By Andy Marquis
BUDDS CREEK, Md. (July 25, 2009)—Booper Bare has been racing for 28 years across the region and has won countless times. This one was different, this one was special. Along with a $3,000 paycheck and a four-foot trophy, Booper Bare made history. When the smoke cleared on Friday night, Booper Bare found himself in the right place at the right time when race leader Jamie Lathroum wrecked handing him the lead and the win.
Tony Stone and James Stone started on the front row for the 15 lap Hornet feature. Buddy Dunagan, who started sixth, wasted no time on his charge to the front as he took the lead on the opening lap. As eventful as most races at Potomac Speedway are, this one was not. Buddy Dunagan led every lap on his way to victory lane.
Donnie Smith and Jerry Fifield shared the front row for the 16 lap Coors Light Street Stock feature with Stephen Quade and Kurt Zimmerman starting third and fourth. Fifield led the first lap of the race, while Smith and Zimmerman clashed for second. Kyle Nelson raced his way to fourth by lap three and passed Zimmerman for third on lap four. The front four cars raced for the lead using every part of the race track to make their move. Nelson took the lead from Fifield on lap nine before the first caution came out. Smith and Zimmerman got around Fifield on the ensuing restart to move to second and third respectively just before the second caution came out for debris. Zimmerman and Smith made contact battling for the second position sending both cars in to the turn three guardrail in a wreck that looked reminiscent of the final lap crash in the 1979 Daytona 500. That moved Troy Kassiris to second and Chuck Bowie to third. With his main competition out of contention, Kyle Nelson was able to cruise to his sixth win of the year.
Rich Marks brought the Modified feature to the green with Tony Quade starting shotgun. Marks took off on the start and rocketed to a big lead. Josh Harris, second in points, brought out the first caution of the event on lap four. He re-fired the car and went to pit road allowing track officials to call a quickie yellow. Marks took off again on the restart as Robbie Kramer passed Quade for second. Point leader James Marshall spun a lap later bringing out the second caution but he was able to continue. The restart was all Rich Marks again as he shot out to a big lead. Nobody within sight, Rich Marks drove away from the field to score his (fourth?) win of the year.
Jamie Lathroum edged out Booper Bare at the line to win the qualifying feature and score the pole for the 35 lap Super Late Model main event. A $3,000 payday would go to the race winner. Booper Bare took the early lead from Jamie "The Jet" Lathroum. First caution came out on lap two when Jeremy Miller got loose and spun in turn two taking David Williams around with him. Bare again shot out of a cannon on the ensuing the restart with Lathroum holding steady in second before the second caution came out for Matt Quade's single car spin. Lathroum took the lead from Bare on lap seven, just before the third caution came out for a big wreck in turn two. Dale Hollidge and Alan Sagi got the worst of the multi-car wreck. Darryl Hills, David Williams, Skip Hare and Devin Friese were also involved but they were able to drive away.
On the ensuing restart, Nick Dickson in car number 17 began to apply the pressure on Booper Bare before the caution waved once again for Dale Hollidge. Booper Bare was penalized two positions for jumping the ensuing restart, even though he got a shove from Dickson. Lathroum continued to lead, and Booper Bare made his way back up to third on lap 10 while Skip Hare went behind the wall. Booper Bare made the pass for second on lap 14 and began to reel in race leader Jamie Lathroum. The sixth caution of the race came out when Kyle Lear's car came to a rest on the frontstretch with an apparent flat tire. Seventh caution came out when Deane Guy and Matt Quade tangled in turn four. Jamie Lathroum continued to lead over Booper Bare, Nick Dickson, Jason Covert and Roland Mann.
Covert's car came to a rest just outside turn four on lap 23 to bring out the eight caution, moving Larry Ramsey (who got around Mann) to fourth and Roland Mann to fifth. Jamie Lathroum started to drive away shortly after the restart when Dickson and Bare raced side-by-side for several laps. Booper Bare was able to prevail in the battle for second. Moments later, race leader Jamie Lathroum spun and crashed hard in to the outside wall on the back straightaway handing the lead to Booper Bare. Nick Dickson moved to second, followed by Larry Ramsey, Scott Cross and DJ Myers.
Dickson, trying to make a pass on Bare, got out of shape and stacked up the field in turn two which led to several cars getting together and destroyed the front end of Scott Cross's car. The stack up allowed DJ Myers and led to the 10th caution of the race. Dickson dropped to third, Roland Mann moved up to fourth and Ross Robinson in car number 7R moved up to fifth. Nick Dickson tried to get around Myers for second on the restart but wasn't able to complete the pass allowing Booper Bare to get away. DJ Myers held off Nick Dickson for second but Booper Bare once again held them all off to get his fourth win of the year. The win would mark Booper Bare's milestone 50th career win at Potomac Speedway.
"Yeah, this win's pretty special," Booper said in victory lane. "I've made a lot of good friends in the 28 years I've been racing." When asked if his car was good enough to sweep, Booper said "I hope so, but there are a lot of good cars out here."
Round two of this weekend's Three State Flyers race takes place Saturday Night with the Vernon Harris Memorial 51-lap Super Late Model feature with a $5,000 payday to the race winner. Booper Bare has now scored back-to-back victories in the Three State Flyers series and has won the last four Potomac Speedway races he has entered.
RESULTS
Super Late Models: 1. Booper Bare, 2. D.j. Myers, 3. Nick Dickson, 4. Ray Kable, 5. Frankie Plessinger, 6. Ross Robinson, 7. David Williams, 8. Roland Mann, 9. Kyle Lear, 10. Randy Burkholder, 11. Darryl Hills, 12. Dale Hollidge, 13. Matt Quade, 14. Deane Guy, 15. Jeff Pilkerton, 16. Jamie Lathroum, 17. Jason Covert, 18. Jim Yoder, 19. Kirk Ryan, 20. Jeremy Miller, 21. Skip Hare, 22. Alan Sagi, 23. Devin Friese, 24. Scott Cross (DNQ) Pat Wood, Deuce Wright, Bob Gordon, Chris Cromer, Larry Ramsey, Harold Dorsey, Kenny Geer, Scott Labarron.
Modifieds: 1. Rich Marks, 2. Robbie Kramer, 3. Tony Quade, 4. James Marshall, 5. Josh Harris.
Street Stocks: 1. Kyle Nelson, 2. Troy Kassiris, 3. Chuck Bowie, 4. Kevin Cooke, 5. Stephen Quade, 6. Scott Wilson, 7. Kurt Zimmerman, 8. Phil Lange, 9. Donnie Smith, 10. Dale Reamy, 11. Mike Reynolds, 12. Jerry Fifield, (DNS) Jarrett Collinson.
Hornets: 1. Buddy Dunagan, 2. Nick Catena. 3. Truman Hancock, 4. Eddie Chewing, 5. Joe Dexter, 6. James Stone Jr.