County Line Raceway kicks off the 2008 season
Posted:4/28/2008
County Line Raceway kicks
off the 2008 season with great racing action. The evenings big winner
was Dustin Mitchell, besting a stellar field of Late Model competition.
Justin Pinno and Joshua Bryant were also victorios in their respective
divisions, Modified Four Cylinder and Cadet. Other winners of the
evening were Victor May in Super Stock Four Cylinder, Britches Liles in
Thunder & Lightning, Gary Whitley in Pure Stock V-8, and Junior Johnson
in Pure Stock V-8.
The evening started off with the return of the Modiifed Four Cylinders
on the 3/8ths mile clay oval. Wilson’s Justin Pinno capped the win with
a dominating performance, after setting fast time of 17.46 through
qualifying. Fayetteville’s Paul Green managed second place in his CLR
debut. Jamie Summerlin and William Carrol rounded out the field after
both suffered mechanical problems in practice, causing both lots of work
to make the feature. The Modified Four Cylinder makes its return to CLR
on June 7th. There should be a full field of competitors by this date,
this was the first date of the season for this series.
The Late Model division started of the season with an outstanding field
of competitors. Louisburg’s ‘Wild Child’ Damon Kotke set the pace with a
qualifying lap of 15.77 to take the pole position over Pine Level’s ‘Kid
Rocket” Dustin Mitchell with a time of 15.80 seconds. Mitchell got the
jump at the drop of the green flag and held off challenges by Kotke and
Holly Spring’s Neal Sykes to take the victory, his first in the Late
Model division at CLR. Sykes, making his long waited return to CLR after
about a 7 year absence, came from the sixth starting position to battle
for the lead. Sykes had to settle for second after Mitchell proved to be
strong. Earl Arnold made his way through the field to take over the
third position, in the popular yellow #1 machine. Kotke made his way
back to fourth after a lap 4 spin that relegated him to the rear of the
field. Scooter King managed a fifth place finish after advancing eight
spots from the start of the race. Rounding out the top ten were Ronnie
Boykin, J.P. Cascell, Bobby Bottoms, Chris Klein, and Eric Hobgood. 2007
points champion, Spencer Liggon, finished in the eleventh position after
suffering mechanical issues.
The next feature event of the evening saw Rocky Mount’s Joshua Bryant
take his first victory in stock car action, in the Cadet division. This
is a class for 11 thru 15 year old competition. Bryant set fast time for
the Cadets with a lap of 23.00 seconds. 2007’s big winner, Austin
Holcombe, had to settle for second. Elm City’s Holcombe made a pass with
three to go to secure the second spot. Stillman Heath, the 2007 points
champion had to settle for third. Cody Keith took home fourth after
suffering mechanical problems.
The remaining events of the evening were Dash Races, which were a new
twist on the competition. The top six qualifiers for the divisions were
locked into the races. They had to redraw for the starting order for the
racing action. The finish for the dashes sets the top six starting spots
for next weeks action.
The Super Stock Four Cylinder division saw Victor May pick up where he
left off in 2007, dominating the
competition. May set fast time with a lap of 18.77 seconds and then led
flag to flag in the 10 lap dash. Bill Winstead followed May to a second
place finish. The hard charging machines of Wayne Potter and Andy Ross
ended up third and fourth, respectively. Json Horne and Josh Widenner
rounded out the field.
The Thunder & Lightning division was dominated by Britches Liles in his
sleek new ride. Liles set fast time of 17.77 seconds and then led the
field for a flag to flag victory. Mark McDaniels ran a strong second,
holding off Skeeter Liles. 2007 points champion, Alan Worrells, placed
fourth. Rounding out the field were Joey Cascell, Chris Ray, and Tim
Coley.
Pure Stock V-8 were the next group to hit the track. They put on a great
show. Gary Whitley wasted little time in making his way to the front of
the pack in this highly contested battle. Whiley took the lead on the
third circuit and held off constant challenges by Jerry Williams.
Michael Lamm, the 2007 season points champion settled for third with
James Meredith taking fourth. Fast qualifier Ben James wound up fifth
after posting a lap of 21.06 seconds. Ray Beaman rounded out the field
after suffering handling issues.
The Pure Stock Four Cylinder may have seen the tightest battle of the
evening between Junior Johnson and Gary Dillon. Johnson held off
challenges in each turn from Dillon to take the victory. They will be
the starting row for next weeks feature. Jimmy Holcombe made his return
to four cylinder action at CLR , taking home third place. Fourth place
finisher, Ricky Webb, was also back in the drivers seat after a few
years absence. Rounding out the field were Carlton Toney and Taylor
Dalton.
The May 3rd event is shaping up to be a great night of racing action.
Trophies will be presented to the Best
Apearing Cars from this past weekends show. There will be racing in six
divisions starting with the very popular Late Model superstars. Super
Stock Four Cylinder, Thunder & Lightning, Pure Stock Four Cylinder, Pure
Stock V-8, and Cadets will also be on hand. Gates open at 5, with the
drivers meeting taking place at 7. Come on out and bring a friend.
|
|
