[sprinter14]

Dues Scores First BOSS Win at Richmond

For the first time in the eight seasons of BOSS competition, the touring series traveled south of the Ohio River and into the Bluegrass state. The bullring at Richmond Raceway in Richmond, Kentucky played host to a scheduled doubleheader.

Saturday night, Minster, Ohio driver Paul Dues raced to his first ever tour win on an excitingly fast and tacky race track. Dues officially led all 25 laps, but the box score would do little in describing this, one of the most exciting main events in tour history. Greenville, Ohio driver, Matt Cooley, took the lead in turn one and two on the final lap and led down the backstretch, and the determined Dues dove back under Cooley in 3 and 4 amid lapped traffic. The duo then raced to the line with contact and both cars on the ragged edge of control!

The hot and muggy Saturday show began with 22 sprint cars signed in for battle. A brief rain shower moved through around 4 pm forcing a later than anticipated start, but provided one of the best race tracks possible.

Kyle Simon started 4th and tracked down and passed Justin Owen to claim the win in TCB Speed heat race one. Unfortunately, Cole Ketcham got pinched into the wall and rolled his car in the first heat race. In Hoosier Racing Tire heat race #2, Cody Gardner also won from the number 4 starting spot. The All Pro Cylinder Heads third and final heat race was won from the pole by 2014 BOSS champ Mike Miller.

The 25 Lap main event was paced to the green flag by the front row of Paul Dues and Justin Owen with Michael Fischesser and Cody Gardner in row 2.

At the drop of the green, Dues immediately took command. Michael Fischesser rocketed to the runnerup spot and Matt Cooley was already on the charge from his 8th starting spot.

The first caution would fly on lap 5 when Kyle Simon spun in turn 3 and 4. As the cars slowed, racing room was at a premium on the tight 1/4 mile bullring and Cole Ketcham rode over a wheel and flipped his back-up car, making it his second time upside down in the night. He was okay and unanimously voted to receive the J F Construction "Hard Luck Award".

On the restart, Dues again pulled to the lead. Justin Owen was able to get by his buddy Fischesser for the runnerup spot with Cooley already up to 4th and Gardner holding onto 5th. For almost the entire race, the front 4 cars remained in a tight group. At the halfway mark, the top 5 were Dues, Owen, Fischesser, Cooley and a hard charging Dallas Hewitt who had started 11th.

On lap 15, chaos struck at Richmond. A tangle in turn one brought out the yellow flag as Cody Gardner spun, taking Mike Miller with him. Lee Underwood stopped to avoid contact. Meanwhile, as cars slowed down the front stretch, Dallas Hewitt made contact with Michael Fischesser and Steve Little also got a piece of the melee. All 3 involved in the front strech incident were eliminated and all drivers were okay.

As cars were pushed to restart the event, a push truck climbed the left rear tire of Dues, the race leader. Dues was allowed to roll to the pit area where a series official was present to make sure that the only work done was replacing the broken left rear shock. He then returned to the race, more determined than ever.

Over the final 10 laps, Matt Cooley found his momentum and became the fastest car on the race track getting by Owen for second and setting sail for the race leader. As the laps wound down, the lead duo caught the backmarkers. Both young men were hungry for their first career tour wins and once past the white flag, all their cards were thrown on the table. Cooley was able to blast by into the lead in turn one and two and appeared headed for certian victory with less than a half lap to go. As he cautiously worked traffic into turn 3, Dues found the magic to throw it into 3 a little harder.

There was contact between the lead duo and both cars were out of shape off turn 4. But Dues held on beating a sideways Cooley to the line with veteran racer Bill Rose making a great late race charge to run 3rd. Justin Owen dropped to 4th and Joe Liguori ran a consistent event to round out the top 5. The rest of the top 10 included Ty Tilton, Ted Hines, Lee Underwood, Dustin Smith and Chad Wilson.

In victory lane, the elated Dues gave the fans an epic cage stand and steering wheel toss! Although the crowd was in the hundreds, the roar of approval had the sound of ten-thousand. For most in the general admission section, it was their first ever traditional sprint car event and the BOSS drivers gave them an epic show.

The Sunday show found 21 cars signed in for battle. The first 2 heat races featured last lap passes for the wins. Lee Underwood took TCB Speed heat race #1 and Bill Rose stole Lias Tire/American Racer heat race #2. Mike Miller won All Pro Cylinder Heads heat #3.

Previous night's runnerup, Matt Cooley, gave the Sunday fans a thrill. While leading heat race #2, Cooley made contact with the concrete wall in turn 1 and when the front end sucked over, Cooley road the wall through turn 1 and 2, then proceeded to exit the facility going out of the park in turn 2. Cooley was fine and made quick repairs for the main event.

Unfortunately, a brief rain shower passed through around 4 pm delaying the start of the main events. With a 6 pm Sunday racing curfew and more rain approaching on the radar, Richmond Raceway did not feel the event could be completed. All 21 race teams were paid $300 plus their heat race earnings, in lieu of running the main event, which will not be reschduled.

The next BOSS events will be another weekend doubleheader. Friday, June 8th catch the series at Limaland Motorsports Park in Lima, Ohio. The next night, the tour will move on to Montpelier Motor Speedway in Montpelier, Indiana.

Richmond Raceway ; Ricmond, KY
Saturday, May 26th
Car Count: 22

TCB Speed of Noblesville, IN - Heat Race #1 (8 Laps, Top 3 Redraw)
23s-Kyle Simon[4] ; 2. 4J-Justin Owen[1] ; 3. 87-Paul Dues[3] ; 4. 24L-Lee Underwood[5] ; 5. 3-Joe Butera[2] ; 6. 51-Dustin Smith[6] ; 7. 41-Cole Ketcham[8]

Hoosier Racing Tire of Lakeville, IN - Heat Race #2 (8 Laps, Top 3 Redraw)
9G-Cody Gardner[4] ; 2. 44F-Michael Fischesser[3] ; 3. 44-Joe Liguori[2] ; 4. 18-Dallas Hewitt[6] ; 5. 42-Ty Tilton[7] ; 6. 53-Steve Little[1] ; 7. 31-Buddy Lowther[5]

All Pro Cylinder Heads of Johnstown, OH - Heat Race #3 (8 Laps, Top 3 Redraw)
82-Mike Miller[1] ; 2. 19-Matt Cooley[4] ; 3. 77-Kory Crabtree[2] ; 4. 6-Bill Rose[3] ; 5. 96-Riley VanHise[6] ; 6. 14-Chad Wilson[7] ; 7. 5-Bob McMillin[5]

BOSS A-Main Event (25 Laps)
87-Paul Dues[1] ; 2. 19-Matt Cooley[8] ; 3. 6-Bill Rose[12] ; 4. 4J-Justin Owen[2] ; 5. 44-Joe Liguori[5] ; 6. 42-Ty Tilton[14] ; 7. 12-Ted Hines[19] ; 8. 24L-Lee Underwood[10] ; 9. 51-Dustin Smith[16] ; 10. 14-Chad Wilson[18] ; 11. 9G-Cody Gardner[4] ; 12. 82-Mike Miller[9] ; 13. 96-Riley VanHise[15] ; 14. 31-Buddy Lowther[20] ; 15. 5-Bob McMillin[21] ; 16. 44F-Michael Fischesser[3] ; 17. 18-Dallas Hewitt[11] ; 18. 3-Joe Butera[13] ; 19. 53-Steve Little[17] ; 20. 77-Kory Crabtree[7] ; 21. 23s-Kyle Simon[6] ; 22. 41-Cole Ketcham[22]

Bonus Awards:

$50 Hard Charger Award (Bridge Restaurant ; Sidney, OH) - Ted Hines +12

$50 Lucky Pill Draw (Apple Metal Polishing ; Eldorodo, OH) - Buddy Lowther

$50 Hard Luck Award (J F Construction ; Bucyrus, OH) - Cole Ketcham

$50 Steel Block Bonus (Cowen Truck Line ; Perryville, OH) - Dustin Smith

$50 Perseverance Award (Horne Performance ; Springfield, OH) - Cole Ketcham

$50 Sweet Move Award (All Star Performnace ; Watervliet, MI) - Matt Cooley

Hoosier Race Tire Bonus (Free Tire) - Paul Dues

American Racer Tire Bonus (Free Tire) - Justin Owen



Richmond Raceway ; Richmond, KY
Sunday, May 27th
Car Count: 21

TCB Speed of Noblesville, IN - Heat Race #1 (8 Laps, Top 3 Redraw)
24L-Lee Underwood[1] ; 2. 23s-Kyle Simon[2] ; 3. 4J-Justin Owen[5] ; 4. 77-Kory Crabtree[6] ; 5. 9G-Cody Gardner[7] ; 6. 3-Joe Butera[3] ; 7. 8-Jake Henderson[4]

Lias Tire/American Racer of Indiana, PA - Heat Race #2 (8 Laps, Top 3 Redraw)
6-Bill Rose[4] ; 2. 6P-Chris Phillips[3] ; 3. 53-Steve Little[1] ; 4. 12-Ted Hines[5] ; 5. 5-Bob McMillin[7] ; 6. 31-Buddy Lowther[6] ; 7. 19-Matt Cooley[2]

All Pro Cylinder Heads of Jonstown, OH - Heat Race #3 (8 Laps, Top 3 Redraw)
82-Mike Miller[3] ; 2. 42-Ty Tilton[1] ; 3. 44-Joe Liguori[2] ; 4. 87-Paul Dues[4] ; 5. 51-Dustin Smith[6] ; 6. 96-Riley VanHise[7] ; 7. 14-Chad Wilson[5]

BOSS A-Main Event (25 Laps)
Cancelled due to rain and curfew