I-77 Raceway Park was action packed in week 2 of the 2013 season!

(Fairplain, WV)- The 2013 season is now in high gear as I-77 wrapped up it’s second week of the season this past weekend. The pits were packed with 99 cars total. The track was tacky and action packed.

The Ohio Valley Sprint Car Association was in town and they did not disappoint. The showed up 15 cars strong. They took the track for qualifying and Chris Myers took his #25 to a new track record! He hit a 10.859 which is right at 125 MPH around our 3/8ths mile track. The heats were won by Josh Davis in the #22D and Eric Riggins Jr. who pulled up from Charlotte, NC to race with us! The feature event started off wild with Riggins having problems on the start and collecting a couple other cars. After this they got straightened out and Jimmy Stinson led the race from start to finish in his #84 car. The top 5 were #84 Jimmy Stinson, #A79 Aaron Higgins, #2 Nathan Skaggs, #35 Wes McGlumphy, and #002 Greg Mitchell

The AMRA Super Late Models packed the house as we had 19 cars and a full field. Ronnie Mayle posted the fast time at 13.131 and carried the American Flag around the track for us to kick off the nights events. The dash was won by Andy Bond after pole sitter Ronnie Mayle had troubles pulling off the track early. The two heats were won by 2012 Track Champ Chris Garnes and #12B Travis Brookover. The feature started off with a jump start by Chris Garnes and the caution flew for the first of many times in the event. This event was covered with debris cautions as there four throughout the event for various reasons. Stevie Lucas led the first three laps, but was overtaken by KC Burdette on lap four. On lap 5 Harold Redman Jr. took the lead and a caution flew for debris. The green flew and Redman continued to lead on into lap 9 when the caution flew again this time for Travis Brookover. They went green again with Redman still in the lead until lap 11 another caution flew for debris. At this point Kenney Newhouse took his 17 machine off the track to change a tire. After the green flew we had several laps of green again until lap 16 when another caution flew for debris. On lap 18 Travis Brookover spun again bringing out his second caution and being put off the track based on the two caution per event rule. The race went green from there. Harold Redman Jr. would lead the rest of the laps until lap 25. On lap 25 Garnes overtook Redman for the checkered and the win. Also, after having to take his car to the tail after changing a tire Newhouse made a hard charge back up to 4th. The complete top 5 were #42 Chris Garnes, #28R Harold Redman Jr., #50 Ronnie Mayle, #17 Kenney Newhouse, and #44B Colten Burdette.

Next up were the AMRA Modifieds who who packed the house with 22 cars. Kennie Compton took fast time in qualifying with a 13.844. All three heats were won by drivers with the name Kenny in the AMRA Modified division. Heat #1 by Kennie Compton, Heat #2 by Kenny Johnson, and Heat #3 by Kenny Riddle. The feature started off with four consecutive cautions for the modified division. With a few tire changes being made during that time including the #156 of James Dennis. Kennie Compton took an early lead at the start and led until there was a caution brought out by Shawn Donahue on lap 6. After the green Compton continued to lead. Through the race Dennis worked his way up from the back of the pack passing car after car. Finally on the last lap coming out of turn 4 Dennis passed Compton for the win and his first career feature win in a modified. The top 5 were #156 James Dennis, #10 Kennie Compton, #28 Cliff Crank, #3C Vince Conrad, and #75 Nick Carr (who started way back in the 15th starting spot).

The FASTRAK crate class continued to grow in week two as the brought out 10 drivers for the nights events. 9 of which were from the South region and 1 from the North region. Nathan Harrison set a new track record for the FASTRAK crates bringing in a 13.158 only a couple hundredths off the late model fast time. The heat races were won by #95 Nathan Harrison and taking his first ever win in the #58C was Bill Connard. The feature started off with a couple of cautions. The #93 Jim Cochran brought out a caution before we even got a lap in. Nathan Harrison led lap one and the caution flew again this time for the #21 Mike Allen. Harrison led the field back to the green and they were off. On lap 3 the caution flew again. This time for the #58C Bill Connard and his feature night ended early after his first win ever in the heat race. On lap 4 Aaron Barley passed the #95 of Harrison for the lead and never looked back. He would lead the rest of the way. Other cautions included the #68, #95, and #KC44 all in separate events on lap 13. Also the #41 would have a jump start on lap 13. Also, on lap 15 Jim Cochran would bring out his second caution of the night and have his night end early. The top 5 were #28 Aaron Barley, #41 Joey Cox, #95 Nathan Harrison (a nice rebound after his caution), #11H Ricky Lucas, and #KC44 KC Burdette.

The Mod-lites took to the track with 9 cars this week. The heat race was won by #G75 Travis Holmes. The feature started off with Nathan Harrison having to take his #77 to the tail for not being on the track in the allowed two laps. Holmes started the race with the lead and led every lap. On lap 1 there was a caution for the #27 of Durst. On lap 3 the 52 of Newlon took a wild ride as he flipped his car. Thankfully he was okay. The top 5 of the feature were #G75 Travis Holmes, #3 Joe McFee, #2E David Elmore, #77 Nathan Harrison, and #71 Rick Jones.

The semi-lates had a slightly bigger field in week two as there were 16 of them. The heats were won by the #8R of Randy Armes Jr. and #21 of Eric Monk. This feature was caution mired and was cut short by the time limit. Armes led the whole event. On lap 3 the #21 of Eric Monk took a wild and scary ride flipping his car. Thankfully he was okay and actually ran off the track when he got out of his car. This 7 lap event ended in a top 5 of #8R Randy Armes Jr., #72 Joey Harper, #A1 Clayton Long, #7J JR Gibson, and #V8 Vince Toler. 3rd and 5th are both rookie drivers in the semi-late division.

The next class of the night was the new semi-mod division which was up to 7 cars from last weeks 5. The heat was won by #33 Cooter Thorne. In the 10 lap feature only 5 of the 7 cars made the call to start the race. The A&B 1 took the lead and never looked back. On lap 4 the #33 of Thorne brought out the caution. On the restart the #22 of Sharp jumped the start. He was supposed to go back two positions, but refused to listen on the mandatory Raciever and was dropped from scoring. The event ended with the finishing order of the #A&B1 Robert Walker, #33 Cooter Thorne, #49 Scott Martin, #36D Dewayne Profitt, and #22 Mitchell Sharp.

The final class, the mini-wedge division, only had 1 entrant for the second week in a row. This time it was rookie driver Zachary Deyton. He would turn some laps and take the checkered flag for the feature event.

We look forward to seeing everyone this week April 27th for Fan Jackpot night #1! Ten lucky fans will be draw starts from the top 10 of the open wheel AMRA modified feature and the one that draws the winner will take home $100!!!

I-77 Raceway Park would like to thank all it’s sponsors for their support: A1 Tire and Auto Care Center, City National Bank, Schaeffer’s Oil, Smoker’s Paradise, RC Roofing, Rock Auto, and Fat Albert’s Pizza! We also thank all the drivers and fans who come out and support the track!