Smith, Johnson Vault to Veterans Night Wins At Atomic
8 min read
By Scott Wolfe
CHILLICOTHE, OHIO-Another decent crowd assembled for Veterans Appreciation Night at Atomic Speedway where Danny Smith, Chillicothe, Ohio claimed the exciting 410 Sprint car main in a torrid battle with Kory Crabtree. Kenny Johnson, Mineral Wells, WV, claimed the equally exciting AMRA Modified main after a race-long battle with Jess Hartman; Rob Smith claimed the Street Stock main, and John Remy, McArthur took the Sport Mod main. All Veterans were admitted free in appreciation for their service to our country. All features were completed before 11 p.m. A moment of silence was held for Justin Helton, Beaver, Ohio who lost his life this past week while serving in Afghanistan and another tribute moment for driver Fred Hardbarger, former driver at Atomic. Son in law Adam Jones carried the checkered flag for a lap in tribute to Hardbarger. The track was fast from the onset as 14 Sprint cars cracked the 11 second barrier in qualifying and Kenny Johnson came within three-hundredths of a second of the modified track record with fast time in the Modifieds at 15:446. Kory Crabtree had fast time in the sprints with an 11:585. Ryan Broughton, Chillicothe, Ohio has tried to shake the bad luck bug since the last race of the 2013 season. Broughton won his heat and led the first eight laps of the feature, looking to shake the gremlins that have sidelined Broughton throughout the season despite several weeks of good runs. Broughton led the first eight laps, then after a caution flag for Jimmy Stinson, who had a flat and broken shock, Danny Smith took the lead on the restart. After a few laps of duals, Smith started to walk away from runner-up Broughton. Meanwhile, Jimmy Nier started 19th and was on a charge from the tail, up to 14th after five laps, and up to 5th by lap sixteen. Nier claimed the Hummel Factory Kahne Shock “Hard Charger Award”. Jesse McCreary was on a similar charge from 9th to 5th at one point, but later having Ryan Myers drop him back to sixth. On a lap 16 restart Kory Crabtree blitzed by Danny Smith on the restart with a daredevil slide job that Smith returned skimming within inches of one another at 130 MPH on the super fast Atomic high-banks. Crabtree nearly led lap 17 after another swap of kamikaze dives, but Smith scurried back to the front off turn four. The next lap was just as exciting. Ryan Myers slowed the action with a spin in turn one and at about the same time Broughton slammed the turn three wall and went pit-side. Several reports indicated that Broughton’s throttle may have stuck. The Smith-Crabtree battle continued for the last seven laps, but Smith began to pull away by lap 22. Lapped traffic factored into the finish as Crabtree made a late race bid for the win. Crabtree pulled within a car length of Smith on the white flag lap, then made a bid for the win in turn one-and-two only to jump the cushion, scrubbing off enough speed to allow Smith a micro-second of breathing room at the conclusion. Rounding out the top ten were Danny Smith, Kory Crabtree, Nathan Skaggs, Jimmy Nier, Ryan Myers, Jesse McCreary, Mark Imler, Todd Kane, Nate Reeser, and David Smith. David had his strongest Atomic run of the year, while Kevin Shelbo had notable success. “It was elbows up and hit the gas all the way around tonight,” said Smith. “I hope the fans had fun tonight, I sure did. Tonight you had to be up on the wheel every step of the way. The track was really, really fast. Sometimes things work out and it worked out for us tonight.”
Jess Hartman, Zanesville, Ohio jumped into the early lead in the AMRA Octane modified main and spent most of the first 15 laps fending off the challenges of Kenny Johnson. Hartman and Johnson grappled tooth-and-nail for the duration. Hartman endured three early cautions and each time survived the potential slide jobs of Johnson. Jason Cottrill and Mike Long each had good runs going, but were early casualties and went pit-side. Mark Bailey had charged from 15th to 6th and was well on his way to earning hard charger honors when he and another front-runner Philip Bapst made contact. Bailey’s great run ended with contact and Bapst went to the rear after the misfortune. Brian Whiteman and Dave Pinkerton battled with Aaron Pendleton most of the race with Bapst at one point bursting into third. After Bapst’s demise, Pinkerton turned on the afterburners and zoomed to fourth to challenge Whiteman. Up front Johnson tried to blitz past Hartman on a lap 13 restart, but couldn’t make it stick. Johnson stayed with Hartman and pulled alongside the Zanesville ace several times, finally taking over the top spot with a run off the top of turn two. Johnson continued on to victory with an impressive high-flying win, his 5th at Atomic and his second of the June 13-14 weekend. Tim Tribby blasted from 11th to sixth as the race hard-charger, and Donnie Miller recovered from an early bobble to a solid top ten. Brian Moore had his best run of the season while battling Justin Murray and Bob Crace, Jr. to the finish. “That was a workout,” gasped an exhausted winner Kenny Johnson. “I hope the fans had as much fan as I did. Boy was that track fast.” Rounding out the top ten were Kenny Johnson, Jess Hartman, Brian Whiteman, Dave Pinkerton, Aaron Pendleton, Tim Tribby, Donnie Miller, Brian Moore, Justin Murray, and Bob Crace, Jr. “Jess gave us a good run tonight and made us work,” added Johnson. “He had a fast car-very fast! I’d like to thank Coop, Danny, and Chad for getting this car in winning form. That was our eleventh win with seven seconds in 2014. It’s been a great year.”
Rob Smith has had some success in South-Central Ohio, and then brought his winning ways to Atomic Speedway Saturday. Smith and Dean Boyd, a four-time winner in the Street Stocks, paced the field to the green with Boyd taking the initial lead. Smith hung with Boyd the entire race, but couldn’t find the right time or right place to make a move. Boyd came upon a lapped car and had to lift momentarily on the last lap. As the pair entered turn three, Boyd slid up the bank just enough for Smith to make his move. Boyd opened the door and couldn’t slam it shut fast enough to seal the win. Smith had the momentum on the inside as the two cars rubbed doors coming to the checkered where Smith led his only lap of the night for the exciting win. “I saw a hole there and stuck my nose in, then went for it,” said Smith. “I got into Dean a little bit and I hate that, but that’s racing.” Rounding out the line-up were Rob Smith, Dean Boyd, Justin Poling, Tim Cutler, Dave Landman, Brian McQuay, and Tommy Mossbarger. Youngster Harley Martin and veteran John Remy paced the field to the green flag in the Sport Mod main with Martin taking the narrow lead early. Martin led the first five laps before the pair drove quickly into traffic. Martin closed quickly on a lapped car and made contact, flattening his tire and ending his run. Remy was right there to collect the bounty and brought home his first victory in ten years-a very popular win. “Once we got the line figured out we were ready to roll,” exclaimed John Remy. “I had a good car and a good track to get me here.” Rounding out the line-up were John Remy, Steve Nobile, John Cuckler, George Neely, Harley Martin, Allen Hunt, and Billy Bowles.
For more information please call 740-703-9749 or 740-663-4141 or visit the Atomic Speedway website at <<< www.atomicspeedway.net >>> Atomic is located 12 miles South of Chillicothe, Ohio off SR 23, two miles out Blain Highway between Chillicothe, Ohio and Waverly, Ohio at Alma. Atomic is a Hoosier only track. Check the website for rule details and the NDRL site for the weekend tire rule for late models July 25 and 26. There will be no racing next Saturday June 21st, but action returns Wednesday, June 25 for the Ohio All-Star Sprint Outlaw Speedweek. With the sprints that night are Street Stocks and Sport Mods. There will be no racing each of the next two Saturdays to accommodate the two mega-buck Midweek shows.
Coming Events
June 25- ALL STAR SPRINT SPEEDWEEK $5,000 to win, Street Stocks, Sport Mods July 3- NIGHT THE STARS COME OUT-ALL STAR SPRINTS $5,000 TO WIN, Late Models $5,000 TO WIN, AMRA Modifieds July 16- UMP Summer Nationals HELL TOUR LATE MODELS $5,000 TO WIN, HELL TOUR MODIFIEDS $1,000 to win, Street Stocks July 19- AMRA LATE MODELS $3,000 TO WIN, AMRA Modifieds, Sport Mods, Street Stocks July 25- NDRL ATOMIC BLAST $5,000 TO WIN LATE MODELS plus AMRA Modifieds, Street Stocks July 26- NDRL ATOMIC BLAST $15,000 TO WIN LATE MODELS plus AMRA Modifieds, Street Stocks
THE SUMMARY: Atomic Speedway, June 14, 2014
PINE TREE TOWING AND RECOVERY 410 Sprint Cars: (22) Fast Time: Kory Crabtree 11:585 Heat One-Ryan Broughton, Kory Crabtree, Aaron Higgins, Ryan Myers, Rick Fraley, Dean Kester, Josh Davis Heat Two-Jimmy Stinson, Danny Smith, Nathan Skaggs, Brian Nuckles, Nate Reeser, Mark Coleman, Brandi Bower Heat Three- Todd Kane, Mark Imler, Jesse McCreary, Eddie Slone, Jeff Conrad, Kevin Shelbo, Jimmy Nier,
Feature: Danny Smith, Kory Crabtree, Nathan Skaggs, Jimmy Nier, Ryan Myers, Jesse McCreary, Mark Imler, Todd Kane, Nate Reeser, David Smith, Eddie Slone, Rick Fraley, Kevin Shelbo, Mark Coleman, Ryan Broughton, Aaron Higgins, Jeff Conrad, Brian Nuckles, Dean Kester, Jimmy Stinson, Brandi Bower (DNS), Josh Davis (DNS)
ADVANCE SERVICES H & c AMRA MODIFIEDS (20) Fast Time: Kenny Johnson 15:446 Heat One-Kenny Johnson, Brian Whiteman, Mike Long, Jason Cottrill, Bob Crace, Jr., Jeff Surber, Glenn East Heat Two-Aaron Pendleton, Dave Fireball Pinkerton, Phillip Bapst, Tim Tribby, Justin Murray, Rick Shutts, Glenn Keaton Heat Three-Jess Hartman, Donnie Miller, Derrick Shadwick, Brian Moore, Mark Bailey, Jeff Votaw
Feature:Kenny Johnson, Jess Hartman, Brian Whiteman, Dave Pinkerton, Aaron Pendleton, Tim Tribby, Donnie Miller, Brian Moore, Justin Murray, Bob Crace, Jr., Derrick Shadwick, Philip Bapst, Rick Shutts, Glen Keaton, Mark Bailey, Mike Long, Jeff Surber, Jason Cottrill, Jeff Votaw (DNS), Glen East (DNS).
C & M RACING EQUIPMENT SPORT MODS (7) Heat One-Harley Martin, John Remy, Billy Bowls, John Cuckler, George Neely, Allen Hunt, Steve Nobile,
Feature: John Remy, Steve Nobile, John Cuckler, George Neely, Harley Martin, Allen Hunt, Billy Bowles,
STREET STOCKS (7)
Heat One-Rob Smith, Dean Boyd, Tim Cutler, Justin Poling, Tommy Mossbarger, Adam Jones, Dave Landman, Brian McQuay
Feature: Rob Smith, Dean Boyd, Justin Poling, Tim Cutler, Dave Landman, Brian McQuary, Tommy Mossbarger, Adam Jones.
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