Caleb Heady Holds Off Burt Myers and Bobby Labonte to Take the Win in the “Open Wheel Warriors 99” at Caraway Speedway
Carson Lofton Snags 602 Mod Feature, Johnny Baker Takes the Mini Stock Win, Nathan Bess Claims the Challenger Chase, Josh Phillips Notches Ucar Win and Robert Tyler Wins the Super Truck Feature
(Sophia, NC): A stiff breeze could not cool off the hot action as the SMART Modified Tour presented by Pace-O-Matic rolled into Caraway Speedway for the “Open-wheel Warrior 99” Saturday night.
Twenty-six tour Mods took time in the afternoon sun and Jonathan Brown took the top spot in qualifying when the field took the green flag, Brown jumped to the point with the “Kentucky Kid”, Caleb Heady in tow. Heady charged past Brown on lap three and led the train to the Jerry Hunt SuperCenter stage break at lap 30. Brown and Bobby Labonte shared the $600.00 posted by Todd Hunt for the break.
On the restart, Brown and Heady swapped positions with Brown leading till lap 46 when a hard-charging Luke Fleming took over the top spot. The “Fleming Family Racing” #40, and Bobby Measmer, Jr., put on a ten-lap fight before Measmer took over the point for eight more laps. Fleming’s run at the top came to an end on lap on lap 78 when Labonte moved to the top spot with Heady in tow. Defending SMART Tour Champion, Burt Myers, played a different tire strategy and moved into the top three by way of the CitruSafe Restart “cone” after a quick, lap 87 restart. Heady and Myers swapped the lead with Myers slipping to the point for two laps with “Big Money” Matt Hirschman making his presence felt. Heady was able to hold Myers off to take the win by .261 seconds. Labonte got by Hirschman after the final restart on lap 95 to take third spot in the final rundown ahead of Hirschman and Brian Loftin. Measmer held on for sixth ahead of Gary Putnam, Brandon Ward, Dennis Holdren, and Brown. Brown and Fleming had a dust-up that saw Fleming end the night on the “hook” and left Brown struggling at the finish.
An anonymous fan posted $1,200.00 in bonus money if the fastest qualifier won the race and Brown’s misfortune was good luck for five other drivers who split the $1,200.00. Loftin (5th), Brown (10th), Busy Beavers (15th), Brian Weber (20th), Jeremy Gerstner (25th), and Dan Spenney (26th), each took home an extra $200 each from that anonymous lover of Modified racing.
The SMART Tour returns to Caraway Speedway on June 29th for the “Rusty Harpe Memorial” presented by Daggett Shuler Attorneys at Law. The Late Models and the 602 Modifieds are also on the ticket for that big event.
In action for the Caraway Speedway regulars, Carson Loftin took the win over fast qualifier, Cody Norman in the 602 Modifieds. The top six qualifiers inverted for the start putting Doug Patton and Josh Lowder on the front row for the start. Lowder led the first six laps before an oil leak forced him to the pits handing the lead over to Loftin who never looked back to take the win over Norman, Jaxon Casper, Patton, Carlos Gray, and Lowder. The Caraway Speedway Victory Lane had a refreshing look as the podium finishes were youngsters. It is great to see fresh new faces coming into the sport. The 602 Mods do battle in twin 20 lappers next Saturday night.
The Mini Stock feature saw three leaders in their 40 lapper. Patrick Mullen, Tyler Bush, and Johnny Baker took turns at the point before Baker slipped past a fading Bush to take the win over Mullen and Levi Holt. Jimmy Crigger finished fourth with Adam Thomas, Tyler Hopkins, Adam Fulford, Jr., Matthew Goodwin, and Bush who dropped out with a blown engine. The Mini Stocks return next week for “Twin” 15 lap features.
The Challenger Division has shown strong cars counts to the Caraway fans and Saturday night was no exception as they fielded fifteen cars for their 35 lap feature. When the dust had settled, Nathan Bess prevailed over a battered Brian Rose and JR Goode. Ronnie Riggs showed up with the “Bat Mobile” and finished fourth with Michael O’Brien in fifth. Tony Housman finished sixth with Josh Waldron, Kyler Kepley, Todd Garren and Eric Wallace rounding out the top ten. Tommy Raino, Dean Lowder, Matthew Smith, Ricky Sweatt, and Nicholas Graham completed the field.
O’Brien and Waldron were subbing for Anthony Bennett and Fletcher Whaley respectively. Both are part of in the “Caraway Strong” bonus plan that awards money to ten drivers signed up for the plan that is designed to encourage regular participation at the track. Bennett and Whaley were involved in a racing accident in the season opener that sidelined them for a couple of weeks. Both should return after the “Spring Break” on April 9th. The Challengers run “Twin 20’s” next week.
Daniel Hughes slipped past Corey Rose with a handful of laps remaining to take the win in the UCAR feature. Rose, driving the #9 of Justin Smith who is recovering from a season’s end event last year, finished second ahead of Steven Collins, Jeremy Kidd and Josh Williams. Troy Ring finished sixth with Steven Trotter, Brandon Phillips, Ron Mock, Caleb Allred, Joshua Phillips, Allen Gauldin, Blair Patterson, Austin Bowden, Justin Hill, Josh Phillips, Allen Vance, and Levi McCain. Josh Phillips and Corey Rose won five-lap qualifying heats for the division. The UCAR’s run “twin” ten-lap features on April 2nd.
The ”Atlantic Turfscapes” Super Trucks made their first of four trips to Caraway Speedway Saturday night. Former track Champion, Billy Hogan led the first 14 laps of the fifty-lap feature before yielding to Robert Tyler who never looked back in taking the win over Jason York, Hogan, Adam McCumbee, Cody Kelly, Clay Thomas, and Adam Fulford. The Super Trucks return to Caraway on July 23rd.
For more information on next week’s action and other Caraway Speedway events, check the Caraway Speedway website at www.carawayspeedway.com or their FaceBook page at Caraway Speedway. You can also call the speedway at 336-629-5803 and the staff will return your call. As always, if you can’t make the races, you can catch the action at carawayspeedway.tv.
Sources: Randy Myers/Caraway Speedway PR