Stinson Stomps Atomic Sprint Field
8 min read
By Scott Wolfe
CHILLICOTHE, OHIO-Three veteran drivers brought home victories in the A-features at Atomic Speedway Saturday night where 84 cars bid for starting slots in the four competitive feature events on Dr. Anthony Phillips Night. Another good crowd saw defending Ohio Valley Sprint Car Association champ Jimmy Stinson, Vandalia, Ohio pick up the sprint win, while R.J. Conley, Wheelersburg, Ohio grabbed the potent Late Model main.
Kenny Johnson, Mineral Wells, WV claimed the AMRA modified main and Clarksville, Tennessee driver Sean Hosey grabbed the 305 RaceSaver A-main in just his second-ever start in a full-sized sprinter.
Hunter Schuerenberg, Driver/Owner of the 20N Roof Bolt Express/Nolen Racing sprint car from Sikeston, Missouri and local ace Jimmy Stinson paced the 20-car field to the starting grid where Stinson immediately blitzed into the lead. From there it was clear sailing as Stinson dominated in the flag-to-flag win. The race was completed in just over 15 minutes despite cautions for Taylor Ferns on lap 8, and Nathan Skaggs a couple laps later. Ferns slammed the turn four wall and Skaggs suffered mechanical woes that gave him an early exit.
Stinson dominated. The only glimmer of a challenge came early from Todd Kane, who like Stinson pulled away from the rest of the pack. Constant position swaps came among the cars of Crabtree, Broughton, Skaggs, Courtney, and Schuerenberg. Broughton won the race-long fight for third.
On the 15th lap, Adam Strausser slammed the turn three wall and took a gyrating flip nearly into turn number four. Strausser was shaken, but surprisingly unscathed while the McCreary Motorsports 9J suffered severe damage.
Aboard a ten-year old chassis, Stinson barn-stormed on to the victory.
Rounding out the top ten were Jimmy Stinson, Todd Kane, Ryan Broughton, Kory Crabtree, Tyler Courtney, Hunter Schuerenberg, Ronnie Blair, Sam Ashworth, Ryan Myers, and Brandy Bower. Bower started scratch and raced her way into the top ten for hard charger honors.
At one point Dave Dickson had stormed from 19th to 10th, but never-the-less ended a good run in 12th.
Stinson dedicated his win to the late Brian Karshner, saying “This win is for Brian. I wanted to do something special in his memory and what better way to do it than right here in victory lane.”
Stinson added, “I knew the car was fast, but when you’re out front you just keep thinking someone might be back there. The car really hooked up tonight. I’d like to thank Adam (Tippett) my car owner and Billy Jarrell for getting this car into shape. It drove like a dream.”
This was the second win of the year in three outings for Stinson with each win coming in different car. The first came aboard Eddie Slone’s 4x, while Saturday’s win came in a 2005 J & J Chassis powered by a Charlie Fisher engine. “Not bad for a 10-year old chassis,” proclaimed Stinson.
Jeremy Berwanger, the Murray City Bandit, and Racin’ Jason Montgomery paced the 18-car late model field to Frank LeMaster’s unfurled green flag. Berwanger narrowly edged ahead of a four-car traffic jam off turn two, featuring combatants Berwanger, Montgomery, and R.J. and J.T. Conley. The Conley and Conley express shuffled Montgomery back to fourth by the third circuit, then R.J. gave chase to the former mod champ Berwanger.
Berwanger’s Boggserized Swartz Extreme chassis started to tail off upon exiting the turns while Conley was straight and fast. On the fourth go-round Conley dove under Berwanger for the lead and never looked back. Montgomery, defending champ Greggie Oliver, and Berwanger went three deep into the turn with Montgomery narrowly clipping Oliver’s mount. Oliver jumped the cushion and went into the wall and was out of the race. For five of the next ten circuits J.T. Conley gave dad R.J. a run-for-the-money then the elder Conley began to flex his muscle.
Conley sailed to what appeared to an insurmountable lead, only to have Montgomery’s mount come alive around lap 15. Montgomery narrowed the gap considerably and was coming full-steam when the caution flew for Ronnie Whitt. Montgomery continued his charge after the restart with a couple low dives under Conley, but Conley persevered for the win.
Rounding out the top ten were R.J. Conley, Jason Montgomery, J.T.Conley, Delmas Conley, Chris Shannon, Jeremy Berwanger, Jay Helton, Matt Melvin, Mark Frazier, and Brian Eaton. Chris Shannon was hard-charger in a 10th to fifth place run.
R.J. Conley had a huge lead at the half-way mark, but his lead waivered at the finish with a hard-charging Jason Montgomery coming on strong the last five laps. When asked if he knew how close Montgomery was, Conley said, “They don’t give us mirrors in these things. I knew he was back there but this Rocket car handled just perfect. They (Rocket) builds a superb race car.”
“The track was fast, but a little tricky,” added Conley. “It’s a good feeling to get back here in victory lane.”
Citing the last two wins by his father Delmas under similar restart conditions to Saturday night, the track announcer asked R.J. if he thought his Dad might again pull off the win. (Last Saturday, Delmas pulled off a slide job on the restart over his other son Rod Conley to take the win.
Conley laughed, “When I see that #71 up there on the scoreboard (behind me) I know I better get up on the wheel and drive. I know I’m gonna have to run hard. Rod knows better, but I guess he’s just a little more laid back. I wasn’t going to let this one get away.”
Kenny Johnson led the Precision Grading modifieds from start to finish, yet his job was not an easy one. Greggie Oliver, the track and this week’s AMRA point leader, dove past Johnson in turn one on multiple occasions. Oliver’s bids were short-lived, however, as Johnson’s momentum carried him back into the top spot.
Adam Colley dropped back momentarily to 5th, but spent most of the night in third place where he won a three-car battle that saw Shawn Holiday pass Jimmy Lennex and nearly Colley on the start-finish line. Prior to that Colley had perhaps given Johnson the breathing room he needed as Colley challenged Oliver hard for second, twice nosing by for the runner-up slot.
Jackie Boggs saw his charge end– a tenth to third run–on lap 16 when he, Colley and Oliver entered the turn three-deep. Boggs drove in hard, then climbed on the binders to avoid spinning Oliver, then looped it in turn four, collecting Dave Pinkerton, Brandon Oliver, and Brian Whiteman. Only Oliver and Whiteman were able to continue as Johnson fended off Oliver in the final four-lap shoot-out.
Rounding out the top ten were Kenny Johnson, Greggie Oliver, Adam Colley, Shawn Holiday, Jimmy Lennex, Dave Jamison, Frankie Hall, Seth Daniels, Brian Whiteman, and Brandon Oliver.
“We we way off last week and out to lunch last night as well,” said winner Johnson. “Tim Cooper and my crew worked on this car all week, and again all day long. It paid off! We got it tuned back in and ran great tonight.”
“Tim (Cooper) signaled for me to move down into the groove and that paid off. We picked up some moisture down there where Greggie was running and that allowed me to get off the turns and pull off the win. Thanks to the fans and the high-side flyer fans.”
Dave Jamison was hard-charger in a 15th to 6th place run. Mike Conkle had a good 18th to 11th charge, Zack Ackley came from 20th to 12th, and Seth Daniels 16th to 8th.
A note of importance was the return of multi-time champion Bud Frazier, Chillicothe, who turned 80 in February and finished 5th in his heat race.
Shawn Hosey, Clarksville, Tennessee claimed the 305 RaceSaver Sprint heat and main event over Dustin Hammond, Andy Hill, and Mike Downs. Hosey only completed the car Friday morning before venturing to Jackson, Ohio for the win, then doubling up with a win at Atomic Saturday.
For more Atomic Speedway information, please call 740-703-9749 or visit << www.atomicspeedway.net >> or www.facebook.com/AtomicSpeedway
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.
The next two events are:
Saturday April 25th – “Graphic Creations Night” OVSCA Sprints, AMRA Late Models, AMRA Modifieds and Sport Mods
Saturday May 2nd – Dan Reno Memorial – AMRA Late Models/AMRA Modifieds $2,222 to win plus OVSCA Sprints and Sport Mods
The Summary: Atomic Speedway, April 18, 2015
Pine Tree Towing and Recovery 410 Sprints
OVSCA Sprint Cars (30)
Heat One-Jimmy Stinson, Nathan Skaggs, Brian Benson, Beau Stewart, Taylor Ferns, Josh Davis, Nate Reeser, Brandy Bower, Jimmy Light, Bob Tucker
Heat Two-Hunter Schuerenberg, Ryan Myers, Kory Crabtree, Sam Ashworth, Mark Imler, Adam Strausser, Eddie Slone, Randy Fink, R.J. Perkins, Brandon Conkle
Heat Three-Ryan Broughton, Todd Kane, Tyler Courtney, Ronnie Blair, Jimmy Nier, Dave Dickson, Mark Coleman, Mike Terry, Jr., George Hawkins, Eric Martin
B-Main: Nate Reeser, Adam Strausser, Dave Dickson, Eddie Slone, Brandy Bower, Bob Tucker, Mike Terry, Jr., R.J. Perkins, Randy Fink, Brandon Conkle, Eric Martin, Josh Davis, George Hawkins, Mark Coleman, Jimmy Light
Feature: Jimmy Stinson, Todd Kane, Ryan Broughton, Kory Crabtree, Tyler Courtney, Hunter Schuerenberg, Ronnie Blair, Sam Ashworth, Ryan Myers, Brandy Bower, Beau Stewart, Dave Dickson, Mark Imler, Eddie Slone, Brian Benson, Nate Reeser, Adam Strausser, Nathan Skaggs, Jimmy Nier, Taylor Ferns
Hard Charger: Brandy Bower 20th to 10th
803Fire.com AMRA Late Models (19)
Heat One: Jeremy Berwanger, R.J. Conley, J.T. Conley, Greggie Oliver, Brian Eaton, Ronnie Whitt, Joe Whitt, Rusty Yarger, Jeff Arnold
Heat Two: Jason Montgomery, Delmas Conley, Mark Frazier, Jay Helton, Chris Shannon, Matt Melvin, Joe Buskirk, Tommy Mossbarger, Derick Chaney
Feature: R.J. Conley, Jason Montgomery, J.T.Conley, Delmas Conley,Chris Shannon, Jeremy Berwanger, Jay Helton, Matt Melvin, Mark Frazier, Brian Eaton, Joe Whitt, Joe Buskirk, Ronnie Whitt, Rusty Yarger, Jeff Arnold, Tommy Mossbarger, Derek Chaney, Greggie Oliver.
Hard-Charger: Chris Shannon 10th to 5th
Precision Grading AMRA Modifieds (21)
Heat One: Kenny Johnson, Adam Colley, Eric Berry, Jackie Boggs, Brandon Oliver, Seth Daniels, Rick Shutts
Heat Two: Frankie Hall, Dave Pinkerton, Shawn Holiday, Brian Wilburn, Bud Frazier, Glenn East, Zack Ackley
Heat Three: Greggie Oliver, Jason Montgomery, Jimmy Lennex, Brian Whiteman, Dave Jamison, Mike Conkle, Jeff Votaw
Feature: Kenny Johnson, Greggie Oliver, Adam Colley, Shawn Holiday, Jimmy Lennex, Dave Jamison, Frankie Hall, Seth Daniels, Brian Whiteman, Brandon Oliver, Mike Conkle, Zack Ackley, Eric Berry, Rick Shutts, Jackie Boggs, Dave Pinkerton, Jason Montgomery, Brian Wilburn, Glenn East, Bud Frazier, Jeff Votaw
Hard Charger-Dave Jamison 15th to 6th
305 RaceSaver Sprints (4)
Heat: Sean Hosey, Dustin Hammond, Andy Hill, and Mike Downs
Feature: Sean Hosey, Dustin Hammond, Andy Hill, and Mike Downs
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