A BATCH OF NEW WINNERS AT PARK JEFFERSON SPEEDWAY
LeRoy Beck
(05/17/09)
Many fans hope to get the chance to see their favorite driver in Victory Lane on race night; if they cant see their favorite driver they relish the chance to see a new face take the checkered. On this night, fans would have to opportunity to see four drivers pick up their first wins of the season as Coors and Coors Light presented the NASCAR Whelen All American Series at Park Jefferson Speedway. Another quick night on the speedway brought Chris Abelson, Craig Clift, Marlis Boggs, Jason Ward and Greg Golden into Victory Lane
The VerHoef Automotive NASCAR Modified feature was the Chris Abelson show. Abelson would take the lead at the drop of the green flag and never look back. The best racing on the speedway would be for the runner up spot as Bob Moore, Reese Coffee, Jay Noteboom, and Denny Johnson would all hold that spot during the race. Each driver would try any of the multiple lines available to find what best suited their car. Moore would find his line first and take the second spot and cruise a full straightaway behind Abelson. Noteboom, Coffee, and Johnson would follow the top two.
After three wins in a row, all eyes were on Harvey VandeWeerd as he tried to make it four for four on the young season in the Motor Parts Central 360mod division. VandeWeerd would only make it into the top five before being caught up in an incident and fight back into the ninth spot. The story of the night was Greg Golden. Golden has seemingly been snake bitten for the previous few years in the open wheel divisions at Park Jefferson Speedway. This night would be no different, with one small caveat. Golden would win his heat, start from the pole and lead every lap with a hard charging Jeff Brunssen in tow. As soon as Golden took the checkered flag, the rear end of his machine would grenade and bring the car to a halt in turn one. Golden would get the win, but had to go to Victory Lane on the back of a tow truck. Brunssen, Karl Brewer, Chad TenNapel, and Rich Headid would follow Golden to the line.
The B&B Salvage Stock Car Feature would highlight some of the great racing that is the standard in the division at the speedway. Mark Wenzlaff would lead from his front row starting spot with an intense battle between many drivers for all spots behind. Jeff Larson and Mitch Dowhower were two drivers putting on a great show. Both drivers would get caught up in an incident and charge from the back of the pack into the top three. Along with Jason Ward, Larson and Dowhower would trade spots every lap. Late in the race, the handling on the Wenzlaff machine and he would fall back to the sixth spot. Ward would take the lead and not look back as Larson, Dowhower, Eli Zevenbergren, and Ryan Harris would follow Ward.
Craig Clift was trying to make it two wins in two nights as he made his 2009 debut in the Yankton Automotive Machine Hobby Stocks. The drop of the green would bring a race long battle between Paul Wenzlaff and Justin Regnerus. Regnerus and Wenzlaff would trade the top spot for the majority of the race. Wenzlaff would also begin to have handling issues late in the race. Coming off of turn two, Wenzlaff would get sideways and Regnerus would make contact with the Wenzlaff machine. Both drivers would be able to continue on, which would keep the racing moving. Regnerus would be penalized two spots on the speedway for rough driving, so although he crossed the line first, Craig Clift would get the win, with Bill Woehler second, Regnerus being credited with third, Mike Loutsch and Josh Grimsley inside the top five.
Brian Sorensen appeared set to pick up his first win in the Steves Roofing Hornet. Sorenson would lead the first six circuits before Sorensen and Michael Denney would race each other hard into turn three and four. Denney and Sorensen would both get outside of the racing groove and allow Marlis Boggs to get by. Boggs would hold on to get her first feature win of the young season with Sorenson, Luke Jackson, Zach Ankrum and Denney following her to the finish.
Next Saturday Night, Coney Auto Sales present the 2009 NASCAR Whelen All American Series at Park Jefferson Speedway. For more information on Park Jefferson Speedway visit http://www.parkjeffersonspeedway.com or visit the NASCAR Home Tracks page at http://localracing.nascar.com/tracks
