Hot Racing Action at MMS

Monday, June 29, 2009

Hot Racing Action at MMS

by Jim Addison

COMMUNITY TRUST BANK sponsored Saturday’s night racing at Monroe Motor Speedway as CTB presented the Bumper to Bumper Late Models, Central Oil Supply Modifieds, Payroll Plus, SportMods, Sonic Drive-In Compacts, Thunderstocks, and the Cracker Barrel Convenient Stores Legends. What a night it was with some hot racing action and one cannot forget the hot temperatures. The heat did not stop the fans from having a good time and the drivers putting on one great show.

The Sonic Drive-in Compacts were out on the track first with No.4 Rodney Ates taking off from the pack until the caution came out. As the green flag was thrown for the restart it was X1 Jerry McMaster taking the lead. On lap 5 No.6 Shane Vocker starting moving up and moved in to 2nd place. As the checkered flag was thrown it was No.X1 Jerry Mc Master, No.6 Shane Vocker, No.4 Rodney Ates, and No.99 William Lawrence.

Thunderstocks were out next and No.P1 Kenny Patton and No.52 Kevin Hogard were on the pole taking the pack to the green flag. Kenny finally gets out by himself and takes the lead with Kevin and No.53 Keith Hogard following right behind. They were coming upon lap traffic when Kenny slid by, but Kevin was stopped as the 2 lapped cars were double wide preventing him from passing. This allowed for Kenny to open up a pretty good lead. Finally Kevin gets by the lapped cars and proceeds to reel in Kenny but to no avail. As they came around to the final flag it was No.P1 Kenny Patton, No.52 Kevin Hogard, and No.53 Keith Hogard.

The Payroll Plus SportMods were on the track next and when the green flag fell it was No.8 Brandon Kent taking off. On lap 6 No.7B Ryan Beach passed No.88 Jimmy Whitlock to move in to the second spot. It appeared that Jimmy was having car trouble as he started to fade pack in to the pack. Then on lap 10 Jimmy went to the infield with apparent car trouble. As the pack rounded the last turn and down the home stretch it was No.8 Brandon Kent taking the top honors. He was followed by No.7B Ryan Beach, No.21 Timmy Colvin, and No.88 Jimmy Whitlock.

Next it was the Bumper to Bumper Late Models. No.23 Darin Patrick and No.87 Kevin Nixon were on the pole and brought the pack to the green flag. When lap 3 approached it was Kevin taking off for the lead and leaving the rest behind. No.97 Cade Dillard made a pass on lap 3 to move in to 2nd. Then on lap 6 it was No.99 Mark Underwood and No.8 Keith Warner making a charge towards the front of the pack. The caution flag came out and set things up for a restart. As the cars went in to turn 1 some got together and the yellow flag came out. On this restart it was Kevin again taking off for the lead. On lap 14 Mark make a move to the inside and passes Cade. Kevin continues his commanding lead on the rest of the pack. As they came around to take the checkered flag it was No.87 Kevin Nixon, No.99 Mark Underwood, No.97 Cade Dillard, and No.23 Darin Patrick.

The Central Oil Supply Modifieds were out next and it was No.C24 David Colvin jumping out to take the lead. No.6 Stevie Howard and No.H5 Nicholas Hodge were charging hard and were hot on his trail. On lap 10 Nicholas made a move and passed Stevie to take 2nd place. Nicholas starting looking at the inside of David and finally on lap 15 passes on the outside to take the lead. Nicholas starting lapping cars on lap 17 and began to open a big lead. It was No.H5 Nicholas Hodge taking the checkered flag. He was followed by No.C24 David Colvin, No.6 Stevie Howard, and No.1X Jason Cowan.

It was the Cracker Barrel Convenient Stores Legends rounding out the night. As No.23 Jo Jo Pike took off and really never looked back as he opened a substantial lead. The caution flag came out and set up a restart, but once again it was Jo Jo taking off and built a good lead. No.47 Joey Couvillon moved up the pack and in to 2nd place. On lap 8 the caution flag came out. After the restart it was Jo Jo taking off once again with the lead. Lap 13 saw No.91 Chris Freeland move in to 3rd place and No.9 Ronny Freeland passed Joey for 2nd. As they came around for the final checkered flag of the night it was No.23 Jo Jo Pike, No.9 Ronny Freeland, No.47 Joey Couvillon, and No.91 Chris Freeland.

Drivers Update—No.3B, Brain Burch, recently had back surgery, we wish him a good and healthy recovery.

No.19 in the Legends division, Christopher Freeland, is doing fine after his wreck last week. He said it will be awhile before he gets his car back on the track as his car’s frame was broken in 3 places. This past weekend he was out on the track racing using Joe Pike’s back up car.

No.62, Logan Gandy, they young man in the Young Guns division, who suffered a hard hit into the wall, is doing fine. Luckily there was no breakage of any kind and Logan said he cannot wait to get back on the track. Logan and his nice family were in the stands this past weekend as the young man was saying he does not remember the wreck, but his car sure is tore up. Dr. Gandy said Logan is doing fine and it is amazing there were no broken bones and how fast he has recouped after taking that hard lateral hit. He said the HANS device does work at advertised. Hey, maybe they need to do a commercial for them, just a thought. Fans and drivers alike said they wish him well and will be glad when he graces the track once again.

Due to the holiday and the many activities in the area there will be no racing at MMS on July 4th.

Upcoming Events—July 11th NASACAR legend Bobby Allison will be on hand from 5 to 7pm for a meet and greet session. Also that night the SPUR Dirt Late Models will be racing.

You can view the latest complete race results (heats and feature races) and points’ standings by going to www.monroemotorspeedway.com.