This Week In Racing w/Daniel Culiver May 30, 2009

This Week In Racing


This Week In Racing w/ Daniel Culiver
May 30, 2009


Pro Buzz - The night would start off with Brandon Thornton and Rick Simmons on the point for the Pro Buzz feature. Thornton would get the early jump while Simmons stayed close behind in second. John Pendergrass would have to work his way up from the back and the first caution flag was brought out when the #5 of Jody Monroe was turned entering turn 3. It would be Thornton and Simmons once again on the front row for the restart, and Thornton would once more pull ahead from the rest of the field. The dual would be between the top three of Thornton, Simmons, and Pendergrass, and with only a handful of laps remaining, Pendergrass would make his way
into second. On the final lap, Pendergrass would get the bumper of Thornton but would be unable take the checkers first. Brandon Thornton would be first, John Pendergrass second, Rick
Simmons third, John Barnett in fourth, and Chris Cole rounding out the top five.

Sportsman - Bradley Carter and the #97 of Wayne Jones would lead the field to the green in the Sportsman feature. Jones and Carter would be doorhandle to doorhandle on the first lap and into the second, but with Carter continuing to hold the bottom groove, he would pull ahead and pace Jones and the rest of the pack. As Carter and Jones kept there distance fro the field, fourth place would turn out to be a good one between the #12 of Bryan Faulkner and the #5 of Byron Westbrooks. Faulkner would get the position on Westbrooks but would later fall out of the race due to overheating issues. The battle for second would tighten up between Jones and the #17 of R.L. Vickers, and the two at one point began to close in on Carter. The caution flag would fly 13 laps in due to fluid on the track, and now Jones would have his shot at Carter by restarting on the outside of the front row. Carter cleared Jones by the start/finish line but Jones would stay right on the bumper of Carter. Jones day would go sour after falling off the pace with only a few laps remaining and the caution flag would wave so officials could check for debris. Vickers would try his luck at Carter on the outside for the next restart, but Carter proved to be just too strong. He would go on to in the Sportsman feature followed by R.L. Vickers, Byron Westbrooks, and Eddie Gibbs rounding out the finishing cars.

Mini Stocks - Casey Clark would share the front row with Alex Campbell in the mini-stocks, and it would be Clark pulling out to the lead...only to be overtaken by Chris Mahan. Mahan would lead the first lap with Hunter Spivey pulling up close behind. The two would do battle for a few laps, and then Spivey's day would begin to take a bad turn. Coming off turn two, the #6 of Spivey brushed the outside wall which led to a tire failure. Spivey would make repairs in the pits and return but the race would be in Chris Mahan's hands. The next caution would wave at lap 4 when the #5 of Campbell lost it coming off four collecting the #3 of Mark Collins along the way. Mahan would be at the point once again on the restart but the green wouldn't stay out long when the #16 of Jeremy Davis and #6 of Spivey spun on the backstretch. Bruce Caldwell would try the outside of Mahan for the next restart but Mahan would quickly pull ahead. The remainder of the race would all be Chris Mahan and he would go on to collect another feature win for the 2009 season. Joe Davis finished in second, followed by Casey Clark, Bruce Caldwell, and Mark Collins.

Super Stocks - The front row for the Super Stocks would consist of the #21 of David Dean Jr. and the #92 of Michael Neely. Dean would pull ahead on the start with the rest of the field in a cluster completing lap 1. Neely and the #1 of Steve Jones would do battle for the second spot, while the #77 of Troy Gray would work his way into the mix. Gray would overtake Jones and then make his way to the bumper of Dean. The caution would come out for the first time after the #16 car put down fluid. Dean and Gray would make up the front row on the restart and the two would continue to stay in tight formation most of the race. As Dean and Gray pulled away from the pack, Clayton Hopkins would lead the second group. Gray would finally get to the outside of Dean and the two made contact on the frontstretch shortly after. The caution was flown due to the fender from Gray, that was ripped away after contact from Dean. Gray and Hopkins would lead the field down for the next restart and Troy Gray would once more show dominance by pulling away. Hopkins would pull up to the bumper but would be unable to make a pass on Gray. Troy Gray would go on to win the Super Stock feature followed by Clayton Hopkins, Steve Jones, Jody Crowe, and the #92 of Michael Neely.

Open Wheels - Junior Seymour and Gary Wade Finley would be the guys at the point for the open wheel feature. Finley would quickly use the outside to his advantage and pull ahead of the field. Phillip Price would slide into the second position and at times challenge Finley for first. John Thomas did not get off to a great start after slipping sideways in turn two. Meanwhile, Price reached the back bumper of Finley and even gave him a shove coming off turn four. The ONE AND ONLY caution of the night (Yes, there was only one) came out after Shannon Berry spun his #12 in turn four while battling back in the back. After the restart, it would be smooth sailing for Finley as he paced the single file pack. Craig Bell once again had a strong car and remained in the third position for most of the evening. John Thomas, who had slipped earlier in the race, began to make his way closer and closer. Thomas and Bell would put on a great battle with Thomas putting the chrome horn to Bell lap after lap trying to loosen him up. Bell would have the power on the straightaways, but Thomas would have the better handling car in the corners. Another close battle would be a few spots back between the pole sitter Junior Seymour and the #117 of Andy Brittain. At the halfway point of the race, Finley would continue to hold first down with Price not far behind in second. Thomas would still be trying the high side and low side to get by Bell and Seymour would still be ahead of Brittain further back in the field. Bell would finally make his move of the night by slipping past Phillip Price and Price would lose another position after being overtaken by John Thomas. Finley would win the 40 lap feature, followed by Craig Bell, John Thomas, Phillip Price, and Junior Seymour rounding out the first five spots.

Hot Shots - The Hot Shot feature would have Jimmy Kent in the #46 Scottie Bradford ride and the #51 Winning Edge car of Daniel Culiver. On the start, Culiver would pull ahead and pace the field, but the #1 of Steve Edwards would overtake Culiver coming to complete the first lap. Edwards would begin to slip further and further away and leave the battle for second to Culiver and Billy Byrd. Byrd would use the outside to slip past Culiver but that would upset Byrd's car and leave him sideways coming off the turn. Cloudy Buchanan would bring out the first yellow after losing control of her #80 car in turn two. Culiver would get another shot at Edwards on the restart, but Edwards would prove to be just too strong. Mark Collins would use the inside line to sneak past Culiver and leave him hanging and then Billy Byrd would use the outside lane to pull up with Culiver. The two would put on a great show lap after lap and Culiver would come out with the upper hand. The top three of Edwards, Collins, and Byrd would pull away from the rest of the field while fourth would be battled between Culiver and Brandon Momen. Byrd would slip in turn one and that would allow Culiver to pull up to the bumper of Byrd. After a bump in turn three, Byrd would put the spurs to Culiver for three laps in a row, but Culiver would not budge. Another caution would wave with less than five laps remaining. The restart would help Edwards but hurt Collins. Edwards would get the jump for the restart, and Culiver would sneak under Collins to take second. As Culiver chased down Edwards for the lead, Mark Collins would continue to slip in the turns and that would help Billy Byrd take third place. Edwards would win the 20 lap feature followed by Daniel Culiver, Billy Byrd, Brandon Momen, and Cloudy Buchanan.

Amateur Buzz - Garrett Finley would start on the pole for the Amateur Buzz feature with the #23 of Katie Dixon on the outside. Finley would get a great start and the #39 of Steven Smart would quickly pull right behind to follow. The caution would wave early after the #9 and #23 tangled in turn four. Finley would get a good restart but Smart would be right there to challenge. With Finley holding the bottom, Smart would have no choice but to take the lead on the outside and that would turn out to be a "Smart" descision. As the #39 began to pull away, Finley would stay in close quarters hoping for Smart to slip up and that would happen just a few laps later when the #39 turn sideways in turn two but would recover and hold the lead. The slip up would allow Finley another shot at Smart and this time it would be the #39 using the bottom to his advantage. Finley would be unable to get by the #39 and he would go on to win the feature over Finley, TJ Zimmerman, Hunter Gant, and the #23 of Katie Dixon.