Both the sprint and modified features were great races. Kyle Cummins jumped out right off the bat and was the frontrunner. He was up top, where guys with that last name like to be and was flying. The battle behind him, the one that would determine who his challenger would be, was where the show would be, on this night. After about three laps in, it became evident that the 12 car of Robert Ballou was going to be the field's chief predator. But he started on the outside of the 5th row, so if he was going to do so, he was going to have to whip his way through a swamp full of gators to even make it to the leader. It would be easy to track his progress however, since his car is now the color of a road construction sign. A color those of us who frequent I-70 a lot have become all to familiar with.
In turns one and two, he was backing it in low, Bob Kinser style and rocketing out of two. On the other end, he was mainly throwing it in a little higher, using the ledge at the exit of four to keep his momentum. But he was also switching up and occasionally diving low on that end, when the opportunity presented it's self to use a slider to take someone's position. Braylon Fitzpatrick, Wes Mac, Josh Clemmons, Chris Windom, Bill Puterbaugh and Jon Stanbrough were all racers he had to duel with on his way up through the field and none went down easily. Especially Puterbaugh, Windom and Stanbrough. Those three were great battles. Stanbrough, in typical JS fashion, battled back hard, almost taking the spot back on a couple of occasions. And then, just as it looked like the main thing to watch was Ballou's pursuit of Cummins, the battle right behind Robert was joined by Danny Holtsclaw, who had started even further back than Ballou had. He had raced around the bottom, under the radar, passing everyone. His momentum would stop right there, though. So, Kyle had the lead, but he was being reeled in by the Madman, lap by lap. As the laps wound down, he caught him on several occasions, but when he would set up to make a move, Kyle would speed away. And as this was happening, Puterbaugh, who had gotten spun and went to the tail about half way in, was tearing through the field and was threatening to get back into the top 5. Robert closed in on Kyle one last time as the white flag flew and the crowd was on the edge of their seats, because it was going to come down to Kyle Cummins, who had already won possibly the race of the year at this track, a couple of months earlier and The Mad Man Robert Ballou, who doesn't go anywhere to finish second!! Kyle was ahead going down the backstretch, but Robert was closing in on him. Kyle went high in three and four and Robert dove low and threw a big slide job, crossing under Kyle. If it stuck, he would snatch the win away on the last turn of the last lap. If it didn't, Kyle would take home yet another piece of LPS hardware. It didn't quite stick, Kyle waited for the opening and outraced Robert back to the start-finish line. The crowd was on their feet. And they should have been, because neither one of those two drivers left anything on the table. They both gave it their all and reminded everybody why we all love this sport.
Just when you thought that couldn't be topped, here came the modified feature. Derek Groomer led throughout the first three quarters of this race, but the entire time Brian Hayden was on him like white on rice. It was amazing how much pressure Hayden was putting on Groomer and was in command of his race car so much that he repeatedly came within inches of him, without touching him. He was above him, below him and a few inches behind him. Groomer eventually succumbed to the pressure, made a mistake and Hayden seized the lead. It was over after that. Groomer tried to battle back, but never really threatened Hayden for the lead. It was a fantastic race though. Hayden just flat outdrove one of the better modified drivers in the country. The crowd was once again stunned with what they had just saw!
The other thing that was obvious, for the second year in a row, is how much the Putnamville fans come out in droves to support the MSCS. It was the biggest crowd he had all last year and it was a Sprint Week sized crowd, last night. They got their money's worth last night, so I bet they'll turn out big next year, too.
Jerry
A man is about as big as the things that make him angry.
Winston Churchill
