Terror,” Buddy Pope, and Keith Briggs put the brand new Xtreme Team 19T in the top 5.
Top Gun Sprint Cars battled for 25 circuits and it started with Robbie Smith up front and leaving Mark Ruel, Jr. in the dust. These drivers went 16 green flag laps before Andrew Griffin spun in a clump to bring the first yellow out. Smith led until lap 14 when Ruel showed why “The Peruvian Outlaw” is the points leader. Ruel used traffic to his advantage and led Smith and “Mean” Gene Lasker at the restart. Tyler Godwin spun out of 4 on lap 19 setting Ruel up in front of Smith and Lasker with traffic between them. Ruel won over hard charging Robbie Smith. Matt Kurtz, Collin Cabre, and Ryan Partin completed the top 5.
A wild 1-800-ASK GARY Thunderstock battle occurred over 17 laps. Justin Durbin led early but lost it before the lap 5 caution for top 5 runner Mike Valdes’ spin. “Flash” Jonathan Appleby led but lost it before halfway to Chad Scranton. Appleby fell out due to a broken tierod on lap 9 as Jason Gamble had engine troubles as well. Mike Tovet stole Scranton’s lead at halfway as he jumped up 20 spots from B Main winner. On lap 15 James Sullivan, III flipped the 14 out of 4 setting up a GWC. Tovet, the B Main winner (he later said his only B), held off Scranton, fellow B Main transfer Dean Jarvis, Gamble, and Durbin. The 8th different winner in 14 features shows how competitive this division is and he did it from 21st on the grid!
A 1 caution race, halted only for Dennis Sanderson’s wild ride in turns 3 and 4, was dominated by the old guys. Sanderson barrel rolled a few times but immediately climbed from the battered 26X. “Old Fox” Steve Cox led the first half but faded late to 3rd. “Rockin” Reid Christensen finished 2nd because it was all about “Terrific” Tony LaPorta. John Moore and Robert Gullett, from opposite ends of the grid, completed the top 5.
Next week the RaceCar Engineering Late Models, Scorpion Racing Products Modifieds, Buddy’s Home Furnishings Limited Late Models, 1-800-ASK GARY Thunderstocks, and the Barfield Law Group Mini Stocks return to battle on the 1/3 mile! For more information check out www.bubbaracewaypark.com or call the Speedway at 352-622-9400!
Bubba Raceway Park Results (6/16)
Top Gun Sprint Cars
1- 83 Mark Ruel, Jr.
2- 6S Robbie Smith
3- 92 Matt Kurtz
4- 12 Collin Cabre
5- 14 Ryan Partin
6- G6 Brandon Grubaugh
7- 55 Kerry Gilbert
8- 88K Shane Kreidler
9- 22 Shawn Murray
10- 5 Tim Grubaugh
11- 38 Tony Agin
12- 8 Rich Alexander
13- 34 Darren Orth
14- 02 Gene Lasker
15- 38T Tyler Godwin
16- 88 Andrew Griffin
17- 43 Rex Howe
18- 3K Kurt Taylor
19- 3A AJ Maddox
DNS- 0X Phillip Pettay
Hobby Stocks
1- 56 Kevin Durden
2- 81 Josh Hughes
3- 2S Mick Kulak
4- 15 Hunter Gustafson
5- 94 Robert Sirmons
6- 57 Wally Schneider
7- 54 Alvin Adkison
8- 119 DJ Nobles
9- 77A RJ Glazer
10- 77M Mark Maresca
11- 12 Trevor Gamble
12- 9 Mike Stalnaker
13- 88H Darran Jackson
14- 2 Trey Isgette, III
15- 43 Joe Boyd
16- 25 Dean Kinsey
17- 77 Matt Kramer
18- 1W Eddie Woodall
DNS- 4C Richard Calmes, Jr.
DQ (Conduct)- 99 Rodney Wright
DQ (Conduct)- 80J Howard O’Steen
1-800-ASK GARY Thunderstocks
1- 98T Mike Tovet
2- 27 Chad Scranton
3- 44 Dean Jarvis
4- 21 Jason Gamble
5- 12 Justin Durbin
6- 65 Shane Nichols
7- 28E Brandon Elwood
8- 2H Jimmy Holley
9- 28 Brian Mullins
10- 71 Rick Kilbury
11- 23 Glenn Baum
12- 114 John Thorpe
13- 14 James Sullivan, III
14- 8 Patrick Mennenga
15- 33 Donnie Dobbins
16- 5W Eddie Kilbury
17- 73 Brandon Tillander
18- 27H Nathan Huffingham
19- 69A Jonathan Appleby
20- 72 Terry Dunbar
21- 15 Mike Valdes
22- 2W Nick Leconte
23- 6H Ronnie Harrell
24- 9 Robert Ray
Barfield Law Group Mini Stocks
1- 75 Nick Kerr
2- 9AR Charlie Staats
3- 1AR Travis Staats
4- 81 Buddy Pope
5- 19T Keith Briggs
6- 75H Stephen Hohlbaugh
7- 58 Jesse Foster
8- 30 Reid Christensen
DNS- 26 Kris Prouty
Rent-N-Roll Gladiators
1- 3T Tony LaPorta
2- 17D Reid Christensen
3- P38 Steve Cox
4- 66 John Moore
5- 2 Robert Gullett
6- 126 Robert Graham
7- 3 Brandon Haseleu
8- 99M Mike Hart
9- 131 George Ingram
10- 20 Casey Feaster
11- 12 Randy Harless
12- 83 Kody Fisher
13- 68 Jordan McMillon
14- 78 Blake Trawiak
15- 98 Jerry Lovejoy
16- 26 Billy Holmes
17- 81 Steve Johnson
18- 1 Ray Vann
19- 26X Dennis Sanderson