By Spencer Wilson
SITKA, KY--Heading into Saturday Night's O'Reilly NARA Battle of the Bluegrass DirtCar Series event at the 201 Speedway, Tyrel Todd of Eubank, KY had made 41 main events with the series since it began in 2002 without scoring a win. At the end of the night at 201 Speedway after making his 42nd career start with the series for the first time he would come home the winner as he captured the Lucas Oil main event earning $3000. Todd has been one of the most loyal supporters of the series since it started and Saturday Night was no fluke as he beat a stout field of entrants at 201 Speedway for the victory. The 22 year old Todd, driving the Todd Family Motorsports/Pulaski Steel and Supply/Todd Truss Company/Alexander Recycling Inc/Valley View Car Wash/WFO Decals/American Racer Tires/Bullock Racing Engines/MasterSbilt Monte Carlo. Behind Todd at the finish was Brandon Kinzer of Allen, KY in the Jerry Kinzer/Kinzer Well Drilling/GRT Dodge Intrepid R/T who finished just one and a half car lengths behind the winner. Third place went to 21st starting Rod Evans of St. Albans, WV driving the Don White owned/Technology Services/Rocket Grand Prix. Fourth place was 2002 O'Reilly Battle of the Bluegrass champion, Eddie Carrier Jr of Salt Rock, WV in the Carl Grover Motorsports/Engines Inc/Rocket Ford Taurus. Rounding out the top five was Bucky Jackson of Morehead, KY in the Jackson Builders/GRT by Tim Logan Monte Carlo.
O'Reilly NARA Battle of the Bluegrass regulars Johnny Wheeler and Tyrel Todd would start on the front row of the 40 lap main event. At the drop of the green Todd would manage to get the point with Wheeler going to second in front of veteran, Paul Harris and BoB point’s leader, Greg Johnson. With five laps in the books the running order would remain the same, but on the sixth lap a position change occurred with Johnson getting past Harris for third. After a lap 8 restart Johnson would challenge Wheeler for second but got a little bit sideways in turn two, he quickly got his car corrected but something happened under the hood and caused Johnson to lose power which forced him off the track and into the pits ending his night. Brandon Kinzer who started fifth would then move up to third behind the race leader, Todd and Wheeler. Another car on the move was that of Aaron Hatton's. The young gun that started 10th was up to fourth place by the ninth circuit challenging the frontrunners. Waiting through several caution periods Todd had held the lead from the very beginning of the race with Wheeler breathing down his neck. On lap 13 Wheeler would make a terrific move coming off of turn number four to pass Todd for the lead. As the two headed down the stretch into turn one Todd would take the very low route on the track pointing his mount alongside the inside wall and squeeze back by Wheeler to regain the lead. The great race for the lead would continue between those two and after several restarts it was decided to go to a single file restart from here on out. With 15 laps scored it was Todd, Wheeler, Kinzer, Eddie Carrier Jr and Paul Harris in the top five. By this time Hatton’s' good run had ended with driveshaft problems taking the top two in the points out of the race.
On the 16th lap Kinzer would get by Wheeler for second place. At the 20 lap mark (halfway) Kinzer would then try an avenue on the inside of the track to chase down Todd, whose car was handling very well at any place on the race track. At this point of the race some eyes were on Rod Evans. Evans had started 21st in the field and was high flying on the outside groove of the race track picking off cars one by one. Evans made his first appearance in the top five on the 21st lap. Two circuits later he had Wheeler for fourth place and was pressuring Carrier Jr for third now. A couple of cautions would halt Evans' effort a little bit has his momentum had been curtailed by the yellow flags. The final caution of the race came out on the 26th lap, but then on the race would run green until the checkers flew. Todd would have his hands full with Kinzer and now with Carrier Jr and Evans in the thick of things they were trying to make it tough on Todd looking for his first win with the series. Evans would get by Carrier Jr for third on 31st lap and set his sights on Todd and Kinzer. Todd was maintaining a two to three car length advantage over Kinzer as the final five laps would approach. It would be a scary last lap for Todd as he would have a lapped car in front of him on the final lap with Kinzer closing quick. As Todd entered turn four and was heading to the finish line the car was right in front of him. Kinzer would take a banzai stab at Todd as Todd drove to the inside of the car in front of him and would hold off Kinzer by a length and a half as the checkers would fly for his first career O'Reilly NARA Battle of the Bluegrass DirtCar series victory.
"It feels good to get this win, I've waited a long time for this," said the winner afterwards. "I want to thank all of my family for their help and support, I've got to thank Keith and Tader Masters of MasterSbilt Race Cars for building a great car, Mike Bullock of Bullock Racing Engines and Tony Rose of American Racer Tires for all of their assistance," said Todd. "I never thought the race was going to end with all of the cautions going on, I just tried to keep my concentration and be consistent lap after lap and it paid off." "Johnny passed me that one time and I just pointed the car towards the inside of the wall and squeezed back by him, I wanted to race Johnny clean and I felt I tried to do that."
Kinzer would come home in second followed by Evans, Carrier Jr and Bucky Jackson who had his best career Battle of the Bluegrass finish. The rest of the top ten were Brad Neat, Paul Harris, Johnny Wheeler, Benny Feltner and Steve Cornelius.
Kinzer took the Racing Optics fast time at 14.06 seconds. Heat races were won by Wheeler, Todd, David Smith and Harris.
The next O'Reilly Battle of the Bluegrass DirtCar Series event will be this coming Saturday Night, May 8 at the Richmond Raceway in Richmond, KY. This is the event that was scheduled for April 23 but was rained out. There will be a complete race program for the O'Reilly NARA Battle of the Bluegrass DirtCar Series with Racing Optics Time Trials, Heat Races, Consy Events and the Lucas Oil Main event paying $3000 to win. For more information you can log on to www.richmondraceways.net and www.naradirtcar.com.
Race Summary
O'Reilly Battle of the Bluegrass DirtCar Series
Event #4
201 Speedway
Sitka, KY
Saturday Night, May 8, 2004
Racing Optics Fast Time: Brandon Kinzer 14.06
First Heat: Johnny Wheeler, Brandon Kinzer, Shannon Thornsberry, Bucky Jackson
Second Heat: Tyrel Todd, Greg Johnson, Aaron Hatton, Brad Neat
Third Heat: David Smith, Chuckie May, Eddie Carrier Jr., Benny Feltner
Fourth Heat: Paul Harris, Raymond Nichols, Doug Smith, Spensor Watson
Lucas Oil Main Event: Tyrel Todd, Brandon Kinzer, Rod Evans, Eddie Carrier Jr., Bucky Jackson, Brad Neat, Paul Harris, Johnny Wheeler, Benny Feltner, Steve Cornelius, Doug Smith, David Powers, Jim LeMaster, Spensor Watson, Anthony Ferguson, Dennis Selby, Robert Fletcher, Raymond Nichols, Chris Wilson, Aaron Hatton, David Smith, Chuckie May, Greg Johnson, Shannon Thornsberry
SITKA, KY--Heading into Saturday Night's O'Reilly NARA Battle of the Bluegrass DirtCar Series event at the 201 Speedway, Tyrel Todd of Eubank, KY had made 41 main events with the series since it began in 2002 without scoring a win. At the end of the night at 201 Speedway after making his 42nd career start with the series for the first time he would come home the winner as he captured the Lucas Oil main event earning $3000. Todd has been one of the most loyal supporters of the series since it started and Saturday Night was no fluke as he beat a stout field of entrants at 201 Speedway for the victory. The 22 year old Todd, driving the Todd Family Motorsports/Pulaski Steel and Supply/Todd Truss Company/Alexander Recycling Inc/Valley View Car Wash/WFO Decals/American Racer Tires/Bullock Racing Engines/MasterSbilt Monte Carlo. Behind Todd at the finish was Brandon Kinzer of Allen, KY in the Jerry Kinzer/Kinzer Well Drilling/GRT Dodge Intrepid R/T who finished just one and a half car lengths behind the winner. Third place went to 21st starting Rod Evans of St. Albans, WV driving the Don White owned/Technology Services/Rocket Grand Prix. Fourth place was 2002 O'Reilly Battle of the Bluegrass champion, Eddie Carrier Jr of Salt Rock, WV in the Carl Grover Motorsports/Engines Inc/Rocket Ford Taurus. Rounding out the top five was Bucky Jackson of Morehead, KY in the Jackson Builders/GRT by Tim Logan Monte Carlo.
O'Reilly NARA Battle of the Bluegrass regulars Johnny Wheeler and Tyrel Todd would start on the front row of the 40 lap main event. At the drop of the green Todd would manage to get the point with Wheeler going to second in front of veteran, Paul Harris and BoB point’s leader, Greg Johnson. With five laps in the books the running order would remain the same, but on the sixth lap a position change occurred with Johnson getting past Harris for third. After a lap 8 restart Johnson would challenge Wheeler for second but got a little bit sideways in turn two, he quickly got his car corrected but something happened under the hood and caused Johnson to lose power which forced him off the track and into the pits ending his night. Brandon Kinzer who started fifth would then move up to third behind the race leader, Todd and Wheeler. Another car on the move was that of Aaron Hatton's. The young gun that started 10th was up to fourth place by the ninth circuit challenging the frontrunners. Waiting through several caution periods Todd had held the lead from the very beginning of the race with Wheeler breathing down his neck. On lap 13 Wheeler would make a terrific move coming off of turn number four to pass Todd for the lead. As the two headed down the stretch into turn one Todd would take the very low route on the track pointing his mount alongside the inside wall and squeeze back by Wheeler to regain the lead. The great race for the lead would continue between those two and after several restarts it was decided to go to a single file restart from here on out. With 15 laps scored it was Todd, Wheeler, Kinzer, Eddie Carrier Jr and Paul Harris in the top five. By this time Hatton’s' good run had ended with driveshaft problems taking the top two in the points out of the race.
On the 16th lap Kinzer would get by Wheeler for second place. At the 20 lap mark (halfway) Kinzer would then try an avenue on the inside of the track to chase down Todd, whose car was handling very well at any place on the race track. At this point of the race some eyes were on Rod Evans. Evans had started 21st in the field and was high flying on the outside groove of the race track picking off cars one by one. Evans made his first appearance in the top five on the 21st lap. Two circuits later he had Wheeler for fourth place and was pressuring Carrier Jr for third now. A couple of cautions would halt Evans' effort a little bit has his momentum had been curtailed by the yellow flags. The final caution of the race came out on the 26th lap, but then on the race would run green until the checkers flew. Todd would have his hands full with Kinzer and now with Carrier Jr and Evans in the thick of things they were trying to make it tough on Todd looking for his first win with the series. Evans would get by Carrier Jr for third on 31st lap and set his sights on Todd and Kinzer. Todd was maintaining a two to three car length advantage over Kinzer as the final five laps would approach. It would be a scary last lap for Todd as he would have a lapped car in front of him on the final lap with Kinzer closing quick. As Todd entered turn four and was heading to the finish line the car was right in front of him. Kinzer would take a banzai stab at Todd as Todd drove to the inside of the car in front of him and would hold off Kinzer by a length and a half as the checkers would fly for his first career O'Reilly NARA Battle of the Bluegrass DirtCar series victory.
"It feels good to get this win, I've waited a long time for this," said the winner afterwards. "I want to thank all of my family for their help and support, I've got to thank Keith and Tader Masters of MasterSbilt Race Cars for building a great car, Mike Bullock of Bullock Racing Engines and Tony Rose of American Racer Tires for all of their assistance," said Todd. "I never thought the race was going to end with all of the cautions going on, I just tried to keep my concentration and be consistent lap after lap and it paid off." "Johnny passed me that one time and I just pointed the car towards the inside of the wall and squeezed back by him, I wanted to race Johnny clean and I felt I tried to do that."
Kinzer would come home in second followed by Evans, Carrier Jr and Bucky Jackson who had his best career Battle of the Bluegrass finish. The rest of the top ten were Brad Neat, Paul Harris, Johnny Wheeler, Benny Feltner and Steve Cornelius.
Kinzer took the Racing Optics fast time at 14.06 seconds. Heat races were won by Wheeler, Todd, David Smith and Harris.
The next O'Reilly Battle of the Bluegrass DirtCar Series event will be this coming Saturday Night, May 8 at the Richmond Raceway in Richmond, KY. This is the event that was scheduled for April 23 but was rained out. There will be a complete race program for the O'Reilly NARA Battle of the Bluegrass DirtCar Series with Racing Optics Time Trials, Heat Races, Consy Events and the Lucas Oil Main event paying $3000 to win. For more information you can log on to www.richmondraceways.net and www.naradirtcar.com.
Race Summary
O'Reilly Battle of the Bluegrass DirtCar Series
Event #4
201 Speedway
Sitka, KY
Saturday Night, May 8, 2004
Racing Optics Fast Time: Brandon Kinzer 14.06
First Heat: Johnny Wheeler, Brandon Kinzer, Shannon Thornsberry, Bucky Jackson
Second Heat: Tyrel Todd, Greg Johnson, Aaron Hatton, Brad Neat
Third Heat: David Smith, Chuckie May, Eddie Carrier Jr., Benny Feltner
Fourth Heat: Paul Harris, Raymond Nichols, Doug Smith, Spensor Watson
Lucas Oil Main Event: Tyrel Todd, Brandon Kinzer, Rod Evans, Eddie Carrier Jr., Bucky Jackson, Brad Neat, Paul Harris, Johnny Wheeler, Benny Feltner, Steve Cornelius, Doug Smith, David Powers, Jim LeMaster, Spensor Watson, Anthony Ferguson, Dennis Selby, Robert Fletcher, Raymond Nichols, Chris Wilson, Aaron Hatton, David Smith, Chuckie May, Greg Johnson, Shannon Thornsberry
