Sr Clone Nationals At 35 Raceway Park

Bryce Hammond May 22, 2010 Frankfort, Ohio

In heat race action, the 51 of Anthony Helms and the 28 of Hudson Park won in the beginner kart class. The senior clone heats were won by the 1 of Todd Wills, the 17 of Jack Morris, the 58 of Robbie Roe and the 25 of Russell Roe. The open kart heats were won by the 44x of Joe Conley and the 15 of Jake Bickers. The 600 mini sprint heat was won by the 9 of Kevin Wills. Winner of the pro dwarf heat was the 21 of Richie Armentrout. The mini late model heats were won by the 37 of James Ball and the 32 of Brandon Furniss. In the 4-cylinder stock heats, the 3 of Zach Ackley and the 31 of Aaron Nawman were the two heat winners. The 26 of Gary Griffith won the sportsman dwarf heat. The C-main for the senior clones was won by the 29 of Rick Wood and the B-main for the senior clones was won by the 176 of Todd George

First up on the track was the 600 mini sprint feature.  The nine-car field was lead to the green flag by the 24P of Jamie Paul with the 95 of Dan Lewis side-by-side going into the first turn.  Lewis took the lead from Paul.  Caution flew for the 9 of Kevin Wills, after his car put a cone on the track in turn two, sending his car to the tail.  On the restart, it was Lewis holding on to the lead, followed by Paul and the 31 of Bob Owens in third.  After being put at the tail, Wills begin picking off cars one by one as he flew up through the field.  Just before the halfway point, caution flew once again after the 4 of Eric Semple spun in turn two.  Lewis continued to hold the lead at the restart as he had all night and began to drive away from the rest of the field.  Wills was not giving up though and with five laps to go, Wills passed Paul for the second position, driving his way from the back.  Lewis had a commanding lead and would not relinquish it .  When the checkers flew it was Lewis taking home the win followed by Wills and Paul.

Next on the grid was the beginning kart feature, lead to the green by the 88 of Cassie Ervin.  However caution flew before the first lap was complete, caused by three karts spinning in turn two.  The karts were put back in line for a total restart.  Ervin brought them around for the green once again but was soon challenged by the 51 of Anthony Helms.  Racing continued until the 99 of Austin Gatwood spun in turn four.  Helms led the restart and continued to pace the field.  By the halfway mark, Helms had driven away to a commanding lead over Ervin and the 28 of Hudson Park.  Park was challenged by the 4 of Trevor Daniels, eventually losing the spot.  Helms took the win for the second week in a row with Ervin holding down second and Daniels in third.

The open kart main was next up on the track with 11 cars on the circuit.  Led by the 6 car of Tim Snively, the cars came around to take the green flag.  Joe Conley in the 44X soon proved to be the class of the field, making his way to first almost immediately, bringing the 15 of Jake Bickers with him.  Flying up from the back row was the 9 of Kevin Wills who made his way up the third before the race concluded.  The race was mostly single file with a few uncontested passes and Conley soon took the checkers with the Bickers in second and Wills in third.

The sportsman dwarf main was next up, featuring eight cars with the 42 of Kevin Rittenhouse on the pole position.  After some jostling for position in turn two, the 56 of Jim Monst took the lead.  However Rittenhouse spun in turn four before the first lap could be completed, leading to a complete restart.  On the second try, the 2 car of JT Jones took the advantage and drove his way to first place followed closely by Monst and Rittenhouse.  Coming from the third row, the 31 of Jeff Surber took third place from Rittenhouse coming out of turn four.  At the halfway point, Jones was still in the lead but Monst had his hands full with Surber.  Surber took the second position and set his sights on Jones however Jones was driving away from the field.  Caution flew for the 23 of Jack Kriel spinning in turn four.  Caution would fly for Kriel a couple laps later, leading the 23 car to be retired from the field for the night.  After the restart, the 34 of Dylan Rittenhouse battled Monst for the third position but Monst was able to hold on.  As the race began to wind down, things heated up for the third position with three cars battling for the spot.  Rittenhouse in the 34, Monst and the 26 of Gary Griffith took it down to the last lap when the three cars got together coming out of turn four.  This left the door open for the 42 of Kevin Rittenhouse to take the third position.  Winning the race was Jones with Surber maintaining his second position and the 42 of Rittenhouse in third.

Next up was the senior clone feature with 19 cars in the field and the 17 of Jack Morris sitting on the pole.  Caution flew before the first lap was completed leading to a total restart.  On the restart, Morris pulled away and the 76 of Brian Lee was able to break free from the pack to take second.  From third position on back, the racers were bunched up, allowing Morris to further his lead even more.  Caution would fly for a car getting stuck coming out of turn two.  After the restart, Morris continued his dominance.  At the halfway mark, Morris and Lee held their positions while a battle was brewing for the third place.  The 14 of Lucas Morris, the 1 of Todd Wills and the 176 of Todd George were racing hard for the third position with Morris eventually taking and keeping the spot.  Caution would fly once again when the 46 of Spencer Wilson, the 88 of Lonnie Ervin and the 327 of Donald Giles spun in turn two.  The rest of the race would continue with the top three maintaining their positions and when the checkers flew it was the 17 of Morris taking the win for the second straight week, Lee took second and the 14 of Morris in third.

Up next was the pro dwarf main, which featured nine cars and the 11 of Todd Dunkle sitting on the pole.  Dunkle and the 5 of Mike Weaver battled for the lead until Weaver was challenged for second by the 21 of Richie Armentrout.  Weaver was unable to hold on and Armentrout took the position.  Weaver was once again challenged, this time for the third position by the 112 of David Seitz however Weaver was able to hold on to the position.  The yellow flag flew for a wreck in turn two by the 8RR of Ricky Roberts.  After the single file restart, the 21 of Armentrout had the lead followed by Dunkle and Weaver.   Single file racing dominated the rest of the race until the Dunkle got loose in the backstretch allowing Weaver to make the easy pass.  Before the race was over Seitz also managed to pass Dunkle and when the checkered flag waved it was Armentrout in first, Weaver in second and Seitz in the third position.

The mini late model A-main was the next race on the grid with 10 cars running and the 18 of Ralph Brown on the pole.  After some jostling between the first row, the 37 of James Ball took the lead from Brown.  The cars were running three wide for second place but the 765 of Todd Ervin took the position.  Caution would fly for the 53 of Floyd Simmons hitting the wall in turn four.  Ball lead the pack to a single file restart.  In turn two, Ervin got loose and left the door open for the 32 of Brandon Furniss and the 24M of Tom McVey to drive by.  Furniss would get soon get loose in turn two, allowing McVey and Ervin to take second the third respectively.  However caution would soon fly for Ervin and the 16 of Josh May getting turned around in turn two, sending them both to the back to the pack.  McVey challenged Ball for the lead, making it side-by-side racing for the first lap but Ball was able to hang on.  McVey had his hands full with Furniss challenging for second.  Their side-by-side racing continued for many laps allowing the 1M of Mike Arthurs to catch up and challenge, making it three wide in the backstretch.  Furniss and Arthurs got together in turn two but manage to regain control.  However this left the door open for McVey to take second place and not look back.  Furniss and Arthurs continued to battle for the third position but Furniss finally managed to pull away.  At the finish line it was Ball in first followed by McVey in second and Furniss in the third spot.

The last race of the night was the 4-cylinder stock class with 10 cars racing and the 55 of Matthew Smith leading the field to the green.  The racers wasted no time in trying to gain position as they ran not three, but four wide down the backstretch, jostling for position, including the leader.  The 3K of Kyle Payne took the lead, leaving the 12 of Slade Mack, the 31 of Aaron Nawman and the 3 of Zach Ackley to battle for the second position.  Mack took the second position and soon found himself battling for the lead.  Mack took the lead coming out of turn two.  Ackley was then up to Payne to challenge for second place and Ackley took the position in turn four.  Mack was pulling away but Ackley continued to try and close the gap.  Caution flew for the 21X of Todd Miley stalling on the front stretch.  On the restart, Ackley tried to take the lead from Mack but was denied after taking Mack side-by-side down the backstretch.  Ackley managed to get to the back bumper of Mack once more but could not make the pass.  The yellow flag flew again for debris falling off the leader, sending Mack to the back to the lineup.  At the restart, Ackley lead the field to the green with Nawman in second and Payne in third.  Ackley proved why he deserved the nickname “red rocket” by pulling away from the field.  Although the 777 of Josh Atwood tried to challenge for the third position, Payne managed to hang on until the end of the race.  When the checkered flag flew on the last race of the night it was Ackley in the first position for the second week in a row with Nawman in second and Payne in third.