Photo: PictureMeRacing

Starting and exciting night of racing action were our Street Stock Class heat races. Heat Race #1 saw a fierce battle up front between #55 of Sean Foster and #77 of veteran Dean Wray. Foster was challenged every lap but ran a great line and held on for the heat race win with Wray a close second, Gene Stigall in #20 finishing third securing these three drivers a spot in the shootout for starting positions in the feature. Heat race #2 for Stock proved to be just as exciting with I-35 track champion Jon Boller JR picking up the win in car #20x challenged all the way by #14F of Larry Ferris and #417 driven by Kevin Anderson setting up the final three drivers for the six car shootout.

Next to take the track was the always exciting Hobby Stocks. The first heat race was no disappointment with #96B of Andy Coffman pulling out to a nice lead followed by x9a of “Bad” Brad Whitney filling in for daughter Alexas with #17 “Mr. Burnout” Lee Farmer coming home third securing spots in the  shootout for their feature starting positions. The second heat race was just as exciting with 2012 IMCA      I-35 track champion Eric Stanton in #7B picking up the win over second place finisher #96R of Jamie Songer and third place finisher Brian Stich in car #21 rounding out the field of six for the shootout.

Then on to the track came the featured fire breathing Sport Modifieds for their heat race action. Heat race one set the stage for what was to follow in the feature with I-35 track champion #57 Randy Ainsworth taking up right where he left off three weeks before coming through the pack and taking the win challenged all the way by Gene Claxton in car #42 finishing second with #54 of Lynn Starry third. Heat race two found #91 Eddie Swope Jr in victory lane followed by always fast Doug Keller driving car #7 and #6 of Lucas Isaacs rounding out the top three. Heat race #3 proved to be another great setup for the shootout and feature to come with Austin Kaplin taking the win. Second place went to #66 Ethan Isaacs and third place going to car #44 of Grand National track champion Bud Wilson driving the Huey Jacobs prepared outlaw special. Racing action continued with heat race #4 with 17X of Clint Baker charging to the front making the car work as #101 Eddie Swope III finished second and Chad Shaw in #27s finished third.
Abundant number of entries in our Sport Modified class called for a B feature to take place. Twelve cars took to the track trying to secure one of the eight available spots to move up to the feature event. When the smoke cleared the winner was #3j driven by Joe Brugroni, second to #13 Taylor Musselman, third to Bryon Rigsby #128, fourth place finisher #86J Jarod Weston, fifth to Bobby Penny #16, sixth #33j Jason Billups, seventh to #14S of Paul West and eight and final transfer spot going to #52m “Wild Thing” Dustin Miller. This set the field for our feature events.

The shootouts for the first six finishers to secure starting positions where fast paced and action packed. In the hobby stocks #96B Andy Coffman picked up the win giving him the pole position and Lee Farmer finishing second setting up the front row. Street Stock Dash saw Dean Wray #77 pick up the win to start on pole and #20 Gene Stigall second to set front starting positions for their feature. Sport Modified shootout win went to #91 Eddie Swope Jr with 17x of Clint Baker second giving him the outside starting position setting all classes for feature race action.

First feature of the night witnessed 18 Street Stock competitors lining up to take the green flag. Setting the pace early was #77 of Dean Wray jumping out to an early lead challenged by outside pole sitter Gene Stegall #20. Track Champion Jon Boller Jr was making his way to the front until Shane Florence #41 looped his car between turns three and four leaving Boller and others nowhere to go damaging the front components sending him to the pits for repairs. On the restart Kevin Anderson #417 proved to be the fastest car on the track taking second from Stegall and setting sights on Wray for the lead. In a bold move coming off turn two Anderson took over the lead and never looked back. Dean Wray in #77 spun in turn 2 bringing out the caution sending him to the pits for repairs and able to come back without losing a lap. When green flag action resumed the hard charger was Greg Keuhn #6x coming from the 16th starting position to move into 2nd place as the laps wound down with Shawn Lee #4d finishing third and Dean Wray #77 from the back after repairs to finish fourth and “Big” Jeff Dixon bringing it home fifth.

Next to the track came the Hobby Stocks for their feature event with #96b Andy Coffman on the poled flanked by 17f of Lee Farmer. When the green flag dropped Coffman took the lead and stayed out front challenged by Farmer early as the two raced side by side. Enter into the front three #7b of track champion Eric Stanton as he made his presence felt. As laps continued to tick away the race heated up for second as Farmer #17 and Stanton #7b raced side by side for more than five continual laps with Farmer taking second and Stanton finishing third with the victory going to first time winner #96B Andy Coffman driving a flawless race. Fourth went to x9a of “Bad” Brad Whitney and fifth to #21 of Brian Stich.

Sport Modifieds, our featured class of the evening took to the track with a full field of 24 race cars as excitement filled the air. Starting on the front row #91 Eddie Swope Jr and the very fast #17x of Clint Baker eagerly awaited the drop of the green flag. As the action started Swope gained the lead early only to see the #17x of Clint Baker make the pass to move out front and hold the lead for several laps. Early cautions kept the field bunched tight and the racing close. Contact between multiple cars in turn 4 brought out the caution while simultaneously action in turn 1 saw Eddie Swope III leave the racing surface and flip erratically, ending his night with a damaged race car but no injuries. When racing action continued #1 Austin Kaplin used the high line to his advantage charging to the front to take over the lead moving Baker to second. As the race continued under green conditions #7 Doug Keller moved through the pack from his seventh starting position to second as debris on the front straight brought out a caution with 3 laps remaining. Racing action continued with Keller working the low side challenging leader Kaplin. A spin on the last turn of the last lap took Keller out of contention giving the win to #1 Austin Kaplin. Second place was very close at the line with #66 Ethan Isaacs edging out #12x of Clint Baker by a bumper. Finishing fourth was #91 Eddie Swope Jr and rounding out the top five the #128 of Bryon Rigsby.

It was an exciting night of racing with drivers from four different states represented in all three classes. Many point champions from other race tracks made the racing more action packed. Ending the season @ I-35 Speedway on a high note recognizing the talent in these three classes with the best drivers and fans in the country sets the stage for next year’s racing action. Look forward to seeing everyone for our 2013 racing season.