Kinross completes fourth race night

A mid-afternoon rain shower didn’t dampen the spirits of fans and racers as sunshine and comfortable temperatures returned to the Kinross area well before the start of the fourth night of racing in 2007.

The fastest four qualifiers in each class had a chance for the checkered flag in the evenings first races. Tim Aho slipped by Josh Ware on the second lap and led the rest of the way in his Late Model to take the victory. Dean Eggart held off Todd Jackson in a tight race taking the win in the Factory Stock dash. Ray Golladay Jr. led all four laps in his Pure Stock to take the checkered flag. Brandy Clawson ran a strong race while winning the 4 Cylinder dash.

Randy Touchtone started at the front of the Pure Stock Australian Pursuit and held off all challenges to earn the victory. Erica Pietrangelo started at the tail end of the 4 Cylinder Pursuit and steered around everyone in front of her for the win.

The Late Model heat race saw a first lap yellow thrown when George Wilson leaned on the back of the Matt Radar car causing a chain reaction spin involving several cars. After the restart, Josh Ware moved to the front with George Wilson close behind. Tim Aho worked his way up to this battle making this a very exciting heat race. Josh Ware held on for the win with George Wilson second, and Tim Aho third.

The Factory Stock heat race had another first lap yellow when Cecil Piche and Dean Eggart got hooked together going into turn one. After untangling the cars, Eggart was able to restart the race while Piche went pit side to make repairs to his car. The restart was clean with good tight racing throughout the field. Paul Fox led several laps before Todd Jackson passed him going into turn three. Jackson drove off with the victory. Paul Fox finished second, and Pee Wee Fountain third.

The Pure Stocks continued the trend of first lap cautions with three wide racing immediately after the green flag was thrown. Don Etcher spun in the excitement damaging his car and ending his race early. The restart was similar to the first start with cars going three wide again. John Clawson took the high line and raced his way to the front of the pack. Barry Glenn followed not to far behind in the same path falling into second place. Clawson checked out on the field and took the win. Glenn finished second, and Ray Golladay Jr. third.

The 4 Cylinders were broken down into two heats with Daryl Hill, Patty Clement, and Ron Etcher finishing first, second, and third in the first heat. The second heat saw Eric Fountain charging to the front and winning over Brandy Clawson and Ashley Pietrangelo.

Intermission activities included Power Wheels racing for the children around the Kinross 1/4 mile. Children were allowed to bring their electric powered toys and turn a lap around the race track. Everything from battery operated four wheelers, Jeeps, monster trucks, and sports cars turned out for the big event. Coby Piche, driving what appeared to be a heavily modified Grave Digger monster truck took the victory by a large margin. All participants received an award to go along with the smiles on their faces.

The Late Models lined up for the first feature of the evening and put on a great show. The first lap saw the entire field stay door to door with some good clean racing. Matt Radar moved into the lead on the second lap. Tim Aho worked his way to the front with Josh Ware and George Wilson right behind him. A great battle ensued with Ware following Aho closely, just waiting for the opportunity to move into the lead. Late in the race, Tim Aho slipped up the track coming out of turn four, giving the patient Ware a chance to get by. Ware made a nice run and moved to the lead and held on for the win. Tim Aho finished second, and George Wilson third.

The Factory Stock Feature was another exciting race with tight racing throughout the field. Paul Fox had a strong car and stayed out front while hard racing was going on behind him. The field was evenly matched and provided plenty of position changes the entire race. The only yellow came out when Pee Wee Fountain blew a tire going into turn one, spinning out his race car. Paul Fox held on for the win. Cecil Piche finished second, and Todd Jackson third.

Pure Stock drivers were again very aggressive, with three and four wide racing all around the track. Randy Touchtone got sent to the rear of the field after he got into Nicole Radar spinning her out in turn three. On the restart, Ray Golladay Jr. moved back into the lead with John Clawson and Barry Glenn not to far behind. These cars battled amongst each other for many, many laps. Nicole Radar raced up to this battle and worked her way all the way to second. When the checkered flag flew, Golladay Jr. was in first, Nicole Radar second, and John Clawson third.

The final feature of the evening was for the 4 Cylinder race cars. Four wide racing was common as cars battled for position lap after lap. All the drivers showed lots of respect for each other and raced very clean the entire race. The only caution occurred when a car quit on the backstretch, stopping out on the racing surface. Brandy Clawson led much of the race with Don Dangler second. Dangler made several attempts for the lead but had to settle for second when the checkered flag was shown. Erica Pietrangelo ran another strong race and finished third.

Racing action resumes again this Friday at Kinross Speedpark. For more information, log onto www.kinrossspeedpark.com.

(Submitted by Steve Lawson)