9/3/2019
Portsmouth Raceway Park
Bob Miller Memorial River Days Rumble 50 Presented by Pepsi
Portsmouth Raceway Park hosted The Lucas Oil Dirt Car Series Saturday for the Bob Miller Memorial River Days Rumble 50 Presented by Pepsi, and as he has done so often this season, Jonathan Davenport took the win.
While Davenport has been no stranger to winner's circle this year, Modified driver Jody Puckett and Sport Mod racer Cody Gifford picked up their very first PRP feature wins.
Saturday's victory marked Davenport's 12th Lucas Oil win of the season. The Blairsville, GA driver jumped out to the lead early and never looked back. After a lap 20 restart, Davenport would open up a substantial lead. Shinnston, WV's Josh Richards would eventually track him down in lap traffic but was never able to get by, and as the race wore on, Davenport would again widen the gap and win by more than a four-second margin.
Richards would have to settle for the runner-up spot. Watertown, NY's Tim McCreadie would climb from 10th to third. Tyler Erb from New Waverly, TX placed fourth, and Newport, TN's Jimmy Owens rounded out the top five. Steve Casebolt, who has won three PRP features in 2019, placed sixth. Kyle Bronson was seventh. Chris Ferguson finished eighth. Wheelersburg's RJ Conley was the highest finishing local placing ninth. Don O'Neal completed the top 10.
Rounding out the field were Earl Pearson, Jr., Zack Dohm, Jared Hawkins, Stormy Scott, Devin Moran, Hudson O'Neal, Billy Moyer, Jr., Brandon Fouts, Rod Conley, Shanon Buckingham, Kyle Strickler, Dustin Linville, Kenny Christy, and Jason Jameson.
Tyler Erb was the night's fast qualifer with a time of 14.336. The Late Model Heat Race winners were Erb, Richards, Davenport, and Fouts. Jameson claimed the B-Main.
The 24-car field was made up of drivers representing 12 states including Ohio, Kentucky, West Virginia, Arkansas, New Mexico, Georgia, New York, Texas, Indiana, Tennessee, Florida, and North Carolina.
The R.W. Rental & Supplies Modified A-Main was a thriller. Melvin, KY's Jody Puckett scored his very first PRP feature win. He led early, relinquished the lead to Proctorville's Craig Christian, then retook the top spot on lap 19 of the 20-lap race after Christian hit an infield tractor tire while trying to maneuver his way past a lapped car.
Despite sustaining damage to the nose of his machine, Christian held on for second. Tim Tribby, Brayden Berry, and Jeremy Rayburn made up the rest of the top five. Completing the top 10 were Davey Warnock, Tony DeHart, Matt Altiers, Jeremy Lewis, and Kevin Hall.
Puckett set quick time in The Dynamic Shock Service Modified Time Trials with a time of 16.239. Puckett, Rayburn, and Christian were all heat-race winners. Cody Faulk won the B-Main.
Stout's Cody Gifford from Stout picked up his first PRP feature win in the EMC2 Party Rentals & Inflatables Sport Mod A-Main. Gifford led the entire distance holding off Zack Pendleton, who was right on his rear bumper the entire race. Jason Spillman, Derek Richmond, and Mikey Howard made up the top five. Danny Hamilton, Jr, Jeromy Brady, Dillon Hamilton, Lyle Collier, and Sam Allen rounded out the top 10. Gifford and Pendleton won the two Sport Mod Heats.
PRP has one race scheduled for September, which will be on the 21st. That will be the final points race of the season and the last race before October's Dirt Track World Championship. That evening will be sponsored by The Southern Ohio Shriners, and a lot will be going on. It will be Meet The Drivers Night, Pepsi Employee Night, Shawnee State Night, as well as Boy and Girl Scouts Night, and Dayton Auto Racing Fan Club Night, plus The Cletus Classic Modified Feature will take place, which pays $1,231 to the winner. On the card will be Giovanni's Pizza Late Models, R.W. Rental & Supplies Modifieds, O'Reilly Auto Parts Limited Lates, and EMC2 Party Rentals & Inflatables Sport Mods.
Article Credit: Chuck Greenslate
Submitted By: Mindy Pickelsimer
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