Newnan’s Bobby ‘Wild Child’ Arnold made a daring three wide pass on the opening lap of Saturday’s Mini Stock Mania feature and then passed another Newnan driver, Tim Pettigrew for the lead before holding off a number of challenges to win the special $500 pay day for the four cylinder stock car division. Arnold topped the special event card at Senoia Raceway and also closed in on the division points lead heading into next weekend’s racing action.
Other winners on Saturday night included Newnan’s Parrish Duncan and Jay Conner in the Newnan Bonding B Cadets and Bombers. LaGrange’s Tod Darda topped the Jodeco Auto Sales Late Models for the fourth straight race while Roopville’s Clifton ‘Hog Head’ Moran returned to victory lane in the Summit Racing Equipment Hobby Stocks. Sharpsburg’s Robbie Scadron won the Modified Mini main for the second week in a row.
Arnold’s three wide maneuver set him up for a great side by side battle with Tim Perttigrew. Behind the battle for the lead was Newnan’s Brandon Bright and Sharpsburg’s Lonnie Patterson dueling for the third place position. Racing was hot and heavy throughout the field as the best mini stock drivers congregated for the increased purse.
“The drivers were really going after it from the drop of the green flag,” said Senoia Raceway promoter Tim Moses. “It’s the kind of show you expect to see when you put jup a few extra bucks for them to chase. I know the fans liked the show.”
The Mini Stock Mania feature also saw a few sparks as Whitesburg’s Dorough Bright rode the back stretch wall after tangling with rookie Alex Rudolph of Griffin. The crash also collected Newnan’s fifteen-year-old rookie contender Brandon Libri, but only sidelined Bright. LaGrange’s Stephen Hill and Patterson also caused a caution after Patterson dumped Hill in turn four.
“I think there was some frustration on the part of some of the drivers,” added Moses. “The extra money can be a double edge sword. It brings out the best and worst in the some.”
Arnold’s run was pressured by Brandon Bright until lap 12 when Bright’s machine blew an engine. That left Arnold a clear path to victory lane as runner-up Gary Parker faded over the final couple of circuits. Brandon Libri fought back to finish in third followed by Hampton’s Marc Leath and first time driver Megan Younginer from Stockbridge. It was Younginer’s first race on dirt. She competes regularly at Atlanta Motor Speedway’s Thursday Thunder in a Legends Car.
The victory pushed Arnold to within seventeen points of the lead position in the season point’s chase. Arnold only trails Hampton’s Brandon Brock and ‘Mad Dog’ Mark Newton heading into next Saturday night’s racing action.
Parrish Duncan notched his first career win at Senoia Raceway as he topped the Newnan Bonding B Cadets. Duncan held off a strong charge from current points leader Roger Arnett of Lanett, AL. Arnett slammed Duncan in turn four coming to the checkered flag, but could not rattle the 2010 crate late model track champion. Lake Spivey’s Dow Kirkland finished in third ahead of defending points champion Thomas Mewborn of Greenville. Billy ‘The Kid’ Stevenson rounded out the first five while sporting a new race car. Stevenson leads the rookie chase in the B Cadet class.
‘Nothing was going to stop me tonight from winning this race,” said Duncan during the post race interview on the front stretch.
Clifton ‘Hog Head’ Moran started on the pole and led every lap of the Summit Racing Equipment Hobby Stock main event. Moran left the racing to the drivers racing for second through fifth as ‘Hurricane’ Mike Hillman of Douglasville held the runner-up spot with constant pressure from Newnan’s Lee Owenby and LaGrange’s Jake Traylor. Franklin’s Gary ‘Cornbread’ Brand climbed into the race for position before getting caught up with Ben Steele, also from Franklin. The incident spurred a retaliation by Steele’s brother which ended with Brand and Chris Steele a top their cars on the front stretch taunting one another. The altercation was brought under control by track security.
When the checkers flew, Moran would return to victory lane after being absent for two weeks. Hillman was second, but was disqualified in post-race inspection. That resulted in the final scoring posting Owenby in second, Traylor third, Kerry Carden of Brooks fourth and Brand completing the first five.
Tod Darda led flag to flag winning his fourth straight late model feature while Robbie Scadron spoiled a great race by fourteen-year-old Newnan driver Trey Wood in the Modified Mini main event.
Jay Conner passed Mike Ray, the Riverdale Rocket, with five laps remaining to snare his third Bomber win of the 2013 season topping a fun-filled night at the 3/8ths mile bullring.
This Saturday, June 15th promoter Tim Moses puts on his crazy promotional hat as he will host the Divorcee Demolition Derby. The crash-filled event will pit former spouses against one another in demolition derby cars.
“It will be the ex-husbands against the ex-wives,” said Moses. “It will be like a heavy weight bout using two ton gloves.”
The Divorcee Demolition Derby will take place after the conclusion of the nightly racing card which will include the Jodeco Auto Sales Late Models, Newnan Bonding B Cadets, Summit Racing Equipment Hobby Stocks, Mini Stocks, Bombers and Modified Mini. Grandstand tickets are $12; children ages 6-12 are $5 while five and under admitted for free. Pit passes are $25 for adults and $12 for children three through twelve. Trackside parking is available on a first come, first serve basis and includes admission into the pit area.
The pit gates open at 5pm. Grandstands open at 6pm. Hot laps will roll off at 7:30pm and the first green flag flies at 8pm.
Senoia Raceway is located just five miles west of Senoia, GA on Georgia Highway 16. Easy access from both Interstate 85 or Interstate 75.
For more information, visit the Senoia Raceway website at www.senoiaraceway.com or call the speedway at 404.796.1435.
Official Results from June 8, 2013
Jodeco Auto Sales Late Models
(Feature #1) 1-Tod Darda, LaGrange 2-Trey White, Jenkinsburg 3-Glenn Morris, Fayetteville 4-Dusty Jones, LaGrange 5-Dennis Hale, LaGrange 6-Joseph Darda, Greenville DNS: Marty Lunsford, Newnan Fast Qualifier: Darda 15.092 seconds
Newnan Bonding B Cadets
(Feature) 1-Parrish Duncan, Newnan 2-Roger Arnett, Lannett, AL 3-Dow Kirkland, Lake Spivey 4-Thomas Mewborn, Greenville 5-Billy Stevenson, Stockbridge 6-Johnny Stinchcomb, Newnan 7-Billy Smith, Winston 8-Jason Miller, Fayetteville 9-Jeff Carter, Stockbridge 10-Zack Privette, Locust Grove 11-Jimmy Baxter, Newnan
Summit Racing Equipment Hobby Stocks
(Feature) 1-Clifton Moran, Roopville 2-Lee Owenby, Newnan 3-Jake Traylor, LaGrange 4-Kerry Carden, Brooks 5-Gary Brand, Franklin 6-Chad Foster, Griffin 7-Chris Steele, Franklin 8-Charlie Garret, West Point 9-Ron Payne, Woodbury 10-Ben Steele, Franklin 11-Jamie Simmons, Tyrone 12-Matt Steele, Franklin DQ-Michael Hillman, Douglasville Heat Winners: Moran & Hillman
Mini Stock Mania 2013
(Feature) 1-Bobby Arnold, Newnan 2-Gary Parker, Barnesville 3-Brandon Libri, Newnan 4-Marc Leath, Hampton 5-Megan Younginer, Stockbridge 6-Bubba Hicks, Griffin 7-Stephen Hill, LaGrange 8-Brandon Brock, Hampton 9-Tim Pettigrew, Newnan 10-Brandon Bright, Newnan 11-Alex Rudolph, Griffin 12-Lonnie Patterson, Sharpsburg 13-Tyler Waits, Newnan 14-Dorough Bright, Whitesburg 15-Bailey Temples, McDonough 16-Michael Parker, Hampton DNS-Mark Newton, Hampton Heat Winners: Hill & Newton
Bombers
(Feature) 1-Jay Conner, Newnan 2-Michael Nelms, Newnan 3-Kevin Evans, Newnan 4-Randy Cornwell, Peachtree City 5-James Barber, Jr., Luthersville 6-Mike Ray, Riverdale 7-Russell Barber, Newnan DNS-Bill Smith, Lanett, AL 5-Bill Smith, Lanett, AL
Modified Mini
(Feature) 1-Robbie Scadron, Sharpsburg 2-Trey Wood, Newnan 3-Joe Spencer, Newnan 4-Bo Chambers, Griffin 5-Rocky Johnson, Douglasville