The night started out as any other except that it was the Pro Street Divisions’ Season Championship race. Bud Points qualifying went as expected for some and not so good for others. Coming out sixth in the order of qualifying for the UMP Open Wheels was David Flowers (99), setting a quick time of 13.975 sec. In UMP Late Model qualifying it was Chuck Proctor (27) showing the rest how to get around the quarter mile oval the fastest with a time of 12.657 sec. Then in Pro Street qualifying we watched as Larry Hamm in the 93 set the fast time of 14.724 sec.
On to the heat races, with the Street Stock division coming out first. Sam Morgan (SS3) driving his D4 for his daughter took heat race one. Heat race two saw Dorris McCord (45) come from the back of the field to take the checkered flag. In heat race three once again Dale Phillips (87) took home a win also coming from the back of his heat.
UMP Open Wheel dashes and heats were next on the program. In the quick six dash we watched as the 93 of Charles Zimmerman over power the rest of the field. In the heat race it was the 25S of Mike Sweeney out run the other eight cars to take home another “W” for the year.
The UMP Late Models came out next for their quick six dash, with the 1 car of Tony Albright coming out on top. They too only had one other heat race, to which Rod Reed in his orange and white 47 sailed around the top shelf to go on for the win.
The Pro Street quick six qualifier was won by Tyrone Dossett in the 44 car after starting in the third spot. There were three other heat races for this class with the first heat race going to Larry Barber, Jr in his 54. Heat race two went to Chris Wood in the 0 car, and then in heat race three we saw the 75 of Henry Gibbs show the way to the flag stand at the checkered.
The final heat races for the night were the Mini Modifieds, with the 54 of Don Donegan taking the first of two and Michael Dial in the Z2 taking heat race two.
After a short intermission and a meet and greet with the Pro Street drivers, where the fans got to see who the Most Popular driver was, the UMP Open Wheels were called to the track for their feature race of 15 laps. In what looked like a repeat of last weeks performance of many cautions the drivers finally relaxed after the first three cautions and David Flowers who was battling with the 77 of Clayton Miller before spinning took second, and the quick time setter of Charles Zimmerman (93) went on to win the race.
After the Open Wheels came the wonderful sound of rumbling engines and power of the UMP Late Models for their 20-lap feature. This was one of the most exciting races I have seen here at the track; they just keep getting better as the season winds down. On the first lap we saw a FOUR WIDE run across the start finish line, only to bring out the first caution when the 1 car of Albright bobbles and collects Rod Reed (47) and the 20 car of Gary Johnson who were following the four wide run into the first turn. With Albright causing the whole ordeal he has to restart the race from the rear of the field, leaving Proctor and Sweeney at the front to battle the rest of the race out. On the restart Proctor jumped out in front of the rest of the field only to lead the rest of the race and finally take the checkered flag on the last lap. Albright ended up finishing sixth overall with Sweeney (33) finishing behind Proctor in the second spot. One more good race for my book.
On to the main event of the night with the Pro Streets’ Season Championship race. After a few cautions and a bad finish in the quick six dash, Larry Hamm (93) took home the big trophy and the title of Season Champion for 2003. Some of the drivers would say man thank god that race is over and I am still here with all my equipment.
Nest would be a battle with Mother Nature and the Street Stock division. Three laps into the race we get sprinkled on and send the cars off the track, but as always in the middle Tennessee area it stopped right away allowing the track time to dry off rather quickly and we decided to bring the cars back out n the track to try and finish the race. But to no avail the rain came back around lap 8 and we had to call the race a complete race with the 9 of Don Everett standing at the front of the field to take home the victory.
The Mini Modified feature will be continued next weekend on the 20th of Sept. Don’t forget that we have the Mini Sprints coming back to town also that weekend. We want to thank all that came out to bare the weather with us and have fun at the races. See everyone hopefully again tomorrow when we run a regular racing program for the first time on a Sunday afternoon.
--Darrell Clevenger
On to the heat races, with the Street Stock division coming out first. Sam Morgan (SS3) driving his D4 for his daughter took heat race one. Heat race two saw Dorris McCord (45) come from the back of the field to take the checkered flag. In heat race three once again Dale Phillips (87) took home a win also coming from the back of his heat.
UMP Open Wheel dashes and heats were next on the program. In the quick six dash we watched as the 93 of Charles Zimmerman over power the rest of the field. In the heat race it was the 25S of Mike Sweeney out run the other eight cars to take home another “W” for the year.
The UMP Late Models came out next for their quick six dash, with the 1 car of Tony Albright coming out on top. They too only had one other heat race, to which Rod Reed in his orange and white 47 sailed around the top shelf to go on for the win.
The Pro Street quick six qualifier was won by Tyrone Dossett in the 44 car after starting in the third spot. There were three other heat races for this class with the first heat race going to Larry Barber, Jr in his 54. Heat race two went to Chris Wood in the 0 car, and then in heat race three we saw the 75 of Henry Gibbs show the way to the flag stand at the checkered.
The final heat races for the night were the Mini Modifieds, with the 54 of Don Donegan taking the first of two and Michael Dial in the Z2 taking heat race two.
After a short intermission and a meet and greet with the Pro Street drivers, where the fans got to see who the Most Popular driver was, the UMP Open Wheels were called to the track for their feature race of 15 laps. In what looked like a repeat of last weeks performance of many cautions the drivers finally relaxed after the first three cautions and David Flowers who was battling with the 77 of Clayton Miller before spinning took second, and the quick time setter of Charles Zimmerman (93) went on to win the race.
After the Open Wheels came the wonderful sound of rumbling engines and power of the UMP Late Models for their 20-lap feature. This was one of the most exciting races I have seen here at the track; they just keep getting better as the season winds down. On the first lap we saw a FOUR WIDE run across the start finish line, only to bring out the first caution when the 1 car of Albright bobbles and collects Rod Reed (47) and the 20 car of Gary Johnson who were following the four wide run into the first turn. With Albright causing the whole ordeal he has to restart the race from the rear of the field, leaving Proctor and Sweeney at the front to battle the rest of the race out. On the restart Proctor jumped out in front of the rest of the field only to lead the rest of the race and finally take the checkered flag on the last lap. Albright ended up finishing sixth overall with Sweeney (33) finishing behind Proctor in the second spot. One more good race for my book.
On to the main event of the night with the Pro Streets’ Season Championship race. After a few cautions and a bad finish in the quick six dash, Larry Hamm (93) took home the big trophy and the title of Season Champion for 2003. Some of the drivers would say man thank god that race is over and I am still here with all my equipment.
Nest would be a battle with Mother Nature and the Street Stock division. Three laps into the race we get sprinkled on and send the cars off the track, but as always in the middle Tennessee area it stopped right away allowing the track time to dry off rather quickly and we decided to bring the cars back out n the track to try and finish the race. But to no avail the rain came back around lap 8 and we had to call the race a complete race with the 9 of Don Everett standing at the front of the field to take home the victory.
The Mini Modified feature will be continued next weekend on the 20th of Sept. Don’t forget that we have the Mini Sprints coming back to town also that weekend. We want to thank all that came out to bare the weather with us and have fun at the races. See everyone hopefully again tomorrow when we run a regular racing program for the first time on a Sunday afternoon.
--Darrell Clevenger
