Less than a tenth of a second prevented Randle Sweeney from repeating the two-class sweep he pulled off here at Clarksville Speedway last weekend. Not long before Sweeney drove the Burr Late Model #33 across the feature race finish line to pocket the purse tonight, Gary L. Frost in F14 sped around the red, clay oval in 12.635 seconds to top Sweeney's 12.684 fastest qualifying time. No surprise, with the power on hand in the Frost pit, Gary couldn't go wrong with his two sons, Richard (15) and Ronnie (8) all bringing talent to the Late Model lineup here tonight. Sweeney (182) was the only Open Wheel driver to break the fourteen second mark by driving a 13.921 qualifying lap. Brian M. Caudle, "The RC Man", (RC1) would set the pace in Pro Street action with a 14.277 second fast time.
Clarksville's premier class of Pure Mini Stocks opened up the heat racing action with Chadd Hembree, driving in place of Chris Perrigo, keeping the number 12 car out front. While all three Street Stock point leaders ended up in the first heat with Dale Phillips taking the checkered flag. Ronnie Hedgepath (H55) and Dorris McCord (45) would challenge for runner-up, but Hedgepath prevailed. The second Street Stock heat put Don Everett (9) out front by a quarter of a lap to win. And with Sweeney (182) keeping the "Fix-It" X15; Clayton Miller at bay during the Open Wheel Dash, Gary Tatum
(24T) would edge past Michael Lee (55) with only one lap remaining to take the show. In Open Wheel heat one, Brian Heizer (9D7) took on the lead with Scott Boley (16) keeping in close. Mechanical failure would allow Jamie Mann
(88M) to move into second place as Boley pulled off the track with only two laps to go. The final Open Wheel heat had Mike Sweeney (25S) off to an early lead, which he kept for the duration, while Lucas Lee (12) tried to make up the difference. Lee would take second behind Sweeney and Darrell Brown (36T) would show. The thrilling Late Model Dash put Randle Sweeney (33) ahead of Tony Albright (1) and Gary Frost (F14) by some car lengths. Frost and Albright would be door-to-door for the first couple laps of the race, but Albright overcame Frost by the half-way point to pull in behind Sweeney's win. Gary Johnson (20) kept ahead of the melee in the first Late Model heat race to take the checkered. And Steven Ashby (16) took the honors in the second Late Model heat. The Pro Street Dash began with a tight field, but Brian Caudle (RC1) quickly increased his lead from his first row starting position. A caution moved Don Young's #41 "Warhorse" up to a solid second-place finish with Ty Dossett (44) driving in wildly for the show behind Young and Caudle. A jumped-start gave Mickey Jerles (45) the lead in the Pro Street heat after the race was restarted. Larry Barber Jr. (33) and Curt Cherry (11X) would challenge for second place behind Jerles, with Barber coming out ahead. Brian Smith (13X) was the driver who led Charles Newberry (23) and Dale McCord (31) across the finish line in the first Mini Modified heat race. Newberry and McCord would ride close to the front but not quite advance enough to get past Smith. Heat race excitement finished up with a Mini Modified race where the lead changed three times. Floyd Clinard Jr. (05) held the honors for the first few laps and was passed by Mike Johnson in car #30. By lap number six, Thomas Clinard (55) was side-by-side with Johnson and stepped up the speed. Thomas Clinard was still gaining when the checkered flag fell.
Chadd Hembree (12) didn't have it so easy in the Pure Mini feature. Timothy Hunter (77) and Stan Ferry (1) kept steady pressure on him when, with two laps to go, Hunter tried to pull up on the first spot. Hembree held up and it was Hunters turn to feel the heat. As the cars crossed the finish line, Ferry nearly had the second spot but Hunter made it with only feet to spare.
Tail to tail, UMP Open Wheel Modified racecars fired up the clay oval.
Miller (X15) and Sweeney (182) rounded the first lap of the feature race side-by-side and had a close scrape in the front stretch going into lap two.
Sweeney pulled ahead and, just as last week, reached the tail of the field before the crossed flags dropped. Other positions hardly thinned out while often three-wide traffic roared out of the turns. Miller took the opportunity to close on Sweeney weaving around lapped cars, but a surely disappointed Miller gave Sweeney the checkered flag. Michael Lee (55), matched with the likes of Gil Smith (7X) and Gary Tatum (24T), grabbed the third place and took over tracks point lead from David Flowers (99) with only nine points separating Clarksville's top three Open Wheel drivers.
Getting the Pro Street feature underway, Don Young (41) kept Brian Caudle
(RC1) in his sights for ten of the twelve laps until a mechanical failure forced him off the track. Caudle takes home another first-place win as Curt Cherry (11X) hung in there taking the second spot. UMP Late Model racers filed out onto the track next for their feature. Turn three brought them bad luck forcing two restarts when first-lap spins and crashes slowed the action down and forced cars out of the running. With Sweeney (33) gaining the quick lead, he was slowed by lap traffic which let Gary Frost (F14) catch back up, but not enough. By the time the checkered fell, Sweeney had lapped all but his closest four competitors, and he was working his way up on them. Gary Frost found himself nearly half a lap behind in second place. When the green flag dropped on the Street Stock feature, the first lap saw the leaders in two rows searching for a position to fill. Dale Phillips (87) gladly took over the lead but it didn't last long as a restart after a caution allowed Ronnie Hedgepath (H55) to take over from there. Hedgepath held on for half the race until Dorris McCord (45) made his way past. A final caution slowed down the field and upon restart, pitted Phillips against McCord for the shootout. McCord took the first place win for the prize. Finally, Brian Smith (13X) continued his run during the night as he drove across the finish line ahead of Thomas Clinard (55) and Charles Newberry (23) in the Mini Modified feature race. Smith's win moved him up four rungs on the point ladder for this very popular class of race car here at Clarksville Speedway.
Clarksville's premier class of Pure Mini Stocks opened up the heat racing action with Chadd Hembree, driving in place of Chris Perrigo, keeping the number 12 car out front. While all three Street Stock point leaders ended up in the first heat with Dale Phillips taking the checkered flag. Ronnie Hedgepath (H55) and Dorris McCord (45) would challenge for runner-up, but Hedgepath prevailed. The second Street Stock heat put Don Everett (9) out front by a quarter of a lap to win. And with Sweeney (182) keeping the "Fix-It" X15; Clayton Miller at bay during the Open Wheel Dash, Gary Tatum
(24T) would edge past Michael Lee (55) with only one lap remaining to take the show. In Open Wheel heat one, Brian Heizer (9D7) took on the lead with Scott Boley (16) keeping in close. Mechanical failure would allow Jamie Mann
(88M) to move into second place as Boley pulled off the track with only two laps to go. The final Open Wheel heat had Mike Sweeney (25S) off to an early lead, which he kept for the duration, while Lucas Lee (12) tried to make up the difference. Lee would take second behind Sweeney and Darrell Brown (36T) would show. The thrilling Late Model Dash put Randle Sweeney (33) ahead of Tony Albright (1) and Gary Frost (F14) by some car lengths. Frost and Albright would be door-to-door for the first couple laps of the race, but Albright overcame Frost by the half-way point to pull in behind Sweeney's win. Gary Johnson (20) kept ahead of the melee in the first Late Model heat race to take the checkered. And Steven Ashby (16) took the honors in the second Late Model heat. The Pro Street Dash began with a tight field, but Brian Caudle (RC1) quickly increased his lead from his first row starting position. A caution moved Don Young's #41 "Warhorse" up to a solid second-place finish with Ty Dossett (44) driving in wildly for the show behind Young and Caudle. A jumped-start gave Mickey Jerles (45) the lead in the Pro Street heat after the race was restarted. Larry Barber Jr. (33) and Curt Cherry (11X) would challenge for second place behind Jerles, with Barber coming out ahead. Brian Smith (13X) was the driver who led Charles Newberry (23) and Dale McCord (31) across the finish line in the first Mini Modified heat race. Newberry and McCord would ride close to the front but not quite advance enough to get past Smith. Heat race excitement finished up with a Mini Modified race where the lead changed three times. Floyd Clinard Jr. (05) held the honors for the first few laps and was passed by Mike Johnson in car #30. By lap number six, Thomas Clinard (55) was side-by-side with Johnson and stepped up the speed. Thomas Clinard was still gaining when the checkered flag fell.
Chadd Hembree (12) didn't have it so easy in the Pure Mini feature. Timothy Hunter (77) and Stan Ferry (1) kept steady pressure on him when, with two laps to go, Hunter tried to pull up on the first spot. Hembree held up and it was Hunters turn to feel the heat. As the cars crossed the finish line, Ferry nearly had the second spot but Hunter made it with only feet to spare.
Tail to tail, UMP Open Wheel Modified racecars fired up the clay oval.
Miller (X15) and Sweeney (182) rounded the first lap of the feature race side-by-side and had a close scrape in the front stretch going into lap two.
Sweeney pulled ahead and, just as last week, reached the tail of the field before the crossed flags dropped. Other positions hardly thinned out while often three-wide traffic roared out of the turns. Miller took the opportunity to close on Sweeney weaving around lapped cars, but a surely disappointed Miller gave Sweeney the checkered flag. Michael Lee (55), matched with the likes of Gil Smith (7X) and Gary Tatum (24T), grabbed the third place and took over tracks point lead from David Flowers (99) with only nine points separating Clarksville's top three Open Wheel drivers.
Getting the Pro Street feature underway, Don Young (41) kept Brian Caudle
(RC1) in his sights for ten of the twelve laps until a mechanical failure forced him off the track. Caudle takes home another first-place win as Curt Cherry (11X) hung in there taking the second spot. UMP Late Model racers filed out onto the track next for their feature. Turn three brought them bad luck forcing two restarts when first-lap spins and crashes slowed the action down and forced cars out of the running. With Sweeney (33) gaining the quick lead, he was slowed by lap traffic which let Gary Frost (F14) catch back up, but not enough. By the time the checkered fell, Sweeney had lapped all but his closest four competitors, and he was working his way up on them. Gary Frost found himself nearly half a lap behind in second place. When the green flag dropped on the Street Stock feature, the first lap saw the leaders in two rows searching for a position to fill. Dale Phillips (87) gladly took over the lead but it didn't last long as a restart after a caution allowed Ronnie Hedgepath (H55) to take over from there. Hedgepath held on for half the race until Dorris McCord (45) made his way past. A final caution slowed down the field and upon restart, pitted Phillips against McCord for the shootout. McCord took the first place win for the prize. Finally, Brian Smith (13X) continued his run during the night as he drove across the finish line ahead of Thomas Clinard (55) and Charles Newberry (23) in the Mini Modified feature race. Smith's win moved him up four rungs on the point ladder for this very popular class of race car here at Clarksville Speedway.
