POSTED 5-25-09 HRS RACE RECAP

Highland Rim Speedway Race Recap May 23, 2009 – It was a great night of racing at Highland Rim Speedway. For the first time in several weeks, rain was not a factor for the evening! The Rim Runners kicked off the night’s action with a caution free race. Kevin Figueroa led early with Donold Webb nipping at his bumper. Webb took the lead but Figueroa didn’t give an inch. The pair had a great run going all the way to the wire. Webb took the win by inches over Figueroa. Paul Lambert took third place followed by Cory Clark and Phillip Bilyeu for fourth and fifth respectively. Billy Schaffer showed them how it was done in the Challengers. Schaffer took the lead with the wave of the green and never looked back. By the half way point, Schaffer had lapped the fourth place car and with four laps put the third place car a lap down as well. Toby Tobitt tried to get a run on Schaffer but he fell short ending up second in the caution free race. Donald Ayers was third with Kenny Newsom taking home fourth place. Jamie VanEtten was posted as fifth place after mechanical troubles ended his run early. Seventeen cars started the Front Wheel Drive Modified feature race. Mark Cummings took only three laps to take the top spot. A mid race caution bunched the field up, erasing Cummings advantage over the rest of the field. On the restart, Joey Williams, Scott Conner and Tracy Storey, II had a great run chasing Cummings for the lead. Joey Williams and Scott Conner ran side by side for the final two laps as they gobbled up Cummings’ lead. Cummings took the checkers with Williams beating Conner at the stripe by inches for second. Tim Ezell led flag to flag in the Sportsman class. Matt Goodwin turned the heat up on Ezell early in the race, even getting completely sideways on lap 8. As Goodwin gathered it back up, Brice Crabtree sailed around him and set his sights on Ezell’s lead. Crabtree ran Ezell down as the laps ticked away, but time ran out. Ezell was victorious with Crabtree settling for second. Thomas Pannell cruised home for a third place finish. Johnathan Dishman finished a solid fourth place. Goodwin and Jonathan Wilhite, Jr. swapped a few love taps between them as they battled for position. Goodwin finally ended up taking the fifth spot. A few rain sprinkles fell as the Super Stocks took to the track. But that wasn’t enough to slow the field. Charlie Briley and Josh Hood pushed out early over the rest of the pack. Hood tried nearly every corner to take Briley’s lead away as Daniel Barnes quietly rolled through the field into third place. With just a handful of laps to go the top three were nose to tail as they circled the track. Briley took home the trophy. Barnes made his move past Hood on the final lap to come away second. “Little Man”, Roger Birdsong, Jr. was fourth. Tink Jackson rolled in fifth place. The Pro Trucks were scheduled to run a 100 lapper, but some of the competitors had mechanical issues earlier in the day during practice. Track officials decided to cut the laps in half due to the decreasing truck count. Ten trucks lined up for the race. Zach Evans used a restart on lap 12 to make his move on early race leader, Buddy Williams for the top spot. Evans grabbed the position and checked out on the field. Cautions bunched the field back together but each time; Evans would stretch out opening a cushion between him and the rest of the field. With just ten laps to go, Chuck Adcock was in place to make a run on Evans. Adcock went into turn four a little hot and broke loose. Adcock pulled it back in line as Evans opened up a little distance over him. Jay Jay Williams and Matt Spurlock ran hard chasing down Adcock. With two laps to go, Jay Jay drove into the turn too deep, looping it and bringing out the final caution. Evans sailed on to the checkers beating Adcock by less than a truck length. Spurlock had a great night finishing third. Buddy Williams got by Bobby Wingo on the final restart to finish fourth. Taxis ended the night with an action packed race that went all the way down to the wire. The top five cars of Jim Bork, Michael Womack, Terry Swift, William Newton, and Tink Jackson pulled out into their own race. On lap 5, Jackson pulled into the infield with a fire under the hood of his racer. Crew members jumped to action quickly putting the fire out but his night was through. Swift used the old chrome horn on Womack to take over the lead. Just past half way, Swift completed the pass. It looked like the race was his as he ticked off cars. With only a handful of laps to go, a lapped car got loose going into turn one and collected Swift as he crossed down into his line. Not only did Swift get caught up, so did Womack. The lead went to Bork for the restart. Bork shot out over Newton for the lead and the win! Bork and Newton were a full straight ahead of Kenny Newsom who finished third. Dean Phelps was posted in fourth in his first run of the season. Swift wound up finishing fifth. Racing continues next weekend at the Rim. End May at the Rim with racing in seven classes for over 160 laps of high banked racing excitement! Come hungry hotdogs will be just a $1 on Saturday night! And as an added bonus, anyone in Hendersonville (37075 & 37077) can get into the grandstands absolutely FREE!! Just come show your drivers license with a Hendersonville zip code and get in for FREE! Make plans now to see what’s new at the Rim! Grandstand Admission is $10, Youth 6-12 is $5, Children 5 & Under are free with a paid adult. Pit Admission is $25. Racing starts at 6:00 pm. Pit gates open at 1:00 pm, grandstands at 3:00 pm. Qualifying at 4:00 pm. Highland Rim Speedway is a high banked 1/3 mile asphalt track competing weekly from March through October. For more information check the website www.highlandrim.com. Tammy Kelly Highland Rim Speedway