27 Cars
Cottle - Contos car
Ott
Gardner
Shuman

Great night of racing. 28 cars, actually. Heats went to Cottle, Welpott, Gardiner, and Puterbaugh. Semi was won by Clayton. The story of the night was Steve Ott. Just making the last transfer spot in his heat he started the feature in 16th. Right off the bat he started picking off cars and was in the top five by lap 9. He took 2nd with about 5 to go and was slowly reeling in Cottle. He got to about two car lengths of Shane at the end. Had it been a 30 lapper he might have won it. Look for the former Gas City UMP modified champ to win a feature early in the season. Seven total yellows and reds in the A main. Tough start to the season for last years two top point finishers. Both defending champ Billy P. and 2nd place Travis Welpott executed a double flip in turn two on lap 20. Both were ok as were Darren Clayton and Dustin Morgan who also went over in the feature. Despite a late start and all the yellows and reds the feature was checkered at 10:07. Top ten very unofficially were Cottle, Ott, Gardiner, Shuman, Neely, 71c (forgot name), Hamilton, Meseraul, Hendricks, and Goodnight. Only ten cars running at the finish.

well thats 2 1st place finishes and 1 2nd for shane


SHANE COTTLE FOR PRESIDENT

A few notes. Tough night for the Truckers team. Cottle got sideways in turn two in the first heat and Clayton clipped him trying to get around. On the restart Clayton was on Cottle's rear bumper and got Cottle sideways never letting off the gas until Cottle spun. Officials sent Clayton to the pits. After winning the semi Clayton got on his head on lap two bringing out the red. He was ok and apparently little damage to the car. Teammate Thomas Meseraul was doing fine finishing 2nd in his heat and drawing third starting spot in the main. He actually took the lead from Cottle one lap after the restart after Brandon Petty broke but that was negated when the red came out for Clayton. He stayed in 2nd for a while and looked as though he might have something for Cottle but later started slowly going backwards winding up around 7th or 8th. I liked the slight change in the Truckers paint scheme. And it was good to finally meet Cindi Whiteside who posts here frequently. Paul Hazen started work on his second 50 years owning a sprint car. Shuman got him a fourth in the feature. Scotty Weir, in the Monte Edison 10e, was penalized two spots in the semi for lining up in the wrong place but recieved a provisional to make the feature anyway. Ryan Pace, back from his injuries in the family #44, looked good.

1. Shane Cottle
2. Steve Ott
3. Damion Gardner
4. Casey Shuman
5. Mat Neely
6. Joshua Clemons
7. Ryan Hamilton
8. Jonathan Hendrick
9. Thomas Messeraull
10. Matt Goodnight
11. Travis Welpott
12. Billy Puterbaugh, Jr.
13. Scotty Weir
14. Ryan Pace
15. Ted Hines
16. Mark Clark
17. Kyle Robbins
18. Dustin Morgan
19. Josh Spencer
20. Daron Clayton
21. Steve Bath
22. Brandon Petty

Complete race results are posted on Gas City's website, http://www.gascityi69speedway.com. Next Friday AND Saturday is the USAC doubleheader at Gas City

My apologies to Joshua Clemons for not remembering his name when posting last night. Joshua has been a regular at Gas City for a couple of years now and, as evidenced by his 6th place finish last night, has been steadily improving. No slight intended, just an old guys brain fart.

How were the track conditions for opening night?

Basically good. The track recieved a lot of rain during the week but the track crew did yeomans work getting it ready. They put a lot of water on it before hot laps which surprised me some. It was slick and greasy for the first hot lap session but they dug it up a little and it was much better. By the time the feature rolled around it was fast. Much of the parking lot, especially the east lot, was wet and they closed off about 2/3 of the seniors row along the driveway coming in. But, all in all, great work by Jiggs & the crew to get it in.:thumb

Good to see Ryan Pace back in the saddle again. :thumb

Thanks Dwight. I'll be watching the weather for next weekend, we just might be headed that way! :wink