Veterans dominate Laird late models

It was a great day for racing if you were one of the veteran Late Model drivers on Thursday night at Laird International Raceway.

George Wilson and Rob Sartini, who are mainstays in the Late Model Division at LIR, found themselves coming away from Week Nine action with victories under their belt.

After Cory Furkey beat out Wilson in the Fast Car Dash, a race in which Wilson was running in Charlie Robert's No. 19 due to some early problems with his traditional No 67, Wilson finished in third spot behind Chris Furkey and first place winner Rob Sartini in the division's first heat race.

In the second heat race, Wilson again found himself playing second fiddle to Sartini as the No. 98 car was driven to a second straight heat race victory on the night.

In the feature race, Wilson put on a clinic as he crept up from near the back of the pack and overcame three restarts to claim victory. Wilson edged out Chris Furkey and Cory Furkey, who finished second and third respectively. Rod Bolduc and Sartini rounded out the top five finishers.

In the Modified Division, Jordan Sims continued to roll as the 15-year-old driver caught a break when veteran driver Kevin Oicle was sent to the back of the pack with five laps remaining, allowing the young racer to capture the feature win and holding onto his lead in the points standings.

Sims holds the lead in points by five points over Oicle, who had led the standings up until Sims took over the lead after last week's races.

In the Modified heats, Oicle edged out Sims in the first heat while Nick Jobst topped both Oicle and Sims in the second heat to earn himself some valuable points in the driver standings.

.The Factory Stock Division saw three different winners in the two heat races and the feature.

In the heats, Mike Murphy started off the night off for the division when he beat out John Fragale and Steve Kent to take home the first heat. In the second heat it was the same top three, only in a different order as Fragale beat out Kent and Murphy to pick up some much needed points in the drivers' standings.

The feature race saw Kent find a groove and earn his way to another victory as the veteran driver picked up another Factory Stock feature win. Fragale finished second while John Hamilton finished third.

In the Stock Four Division, young Tyler Parsons managed to keep pace with point's leader Gord Hunt with some solid racing.

After Hunt was black-flagged during the first heat, Parsons gained some ground with a third place finish as Cody McLean took the win. In the second heat Parsons gained a little more ground as he finished ahead of Hunt in second place just behind winner Mike Hearty.

In the feature, Hunt managed to keep some distance between himself and the young driver as Hunt took home the feature win, although Parsons did keep pace as he finished a respectable third.

Action continues next Thursday at Laird International Raceway as the Mid-Season Championships are scheduled to take place. Special features on the schedule include a 40-lap Factory Stock Feature as well as a 50-lap Late Model Feature.

Action kicks off with qualifying at 6 p.m. and racing set for 7 p.m.