Daniel Harper has been near to unbeatable in the Pest Doctor Ridge Runners and the Tuners.
At last! After several weeks of inclement weather either scotched our shows entirely or abbreviated them, Mother Nature finally cooperated and we managed to get an entire race program completed. It proved worth the wait…
BABY GRANDS
The usual hard fought battles in the Baby Grands kicked things off with Justin Shanes and Joe McCloud dueling with heat race winner Jessie Binkley (scoring his first ever race win at Veterans Motorplex!) and fast qualifier Tim Vinsant…two abreast, two rows deep at racing speeds. It was awesome racing that was only interrupted after nine laps when Mark Cole went around, and incident for which Randy Roper tapped out. On the restart Shanes took the lead he would never relinquish, even with a four lap shootout following a late caution which drew the field together. McCloud recovered from a spin to finish second, with Vinsant a strong third, followed by Binkley and Cole.
Baby Grand Feature Race Finish
- Justin Shanes (24) 25 laps
- Joe McCloud (15) 25 laps
- Tim Vinsant (14) 25 laps
- Jessie Binkley (25) 25 laps
- Mark Cole (50) 25 laps
Other finishers: 6. Randy Roper (3R) 21 laps
Starter Andy Breedlove waves the checkered for Baby Grands winner Justin Shanes.
Joe McCloud (15) gets it all wrong as Jessie Binkley (25) and Tim Vinsant (14) avoid him. Binkley picked up his first-ever heat race win!
Baby Grand Heat Race Top Five
- Jessie Binkley (25) 10 laps
- Justin Shanes (24) 10 laps
- Mark Cole (50) 10 laps
- Randy Roper (3R) 10 laps
- Joe McCloud (15) 10 laps
Fast qualifier: Tim Vinsant (14) 14.168
PEST DOCTOR RIDGE RUNNERS
It was a bit of a disappointment to see only five cars turning out for the Pest Doctor Ridge Runners feature, but it was a pretty good race nonetheless, with Daniel Harper and Josh Harrell really putting on a show. Josh Harrell’s on-the-limiter 411 gamely diced side-by-side for several laps, but in the end nobody could stop The Beard from grabbing the win. Jessie Litchford made his first appearance of the season at VMR and claimed third over Steve Akey and Paul Cummings. Harper also won the heat race, and Harrell had the best quote of the night…when Lanny Adams asked what he’d have to do to keep up with Harper, he replied, “Probably build a Prelude.” Priceless!
Pest Doctor Ridge Runners Feature Race Finish
- Daniel Harper (95) 25 laps
- Josh Harrell (411) 25 laps
- Jessie Litchford (58) 25 laps
- Steve Akey (99X) 25 laps
- Paul Cummings (A1) 13 laps
Daniel “The Beard” Harper claims the win in the Pest Doctor Ridge Runners after a hard-fought duel with Josh Harrell.
Pest Doctor Ridge Runners Heat Race Finish
- Daniel Harper (95) 10 laps
- Steve Akey (99X) 10 laps
- Josh Harrell (411) 10 laps
Fast qualifier: Daniel Harper (95) 15.080
TUNERS
Another slim field, another win for Daniel Harper…ho-hum…or not! Officials decided that things were maybe just a little overmatched and yellow-flagged the race with five laps to go and gave Justin Martin a little head start for a five lap shootout. Three words: it wasn’t enough. The Beard caught Martin with a few laps to go and took the win…fast time…and the clean sweep…his second of the night! Sadly, this may be the last regular appearance of the Tuners.
Tuner Feature Race Finish
- Daniel Harper (95) 15 laps
- Justin Martin (711) 15 laps
Fast qualifier: Daniel Harper (95) 14.759
ROAD WARRIORS
Maybe the Tuner attendance was a bit slim, but Road Warriors more than made up for it, with sixteen cars scheduled to take the green. Unfortunately, two of those sixteen didn’t make the start…and one them was the night’s fast qualifier, the 55 of Lynn Newcomb. Kasey Williams led the first lap after a four-wide lunge and looked like he was going to fight it out with a stout Jerry Langston…and in fact they crossed the finish line side by side with Williams apparently grabbing the win. But…an X flag had been waved on the K3 and the 3 on lap 18, and after some post race discussion it was Derrick Bissinger who was declared the winner. Williams and Langston were ultimately scored second and third, with David Lassiter working his way up from way deep in the pack to take fourth. Paul Cummings was in the hunt throughout and ended up fifth. Bissinger kept his run of superb finishes going by taking the heat race as well.
Ironic afterword: this past weekend Veterans Motorplex gave away a very sweet 55 inch flat screen 4K Smart TV. The winner in the random drawing: the wife of Kasey Williams! A pretty good consolation prize!
This was how close it was at the line in Road Warriors, with Kasey Williams JUST edging out Jerry Langston. BUT…
Road Warriors Feature Race Finish
- Derrick Bissinger (469) 20 laps
- Kasey Williams (K3) 20 laps
- Jerry Langston (3) 20 laps
- David Lassiter (6) 20 laps
- Paul Cummings (A1) 20 laps
Other finishers: 6. Lance Seals (10) 20 laps, 7. Tony Chambers (43) 20 laps, 8. Aaron Porter (04) 20 laps, 9. Ray Gonzales (83) 20 laps, 10. Justin Doney (7) 20 laps, 11. Michael Meadows (12) 20 laps, 12. Brandon Dean (22) 20 laps, 13. Austin Jacobs (95) 20 laps, 14. Joey Williams (01) 5 laps, 15. Scott Conner (07) DNS, 16. Lynn Newcomb (55) DNS
…after the X flag penalties were levied, Derrick Bissinger (here shown celebrating his heat race victory) took home the Feature win.
Road Warriors Heat Race Top Five
- Derrick Bissinger (469) 10 laps
- Kasey Williams (K3) 10 laps
- Jerry Langston (3) 10 laps
- Paul Cummings (A1) 10 laps
- Lance Seals (10) 10 laps
Fast qualifier: Lynn Newcomb (55) 17.089
PURE STOCK
Another solid starting lineup saw another near-clean sweep as Carl Porter Sr grabbed both the heat race and the feature for the Pure Stocks in a wild thirty lap affair that saw the top three run nose-to-tail train throughout pretty much the entire event. Donold Webb Jr kept the heat on with “Sally Mae” Williams nail-bitingly close, but Porter was unfazed and led from flag to flag to take the win. Fast qualifier (again!) Williams hung right behind Webb to take third, with Taylor Ryman a fighting fourth, and Josh Hood fifth. As an aside: you have to look pretty far down the finishers list to find his name, but give Shane Wales and team credit for making a brave return after a early year crash pretty much destroyed their original number 77. It was good to see them back!
Early action in the Pure Stocks sees the Rocket Man Carl Porter Sr taking things three-wide with Willie Coats (71) in the middle and JoshHood outside.
Pure Stock Feature Race Finish
- Carl Porter Sr (68) 30 laps
- Donold Webb Jr (27) 30 laps
- Michael Williams (91) 30 laps
- Taylor Ryman (90) 30 laps
- Josh Hood (08X) 30 laps
Other finishers: 6. Derrick Harrington (12) 30 laps, 7. Willie Coats (71) 30 laps, 8. Justin Dishman (6) 29 laps, 9. “Ricky Bobby” Groves (125) 17 laps, 10. Cameron Choate (82) 12 laps, 11. Ronnie Upchurch (08) 7 laps, 12. Shane Wales (77) 2 laps, 13. Bryson Russell (5) DNS, 14. Charlie Caldwell (05) DNS
Pure Stock Heat Race Top Five
- Carl Porter Sr (68) 10 laps
- Derrick Harrington (12) 10 laps
- Willie Coats (71) 10 laps
- Cameron Choate (82) 10 laps
- Bryson Russell (5) 10 laps
Fast qualifier: Michael Williams (91) 14.868
Lanny Adams gets the straight scoop from the Rocket Man, Carl Porter Sr.
LATE MODEL SPORTSMAN
A decent turnout for the Sportsman looked to be a benefit for points leader and fast qualifier Ricky Sanford. Only…it didn’t turn out quite that way. After a vicious wreck in the heat race reduced the car of Tim Gay to a close facsimile of a Modified, the driver of the #1 showed he didn’t need that extra bodywork by taking the win after Sanford ended up in the wall following a restart with just two laps remaining. Tre Ashworth wheeled his sharp-looking #8 to second, while heat race winner Jonathan Wilhite grabbed third. Dillon Hoover arrived late and looped his ride once but took home a fourth for his efforts with–surprise!–Larry Cunningham making a rare appearance with his gorgeous black deuce and notching a top five.
Sportsman Feature Race Finish
- Tim Gay (1) 30 laps
- Tre Ashworth (8) 30 laps
- Jonathan Wilhite (71) 30 laps
- Dillon Hoover (37) 30 laps
- Larry Cunningham (2) 30 laps
Other finishers: 6. David Sircy (0) 30 laps, 7. Ricky Sanford (145) 28 laps, 8. Travis Ryman (6) DNS
WRONG PLACE WRONG TIME: GM Phil Spickard discusses the weather with Tim Gay after a contretemps with David Sircy. The Black Ace was comprehensively tore up.
Sportsman Heat Race Top Five
- Jonathan Wilhite (71) 10 laps
- Ricky Sanford (145) 10 laps
- Tre Ashworth (8) 10 laps
- Travis Ryman (6) 10 laps
- Larry Cunningham (2) 10 laps
Fast qualifier: Ricky Sanford (145) 14.102
RIGHT PLACE RIGHT TIME: Tore up or not, Tim Gay got the bit between his teeth and snagged the feature race win.
THIS WEEKEND: It’s the first race of the Chase to the Championship, with 50 lappers for the Pull-A-Part Pro 8 Late Models and the Pest Doctor Ridge Runners, racing in the Pure Stocks and Road Warriors, and…STREET DRAGS! Bring your fastest ride and show us what you’ve got…you could drive off with $250! All this and more this weekend at Veterans Motorplex at the Rim, where Family Action is the Attraction!