The Legends Cars were in the house for the first time in 2010 as all divisions showed fans another exciting night of dirt racing at East Lincoln Speedway.
Longtime MRN Radio and Sirius Radio NASCAR announcer Dave Moody spent a rare weekend off as a guest at the track.
“Ray and Bob have done a great job here. I’m having a blast; it’s a great show,” said Moody. “I talk to race fans all over the country and I grew up near a short track in Vermont. I think it’s good that fans have the choice to experience different types of racing venues.”
Stock Fours started the night of feature racing with last week’s winner Lee Oiler and Dylan O’Daniel on the front row. The two made contact on lap three in turn four and Hank Kiefer took over the top spot. Cautions after laps seven and eight had Jeff Crump moving up from fourth and into the lead. Logan Sparks followed in second with O’Daniel back up to third. Then O’Daniel and Maney made contact off turn four bringing out the caution with 11 laps complete. The race came down to a green white checkered with Crump holding off Sparks for the victory. “It’s great to get my first win this year and I want to thank Scott Cook for helping me out tonight,” said Crump as he was interviewed by Chris Nicholson in Stanley Tools Victory Lane.
Mini Sprints followed with last week’s winner Terri Peters lining up on the front row along with Justin Lineman. Peters led from the green flag and did a great job maneuvering through lap traffic. In the only caution-free feature of the night, Peters took the checkered flag with Lineman in second. Rick Goss, Brian Roseman and Darren Hasty rounded out the top five. “It’s a challenge here every week. Everyone in the division did a great job of keeping the cars straight. My whole crew is a great group of guys,” said Peters.
The night’s Legends Car feature was action-packed with leaders changing spots throughout the 12-lap event. Pennsylvania’s Josh Morrow was back after suffering a season-ending crash in 2009. Morrow chose to start from the rear of the field but quickly made it to the front and took over the lead from Robert Poole by lap five. A lap eight caution was quickly followed by a second one as Poole and Morrow got into each other tagging the wall between turns one and two. Lee Jordan, running a consistent third, moved to the top spot while Morrow and Poole went to the rear of the field for the final three-lap shootout. Poole quickly found his way back to the front taking the second spot from Chandler Leven as Morrow tried a final surge to get to the front. Morrow ran the inside line off turn four but his car got loose and slowed down the front stretch. Jordan went on to win in his second ever start in a Legends Car. “Man I can’t believe it. 11 years of karting has finally paid off,” said the jubilant winner in victory lane.
The 15-lap Super Stock Four feature followed with Lincolnton’s Jason Sitterly and Randy Powell on the front row. Sitterly led from start and maintained control through cautions and flats suffered by Powell and last week’s winner Brian Nuhfer. Sitterly held the highline on subsequent restarts to hold off a hard charging Josh Cook and get to victory lane. “I’ve been racing here for two years and this is my first win here. I want to thank my father (Jim Sitterly) and Luis for all their help.” The Sitterlys and Team Marines also contributed candy and gifts for the kids during the evening’s intermission at the track.
The 20-lap Limited Sportsman feature was an attrition-filled event from the onset. Pole sitter Jonathan Jennings suffered a second week of hard luck as his car was caught up with seven others in a pile-up off turn two as the race began. The 87 of Ronnie White was sent to the rear. After the restart, last week’s winner Chris Smith and Michael Benefield had problems. With no laps in the book the eleven car starting field was down to six. The leader of the first official lap, Stanley’s Brandon White, owned the rest of the race. He maintained a several car length lead over closest challengers Everette Dunlap and Ronnie White. Keith Bowman ended the night in fourth and Jesse Brannon in fifth. White treated the crowd to donuts on the front stretch before taking his car to Stanley Tools Victory Lane. “I want to thank my daddy, Speed Graphics, Dirt Diva Racing, all my sponsors--they’ve helped me a lot--my girlfriend, mom and step-mom…and everyone in the stands for being here,” said White.
The Renegades feature had last week’s winner Jamie Major taking the lead. Stanley’s Brian Toler followed in second until the first caution resulted in Toler getting turned around and Anthony Cable going to the rear of the field. Major led with Aaron Webb making several attempts to pass, finally succeeding on lap six down the backstretch. The next caution after lap seven had Major taking his car pit side. Webb continued his strong lead with Mark Woody in second and Steve Newsome and Adam Vandiver following. Major returned to give chase until he and Vandiver got together and hit the turn two outside wall on the final lap. The caution resulted in a green white together finish with Webb keeping the lead and taking the checkered flag over Woody. “I want to thank Darryl (Cheatum) my crew chief and all the crew for working hard all day to get the car ready,” said Webb.
Next Saturday, April 17 will feature the 2-seat Sprint Car Match Race between Ray Evernham & Erin Crocker. Open wheel fans will be in for a treat as the husband and wife dirt track battle will run in conjunction with the 2nd Annual Micro Madness event. Two lucky fans, James Reed and Tyler Kinnetz, will have the best view in the house as they ride on-board with Ray & Erin.
