Kattine, Montgomery, Hamilton, Brister win on Opening Night

WHEELERSBURG, OH-The 2013 racing season got underway on Saturday, April 6th at the Southern Ohio Speedway. A large crowd was on hand on a night that saw both the Late Model and Modified track records broken.

Jason Montgomery took the lead at the start of the night’s Late Model A-Main with fast qualifier Doug Drown quickly moving into the second position. Montgomery and Drown would then have a great battle for the lead for the next several laps with Drown trying both the high and low lines to try to get by Montgomery. Both drivers were running blistering fast lap times of less than a half second off the track record setting time. The race changed complexion on lap 14 however as Drown spun coming off of turn 4 after an apparent blown tire. Under that yellow flag, Montgomery also pulled with a tire issue as well as Joe Ramey.

This left the lead to Wheelersburg’s Kevin Wagner. Wagner led the next three laps until he too pulled off the speedway. Daniel Kattine then inherited the lead on the lap 18 restart. Kattine got off to a great restart as the best battle on track was for the second position between Mark Queen and Jason Perry. Kattine would lead the remaining laps to come across the checkered flag for his first career feature win! Mark Queen finished second with Jason Perry third, Jeff Arnold fourth, and Kevin Wagner fifth. Montgomery and Wagner won heat races.

New track record holder Brian Skaggs took the lead to start the nights Modified feature. Skaggs led the field into turns 1 and 2 and down the backstretch before slowing in turns 3 and 4 with an engine issue. This now put Todd Robinson and Jason Montgomery on the front row for the second attempt at starting the feature. Montgomery took the lead at the start with Robinson close behind him in second. Montgomery started to pull away a little bit as the best battle on track was now for second between Robinson and Jeremy Rayburn. Rayburn was able to make the pass and set his sights on Montgomery. He wouldn’t have enough however to pass Montgomery as Jason Montgomery came to the checkered flag to take the Opening Night win! Jeremy Rayburn finished second with Todd Robinson third, Danny McGowan fourth, and Davey Warnock fifth. Skaggs won the dash race while Warnock and Chris Shelton won heat races.

Danny Hamilton and Tim Scarberry battled side by side to start the nights GCP Engines Sport Mod A-Main presented by Tomahawk Race Cars. While the two battled up front the racing through the pack was intense with two and three wide racing all over the track. The battle for the lead stayed close for several laps until Scarberry spun around the halfway point. From there, Hamilton went on to lead the remaining laps to take the Opening Night feature win with Colten Wright second, Emily Jordan third, Newton fourth, and Bowman fifth. Hamilton and Scarberry won heat races. A full field of 20 Sport Mods was in attendance.

Barry Brister took the inaugural Pure Stock feature win over Rick Newsome. Only two cars were in attendance at the first Pure Stock race. Many more cars are expected to join the class as the season progresses.

Southern Ohio Speedway will move back to it’s Friday night schedule with “Kids Night” this Friday, April 12th. The racing card will feature Late Models, Modifieds, GCP Engines Sport Mods, Pure Stocks, and the Ohio Valley Roofing Legends Car Series. As part of the Kids Night festivities all kids 12 and under will be admitted into general admission for free. Gates will open at 4:00 pm with hot laps at 7:30 pm. General admission is $12 for ages 17 and up and $5 for ages 13-16. Pit passes are $25 for ages 13 and up, $15 for ages 7-12, and free for ages six and under. For more information visitwww.southernohiospeedway.com.

Late Models
Fast Qualifier-Doug Drown, 16.071 (New Track Record)
Heat One-Jason Montgomery, Doug Drown, Mick Sansom, Daniel Kattine, Jay Dunaway
Heat Two-Kevin Wagner, Jason Perry, Joe Ramey, Delmas Conley, Jeff Arnold
A-Main-Daniel Kattine, Mark Queen, Jason Perry, Jeff Arnold, Kevin Wagner, Mick Sansom, Joe Ramey, Jason Montgomery, Doug Drown, Jay Dunaway, Delmas Conley (DNS: Tommy Riggs, Rusty Martin)
Lap Leaders-Jason Montgomery (1-13), Kevin Wagner (14-17), Daniel Kattine (18-25)
Car Count-13

Modifieds
Fast Qualifier-Brian Skaggs, 18.321 (New Track Record)
Dash-Brian Skaggs, Jason Montgomery, Todd Robinson, Danny McGowan, Eric Hatfield, Jeremy Rayburn
Heat One-Davey Warnock, Travis Fleshman, Harold Meadows, Jake Bickers
Heat Two-Chris Shelton, Brian Banks, Matt Edmiston, Richie Edwards
A-Main-Jason Montgomery, Jeremy Rayburn, Todd Robinson, Danny McGowan, Davey Warnock, Mark Queen, Chris Shelton, Matt Edmiston, Jake Bickers, Harold Meadows, Brian Skaggs, Travis Fleshman (DNS: Eric Hatfield, Brian Banks, Richie Edwards)
Lap Leaders-Jason Montgomery (1-20)
Car Count-15

GCP Engines Sport Mods presented by Tomahawk Race Cars
Heat One-Danny Hamilton, Phil Colley, #42b Newton, #2 Hurley, Gary Parsons, Harvey McGowman, #m11 Shelton, #23a Bowman, Josh Tibbs, #28 Compton, Eric Dennison
Heat Two-Tim Scarberry, Tony Whitt Sr., Emily Jordan, Tony Whitt Jr., Makayla Jarrell, Brianna Robinson, #09 Woods, Tyler Smith, #81, Colten Wright
A-Main-Danny Hamilton, Colten Wright, Emily Jordan, #42b Newton, #23a Bowman, #m11 Shelton, Tim Scarberry, Tony Whitt Sr., #28 Compton, Josh Tibbs, #09 Woods, Makayla Jarrell, Brianna Robinson, Phil Colley, Tony Whitt Jr., Harvey McGowan, #2 Hurley (DNS: #81, Tyler Smith, Gary Parsons, #4)
Lap Leaders-Danny Hamilton (1-20)
Car Count-20

Pure Stocks
Feature-Barry Brister, Rick Newsome
Car Count-2