Williams Secures Birth In 2nd Annual West Virginia Dirt Cup

Princeton, WV (July 26, 2015)- Race Recap
A beautiful night for racing made for a beautiful night of racing. We had a total of sixty six cars sign in and probably the best overall night of racing of the season. The fans and drivers were all on the edge of their seats in anticipation to see who would find out they are for sure in the 2nd Annual West Virginia Dirt Cup.
Twelve excellent Super Late Models signed in to do battle on West Virginia’s “Track With a Dogleg,” all of which were hoping to land a spot in the West Virginia Dirt Cup. Ricky Williams set a blazing fast time and pending review of the records may have a new track record for Super Late Models at a 15.330. In heat 1 Chris Meadows made an amazing move to beat Rick Williams. The two raced side by side through the whole heat race. Wayne Hughes took care of business in heat two. The feature made for an exciting one. Early problems caused Chris Meadows to be a non-contender as he lost power steering and exited the speedway early on. This event would go caution free with Wayne Hughes leading early, but battling side by side with Rick Williams through the early laps of the event. As they caught lapped traffic Williams was in better position to negotiate the traffic. He made the pass on Hughes as they were trying to get by the #40 of Mike Taylor. Williams then opened up a sizable lead, but Hughes was running comparable lap times. There were good battles through the whole field as the leaders settled down Joey Cox and Brock Morris raced hard for third. Also, Travis Greer, Marshall Wiblin, and Kevin Wilson spent many laps battling for the 5th, 6th, and 7th positions. Rick Williams would take the win though and he now knows no matter what happens he is in the West Virginia Dirt Cup. In the post race interview he said it was a cool deal because if he were to have some bad luck on the night of the Dirt Cup he still knew he had a starting spot. If he races his way in the highest finisher from tonight that does not will get the provisional. Wayne Hughes came home second as he was never able to rebound from his issues with the lapped car. Joey Cox took third by fifteen one thousandth of a second over Brock Morris. Travis Greer who drove the wheels of his car tonight brought home his best career Princeton Speedway finish of 5th.
Eleven AMRA Modified drivers signed in for the night’s racing action. Steve Stover blistered the track in qualifying taking the pole position and continued his dominance into the heat race taking heat race one. Heat race two went to Big Mike Duncan. In the feature race Stover looked he was in for more of the same as he was basically half tracking the field then caution flew for Jason Cochran who got a flat. At this point everything changed. Mike Duncan ran hard and clean against Stover battling for the lead. Duncan took the lead eventually that would lead to him winning the race. Stover would hold on to second over Dylan Shafer who was battling hard with him. Shafer would bring home a career best at Princeton finishing third. Jason Cochran battled back to fourth which was a good rebound after his flat tire. Rounding out the top five was one of the years most improved drivers Eric Feuchtenberger. You could have thrown almost the whole field under a blanket the second half of the race they ran so close together!
Sixteen FASTRAK Pro Late Models signed in for battle! Henry Hornsby III appeared to be back to his winning ways as he set fast time and would take the win in heat one. Heat two would go to Jeff Maxwell after a hard race with the “Speedfreak” Brandon Riffe and David Collins Jr. The feature started and Maxwell jumped to a big lead. The Pro Late Models are getting more and more competitive every week though because behind Maxwell the positions were changing every lap with clean racing. Maxwell would hold on to take the lead. David Collins Jr. who started fourth would make it two for two on second place finishes taking the second position. H3 would bring home third with a very respectable run in his 39 car. Salango and Riffe ran side by side for many laps with Salango eventually coming home fourth and Riffe would settle for a fifth place finish. Aaron Barley who had problems in the heat started 13th and raced his way to sixth and even passed Riffe a couple times, but ran out of time in his hard charging #28.
The Outlaw Modified division saw six cars sign in with one new car in the house. David Ferreira seemed to have the field covered tonight as he would take the win in the heat and the feature. The feature was very exciting from second on back. Kevin Woodall, Kenny Meadows, Belington’s Bryan Mitchell, and Freddy Mooney would battle hard for the position. Mooney and Meadows broke though and Mitchell got caught in the aftermath of one of the cars breaking ending all of their night’s early. Woodall would bring home second. With Pete Stump bringing home a top three. Mitchell would be credited with the fouth place finish and Meadows would round out the top five.
The Street Stock division was down a little this week as nine cars signed in. Hank Stover won heat one and Clark Perry took heat two. As the feature started Stover and Perry were putting on a good show. Then disaster struck for Perry. His throttle stuck going into turn one and ended his night early, thankfully he was okay. Stover would go on to take the win. Derek McMillion continues to run strong and brought home a second place finish. Brandon Williams ran third in only his second every visit to the track. Rookie Brandon Adkins finished fourth after dropping way behind early in the event. Mark Snodgrass rounded out the top five.
The Outlaw Mini division car count was way down as only six cars signed in. Mark Cole handled the field in the heat. In the feature Cole and Tyler Meadows were putting on a good show until Tyler scrapped the wild off turn four. This was what Cole needed to easily secure the win. Meadows was able to nurse his wounded race car home in second. The action was for third between Tim Black and Cody Neal. Tim Black finished ahead of Neal by one thousandth of a second! That’s right only one thousandth of a second separated third and fourth place! Shania Bradford rounded out the top five.
The Mini Wedges had five cars in the house for racing action. Mad Max Price again did some hard battle with Logan Brant. Brant spun early on but got his car going after falling to last. Price would take the win. Coming to the checkered flag Blake Basham who was running second took a scary ride into the wall in turn four, but thankfully was okay. This allowed Logan Brant to score a second place finish. Logan Collins brought home a strong third place finish. Basham was credited with a fourth place finish and Degan Williams who had problems early rounded out the top five.
Princeton Speedway would like to thank all the fans, drivers, teams, and sponsors who make racing possible for us each week! Again this week fans, you proved you are the best in the country! This Saturday August 1st will be the UBB Qualifier race! We look forward to seeing everyone out. “Selfie” Michael Moore, Henry Hornsby III “H3”, Shane Greco, and Bobby Mooney will be set up at the t-shirt shack from 5-6 for autographs, pictures, and conversation! Stop by and see them!