August 18, 2012 Results

[35RaceWriter]

August 18, 2012 Results

Jack Morris Tops Senior Clone Nats

Jack Morris was the big winner Saturday night as 35 Raceway Park presented the annual Mt. Dew Senior Clone Nationals. The Washington Court House UPS truck driver and division point leader topped a field of 33 competitors in the 20 lap feature in earning his 3rd win of the season. Other feature winners were Cassie Ervin (Junior Karts), Ted Lowery (Super Heavy Kart), Kevin Wills (Open Kart), Brandon Furniss (Mini Late Models), Dylan Rittenhouse (Mod Lites) and Jake Hesson (Mini Sprints). The 4 Cylinder Stock feature was postponed until next week due to the track’s curfew.

Morris, whose winning kart featured new skin painted by body man JR LeMaster, started outside the front row and grabbed the lead on the initial start followed by Jason Self and pole sitter Mike Fyffe of Chillicothe. The running order of the top three stayed unchanged through lap three when the yellow was thrown for Kelsey Daniels stopping on the front stretch. At the same time John Hart dropped to the infield. Both were DNF’s. Two laps later a multi-Kart spin involving numerous competitors resulted in the second yellow of the race from starter Kenny Blade. On the restart it was Jack Morris, Trevor Daniels and Justin Clark rounding out the leaders. For the next two laps Morris and Clark exchanged the lead spot several times until Clarke looped it unassisted in turn #2.

At the halfway mark, Morris had settled into a comfortable lead followed by Trevor Daniels, Aaron Dunham and Jason Self. For the next three laps Daniels was able to mount a challenge several times to take the lead from Morris but was unable to make any of the passes stick. The final yellow of the race flew on lap 14 when Fyffe and Kelsey Daniels, older sister of second place runner Trevor Daniels, tangled. Daniels was given her spot back and Fyffe was put on the tail. At the checkered the running order was Jack Morris, Trevor Daniels, Aaron Dunham, Kelsey Daniels and Doug Morris.

Senior Division Heat winners were Joe Conley, Lucas Morris, nephew of Jack, Jason Self, and Trevor Daniels. Justin Clark took the 10 lap B Main.

Going into Saturday’s action, Cassie Ervin trailed Evan Smith by a mere three points as the two friends battle for division supremacy. When the night’s events concluded, Ervin was on top by a dozen or so markers as she tied Smith with six feature wins each. Fourteen year old Ervin took the lead on lap two from her seventh position starting spot and was never seriously challenged for the lead throughout the twelve lap grind. Smith would become a DNF as his brother Eddie settled for fourth behind Reece Bloomfield (second) and Joel Rittenhouse (third). The red flag flew on the initial start when several competitors tangled coming down for the green with Tanner Troute needing to be check by track medics for a bruised left arm. Heat wins went to Blake Vest, who steering broken in the feature event, and Evan Smith

The eight lap Super Heavy Kart feature went to Ted Lowery followed by James Garrett, Roger Owens and Robbie Cooke. Owens took the heat race earlier in the evening.

Second generation driver Kevin Wills continue to dominate the Open Kart ranks as he copped his third win of the season. The likeable Courthouse feed mill operator has won each of the three features run by the Open Karts so far this season and he has four Senior Kart features to his credit as well. The 28-year-old Chillicothe resident has also taken each of the three Open heat races.

Driving a new car built over the winter by his father, Brandon Furniss copped his eleventh win of the season ahead of John Smith and Steve Cruse in the 15 lap Mini Late Model feature. Only two other drivers have feature wins in the division: AWOL driver Chip Mack with two and Tom McVey with one. Vonley Jordan grabbed the initial lead in the feature with third generation driver Jeremy Boling driving a 1985 Chevette carrying the number “24” in second. By the second lap John Smith and Furniss had taken the top spots with Boling shuffled to third. Five laps later Furniss had the lead and Steve Cruise running third; one lap later Joe Johnson spun in turn #2 bringing out the yellow. On the restart Furniss continued to lead the field with Boling shuffled to fifth. At the end it was Furniss, Smith, Cruse, Zack Ackley and Boling. Heat wins went to Ackley and Furniss.

Roger Wood, grandfather to Logan Wood, had not run a race car in competition since he last ran at Atomic (ne K-C) Raceway nearly four decades ago. This past Saturday the self-employed machinist hopped into Logan’s Mini Sprint for not only hot laps, but for the heat race as well. Meanwhile Jacob Hesson, 60 years junior to Roger, copped his fourth win the year in the 15 lap feature. At the drop of the green Chad Hyatt led Hesson for the first several laps until the yellow flew for a slowing Ryan Moore (flat tire). By now Hesson had taken the lead from Hyatt with Logan Wood settling into third. When Jeremy Perdue spun for the second time on lap seven he was sent to the pits with Moore as both would be DNFs. The remaining eight laps went without a change to the top three runners: Hesson, who had won the heat race, Hyatt and Wood.

Attrition was high in the 15 lap Mod Lite feature with only two of the original eight starters around to checker. Dylan Rittenhouse, driving an Outlaw Chassis built by Toby Botcher and second place finisher James Halfhill, tied Boetcher with four wins when the dust settled. Initially Doug Morris jumped into the lead from his outside front row starting spot with Toby Boetcher and Halfhill a very close second and third respectively. Just past the flag stand to complete the second lap, Morris spun unassisted and gave the lead to Boetcher. One lap later Anthony Helms spun bringing out the second yellow of the event. Carnage reigned while it took several attempts to restart the race with the worst happening to the T-46 of Doug Morris getting collected in a front stretch crash making him a DNF. When racing finally got underway the running order was Toby Boetcher, Halfhill and Dylan Rittenhouse making up the top three positions. Eventually Toby Boetcher would join his son Tyler Boetcher as a DNF along with Jeff Surber, Jack Kriel, and Helms. Rittenhouse moved into the top spot followed closely by Halfhill where they finished first and second.

Behind the Headlines

Anthony “Peanut” Helms is a 3rd generation driver as his granddad is a former racer in the 4 Cylinder class at the old 35 track. As for Helm’s Mod Lite, Scott Morris drove it at I-77 Speedway, Ripley West Virginia; the #51 is a tribute to former K-C (Modified) track champ and Skyline champ (Sprint) Aaron Higgins…Occasional 35 competitor Kevin Spencer, driver of the #3K Mod Lite, is a third generation driver as well as his father and grandfather drove dirt Late Models in the Pittsburgh area. Spencer is an aircraft mechanic in Wilmington and runs K.S. Graphics on the side… Vonley Jordan started racing back in 1995 in Killen Texas driving a Mini Stock. Though he never turned a lap in it, the #95J is a former Tom McVey ride that Jordan reworked into a Mini Late Mode from a 4 Cylinder Stock… Cassie Ervin traveled to Route 35 Raceway last Saturday (August 11) where she finished second to Jonathan Thomas. Also competing at the Southside West Virginia track were Black Vest (third) and Zack Harper (fourth)… Robert Haynes, father of Adam Haynes, picked up his nickname of Squeak from his wrestling days in high school…The Smith brothers Eddie and Evan picked up a new sponsor this season, in Dave and Irene Whiteside owners of Destiny’s Auto Sales in Columbus. Eddie Smith Jr., father to the two boys, does bodywork for the Whitesides and is a former Legend car driver. His dad, Eddie Smith Sr. owns Eddie’s Auto Body in Columbus and is a big supporter of racing in the area… Jack Kriel, a 4th year racing vet, is driving the Mod Lite ride that Rick Cousins drove to a few victories at I-77 Speedway… Tanner Troute, son of JR LeMaster, plays tight end for the Circleville Rams in the Pop Warner Football League. He and his dad make the trip from home in WCH to C-Ville four times a week for practice.


Senior Clone Kart
Heat, 6 Laps, top 4 transfer: J. Conley, J. Morris, J. Hart, K. Wills, J. Clark, D. Morris, J. Bloomfield, D. Kellough, D. Bowe
Heat, 6 Laps, top 4 transfer: L. Morris, A. Dunham, A. Scarberry, B. Foglesong, J. Buskirk, J. Dubois, J. Deal, K. Rittenhouse
Heat, 6 Laps, top 4 transfer: J. Self, M. Fyffe, R. Vest, L. McKitrick, Z. Harper, D. Hewitt, E. Richendoller, C. Chandler
Heat, 6 Laps, top 4 transfer: T. Daniels, K. Daniels, A. Mead, T. Thesing, D. Davey, J. Rittenhouse, P. Harding, A. Nawman (DNF)
B Main, 10 Laps, top 4 transfer: J. Clark, J. Bloomfield, D. Morris, Z. Harper, J. Deal, J. Buskirk, E. Richendoller, D. Davey, D. Bowe, C. Chandler, A. Nawman, J. Rittenhouse (DNF), D. Kellough (DNF), K. Rittenhouse (DNF), P. Harding (DNF), J. Dubois (DNF)
Feature, 20 Laps: J. Morris, T. Daniels, A. Dunham, K. Daniels, D. Morris, J. Bloomfield, T. Thesing, L. Morris, L. McKitrick, K. Wills, M. Fyffe, J. Self, R. Vest, Z. Harper, J. Conley (DNF), A. Scarberry (DNF), B. Foglesong (DNF), J. Clark (DNF), A. Mead (DNF)

Junior Clone Kart
Heat, 6 Laps: B. Vest, C. Ervin, R. Bloomfield, T. Troute, D. Billingham
Heat, 6 Laps: Evan Smith, R. Brown, Eddie Smith, K. Harper, J. Rittenhouse
Feature, 12 Laps: C. Ervin, R. Bloomfield, J. Rittenhouse, Eddie Smith, R. Brown, K. Harper, D. Billingham, B. Vest (DNF), E. Smith (DNF), T. Troute (DNF)

Super Heavy Clone Kart
Heat, 6 laps: R. Owens, T. Lowery, J. Garrett, R. Cooke
Feature: 8 Laps: T. Lowery, J. Garrett, R. Owens, R. Cooke

Open Clone Kart
Heat, 6 Laps: K. Wills, J. Corley, D. Butler
Feature, 6 Laps: K. Wills, D. Butler, J. Corley (DNS)

Mini Late Models
Heat, 8 Laps: Z. Ackley, J. Johnson, J. Boling, V. Jordan, BJ Jackson
Heat, 8 Laps: B. Furniss, J. Smith, V. Francis, S. Cruse (DNF)
Feature, 15 Laps: B. Furniss, J. Smith, Z. Ackley, J. Boling, V. Francis, V. Jordan, J. Johnson, BJ Jackson

Mini Sprints
Heat, 8 Laps: J. Hesson, C. Hyatt, R. Moore, R. Wood J. Perdue (DNF)
Feature, 15 Laps: J. Hesson, C. Hyatt, L. Wood, J. Perdue (DNF), R. Moore (DNF)

Mod Lites
Heat, 8 Laps: J. Surber, D. Rittenhouse, D. Morris, A. Helms
Heat, 8 Laps: J. Halfhill, Toby Boetcher, Tyler Boetcher, J. Kriel
Feature, 15 Laps: D. Rittenhouse, J. Halfhill, Toby Boetcher (DNF) J. Kriel (DNF), A. Helms (DNF), Tyler Boetcher (DNF), D. Morris (DNF), J. Surber (DNF)

4 Cylinder Stocks
Heat, 8 Laps: JR Lemaster, A. Haynes, S. Lewis, M. Clifford
Heat, 8 Laps: R. Rittenhouse, R. Haynes, C. McKinney, C. McKinney
Feature: Carried over to August 25 due to curfew.