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LAWHORN TAKES WILD MOD MINI RACE SATURDAY NIGHT AT AUBURNDALE SPEEDWAY
It was Harvest Meat Markets Family Night at Auburndale Speedway Saturday with fans being treated to $10 general admission, $1.00 concession stand specials and some outstanding competition including one of the wackiest races in recent memory.
Headlining the show was the Ground Hog 40 for the Modified Mini Stocks and 15 race teams signed in to do battle... little did they know the race would turn into an outright war...
Qualifying saw several top drivers fail to turn a lap due to various mechanical ills. Ray Miller was already done for the evening after problems in hot laps trimming the qualifiers to 14 but defending track champion Chris Spring, veteran John Lawhon and Clint Holmes were not able to make a qualifying effort because of various issues. All would be able to start the feature although from the back of the starting grid.
Making his first start here since 2013, Fred Harrison would eventually set quick time of 15.066 seconds topping the 15.460 lap of Kelly Hahn and Ken Nurse, Jr.'s lap of 15.471. Dave Davis and Scott Bumgardner rounded out the top five in time trials. T. J. Tanners surprised everyone by qualifying sixth in a Q Mini Stock converted to a Mod Mini for the night.
Harrison drew a seven for the inversion placing Jamie Dixson and Tanner on the front row for the start. At the initial drop of the green things got crazy coming off turn two as Dixson was spun scattering the field but no serious damage resulted. At that point Dixson opted to give up his pole slot and begin the race from the back of the field.
The inside row moved up one position and that placed Bumgardner on the pole where he led the opening two circuits before Nurse zipped by to assume the point as Harrison had already moved up to third then quickly got by Bumgardner for second. Bumgardner was relegated back another spot by Dave Davis on lap seven while Harrison continued his charge taking the lead from Nurse on the tenth lap.
The first caution flew on lap 17 as Chris Spring suddenly slowed on the track then did a lazy spin on the back stretch victim of an axle problem that was the same reason he missed his qualifying laps. Lawhorn, after also not turning a time trial lap, was charging hard and took fourth from Bumgardner on the restart. From there things went awry for Bumgardner as he brought out the caution flag twice for back-to-back spins on laps 19 and 20.
Just after the restart on lap 21 things got crazy coming off turn two as Lawhorn was tapped into a spin sending several cars spinning and crashing. When all was said and done the cars of Kelly Hahn and Chris Falkner were done for the night and several others including Tanner, Davis and Tim Scalise had damage but were able to continue. Lawhorn and Davis were sent to the rear of the restart line-up but by now there were just seven cars on the lead lap as Harrison had been setting a blistering pace.
Undaunted, Lawhorn quickly moved back up to fourth by lap 24. Bumgardner went for another spin on the back stretch during lap 27 and eventually pulled off the track. Yellow again flew on lap 29 for debris in turn two.
The restart saw Lawhorn move into second place and begin to mount the first serious challenge Harrison had seen all night. Scalise spun on lap 31 to bring out the caution yet again. This allowed Lawhorn to restart next to Harrison and he made the most of it by grabbing the lead. Lawhorn started to pull away but soon thereafter it was time for caution flag number eight as Marshall Parr spun in turn two during the 36th lap.
On the restart Harrison and Nurse got locked together shoving Harrison up the track. Jamie Dixson, trying to thread his way through, got spun into the turn two wall with Harrison getting loose trying to avoid him and going into the wall himself. After the incident, Dixson climbed from his car then did not stay with the car (a violation of track rules) and he was disqualified from what ultimately would have been an eighth place finish. Despite considerable damage to the front of his car, Harrison continued in the event.
After the restart Nurse seemed to catch fire as he began to place tons of pressure on Lawhorn for the lead. Coming off turn four on the final lap Nurse forced his way to the inside and the pair crossed the stripe in a near dead heat with Nurse declared the winner by about two inches at the line... however this is where things got really crazy.
Celebrating what would have been his first career win, Nurse decide to do some "donuts" which, again, is now a violation of track rules after a similar situation where a car doing a celebratory burn-out hit a track rescue vehicle. Thus Nurse was disqualified and the win was awarded to Lawhorn who already was expressing his displeasure with Nurse for the turn four move that he made. Things got a bit "testy" in victory lane but eventually things calmed down and Lawhorn had his winning photos taken.
Dave Davis wound up in second spot with Tim Scalise third and Harrison bringing his wounded mount home fourth. Clint Holmes was a lap down and the only other car running at the end battling a sick engine but still claimed fifth spot. Everyone else was either a DNF or a DQ. Although Tanner fell out of the running late he still was credited with sixth ahead of Parr, Bumgardner, Hahn, Falkner, Spring, Rachelle Rudolph, Dixson and Nurse.
Easily the best race of the night was in the Q Mini Stocks as John Cummin, Jr. won the heat race then led the open 14 laps before Bruce Cozad zoomed to the point. It looked like Cozad would end the win streak of Chris Narramore, Sr. but Narramore had other ideas as he snuck by Cozad on the inside coming off turn two on the final lap to score his second win in a row. Cozad was a close second while Cummins held on for third ahead of Chris Narramore, Jr., Donald Gatlin, Fred Martin, Fred Wilson and Tav Gary.
Although Bubba Healey made the V-8 Bomber feature a run-away, taking the win by a full straight, the race for second was nothing short of fantastic but a heatbreaker for Jeff McCaw who saw a third place effort go by the wayside on the final lap following a wild scramble that saw Brandon Duchscherer move up three spots to a third place finish behind Healey and Aaron Holmes. James Wright III claimed fourth ahead of Danny Burchfield. Sixth went to second heat race winner Eddie Hartin in front of Jody Gill while McCaw was relegated to an eight place effort ahead of David Purvis, Edward Schultz, Adam Briggs, Wesley Rounds and Gordon Weaver. Duscsherer won the first heat.
Brey Holmes led all the way to take the Mini Cup feature with Douglas Herrin, Jr. right in his slipsteam but never able to mount a challenge. Heat winner Russell Bush was third ahead of Clay Samuels, Bryton Horner, Maria Martins, and Bill Rychel. Adam Briggs did not start.
Steven O'Steen led all the way to claim the Street Stock feature over Bobby Mobley, Ross Francisco, John Smith and Justin Sullivan. O'Steen also won the heat race.
It was Harvest Meat Markets Family Night at Auburndale Speedway Saturday with fans being treated to $10 general admission, $1.00 concession stand specials and some outstanding competition including one of the wackiest races in recent memory.
Headlining the show was the Ground Hog 40 for the Modified Mini Stocks and 15 race teams signed in to do battle... little did they know the race would turn into an outright war...
Qualifying saw several top drivers fail to turn a lap due to various mechanical ills. Ray Miller was already done for the evening after problems in hot laps trimming the qualifiers to 14 but defending track champion Chris Spring, veteran John Lawhon and Clint Holmes were not able to make a qualifying effort because of various issues. All would be able to start the feature although from the back of the starting grid.
Making his first start here since 2013, Fred Harrison would eventually set quick time of 15.066 seconds topping the 15.460 lap of Kelly Hahn and Ken Nurse, Jr.'s lap of 15.471. Dave Davis and Scott Bumgardner rounded out the top five in time trials. T. J. Tanners surprised everyone by qualifying sixth in a Q Mini Stock converted to a Mod Mini for the night.
Harrison drew a seven for the inversion placing Jamie Dixson and Tanner on the front row for the start. At the initial drop of the green things got crazy coming off turn two as Dixson was spun scattering the field but no serious damage resulted. At that point Dixson opted to give up his pole slot and begin the race from the back of the field.
The inside row moved up one position and that placed Bumgardner on the pole where he led the opening two circuits before Nurse zipped by to assume the point as Harrison had already moved up to third then quickly got by Bumgardner for second. Bumgardner was relegated back another spot by Dave Davis on lap seven while Harrison continued his charge taking the lead from Nurse on the tenth lap.
The first caution flew on lap 17 as Chris Spring suddenly slowed on the track then did a lazy spin on the back stretch victim of an axle problem that was the same reason he missed his qualifying laps. Lawhorn, after also not turning a time trial lap, was charging hard and took fourth from Bumgardner on the restart. From there things went awry for Bumgardner as he brought out the caution flag twice for back-to-back spins on laps 19 and 20.
Just after the restart on lap 21 things got crazy coming off turn two as Lawhorn was tapped into a spin sending several cars spinning and crashing. When all was said and done the cars of Kelly Hahn and Chris Falkner were done for the night and several others including Tanner, Davis and Tim Scalise had damage but were able to continue. Lawhorn and Davis were sent to the rear of the restart line-up but by now there were just seven cars on the lead lap as Harrison had been setting a blistering pace.
Undaunted, Lawhorn quickly moved back up to fourth by lap 24. Bumgardner went for another spin on the back stretch during lap 27 and eventually pulled off the track. Yellow again flew on lap 29 for debris in turn two.
The restart saw Lawhorn move into second place and begin to mount the first serious challenge Harrison had seen all night. Scalise spun on lap 31 to bring out the caution yet again. This allowed Lawhorn to restart next to Harrison and he made the most of it by grabbing the lead. Lawhorn started to pull away but soon thereafter it was time for caution flag number eight as Marshall Parr spun in turn two during the 36th lap.
On the restart Harrison and Nurse got locked together shoving Harrison up the track. Jamie Dixson, trying to thread his way through, got spun into the turn two wall with Harrison getting loose trying to avoid him and going into the wall himself. After the incident, Dixson climbed from his car then did not stay with the car (a violation of track rules) and he was disqualified from what ultimately would have been an eighth place finish. Despite considerable damage to the front of his car, Harrison continued in the event.
After the restart Nurse seemed to catch fire as he began to place tons of pressure on Lawhorn for the lead. Coming off turn four on the final lap Nurse forced his way to the inside and the pair crossed the stripe in a near dead heat with Nurse declared the winner by about two inches at the line... however this is where things got really crazy.
Celebrating what would have been his first career win, Nurse decide to do some "donuts" which, again, is now a violation of track rules after a similar situation where a car doing a celebratory burn-out hit a track rescue vehicle. Thus Nurse was disqualified and the win was awarded to Lawhorn who already was expressing his displeasure with Nurse for the turn four move that he made. Things got a bit "testy" in victory lane but eventually things calmed down and Lawhorn had his winning photos taken.
Dave Davis wound up in second spot with Tim Scalise third and Harrison bringing his wounded mount home fourth. Clint Holmes was a lap down and the only other car running at the end battling a sick engine but still claimed fifth spot. Everyone else was either a DNF or a DQ. Although Tanner fell out of the running late he still was credited with sixth ahead of Parr, Bumgardner, Hahn, Falkner, Spring, Rachelle Rudolph, Dixson and Nurse.
Easily the best race of the night was in the Q Mini Stocks as John Cummin, Jr. won the heat race then led the open 14 laps before Bruce Cozad zoomed to the point. It looked like Cozad would end the win streak of Chris Narramore, Sr. but Narramore had other ideas as he snuck by Cozad on the inside coming off turn two on the final lap to score his second win in a row. Cozad was a close second while Cummins held on for third ahead of Chris Narramore, Jr., Donald Gatlin, Fred Martin, Fred Wilson and Tav Gary.
Although Bubba Healey made the V-8 Bomber feature a run-away, taking the win by a full straight, the race for second was nothing short of fantastic but a heatbreaker for Jeff McCaw who saw a third place effort go by the wayside on the final lap following a wild scramble that saw Brandon Duchscherer move up three spots to a third place finish behind Healey and Aaron Holmes. James Wright III claimed fourth ahead of Danny Burchfield. Sixth went to second heat race winner Eddie Hartin in front of Jody Gill while McCaw was relegated to an eight place effort ahead of David Purvis, Edward Schultz, Adam Briggs, Wesley Rounds and Gordon Weaver. Duscsherer won the first heat.
Brey Holmes led all the way to take the Mini Cup feature with Douglas Herrin, Jr. right in his slipsteam but never able to mount a challenge. Heat winner Russell Bush was third ahead of Clay Samuels, Bryton Horner, Maria Martins, and Bill Rychel. Adam Briggs did not start.
Steven O'Steen led all the way to claim the Street Stock feature over Bobby Mobley, Ross Francisco, John Smith and Justin Sullivan. O'Steen also won the heat race.