PRP Weekend Wrap-Up

PRP Press Release – May 27, 2013
West Portsmouth, Ohio

Portsmouth Raceway Park featured two exciting nights of racing over the holiday weekend with Veteran’s Recognition Night on Saturday and The Second Annual Boone Coleman Memorial ‘Gator 50’ on Sunday.

Good fields and great crowds were on hand each night, and both evenings had healthy helpings of excitement. Over 80 cars were in attendance Saturday, and over 100 filled the pit area on Sunday.

In the Giovanni’s Pizza Late Model Division, Saturday brought West Portsmouth’s Ben Adkins his very first PRP Late Model win. On Sunday, Jackie Boggs of Grayson, KY scored a huge pay day. He led all 50 laps of The Boone Coleman Memorial ‘Gator 50’. For his efforts he claimed the $5,000 paycheck for winning the race, earned a provisional starting position for this fall’s Dirt Track World Championship, and picked up an additional $250 from Lemley Motorsports for setting fast time.

Columbus, IN’s Devin Gilpin won both R & W Rental Modified A-Mains over the weekend. He has won 51 of 101 races in his current car. Gilpin has already captured 14 victories in 2013.

Matt Melvin of Coal Grove was dominant all weekend in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Limited Late Model Division. The newlywed, who exchanged vows earlier this month, led every lap both Saturday and Sunday in picking up his first two wins of the year.

Saturday night in the M & M Inflatables Bombers, West Portsmouth’s Jason Spillman scored his first-ever PRP victory. On Sunday, three-time PRP champ Shane Pendleton of Stout took the checkers.

Each evening had a fair share of drama. Saturday night’s Late Model A-Main brought a back-and-forth battle between Adkins and Rod Conley. Both took turns in the lead before Adkins passed Conley for the final time on lap 15.

Adkins rode the high line to the finish and was visually emotional in winner’s circle. While he had won at PRP numerous times in the past in the Modified Division, he finally claimed a Late Model victory in Portsmouth that had eluded him for years.

Sunday brought a little redemption for former PRP track champion Jackie Boggs. On the night before he suffered mechanical problems which sidelined him just after hot laps. After the crew worked all night to repair the car, Boggs came back on Sunday and was dominant. He set fast time, climbed from sixth to second in the dash, started on the outside pole of the feature, and went on to lead every single lap of the A-Main. All of his accomplishments added together provided Boggs with an evening full of earnings valued at $7,250.