By Andy Marquis, RacingForTheWin.com
BUDDS CREEK, Md. (May 25, 2009)—Larry Fuchs, Kyle Vantassel and John John Hardisty battled for the win in the Strictly Stock Feature. A lat caution on lap 17 bunched them up and set them up for a 3 lap shootout. The caution came out when one car (#34) lost a left-front tire. Hardisty moved in to second, right behind Vantassel. Hardisty didn’t have anything for Vantassel on the Green/Checkered finish. Vantassel scored his second win of the season.
Kevin Cooke and Jason Murphy brought the Street Stock feature to the green flag. A big wreck transpired on the second lap, Kurt Zimmerman got loose and slid in to Kyle Nelson. Several other drivers were involved. Zimmerman and Mike Reynolds cut down tires in the wreck and were unable to continue. The cars had to be towed off the track, forcing the red flag to be displayed. Kevin Cooke scored his first career Potomac Speedway feature win, with Ben Bowie finishing second and Landon Carter third.
Rich Gwizdale took the lead from Aaron Fincham on lap 5 of the 4-Cylinder feature. Greg Gunter moved to second on lap 8. But on lap 10, Gwizdale’s car fell off the pace and stopped to bring out the caution, moving Gunter to the lead.
The main event of the night was the 40 lap Super Late Model feature, the Mike Clore Memorial. Kirk Ryan and Booper Bare brought the main event to the green flag. David Williams’ spin on the first lap forced the race to be restarted from the first lap. Booper Bare led the first lap. The first caution came out for a wreck on front-straight between Kerry King and another car on lap 2. Caution came out again right after the restart when Ray Kable spun off the front bumper of another car.
Kirk Ryan led the official second lap but Booper Bare got back by on the following lap. The third caution came out on lap 10 for debris.
Darryl Hills passed Jamie Lathroum and Andy Anderson on the same lap to move to third on lap 13. Lathroum followed Hills around Anderson, and those two began their charge to the front of the pack. Caution came out on lap 19 for Andy Anderson, who stopped in turn 4 with mechanical problems.
David Williams, who started last, moved his way in to the top 5 on lap 22, but was passed in turn 4 on lap 23 by Kyle Lear. Lear, Roland Mann and Williams were putting on a show in their battle for 5th position. While those guys battled, Hills and Lathroum caught Ryan for second. Lathroum wrecks on lap 28 in turn 3. A broken drive shaft on Lathroum’s car was the culprit that ended his night. That moved both Lear and Williams in to the top 5.
The caution came out instantly after the restart when Ryan got loose in turn 2. Ryan did not spin or hit anything and maintained the second position. Ryan took the lead the next lap, but Bare bypassed him the following turn. Williams passed Lear for fourth on lap 32. Caution came out again on lap 34 for debris, setting up a 6 lap shootout for the win.
They were four-wide for second on lap 35 between Williams, Lear, Ryan and Hills. Ryan held the position through the corner and Williams tried to hold off Lear. William spun again on lap 36. Bare still had the lead. Lear moved to third on the restart lap, and went on the attack on Ryan. Caution came out on lap 39 for Dale Hollidge’s stalled racecar.
The caution for Hollidge set up for a Green/White/Checkered finish. Hills bypassed Lear while Ryan went to work on Bare. Lear moved back to third and finished third, but nobody had anything for Booper Bare who scored his first win of the year.
Josh Dotson brought the Hobby Stock feature to the green but did not lead for long. Brandon Coach took the lead early and led most of the early laps. On lap 6, Tony Archer, Jimmy Suite and Mike Scaggs got together at the same time as Dotson bypassed Coach – but the lead change did not count due to the caution. Scaggs was the only driver who was able to continue from that incident.
ON the restart, Wayne Suite ran in the back of Thomas Pickeral, which caused Pickeral to spin and brought out the caution. Suite, who was third at the time, developed an understeer condition and began falling back. Caution came out again on lap 8 for Tony Arher’s spin.
Caution came out again on lap 9, when Wayne Suite spun off the front bumper of Thomas Pickeral. The contact looked like a little bit of payback for an earlier incident, and Pickeral was parked for aggressive driving.
“He came down in to me,” Pickeral said. “When he came up in to me, he spun me the first time. The second time, he came down in to me so I didn’t hit him.” Pickeral said the contact wasn’t intentional.
“The first incident was just racing,” Suite said. He got loose and I got in to him. I didn’t think I did it on purpose. The second incident, he just drove in to me and tried to tear the car up.”
When asked if he thought the second incident was retaliation for the earlier contact, Suite said: “Definitely, that’s why they black flagged him.”
Josh Dotson went to the outside of Coach for the lead on lap 12, and cleared him in turn 1 the following lap. Coach had one more shot in turn 2 but could not get to him and Josh Dotson held on for the win – his first of the year. Right after crossing the line, the right rear tire came off Don Breach’s car.
Next Friday, the SteelBlock Bandits Limited Late Model Racing Series will race at Potomac Speedway for a $2,000 winning purse. Tickets are available at the gate.