Jul 16, 2010 11:13 PM EDT
Donnie Lawson Soars Again in Sportsman, Mikey Wonderling Tops Late Model Thriller at Black Rock
Donnie Lawson made an impressive maneuver to charge up from his fourteenth starting position to take the lead on lap six and hold on the rest of the way for his fifth Hoselton Automall Sportsman win. For doing so, he got an extra bonus.
With a record 25 cars in the pits, the full-field bonus was up for grabs and Lawson fought his way through for a hard-fought win.
“The car was tight most of the way, especially around lapped cars. This one was not easy,” declared the Woodhull resident in Victory Lane. “It is great that (Track Owner Dean Hoag) gets a full field like this, but it makes it so much tougher to win; but that makes it mean more.”
Chris Comstock jumped out in front early with an impressive performance in his No. 50. When the caution flew on lap five the sportsman would double up for the restart and Comstock chose the bottom lane, placing Lawson’s No. 11 TEO on the top and opening up the door to move in front.
Lawson would get out in front but had a heck of a time getting through the lapped traffic. Ron Cartwright Jr. was trying to close in from the second position but the laps were running out when things got interesting with four laps to go.
Cartwright spun around the lapped car of Rob Parker on lap 17, which would draw the caution and give him a chance to close in on Lawson. It would be to no avail however, as Lawson would stretch out his advantage once again on the restart to claim the win and the bonus money.
Behind Lawson and Cartwright would be Comstock for his best career finish. Rob Richmond Jr. and Brady Fultz would both come from deep in the pack to place in the top-five.
In what was the most thrilling race of the night, and perhaps of the season, the Insinger Fuels Late Model 20-lap feature was hard fought for the lead from start to finish. The event was highlighted by seven official lead changes at the line, with Mikey Wonderling leading the final and last circuit around.
Wonderling, from Scio, put Jim and Sharon Schuyler’s No. 57J into Victory Lane for the first time this season after first holding off Quinn Sutherland and then Dave Miller in the closing stages.
“I knew (Miller) wasn’t going to just give it to me,” stated Wonderling in Victory Lane. “That was a hard fought win.”
Wonderling and Sutherland ran side-by-side for the first eight laps of the feature, swapping the lead five times. The track was conducive to two grooves and neither driver was prepared to give up their line.
A debris caution on lap 10 would allow Wonderling to restart out in front in single-file fashion. He would use that to his advantage until lap 16 when the final caution flag of the event flew, once again for debris. On the ensuing restart, Dave Miller would make his bid for the lead, taking the top spot with three laps remaining and would stay side-by-side with him the next two circuits around, but could not keep himself there on the final lap and would allow Wonderling to pick up the win.
Miller was close in tow for second with Dave DuBois placing his older No. 012 in third. Point leader Jason Knowles was fourth with early leader Quinn Sutherland in fifth.
Chris Fisher carved his way through the American Racer Tire Street Stock field to quickly get to second place and take the lead on lap three from Ralph Champion Jr’s truck and survive a late challenge to his fifth win of the season to strengthen his point lead.
Fisher, of Bluff Point, steadily built his lead over a slew of top competitors duked it out for the second spot. Ralph Champion Jr. was doing all he could to hold off Nate Peckham, Frank Guerrerri Jr. and many more for the runner-up spot.
Peckham eventually took over second, and began to chase down Fisher in lapped traffic. Peckham slapped his No. 90 off the front stretch wall with two laps remaining and was able to pull even with Fisher coming to the white flag, but Fisher did what he needed to do to win by just a half car length.
Behind those two was Champion, Guererri and Jared Hill to complete the top-five.
Signs Plus of Kanona posted a $50 bounty to any driver that could defeat Terry Povoski in the four cylinder division in their 20-lap feature; it went unclaimed.
Povoski won his fifth feature in a row, as he took the lead on a lap seven restart from Ray Speicher and would maintain a comfortable advantage the rest of the way. Scott Bradley was able to steal second on the final lap from Speicher, who was third. Russ Wassner and Chad Winslow completed the top-five.
Cody Clemens won his second race in a row in the Home Necessitates Bandit Feature to kick off the night of racing. Clemens missed the last bandit race contested two weeks ago but kept his personal streak alive as he prevailed in a wild four car battle that took place during the 10-lap feature.
Lisa Cornish jumped out in front early on and paced the field for the first six laps, but would surrender the spot to Clemens and open up the door for Noah Herington and Zach Teed to have their crack at the win. They were both unsuccessful and would finish second and third, respectively.
Black Rock Speedway Results: 7/16/2010-
Christmas in July Night
Hoselton Auto Mall Crate Sportsman Feature (20 Laps)- DONNIE LAWSON, Ron Cartwright Jr., Chris Comstock, Rob Richmond Jr., Brady Fultz, Nick Guererri, , Loren Lincoln, Fran Hilton, Steve Swarthout, Trevor Sutherland, Jim McAfee, Nate DeLong, Brandon Butler, Brent Ayers, Serenity Sutherland, Rob Parker, Matt Richmond, Joe Cook Jr., Damon Walker, Ray Bliss Jr., Katelyn Kane, John Juhl, Randy McCulloch, Bryan Faulkner, Josh Butler (DNS).
Lap Leader- Comstock 1-5, Lawson 6-20.
Heat Winners- Swarthout, Cartwright, Bliss.
Insinger/Sunoco Fuels Late Model Feature (20 Laps)- MIKEY WONDERLING, Dave Miller, Dave DuBois, Jason Knowles, Quinn Sutherland, Mike Wonderling Sr., J.J. Mazur, Dan Cobb, Greg Galligan, A.J. Young, Gene Sharpsteen, Rich Karlnoski, Jeremy Wondelring, Chris Peacock (DNS).
Lap Leaders- Sutherland 1, Mikey Wonderling 2-3, Sutherland 4, Mikey Wondelring 5-6, Sutherland 7, Mikey Wonderling 8-16, Miller 17, Mikey Wonderling 18-20.
Heat Winners- Mazur, Mikey Wonderling.
American Racer Tire Street Stock Feature (20 Laps)- CHRIS FISHER, Nate Peckham, Ralph Champion Jr., Frank Guererri Jr., Jared Hill, Nate Daggett, Carl Cleveland, Jim McAfee, Mike Jackson, Bob Buono, Jeremy Perkins, Les McCann, Scott Sebring, Rich Bixby Jr., Josh Parker, Rich McIntyre, Chuck Winslow, Ernie Brennan, Larry Fenton Jr. (DNS), George Parker (DNS).
Lap Leaders- Champion 1-2, Fisher 3-20.
Heat Winners- Fisher, Daggett, Guererri.
Signs Plus of Kanona 4-Cylinder Feature (20 Laps)- TERRY POVOSKI, Scott Bradley, Ray Speicher, Russ Wassner, Chad Winslow, Bobby Teed, Del Cummings, Val Stephens, Erica Bell, Glenn VanCise, Mike Ziarno, Brian Thompson, Chad Ayers, Rich Sharpsteen II.
Lap Leaders- Ziarno 1-3, Speicher 4-6, Povoski 7-20.
Heat Winners- Speicher, Bradley.
Home Necessities Bandits (10 Laps)- CODY CLEMENS, Noah Herington, Zach Teed, Allison Teed, Lisa Cornish.
Lap Leaders- Cornish 1-6, Clemens 7-10.
Adult Enduro (30 Laps)- JAMIE FREEMAN, Gary Baker, Bill Werner.
Lap Leaders- Sincock 1-3, Werner 4-10, Freeman 11, Baker 12-27, Freeman 28-30.
Youth Enduro (8 Laps)- Joey RODBOURN, Lucas Gilson, Brad Baker.
