Racing and Santa returned to Unity Raceway this week. After a week delay, the Unity Variety and Video Wildcats were able to compete in their extended feature. The heat race saw door to door action between Maurice Young and Dustin Hubbard. Hubbard used the inside groove to make the pass and take home the checkered flag for the heat race win. The feature saw Tim Hudson take the #4 to the lead. Hubbard and veteran, Mike Hodgkins, start reeling in Hudson. Hubbard again uses the inside lane to make the pass on Hudson for the lead. Hodgkins also uses the inside trying to make the pass.
Hudson drifts wide allowing Hodgkins the second spot. Hudson's fine run comes up short as he is forced to the pit with front end problems. Maurice Young moves into the third spot. Spinning cars in turn 4 brings out the caution on lap 18. Hodgkins jumps to the lead on the restart. The Hubbard machine battles back on the outside. Hodgkins, a former Unity Champion, proves he has not lost his touch. The two go door to door for many laps. The yellow flag again flies as third place competitor, Maurice Young, spins in turn 4 and is forced to the pits. Hodgkins again takes the lead with Hubbard battling back on the outside. Hubbard uses the line to take the lead. The Hodgkins machine is developing mechanical problems allowing Troy Patterson to make the last lap pass for second. Roger Smith is also able to pass the disabled machine for third. Hodgkins limps across the line in fourth. Hurricane Hal Stratton returns to the Wildcat division with a strong fifth place finish.
The Limited division was competing in their 50 lap extended lap race. Dave St. Clair and Joey Doyon raced side by side with neither car taking the lead for more then a lap. Deane Smart followed patiently in third. Hogg is able to take the lead from Doyon as he slipped wide. Dave St. Clair takes the heat race win followed by Smart. The feature saw Dave St. Clair again jump to the early race lead. Doyon is again able to catch Dave St. Clair. The two are side by side racing with Deane Smart trying to sneek by on the inside. Dave St. Clair gets loose coming out of turn 2 sending cars spinning and down over the bank. Puncin St. Clair and Smart are forced to the pits on the hook. Doyon is able to take the lead on the restart with Scott Modery following in second. Jerry Robbins, Jr. is putting on a fine show in third. Josh St. Clair is moving to the front making the pass on Robbins on the outside. Doyon is having the race of his career pulling away from the field. Josh St. Clair is catching the second place machine of Modery. Dave St. Clair has cracked the top five with his ill handling machine. Modery is putting up a hard fight for his second postition. Josh St. Clair passes Modery and puts his sights on Doyon. Josh St. Clair is able to catch Doyon. The two battle side by side for the final laps. Doyon is able to bring home the checkered. Josh St. Clair finishes a fine run in second. Modery is able to pass the failing machine of Dave St. Clair for for third. Dave St. Clair crosses the line in fourth. Brad Bellows, driving the #96 machine of Doc Suske, finishes out the top five.
The Ladies division saw Alica Goodwin finally get control of her green machine. She took the lead and never looked back for her first checkered flag of the season in the heat race. Goodwin continued her domination by jumping to the early lead. The caution would fly when Chelsea Young and Mary Reed tangled in turn three. Amazing rookie, Samantha Letourneau, would take the opportunity to jump to the front. Rhonda Lyford would jump to the outside to take second position from Carol Wilson. The caution would again fly when Chelsea Young would find herself over the back stretch. Letourneau would again jump to the lead with Kayla Robinson a close second. Alicia Goodwin is charging to the front after a close encounter with the infield grass. Letourneau would lead the ladies to the stripe. Robinson followed in second, Lyford had another fine run in third. Goodwin and Wilson finished out the top five.
The Sportsman division saw a highly competitive field take the green. Kris Watson took the early race lead. Mark Dodge would take the purple machine to the inside and take the lead. Kris Huff uses the outside line to power past Dodge for his first Unity checkered of the year. Donnie York takes the early lead. Bryan Robbins sliding through corners follows in second. Kris Huff comes from the back of the pack to challenge Kris Watson for third. A caution on lap 3 brings the field back together. York again jumps to the lead. The next caution would fly when Derek Mingo and Steve Rackliff attach to each other and end up in the turn 1 back. Tempers would fly as both competitors had to go the pits for repairs before returning to the track. York would again take the lead. This caution allowed Brad Bellows to make his presence known in the lead pack as he quickly moved into the second spot. Mark Dodge follows him in third. Bellows catches York on lap 10 and passes on the inside for the lead. Dodge continues to pursue the leaders in third with Huff gaining ground. Caution on lap 18 when Bryan Robbins wakes up the sleeping frogs on the back stretch. Bellows takes the lead with York and Huff following. Dodge retires to the pits with front end damage. Huff makes the move on the inside of York as Bellows drives away. York and Huff go side by side for the last laps. Bellows takes the win. York slides by Huff for second. Huff settles for third. Kris Watson continues his top five finishes in fourth. Artie Maguire, Jr. returns to the track with a fine fifth place finish.
The Late Model Pro 4 division saw the field bunch up as Jim Dennis had problems as he took the checkered flag. Ben Clark took a quick move to the inside to take the lead. Cary Davis returned to the track reaching Clark's bumper. Clark gets loose in turn two allowing Davis to jump to the lead and the heat race win. Jim Denis would start the feature with none of the woes from the heat race. He would jump to the early lead with Davis in tow. Ben Clark is leading a freight train of cars trying to catch the leaders. A caution flag would bunch the field up. Davis would take advantage of the caution to jump to the lead. Davis would start to drive away from the field. A caution on lap 11 for the spinning Corey Walker would allow Steve Rackliff to catch back up to Davis. The Davis – Rackliff battle would again show. Rackliff tried to pass the Davis machine on the inside, but just could not get the grip. Davis takes the checkered. Rackliff follows a very close second. Jim Dennis followed the pair in third. Ben Clark continues his super rookie season with a fourth place finish. Norm Cummings, Jr. finished with another top five finish.
The Monsta Mini division saw the winning ways of Mike Wilson continue. Wilson took the lead from Richard Jackson and drove to the heat race win. Derick Terrill returned to the track to jump to the early race lead. Markus Lowe and Gary Richards race side by side for second. Lewis Batchelder patiently watches this battle waiting for the opportunity to make his way to the front. Richard Jackson and Mike Wilson have started reeling in the front pack from the rear starting positions. Richards uses the inside line to take over second as Lowe is loosing the grip on the outside. Batchelder uses this opportunity to follow Richards for third. Terrill is driving away from the field. Batchelder moves to the inside and takes second away from Richards. Batchelder is catches the leading Terrill with one lap to go. Terrill and Batchelder go side by side to the line. Terrill's mustang has a longer nose for the win. Batchelder has a fine run in second. Richard Jackson makes the move from the rear to finish third. High Schooler, Markus Lowe, continues his fine runs in fourth. Duane Dunifer, Sr. finishes out the top five.
The Geo & Sons Teen Thunder division saw Ben Nile jump to the early lead. Ricky Palmer's #30 machine follows in a close second. Lucas Porter makes his Unity debut by jumping into the third position. Nile's lead remains the same as Palmer is unable to make up any ground. Nile has a problem with lapped traffic allowing Palmer to close the gap. Palmer is attempting the inside groove to pass Nile. Palmer and Nile get together off turn 2 sending Nile up over the bank. Palmer is sent to the rear with Nile. Jeremy Ludden uses this opportunity to go three wide for the race lead. Porter is again making his presence known following Ludden. A caution for Shelby Kimball allows Porter to jump to the lead. Palmer and Nile are making their way back to the front. Palmer is charging to the front using the inside groove. He catches Porter on the last lap in turn 3. A bump from behind causes the whole field to scramble. When the dust cleared, Ben Nile was the race winner. Jordan Hawes in second. Daymon Dodge in third. Bradley Greenleaf had his best career finish in fourth. Brandon Greenleaf followed in fifth.
The Men's Peanuts division saw the #09 of Ryan Ripley jump to the lead and never look back to cruise to the heat race win. Zachery Audet and Tim Robinson leave the pack to jump to the early race lead. Cody Sleeper clears traffic for third. Ryan Ripley weaves in and out of traffic to move into the fourth spot. Robinson uses the outside line to try to take the lead. Audet will not give up easily, and the pair go side by side. Ripley has caught Sleeper. They too are going side by side for the third postition. Ripley takes over third spot as Sleeper goes wide. Robinson finds the outside lane to his liking and moves into the lead. Ripley has caught the Audet machine. He uses the outside line to make the pass for second. Robinson drives away for another checkered flag. Ripley finishes in second. Audet has another fine run in third. Cody Sleeper finishes as strong fourth. Maurice Blanchard debuts with a top five finish.
The Enduro division had an added racer this week as Santa found a car to join the field in. Patrick Cook jumped to the early race lead. Troy Patterson followed quickly in second. Rob Paddack jumped into third. Santa made his debut on lap 5 in George Fernald, III's street car. He passing cars like he was a Unity regular. A red flag on lap 6 caused the field to be stopped for a car blocking the track. This allowed Alex Fernald to jump in the third spot. The Cook machine would retire to the pits with an engine problem moving Patterson into the lead. A late caution for the fire under the hood of George Fernald, III allowed Alex Fernald to move into the lead. This caution also had Santa getting front end damage on his car retiring him to the pit. Alex Fernald would take the race win. Patterson would follow in second. Chip Wakefield would have a fine run in third. Santa would return to the track to give George Fernald, III a early Christmas present. A PT Cruiser was the reward for all his hard work helping at the track. Remember girls and boys, he is always watching.
The Christmas in July donation project was a big success. Track Management would like to thank everyone that made a contribution. This week we have our Head Scorer and Pace Car Driver getting hitched. Come join all the fun August 1. We will start the night with Ride With Your Favorite Driver at 6:15.