Junction City, KY-April 6, 2012- It would be the opening night of the 2012 season at Ponderosa Speedway and feature event winners would include Dustin Neat of Dunnville, KY in Good Neighbor Pharmacy Late Models, Jimmy Payne of Glasgow, KY in Clayton Homes Modifieds, and Eddie Stewart of Manchester, KY in Ken Towery’s Tire and Auto Care Sportsman.
Dustin Neat would take the lead at the drop of the green flag in the 25 lap Good Neighbor Pharmacy Late Model main event and would survive three caution periods and a near-disaster tangle with a lapped car on lap 20 to claim the $1,200 payday in his Red Buck Cigars/Neat’s Service Center/ Keltner Contracting/Southern Rayz Tanning sponsored #25 Longhorn Chassis, Vic Hill Race Engines powered machine. Fifth place starter P.J. Feistritzer would roll to runner-up honors, with Joey Daniel taking third. Jerry Rice and outside polesitter Zane Powell would complete the top five. Rounding out the top ten would be Victor Lee, Kevin Colston, Buzz Williams, Tommy Carlton, and Tyler Allen. Seventeen entries would see Neat also be the top qualifier at 14.029 seconds, with Country 100.9 MIKE FM heat race victories going to Neat and Powell. Feistritzer would earn an extra $100 for being the top finishing Late Model with a Crate engine, while Powell earned a $50 bonus for being the second-highest finishing Late Model with a Crate engine.
Jimmy Payne would ease to the lead at the onset of the 20 lap Clayton Homes Modified main event and would survive four caution flags and a hard-charging J.T. Ayers, who had to go to the rear of the field after a lap 3 caution, to claim the opening night win for the open-wheel division in the Richard Harlow owned Maximum Energy Development/Diamond Auto Collision/Crawford’s Auto Repair/ Barren River Pest Control sponsored #155 Bandit Race Car powered by a Runion Race Engine. Ayers would take second, with Bryan Barber recovering from a lap 13 spin while battling for second taking third. Elliott Despain and Rocky Wilson would round out the top five. Completing the top ten would be 11th starting Keith Smith, Stacey Decker, Trevor Thompson, Gary Parks, and Ricky Arms. Sixteen entries would see Ayers be the fast qualifier at 14.760 second, while Smith Automotive heat race wins fell to Ayers and Payne.
Donnie Sullivan would lead the first 3 laps of the 15 lap Ken Towery’s Tire and Auto Care Sportsman feature before breaking a driveshaft and handing the lead over to Eddie Stewart. Stewart would be dominant over the final 12 laps in scoring the win aboard his Matthews Well Service sponsored #Z9 Chevrolet Camaro entry. Veteran Scotty Earl would finish second, with Darrell Cain, Derek Bottoms, and rookie Shannon Scott completing the top five. Eddie Stewart would also be the top qualifier among twelve entries at 16.252 seconds, with Central Painting heat race events being scored by Stewart and Sullivan.
SUMMARY-Ponderosa Speedway-Junction City, Kentucky-April 6, 2012
Good Neighbor Pharmacy Late Models (17 entries) Top Qualifier- Dustin Neat 14.029 Country 100.9 MIKE FM 1st Heat- Dustin Neat, Michael Chilton, P.J. Feistritzer, Kevin Colston Country 100.9 MIKE FM 2nd Heat- Zane Powell, Joey Daniel, Jerry Rice, Tommy Carlton
Feature- Dustin Neat, P.J. Feistritzer, Joey Daniel, Jerry Rice, Zane Powell, Victor Lee, Kevin Colston, Buzz Williams, Tommy Carlton, Tyler Allen, Dennis Barton, Matt Henderson, Timmy Taylor, Michael Chilton, Josh Hampton, Clarence Belcher (DNS- Dustin Linville)
Clayton Homes Modifieds (16 entries)
Top Qualifier- J.T. Ayers 14.760
Smith Automotive 1st Heat- J.T. Ayers, Bryan Barber, Elliott Despain, Gary Parks Smith Automotive 2nd Heat- Jimmy Paynes, Billy Meredith, Rocky Wilson, Ricky Arms
Feature- Jimmy Payne, J.T. Ayers, Bryan Barber, Elliott Despain, Rocky Wilson, Keith Smith, Stacey Decker, Trevor Thompson, Gary Parks, Ricky Arms, A.J. Reams, Cameron Marlar (DNS- Billy Meredith, Matthew Colston, Bartley Grant, Chris Woodruff)
Ken Towery’s Auto and Tire Center Sportsman (12 entries) Top Qualifier- Eddie Stewart 16.252 Central Painting 1st Heat- Eddie Stewart, Pherman Stewart, Shannon Scott, Eli Meredith Central Painting 2nd Heat- Donnie Sullivan, Scotty Earl, Derek Bottoms, Johnny King
Feature- Eddie Stewart, Scotty Earl, Darrell Cain, Derek Bottoms, Shannon Scott, Johnny King, Paul Osborne, Pherman Stewart, Eli Meredith, Anthony Wiseman, Donnie Sullivan (DNS- Dennis Cross)