By Michael Despain
Bardstown, KY-September 20-With a total of 117 race cars in attendance and 67 of those entries in the Late Model division, Darrell Lanigan of Union, KY scored his third straight Bluegrass 50 win at Bluegrass Speedway in the STARS Battle of the Bluegrass DirtCar Series final 2003 visit to the Nelson County facility just outside of beautiful and historic Bardstown, KY.
The 50 lap, 25 mile chase would see outside front row starter Brad Neat take the initial lead with Aaron Hatton and Darrell Lanigan giving chase, trailed by Joey Kramer and Steve Casebolt. Lanigan would take second by lap 4 as he and Neat began to put distance between themselves and the rest of the field, as Casebolt would roll to third on lap 9. Meanwhile, series points leader Mike Marlar had started fourteenth would find his way to sixth by the lap 15 mark. Neat and Lanigan would begin a masterful process of working traffic at this point, as Marlar continued to charge and as the field began to make its way to the halfway of the event, Marlar would have secured the third spot from Casebolt, with John Gill also gaining on this duo as well from his fifth spot. Lanigan would turn the wick up on Neat with around lap 35 as this duo was working heavy traffic, allowing Marlar to close in somewhat. Business picked up at the front on lap 40 when Lanigan pulled alongside of Neat and the pair would race side-by-side in traffic for the next lap and a half, with Neat regaining control. Lap 44 would see Lanigan slide under Neat in traffic off of turn four and have the lead at line, but Neat would step up off of turn two and work back beneath Lanigan for the lead as the pair worked in turn three on lap 45. Lanigan would not be deterred as he would dive his mount back under in turns one and two on lap 46 and retake the lead. Neat would drive to the outside of Lanigan off of turn four as the pair got the two lap signal and were in a dead heat at the start/finish line, with the pair contacting a bit and Neat scraping the wall slightly, with driving hard into turn one. Lanigan would slide away over the final lap and half to take the win in the Lanigan Racing owned Accutex Signs/AFCO Products/All Star Performance/Gotta Race #29 Rocket Chassis, Cornett Race Engine powered, Hoosier Tire shod entry. Neat would take runner-up honors after leading the first 43 circuits, with 14th starting Marlar taking third. Gill and Casebolt completed the top five. Rounding out the top ten were Joey Kramer, Rick Corbin, Hatton, Josh Williams, and Duayne Hommel. Barber was the Racing Optics/Bullzilla Graphics top qualifier at 16.251 seconds among the 67 entries, with heat wins going to Hatton, Lanigan, Kramer, Brad Neat, Casebolt, and Josh Williams. AFCO B-main wins went to Mike Jewell, Marlar, and Steve Barnett, with Timmy Yeager and Michael Chilton taking series provisionals, while Barber took the track provisional.
Joe Gray of Cecilia, KY scored his third Hoosier Tire Modified feature race win of the season at Bluegrass aboard the Jimmy Bryan owned Bryan Builders/84 Auto Recyclers/ Team LocoMotive/Conway-Heaton Ford/Ace Signs and Graphics/Ohio Valley Performance/Bunbakers Black Angus Grill/Guy's Building Supply #84 Bandit Race Cars, Mattingly Race Engines powered entry. Josh Lucas would take runner-up honors on this evening, with Kelly Warren taking third. The duo of Benji Lee and Dion Benningfield would round out the top five. Billy Despain would head up the second five, followed by Robbie Gullion, Jason Wheatley, Larry Vires, and Freddy Garmon. Heat wins went to Warren, Wheatley, and Gray, while David Copley won the B main.
Barry Chesser of Chaplin, KY captured his fourth Sportsman feature win of the 2003 season at Bluegrass and he drove his Buzick Constuction/Budweiser/Nalley's Auto Parts/ Bumper-to-Bumper sponsored #36 mount to the win over Johnny Lee, Rocky Wilson, Bo Wilson, and Darrell Gaddis. The remainder of the field in spots sixth through tenth would be Kelly Riggs, Robert Cocanougher, John Magee, Pat Hagan, and Jeff Johnson. Gaddis won the dash, while Hagan won the heat.
SUMMARY-BLUEGRASS SPEEDWAY-Bardstown, KY-September 20, 2003
LATE MODELS (67 entries)
Racing Optics/Bullzilla Graphics Top Qualifier- Bryan Barber 16.251
1st Heat- Aaron Hatton, John Gill, Mike Jewell, Dave Freeman
2nd Heat- Darrell Lanigan, Duayne Hommel, David Powers, Billy Dever
3rd Heat- Joey Kramer, Doug Ault, Mike Marlar, Michael Chilton
4th Heat- Brad Neat, Rick Corbin, Eddie Carrier, Jr., Shawn Negangard
5th Heat- Steve Casebolt, Whitney McQueary, Steve Barnett, Tyrel Todd
6th Heat- Josh Williams, Jerry Rice, Dustin Neat, Tim Tungate
1st AFCO B Main- Jewell, Powers, Audie McWilliams, Kevin Claycomb, Freeman
2nd AFCO B Main- Marlar, Carrier, Jr., Jesse James Lay, Negangard, Timmy Yeager
3rd AFCO B Main- Barnett, Dustin Neat, Todd, Kenny Christy, John Whitney
STARS BoB Provs.- Yeager, Todd
Track Prov.- Bryan Barber
5th Annual Bluegrass 50- Lanigan, Brad Neat, Marlar, Gill, Casebolt, Kramer, Corbin, Hatton, Williams, Hommel, Jewell, Rice, Lay, Barber, McQueary, Carrier, Jr., Ault, Todd, Yeager, Chilton, Powers, Barnett, McWilliams, Dustin Neat (DNS)
MODIFIEDS (31 entries)
1st Heat- Kelly Warren, Robbie Gullion, Billy Despain, Jason Keltner
2nd Heat- Jason Wheatley, Larry Vires, Benji Lee, Richard Harlow
3rd Heat- Joe Gray, Dion Benningfield, Josh Lucas, Freddy Garmon
B Main- David Copley, John Bryan, Brad Mattingly, Tim Moore, Henry Hitechew
Feature- Gray, Lucas, Warren, Lee, Benningfield, Despain, Gullion, Wheatley, Vires, Garmon, Joe Mattingly, Harlow, Sidney Sprague, Wes Howard, Bryan, Adam Gootee, Copley, Keltner, Jeremy Colston, Rick Gumm
SPORTSMAN (19 entries)
Dash- Darrell Gaddis, Benji Lee, Jeff Johnson, Kevin Wilson, Bo Wilson, Barry Chesser
Heat- Pat Hagan, Timmy Glazer, Jason Zehnder, Robert Cocanougher
Feature- Chesser, Lee, Rocky Wilson, Bo Wilson, Gaddis, Kelly Riggs, Cocanougher, John Magee, Hagan, Johnson, Russ Nealy, Timmy Glazer, Kevin Wilson, Charles Bolin, Randall Basham
Bardstown, KY-September 20-With a total of 117 race cars in attendance and 67 of those entries in the Late Model division, Darrell Lanigan of Union, KY scored his third straight Bluegrass 50 win at Bluegrass Speedway in the STARS Battle of the Bluegrass DirtCar Series final 2003 visit to the Nelson County facility just outside of beautiful and historic Bardstown, KY.
The 50 lap, 25 mile chase would see outside front row starter Brad Neat take the initial lead with Aaron Hatton and Darrell Lanigan giving chase, trailed by Joey Kramer and Steve Casebolt. Lanigan would take second by lap 4 as he and Neat began to put distance between themselves and the rest of the field, as Casebolt would roll to third on lap 9. Meanwhile, series points leader Mike Marlar had started fourteenth would find his way to sixth by the lap 15 mark. Neat and Lanigan would begin a masterful process of working traffic at this point, as Marlar continued to charge and as the field began to make its way to the halfway of the event, Marlar would have secured the third spot from Casebolt, with John Gill also gaining on this duo as well from his fifth spot. Lanigan would turn the wick up on Neat with around lap 35 as this duo was working heavy traffic, allowing Marlar to close in somewhat. Business picked up at the front on lap 40 when Lanigan pulled alongside of Neat and the pair would race side-by-side in traffic for the next lap and a half, with Neat regaining control. Lap 44 would see Lanigan slide under Neat in traffic off of turn four and have the lead at line, but Neat would step up off of turn two and work back beneath Lanigan for the lead as the pair worked in turn three on lap 45. Lanigan would not be deterred as he would dive his mount back under in turns one and two on lap 46 and retake the lead. Neat would drive to the outside of Lanigan off of turn four as the pair got the two lap signal and were in a dead heat at the start/finish line, with the pair contacting a bit and Neat scraping the wall slightly, with driving hard into turn one. Lanigan would slide away over the final lap and half to take the win in the Lanigan Racing owned Accutex Signs/AFCO Products/All Star Performance/Gotta Race #29 Rocket Chassis, Cornett Race Engine powered, Hoosier Tire shod entry. Neat would take runner-up honors after leading the first 43 circuits, with 14th starting Marlar taking third. Gill and Casebolt completed the top five. Rounding out the top ten were Joey Kramer, Rick Corbin, Hatton, Josh Williams, and Duayne Hommel. Barber was the Racing Optics/Bullzilla Graphics top qualifier at 16.251 seconds among the 67 entries, with heat wins going to Hatton, Lanigan, Kramer, Brad Neat, Casebolt, and Josh Williams. AFCO B-main wins went to Mike Jewell, Marlar, and Steve Barnett, with Timmy Yeager and Michael Chilton taking series provisionals, while Barber took the track provisional.
Joe Gray of Cecilia, KY scored his third Hoosier Tire Modified feature race win of the season at Bluegrass aboard the Jimmy Bryan owned Bryan Builders/84 Auto Recyclers/ Team LocoMotive/Conway-Heaton Ford/Ace Signs and Graphics/Ohio Valley Performance/Bunbakers Black Angus Grill/Guy's Building Supply #84 Bandit Race Cars, Mattingly Race Engines powered entry. Josh Lucas would take runner-up honors on this evening, with Kelly Warren taking third. The duo of Benji Lee and Dion Benningfield would round out the top five. Billy Despain would head up the second five, followed by Robbie Gullion, Jason Wheatley, Larry Vires, and Freddy Garmon. Heat wins went to Warren, Wheatley, and Gray, while David Copley won the B main.
Barry Chesser of Chaplin, KY captured his fourth Sportsman feature win of the 2003 season at Bluegrass and he drove his Buzick Constuction/Budweiser/Nalley's Auto Parts/ Bumper-to-Bumper sponsored #36 mount to the win over Johnny Lee, Rocky Wilson, Bo Wilson, and Darrell Gaddis. The remainder of the field in spots sixth through tenth would be Kelly Riggs, Robert Cocanougher, John Magee, Pat Hagan, and Jeff Johnson. Gaddis won the dash, while Hagan won the heat.
SUMMARY-BLUEGRASS SPEEDWAY-Bardstown, KY-September 20, 2003
LATE MODELS (67 entries)
Racing Optics/Bullzilla Graphics Top Qualifier- Bryan Barber 16.251
1st Heat- Aaron Hatton, John Gill, Mike Jewell, Dave Freeman
2nd Heat- Darrell Lanigan, Duayne Hommel, David Powers, Billy Dever
3rd Heat- Joey Kramer, Doug Ault, Mike Marlar, Michael Chilton
4th Heat- Brad Neat, Rick Corbin, Eddie Carrier, Jr., Shawn Negangard
5th Heat- Steve Casebolt, Whitney McQueary, Steve Barnett, Tyrel Todd
6th Heat- Josh Williams, Jerry Rice, Dustin Neat, Tim Tungate
1st AFCO B Main- Jewell, Powers, Audie McWilliams, Kevin Claycomb, Freeman
2nd AFCO B Main- Marlar, Carrier, Jr., Jesse James Lay, Negangard, Timmy Yeager
3rd AFCO B Main- Barnett, Dustin Neat, Todd, Kenny Christy, John Whitney
STARS BoB Provs.- Yeager, Todd
Track Prov.- Bryan Barber
5th Annual Bluegrass 50- Lanigan, Brad Neat, Marlar, Gill, Casebolt, Kramer, Corbin, Hatton, Williams, Hommel, Jewell, Rice, Lay, Barber, McQueary, Carrier, Jr., Ault, Todd, Yeager, Chilton, Powers, Barnett, McWilliams, Dustin Neat (DNS)
MODIFIEDS (31 entries)
1st Heat- Kelly Warren, Robbie Gullion, Billy Despain, Jason Keltner
2nd Heat- Jason Wheatley, Larry Vires, Benji Lee, Richard Harlow
3rd Heat- Joe Gray, Dion Benningfield, Josh Lucas, Freddy Garmon
B Main- David Copley, John Bryan, Brad Mattingly, Tim Moore, Henry Hitechew
Feature- Gray, Lucas, Warren, Lee, Benningfield, Despain, Gullion, Wheatley, Vires, Garmon, Joe Mattingly, Harlow, Sidney Sprague, Wes Howard, Bryan, Adam Gootee, Copley, Keltner, Jeremy Colston, Rick Gumm
SPORTSMAN (19 entries)
Dash- Darrell Gaddis, Benji Lee, Jeff Johnson, Kevin Wilson, Bo Wilson, Barry Chesser
Heat- Pat Hagan, Timmy Glazer, Jason Zehnder, Robert Cocanougher
Feature- Chesser, Lee, Rocky Wilson, Bo Wilson, Gaddis, Kelly Riggs, Cocanougher, John Magee, Hagan, Johnson, Russ Nealy, Timmy Glazer, Kevin Wilson, Charles Bolin, Randall Basham
