This Week In Racing w/Daniel Culiver May 17, 2009

This Week In Racing
May 17, 2009


Mini Stocks - The Mini Stocks started off a great day of racing with Casey Clark in the #57
and the #21 of Shay Miller on the front row. When the race went green, Miller and Clark stayed bumper
to bumper while the #97 of Chris Mahan slowly made his way through the pack, inching
and closer to the top spot. While Mahan worked his way to the front, the #00 and the #6
Hunter Spivey also stayed locked together in close quarters. As Miller continued to pull
away from the field, the #57 of Clark got sideways on lap 7 exciting turn two and then weaved back across the track making contact with the #7 along the way. On the restart it would be
Spivey going to the outside and when the race resumed, Spivey quickly resumed his dominating
ways by taking the top spot from Miller. Spivey would go on to win the Mini-Stock feature
followed by Chris Mahan, and Mark Collins rounding out the top three.

Sportsman - The Sportsman division would kick off there feature with a unique twist. For the race, the Super Stocks were allowed to run with the Sportsman class and that in turn would prove to be a great idea by the Speedway. Starting on the front row would be Bryan Faulkner and R.L. Vickers. Vickers quickly would take control of the race on the start, but Bradley Carter quickly closed in. Carter would assume the lead by lap 3 . The first caution would fly when Byron Westbrooks made contact with the #97 of Wayne Jones, which sent Jones up into the turn three wall. On the restart, it would once again be Carter in command. While Carter pulled away from the pack, the battle for second would be between Vickers and the #18 of Jared Lawler. A new contender would make his prescence known when the #77 of Troy Gray from the Super Stocks would ease his way under Lawler for the third position. After being hung on the outside, Lawler would slip loose and spin his car in the middle of one and two, which brought out the second caution. Troy Gray would show the power his red #77 possessed when he went to the outside of Carter for the restart. Carter would get the jump, but Gray kept his ride solidly in the second position. As the field began to spread apart, Carter would pull further away from the rest of the field. The next caution flag would be displayed when the #21 of Zack Graham spun coming off turn two. The field would be bunch of the restart giving everyone a shot at Bradley Carter. Jay McClure showed his power by charging into second only to then be spun around by the #77 of Gray. The next restart, would bring the pack close again and this time it would be Lawler going to the outside of Carter. In almost the exact same fashion, Lawler would be spun around in turn one by Gray after contact entering the corner. For the next restart in a short period of time, Vickers would take his car to the outside, with Gray and Larry Crowe in the second row. Carter would get the jump but the real action was between Gray and Crowe after the #77 pushed up into the #9. Crowe would show his displeasure by nudging into Gray entering turn one and turning him up into the fence. That would set of a chain reaction with Gray, Crowe, and Westbrooks all wadding up in the turn. Carter would once again lead the field to the restart with Lawler back on the outside, and the race would then be all Carters. Carter went on to win the feature followed by Jared Lawler, R.L. Vickers, Byron Westbrooks, and Clayton Hopkins rounding out the top five.

Open Wheels - The open wheels would feature Craig Bell and John Thomas at the point. Thomas would take the lead at the start and begin to pace the field. Bell would hold second down for several laps, but not without heat from behind thanks to Phillip Price in the #5. The dominator Gary Wade Finley would not be far behind Price. As Thomas pulled away, the field began to spread out. The pack would tighten up quickly as Thomas worked his way through lap traffic and a melee would ensue when the #56 of Bell tangled with traffic bringing out the first yellow of the day. On the restart, Gary Wade Finley would challenge Thomas for the lead by hanging his #37 on the outside. Again, Thomas would finally pull ahead of Finley but the two remained close together the majority of the race. The caution would wave once again when the #24 of Brian White spun coming off turn four. Thomas and Finley would once again make up the front row for the restart and once again the two would produce a great side by side battle. The tight racing finally gave when the two made slight contact in turn three which then resulted in Thomas losing it in turn one. Another caution would fly when the #117 lost contol on the frontstretch triggering another chain reaction crash with cars spinning everywhere. For the next restart, Phillip Price would be at the point for the first time. The #117 would bring out another caution on lap 23 after slipping once again exiting turn four. This time for the restart, Price would have a tough contender with Gary Wade Finley on the outside. The green wouldn't stay out long due to a error in the lineup. Unlike before, this time Finley would take the inside and start in the third spot which left the #21 of Michael Jordan to take the outside spot for the first row. Jordan would quickly get under the #5 of Price and take the lead of the race. Jacob Heard would bring out another caution and like before on the restart, Jordan's #21 showed its power by pacing the field ahead of Finley. Lap after lap, Jordan would exit the corners sideways and that finally backfired in turn two when he turned his car completely sideways, only to save it once again. Shannon Berry would bring out the yellow for spinning due to the shuffle. Finley would take control of the race on the next restart and ANOTHER caution flag would fly for Michael Jordan after making contact with John Thomas. Finley would pace the field after the restart and this time everyone would avoid contact and allow for long run racing. As Thomas chased Finley, Michael Jordan would start to move closer and closer to the leaders. Jordan would finally make his way past Thomas and set his sights on Finley for the final laps. Finley's day would turn sour when he run out of fuel in the closing laps, giving the lead and ultimately the win to Michael Jordan. The win was Jordan's first in the Open Wheels. John Thomas would finish second, followed by Craig Bell, Phillip Price and Finley.



Pro Buzz - The Pro Buzz class would feature Chris Cole and the #28 of John Pendergrass on the front row. Cole and Pendergrass would stay close together with Pendergrass fighting on the outside. Rick Simmons would join the battle by going three wide and taking the lead. As the field bunched due to the move, Pendergrass would be stuck on the outside of a three wide group and then be spun out by Chris Cole. For the restart, it would be Cole and Collins on the point. Cole would once again take control with Simmons and Collins close behind. The next caution would wave when Mark Collins slipped sideways entering turn three then was clipped by Brandon Thornton in the #16. Pendergrass would go to the outside on the restart and that would be a beneficial move. As Cole and Simmons held the inside line, Pendergrass would make a bonzai move to the outside by going three wide and taking the lead over Cole. Brandon Thornton would slip into the second spot, but would be unable to pass Pendergrass. He would make one last attempt at a pass exiting turn four on the last lap, and would come up a bumper short of winning the race. The #28 of Pendergrass would go on to win the race over Thornton, followed by Rick Simmons, Chris Cole, and Jared Osborne.

Hot Shots/Amateur Buzz - The Hot Shots kicked off with Richard McLemore and Billy Byrd on the front row. On the start, the #4 of McLemore tried his best to fend off Byrd going into turn one, but Byrd would have the advantage with Mark Collins pushing him. The race would quickly be in the hands of Byrd and Collins who battled the majority of the race side by side. On the restart, it would once again be the #4 and #31 on the front row but this time Byrd would have the inside. He would quickly dart ahead and Collins would follow. As Collins and Byrd battled for the lead, third place would turn out to be a tough battle between the #4 of McLemore, the #51 of Daniel Culiver, and the #80 of Cloudy Buchanan. Culiver would hold the position for most of the race, only to be passed on the outside by Buchanan. On the final restart, Collins finally made his way past Byrd to take the top spot and he would go on to win the 15 lap feature over Byrd, Buchanan, Culiver, and the #7 of Brandon Momen.