7/2/2018
Super Bee Speedway
Winged Modifieds At Chatham Speedway
The summer heat is no match for the thrill of a little dirt track racing. Saturday night’s show at Chatham Speedway was much hotter than the temps Mother Nature was throwing around our area.
The Beginner class, yet again, had new entries. Not just new to this facility, but brand new drivers that have never been on a race track. This class is growing and in turn, is building the sport of dirt track racing. Heat Race wins went to Will Owens and Blake Howell. Though Owens is no new face, Howell not only pulled off the Heat win, but also the Feature win in this, his second time on the Chatham Speedway track. At the checkers in the Feature, Howell was followed by Matt Takewell in second, Mark Townsend in third, Will Owens in fourth and Mason Littles in fifth.
The Compact Beginners also had new entries this week. This growth is coming largely from one friend getting started, then another sees how much fun his friend is having so they team up and build him a car. For the second week in a row, Tony Kyles took first place for the night. He was trailed by Jason Bennett in second, Rhett Mulson in third, Chelsea Hartegan in fourth and Rayne Fischer was fifth in the finishing order.
The Compact class is one of the biggest classes at Chatham Speedway as far as number of entries as well as the number of fan followers and the racing excitement that they bring each week. Heat race winners this week were Kyle Learned and Kory Kulp. The two led the field onto the track for what turned out to be a twenty-three lap Feature event. One can only assume that the fact that these fifteen cars raced lap after lap without even one caution delay the flagman may have lost count of the number of laps and forgot when to throw the white flag. This could be one for the record books, Compacts run full Feature with NO cautions! There was an upset in the finishing order, as Kyle Learned finished in First place but because of Disqualification following Tech Inspection, the winner was deemed to be Kory Kulp. Crystal Day was your second-place finisher, followed by Leebo Alderman in third, Garrett Wagley in fourth and Holly Barmore in fifth.
Factory Stock cars put on a great show this week. James Shirley and Tony Cruse took Heat race wins. Each of these two drivers, as well as the rest of the field, have what it takes to get the win on any given night, but this week it was Cruse who went home the victor. An early caution took Shirley and his son, Jamie out of the show as well as a couple others. At the finish line Cruse was followed by Michael Swoveland in second, Kyle Shirley in third, Justin Jones in fourth and Butch Redlund rounded out the Top Five for the night.
The B-Mod class this week put on a good show for the race fans. Justin Cook in the Flying Zero took the first-place finishing position in Heat One, while Kevin McCoy took the win in Heat Two. With Cook and McCoy seated side by side on the front row to start the Feature, one would know this was about to be an exciting show. McCoy took a quick lead at the drop of the green flag and it quickly became a race for second place and McCoy pulled away from the field. The most important lap is always the last one and at the checkered flag McCoy was followed by Tony Cruse in second, Greg Armstrong in third, Cook in fourth and Joshua Phillips in fifth.
Limited Modifieds also had a couple new faces this week, and some very familiar faces as well. These guys strive to give the race fans a great show each week and this week was no exception. Tyler Owens and Heath Wilson earned front row seats in the Feature by winning their Heat Races. At the drop of the green flag the Feature started and ended with Wilson out front at the stripe every time around the track. Wilson grabbed his first 2018 Chatham Speedway trophy, while Owens finished second, Chase DelRio brought home third, Eddie Underwood fourth and Connor Williams fifth.
The Crate Late Models had three entries this week. Jason Cowan won the Heat race but the money paying feature went to Darin Patrick of West Monroe. Cowan was second in the Feature and Ethan McMillan finished third after mechanical failure about half way through the show.
The special event this week brought the Winged Modifieds to Chatham Speedway for their first of two appearances on the 2018 Schedule. These guys and gals put the fans to the edge of their seat in Hot Laps, Heat Races and the twenty-five lap Feature show. They are fast, they are not scared to get three-wide and they look nothing like anything the younger crowd is used to seeing on the race track. Koty Adams finished first in Heat One, while Caleb Dillard of Robeline finished first in Heat Two. The two led the field onto the track for their Feature with all the cars carrying an American flag and doing a parade lap to salute the fans and pay honor to our country. From start to finish Koty Adams led the way to the checkered flag, followed by Alan Myers of Sibley in second, Caleb Dillard in third, Dana Wood in fourth and Levi Small rounding out the Top Five.
Chatham Speedway will be racing again this weekend (July 7th) and will present yet another night of some of the fastest cars on dirt…… THE LOUISIANA LATE MODELS. Drivers from across Louisiana, South Arkansas, East Texas and a few of those Mississippi boys will make their way over to Chatham, Louisiana for a little Saturday night dirt racing action. It will surely be a show you don’t want to miss!! Gates open at 4, racing action gets started at 8. Sure hope to see you there.
Submitted By: Linda Horn
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