Drew County Speedway
Contact: DCS Race Results / Jayme Lawson
Email: PR@DrewCountySpeedway.net  
March 23, 2009

 Drew County Speedway Hits Another Homerun!

Monticello, Arkansas USA

It was Super 8 Nite presented by James Quick Print as Drew County Speedway's growing popularity was evident Saturday night as stands and tailgate spots filled with excited fans, and pits were crowded long before sunset.

A benevolent drive throughout the evening showed an outpouring of support from fans, racers and sponsors for the Jack and Marilyn Suber family, who suffered total loss after a recent house fire. Drivers donated their winnings, and fans filled helmets with cash during intermission. 

"We raised an estimated $1500 and donated lots of clothes for the Suber family.  In fact more clothes are still on the way.  Vicki Keene at Turn-4-Photos donated half of her photo profits, and a lot of other racers and fans really showed Southeast Arkansas what a caring community can be found at these local tracks.  To be honest, the drive just about outperformed the race," track manager Jeb Onwiler said.

Jody Davidson (#90) dominated the O'Reilly Modified Series, while the #jp5 (Lee Patton) car held a steady second as multiple cautions forced a green/white/checkered finish, common to nearly all the classes' feature races.

By the time the Mods took the track as the final race of the feature event, a perfect track condition earlier in the evening had turned super-slick from one of the largest showings of competitors in the track's history, with more than 20 Cruiser class cars, 18 Hobby stock entries, and similar number of racers in most of the other classes.

Allot of cars meant allot of cautions throughout the feature races, but Davidson's equipment adjusted well to the end-of-night challenges of the glassy track and finished the victor. Other notable Modifieds included #18a, driven by Richard Anders, who finished third, Seth Reed in #88s (finished seventh), and Jody Jester in Scott Temple's #23 car, who started sixth, moved back, then worked his way up from near the rear of the field to earn a fourth place finish.

The excitement and buzz over the street stock race didn't end with the checkered flag, however; David Pearce's win in the #99 car was protested after maintaining a strong lead throughout the race, followed by #54h (Eckie Harrison) and #8n (David Nichols), who distanced themselves early on from fourth place #83 (Jimmy Via). Fifth place #302 (Robert Kirkpatrick) led the rear of the field as the cars exited Turn 4; Kirkpatrick battled Via for fourth, drove high, and pushed Via into the wall on the backstretch, leaving both cars to finish in the bottom half of the field.

Pearce's win was disqualified, naming the #54h car the winner. Track owner Rodney Box explained Monday that Pearce had been dis-qualified due to illegality in valve size. According to Box, Pearce's car was built according to the official rules established at pre-season meetings and, according to the official rules; Pearce's car was legal in all aspects.

However, the rule change had been inadvertently left out of the rule postings on the track's website; Box and Pearce agreed to honor the website's posted rules from last season and DQ the car to ensure the faith of honest practices at the track.

Said Box, "We apologize to Mr. Pearce for the mistake on the website from last season that led to this; he was very understanding and agreed that we should honor the publicly posted rule for the benefit of the other racers in this particular class Saturday night, and we value his support. Mr. Pearce's car is legal by all standards under our official rules, which allowed for the valves he raced with, but he chose to remove himself from competition to clear up the confusion. We certainly appreciate his understanding in this matter. Changes will be made to the website to correct the error before we race again." 

A finish line battle for second in the Sport Mod Division between 54 (Dusty Myers) and 54x (Jared Wallace) was an exciting conclusion to the class's feature. The race was again dominated this week by the 6volt car driven by Cody Harger. An early crash involving the #14cc left #5t sandwiched between cars on its side.

Fortunately, there were no injuries, and the race resumed with 8s, 6volt and 54 leading the race. 54 ran head-to-head then passed #6 on the inside, with #24 taking third and 14cc regaining fourth position following the wreck at the beginning of the race. A few debris and spinout cautions later, #8s and #24 slipped through the field, and Harger again took the checkered, with Wallace passing Myers at the finish line to round out the top three.

An early pileup in turn 3 forced a restart early in the hobby stock race, which turned out to be just the first of several cautions for the class, but three drivers won their heats and proved the strongest showings of the class during the feature. Ricky Wrinkle (#92) held his lead most of the race, with local favorite #5m (Mandy Hayden) & #32 (Otto Adair) sharing second/third spots most of the race, battling head-to-head and swapping positions.

Several restarts began the same, with Wrinkle pulling ahead as Hayden held second spot over Adair. The #32 passed Hayden a few times, but the lead didn't last long as she pulled ahead of Adair again. As the field rounded the final turn in the final lap of the race, Hayden lost her second place position over the field in a spinout in front of Adair, leaving #1e (Donnie Edwards) and #46 (Tab Musgrove) to finish second and third behind Wrinkle.

A huge field of Cruiser class cars were led onto the track by heat winners by #13 (Tracy Forrest), #15 (Brandon Lloyd) and #D13 (Donnie Summerford). Within the first four laps of the race, Forrest secured first place and had lapped the rear of the field just a few laps later, followed by Lloyd.

Summerford fell out of the competition when he blew an engine, and Lloyd passed Forrest for first in the final laps of the race, but spun out entering turn four and crashed into Forrest, leaving #21 (Craig Williams), #65 (Tillman Lowe) and #00 (Doug Davis) to take the top three spots.

Complete results are available at www.speednetdirect.com.  Mr. Box also announced Monday that the purse will be raised in every class from first through 20th place beginning next Saturday night.

Saturday's race will present Round #1 of the Ryburn Super Series presented by Foster Tractor Co. featuring the Faith Reed Memorial.  On tap the lightning-fast O’Reilly Modifieds, ground-pounding SportMods, hammer-time Hobby Stocks, freakin’ Street Stocks, ultra-crazed Cruisers and those always mighty-fine Mini Stocks.

The pits open at 4:30pm, grandstands at 5:30pm, and the show starts at 7pm sharp.  Adults are $10.00, seniors and military are $8.00, juniors 6-14 are $6.00 and kids 5 and under are free.  Free parking is provided by the great folks at Pines Broadcasting.   

Drew County Speedway is an ultra-fast 3/8 mile dirt track oval located 5 miles south of Monticello, Arkansas.  The website is DrewCountySpeedway.net and the Remax Premier 24/7 Racin’ Hotline is 870-367-RACE (7223).  For more information, please contact Rodney Box at 870-489-0099 or DCS@DrewCountySpeedway.net.

That’s round #1 of the Ryburn Super Series presented by Foster Tractor Co. featuring the Faith Reed Memorial this Saturday evening! 

Drew County Speedway
“The Family Fun Center”
Cya @ the Show!