The cloudy morning turned into a wonderful afternoon for the final race of August. The crowd was there in anticipation of what the Flying Fernald was going to jump thru this year. The fans were pleased to find out it was another mobile home. This year the jumping vehicle was a mini van. The jump had to be just perfect. George again proved to be right on the mark as he cleared the whole trailer on the first jump. The fans were in for a treat as he made the jump a second and third time. The only thing that calmed him down was the van had seen it's better day. We can only wonder what next year will bring.
The Ladies division is getting more and more competitive each week. This week saw thirteen cars challenge for the lead. The heat race saw caution fly on lap one as Kayla Robinson spun in turn one. Melissa Higgins used this opportunity to jump to the lead. Meagan Allen made a return trip to the track to run a close second. Higgins increased her lead and took her first checkered flag of the season. The feature would again have caution fly on lap one. A spinning machine forced point leader, Samantha Letourneau, hard into the turn one banking. This would force Letourneau to the pits for the night. Meagan Allen would jump to the lead. Carol Wilson is using the inside lane to fly up thru the pack. Wilson catches Allen and charges by on the inside. Rhonda Lyford has taken over second position from Allen. Allen is being challenged for third by Molly Feeney. Shelby Kimball, moving up from the Teen division to run with the Ladies, breaks into the top five from her rear starting position. Feeney has cleared Allen and put her sights on Lyford. Feeney makes her way around Lyford. Wilson has driven away from the field. Time is running out for Feeney to catch Wilson. Wilson bobbles out of four allowing Feeney to close up the gap. Wilson is able to hold on for the win. Feeney finishes a very close second. Rhonda Lyford joins the pair in victory lane with third. Allen has a strong run in fourth. Shelby Kimball finishes fifth in her debut in the Ladies division.
Ben Clark and Cary Davis cleared the field and started pulling away in the heat race. Davis challenges Clark in the inside. Rackliff has joined the pair. Clark holds them off for the heat race win. Jim Denis takes the early race lead. Davis moves into the second spot. Steve Rackliff uses the inside lane to take over third from Ben Clark. Bill Ellis is having a fine run in fifth. Rackliff has moved to the inside of Davis to challenge for second. The pair are catching leader, Denis. Mechanical problems for Dennis causes him to spin and bring out the first caution. Dennis is taken to the pits, but is able to rejoin the field before the restart. Rackliff and Davis race side by side for the lead. Clark has moved back into the third spot. Rackliff has cleared Davis and taken the lead. Clark is gaining slightly on Davis. Dennis has weaved thru traffic to take over the fourth spot. Rackliff cruises to the win. Davis follows in second. Ben Clark has another fine run in third. Dennis recovers from his spin to finish in fourth. Corey Walker follows up last weeks top three with a fifth place finish.
Brandon Greenleaf started the Teen division heat race out with a bang. The #68 machine rolled under the flag stand bringing out the red flag. Greenleaf was okay, but the car was done for the night. Ben Nile and Shelby Kimball go side by side on the restart for the lead. Nile is able to take the lead from Kimball and cruise to the heat race win. Lucas Porter is able to clear traffic and take the early race lead. Shelby Kimball is following in a strong second. Jeremy Ludden is passing the field on the outside. Ricky Palmer tries to follow Ludden, but the door is shut. Ludden has caught Porter and taken over the lead spot. Palmer has cleared the traffic and moved into the second position. Ben Nile is making his presence known in the top five by passing Kimball for fourth. Ludden is pulling away from the field. Nile is reeling in the third place Porter. Caution would fly on lap 12 as ten year old, Westley Turner, would spin in turn 3. Ludden and Palmer would race for the lead on the restart. Palmer would take the lead and the win. Ludden would take home second. Lucas Porter would bring home the hardware with a third place finish. Ben Nile has a strong run in fourth. Shelby Kimball finishes out the top five.
The Unity Variety and Video Wildcats heat race saw point leader, Dustin Hubbard, jump to the early race lead. Carl McAlpine weaves thru traffic from his last place starting position to take over second. Hubbard has a commanding lead and cruises to the win. Hubbard again would take the lead on the start of the feature. Troy Patterson clears Mike Snow to take the second position. Patterson has a rear view mirror full of Carl McAlpine. The pair go side by side with McAlpine using the inside lane to take second. Tim Hudson is up to challenge Patterson for third. Hubbard has a straight away lead over McAlpine. Todd Rollins is having a fine run in fifth. Hubbard's lead would be erased as the spinning lapped car of Tim Hopkins comes in contact with Hubbard's machine bringing out the caution. McAlpine would jump to the lead on the restart. Hubbard would take over second position. Tim Hudson followed the pair in third. Hubbard continues to gain on McAlpine. Time would run out. McAlpine takes another win. Hubbard would follow a close second. Hudson follows in third. Troy Patterson cruised to a fine fourth place finish. "Hurricane" Hal Stratton finished out the top five.
The Sportsman division saw a fine battle between the Bill Smith and Bryan Robbins. Smith jumped to the early race lead. Robbins would try every line around the leader. He could just not quite have enough to get around. Smith would take home his first heat race win of the season. Kris Huff recovered from last weeks crash to jump to the early race lead. Bryan Robbins follows in second. Bill Smith and Kris Watson bump coming off turn 2 to bring out the first caution closing up the field. Huff would again jump to the lead. This time Brad Bellows would follow Huff. Bellows would take the lead has Huff would experience transmission problems at the start finish line. Caution would fly again as Mark Dodge spins off turn 3. The Dodge machine would not refire and retired to the pits. Bellows would take the lead. Don York moves into second as Bryan Robbins is getting loose. Brian Fortin returns to the track running in the fourth position. Bill Smith has moved into the fifth spot. Robbins is trying the inside line around York. Bellows has checked out on the field to take the win. York beats Robbins to the line for second. Bryan Robbins, to the liking of son Colby, takes home the third place trophy. Fortin has a fine run in fourth. Bill Smith finishes out the top five.
The Enduro divison saw a fine field of cars start the race. Dominic Bailey jumped to the early race lead. Nick Lizotte followed in second. Bobby Seger followed a close third. As the leaders caught lapped traffic, the field was jumbled. Mickey Landry, Jr., making his debut in the Enduro division, took the lead. As Landry was weaving thru the traffic, Douglas Kus was trying to keep the 01 machine in his sights. Dominic Bailey had given up his lead, but the leaders were not pulling away. Henry Boudreau, moving to the machine vacated by Alex Fernald, is running in the fourth position. The red flag would fly as a racing competitor did not stay in his car and was walking the infield. The restart would find Landry in the lead again. Kus and Bailey would follow. Boudreau has problems with a lapped car allowing the field to close up for the fourth position. When the dust cleared, it was Landry taking the checkered. Kus follows in second. Bailey has a fine run in third. Boudreau would recover from his spin to take home the fourth spot.
The Men's Peanut division saw Ryan Ripley jump to the lead in the heat race. Josh Childs has cleared traffic and gaining on the leader. Childs can't catch the leading Ripley as he takes the heat race win. Cody Sleeper streaks to the early race lead. Kyle Gallant follows in second. Ripley has already broken into the top three from his rear starting position. Childs is attached to the rear bumper of Chris Williams running in fourth and fifth. Cody Sleeper continues to check out on the field. Ripley works his way around Gallant for second. Childs follows him thru for third. Ripley is catching Cody Sleeper but the laps are winding down. Cody Sleeper is able to hold on for the win. Ripley follows a very close second. Josh Childs makes another trip to victory lane in third. Kyle Gallant has a fine run in fourth. Dan Quillia, making his 2008 debut at the track, finishes out the top five.
Josh St Clair and Deane Smart race door to door. Josh St Clair gains a little on the outside only to have Smart fight back on the inside. Josh St Clair gets loose on the outside bringing out the caution. The restart finds Joey Doyon and Smart going door to door. Smart is again able use the inside to take the heat race win. Dustin Hubbard would take the lead in the feature. Josh St Clair would challenge Hubbard on the inside. A caution on lap 4 would close the field up. Josh St Clair would take the lead on the restart. Brad Bellows fights for the second position on the inside. Hubbard is hanging tough on the outside. Smart is passing the field on the inside and is challenging for the second spot. Joey Doyon has moved up from the rear of the field into the fourth position. Seth Raven, making is first 2008 Unity start, challenges Hubbard for fifth. Smart has caught Josh St Clair. Smart sneaks by Josh St Clair on the inside to take the lead. Bellows is holding on to the third position. Doyon and Hubbard finish out the top five. Smart is checking out on the field. Bellows catches Josh St Clair. The pair go side by side. Smart crosses the line first for the win. Josh St Clair holds off Bellows for second. Bellows continues his fine runs in third. Doyon takes home the fourth spot. Hubbard finishes out the top five with a fine run.
Richard Jackson took the lead in the dirt from Duane Dunifer Sr in the Monsta Mini heat race. Richard Jackson would follow in the footsteps of girlfriend, Melissa Higgins, by taking the heat race win. Gary Richards takes the lead with Markus Lowe on his bumper in the feature. Richard Jackson has already taken over third position from the rear of the field. Richard Jackson is challenging Lowe on the inside for second. Chad Elkins is keeping the leaders in his sights in fourth. Point leader, Mike Wilson, runs in fifth. Lowe and Richard Jackson continue to run door to door for second. A violent rollover on lap 9 brings out the red flag. Duane Dunifer Sr caught the front tire of the spinning Matt Picard launching the car in the air. Dunifer would get out of his car under his own power. The car was retired. Richards jumps to the lead again on the restart. Richard Jackson is able to use the inside line to take the lead. Wilson and Lowe battle for third. The restart would have the battle between Richard Jackson and Richards surface again. Richards would use the outside to take the lead. Lowe is all over the rear bumper of Richard Jackson's machine. Richard's drifts wide out of turn four allowing Richard Jackson to take the lead. Richards would try the inside and out to get back by. Richard Jackson would take his first checkered of the 2008 season after many second place finishes. Richards would follow up in second. Lowe would make a trip to victory lane in third. Chad Elkins would have a fine run in fourth. Paul Jackson finished with another top five finish.
This week will have the return of the Nelcar Legends, the final kids bike race of the season, as well as the fund raiser for the Humane Society. Teen Thunder drivers, Ben Nile and Shelby Kimball, will also be having a raffle with all proceeds going to the Children's Miracle Network. Hope to see you all there.