Katie Boyer, Frankfort, OH 05/08/2010

Mother nature and her April showers put the start of the 2010 racing season on hold, but Saturday night, she couldn’t stop the show. With cold temperatures and chilling winds, drivers and fans headed out to the fastest 1/5^{th mile in the Midwest to see some much anticipated dirt track racing. The track celebrated the mother’s in attendance with “Mother’s Night Out” sponsored by Snap On Tools. All the kids in attendance were also given the opportunity to ride along with their favorite modified drivers for Kids Ride Night. The evening was jam packed with excitement for fans, and even Mother Nature couldn’t damper the mood!}

In heat race action, the 212 of Dave Seitz and the 51 of Anthony Helms won in the beginner kart class. The senior clone heats were won by the 765 of Lonnie Ervin, the 0 of Darrell Bowe, the 112 of David Seitz and the 14 of Lucas Morris. The open kart heats were won by the 9 of Kevin Wills and the 16 of David Potter. The 600 mini sprint heats were won by the 24P of Jamie Paul and the 9 of Kevin Wills. Winners of the pro dwarf heats were the 112 of David Seitz and the 21 of Richie Armentrout. The B-main for the senior clones was won by the 46 of Spencer Wilson. In the 4-cylinder stock heats, the 9X of Rodney Rittenhouse and the 12 of Slade Mack were the two heat winners. The 26 of Gary Griffith won the sportsman dwarf heat. The mini late model heats were won by the 37 of James Ball and the 16 of Josh May.

A short shower put a small delay on racing, but after the track was run in, kids were given their opportunity to get out on the 1/5th mile to ride along with the drivers. However, Mother Nature wasn’t done yet, the rains began to fall heavily over the track, sending cars back to the pit area. However, track workers weren’t willing to give up just yet, continuing to work the track in until the rains had subsided. By 10:30, racing action was back underway.

The senior clone feature was the first to hit the grid, with a 20-car field. When the green flag waved, the cars were three-wide for the lead, but on the exit of turn two, the 765 of Lonnie Ervin was at the point with the 10T of Tyler Lochbaum in the second spot. The 10T challenged for the lead in turn three by dropping to the inside of the track, coming out on top in turn four. The 10 of Jerry Pavey was also able to work his way around Ervin to take the second spot away. However, Ervin wasn’t backing down, continuing to fight side by side with Pavey for the spot. At the halfway point Ervin had worked his way back around Pavey on the backstretch, but it was Pavey who had the spot back at the flag stand. The 10 was gaining ground on the 10T but the laps were fading fast. With two to go, it looked like Lochbaum was running away with the win, but the yellow flag was in the air for the first time due to a neck brace dropping off in turn two. At the green the 10T led the field, but the cars were three-wide behind him for the second spot. It was Pavey who gained the second position out of turn two and Ervin in the third spot. Pavey was on Lochbaum’s bumper on the white flag lap, trying to work underneath him in turn four. The cars were side by side at the line, but it was Lochbaum with a nose advantage over him, giving him the first senior clone win of 2010. Pavey and Ervin came home second and third for the night.

The junior clone feature was next on track. The 51 of Anthony Helms took off from the field at the start of the race. The 88 of Cassie Ervin took the inside route to take the second position from the 212 of Dave Seitz. Helms had over a straightaway lead over the field after 4 laps, but the race was on for the second position between Ervin and the 11 of Talon Price. Price took to the high side to get around Ervin, but the yellow was in the air for a car stuck between turns one and two. At the green again, it was Helms who took off from the field, leaving Ervin and Price fighting nose to tail for the runner up spot. Price tried the inside, leaving the outside line open for the 99 of Austin Gatwood to challenge three-wide for the second position. Price won the fight, securing the second spot and brought Gatwood with him to take over the third position. Helms had more than a half lap lead over the field when he took the checkers to secure his first win of the season. Price came home second with Gatwood in third.

The pro dwarf feature was the next to hit the dirt. At the drop of the green flag it was the 21 of Richie Armentrout and the 112 of David Seitz battling side by side for the lead into turn one. Armentrout had the stop spot coming out of turn two, with Seitz close behind him in second. The 8RR of Ricky Roberts was in the third position battling with the 53 of Toby Boetcher in fourth. Half way through the fifteen-lap feature, the 21 had caught up to lap traffic, allowing Seitz to make up some ground and begin reeling him in. The top two had pulled away from the field, but the laps were winding down, and the 21 wasn’t making any mistakes. When the checkered flag was in the air it was Armentrout who took the win with Seitz coming home in second and Roberts in third.

The go-kart open feature was next up. The 9 of Kevin Wills took off from the field with the lead, with the 27 of Shane Rittenhouse in second and the 75 of Justin Rittenhouse in third. Just after the halfway mark, Wills had come into lap traffic, but with over a straightaway lead, he weaved through with no trouble. With only two to go the 27 spun in turn four and was able to get his kart going again, but had given up several positions. When the checkers flew it was Wills who took home the top spot with Justin Rittenhouse in second and the 16 of David Potter in third.

Wills no more than got out of his kart before jumping into the other number nine machine for the 600 mini sprint feature. Wills and the 24P of Jamie Paul were side by side at the flag stand for the lead, but it was Paul who had the spot secured on the exit of turn two. Paul had several car lengths between he and Wills, but as the laps started to wind down, the 9 was narrowing the gap. Paul had come up on lap traffic, and Wills took the opportunity to take the high line to go around the traffic and gain ground on the 24P. With five to go, Paul and Wills were nose to tail for the point. Wills took the first opening on the bottom of turn four to take the top spot away. Wills’ momentum shot him right by Paul, allowing him to run away with the win. It was Wills who took the first win of 2010, with Paul coming home second and the 95 of Roger Mossbarger in third.

The last feature to hit the track was the 4-cylinder modified event. The 37 of James Ball and the 16 of Josh May led the field to the green flag. Ball had the advantage coming out of turn two, but the caution flag was in the air quickly after a cone was hit onto the racing surface in turn one. On the restart, it was Ball at the point with the 1M of Mike Arthurs in second. The battle was on behind them for the third position between May and the 24M of Tom McVey. Ball and Arthurs were nose to tail for the lead on the front stretch. Ball was able to hold the position, but the battle had allowed McVey to gain some ground and put his nose under Arthurs for the second spot. The battle for second allowed Ball to pull away from the field. With only five to go, Arthurs and McVey got together in turn four, with McVey being unable to continue in the event. Arthurs went to the tail, being charged with the caution and the cars lined up in single file to gear up for the restart. At the start, Ball and the 765 of Todd Ervin got a jump on the field, but with the laps winding down, no one could catch the 37. At the checkers, it was Ball who took the win with Ervin in second and the 53 of Floyd Simmons in third.

The rain delay did not end the racing program for the night, but the track curfew stopped feature racing short of the full program. The sportsman dwarf class and the 4-cylinder stock class did not get the opportunity to run their feature events of the night, but the two classes will run double features next weekend. In addition to the double features and a full racing program, next Saturday night, May 15th will also be Armed Forces night and the track will host it’s annual His and Hers 4-Cylinder Challenge! Next weekend is sure to be a jam-packed night of racing excitement at 35 Raceway Park! Hope to see you all at the track!

Results

Jr. Clone Go-karts
Heat Winners: Dave Seitz, Anthony Helms
Feature: Anthony Helms, Talon Price, Austin Gatwood, Dave Seitz, Cassie Ervin, Drew Vance, Dalten Rittenhouse, Jeff Madden, Trevor Daniels, Jakeb Cockerill, Jacob Morris

Mod-Lite Dwarf
Heat Winners: David Seitz, Richie Armentrout
Feature: Richie Armentrout, David Seitz, Ricky Roberts, Toby Boetcher, Todd Dunkle, Roger Seitz, Mike Weaver, James Halfhill, Aaron Pendleton, DNS Kevin Rittenhouse

Open Go-karts
Heat Winners: Kevin Wills, David Potter
Feature: Kevin Wills, Justin Rittenhouse, David Potter, Tabitha Rittenhouse, Shane Rittenhouse, Sheena Rittenhouse, RC Hamilton, Kyle Fletcher, Jeremy Lochbaum, DNS John Williams, Gentry Williams

Mini Late Models
Heat Winners: James Ball, Josh May
Feature: James Ball, Todd Ervin, Floyd Simmons, Vonley Jordan, Mike Arthurs, Brandon Furniss, John Smith, Mark Clifford, Jeremy Queen, Tom McVey, Josh May

Sr. Clone Go-Karts
Heat Winners: Lonnie Ervin, Darrell Bowe, David Seitz, Lucas Morris
B-Main: Teddy Lowery, James Deal, Spencer Wilson, Jarrod Bloomfield, Bill Malone, Brandon Hook, Rob Cubbage, Bobby Malone, Ron Cubbage, Rick Bowen, Kevin Wills
Feature: Tyler Lochbaum, Jerry Pavey, Lonnie Ervin, Todd Wills, Laci Speakman, Jarrod Bloomfield, Spencer Wilson, Darrell Bowe, Tom Helms, Breanna Rittenhouse, Jack Morris, Dalton Davey, Sean Lehman, Jason Rittenhouse, Kelsey Daniels, Lucas Morris, Bill Malone, Tim Malone, Teddy Lowery, James Deal, David Seitz

600 Outlaw Mini Sprints
Heat Winners. Kevin Wills, Jamie Paul
Feature: Kevin Wills, Jamie Paul, Roger Mossbarger, Bob Owens, Justin Owens, Trey Gustin, Michael Thompson, Chris Ray, Butch Hamilton, DNS Eric Semple