Skyline Speedway Results 6-14-2013

By Scott Wolfe
STEWART, OHIO-Batting .400 in Major League Baseball will get you a million dollar contract. In auto racing, posting a .400 average makes you an icon, but perfection is nearly non-existent. Kenny Johnson, Mineral Wells, West Virginia has gone 4-for-4 in the Octane Race Products AMRA Modified division after Friday night’s win at Billy Jarrell’s Skyline Speedway. The Kryptonite AMRA Late Model show was a barnburner for winner Chris Garnes, Evans, WV, who posted the win over Fast Freddie Carpenter; while Jimmy Nier, Piketon, Ohio claimed his second Skyline win of the year in the Ohio Valley Sprint Car Association A-main. Adam Douglas won the Mike’s Auto Body Mini-Wedge main.
In the wake of the tragic fatal accident of NASCAR and World of Outlaw star Jason Leffler, sprint car stat Danny Smith sold his shirts and donated not just the proceeds but the entire amount of sales totaling $2,159 to Charlie Leffler, the five year old son of Jason Leffler. The gesture was a first class act from a true champion in Danny and Stephanie Smith.
Three exciting heat races set the stage for the 25-lap Kryptonite LM A-main, pitting fast qualifier Fast Freddie Carpenter on the pole and 3-time defending champ Chris Garnes on the outside pole. Third heat winner Steve Bigley started third. Garnes got the jump, but was immediately challenged by Carpenter, who raced Garnes tooth-and-nail every inch of the 25 laps. The race was epic in every way. Although racers back in the pack fought for position, all eyes were on the top spot. Garnes was locked into a mid-high groove while Carpenter whizzed around the inside. In the turns Carpenter would edge by the defending champ, but Garnes’ momentum gave him a small edge upon turn exits. Following a restart, Garnes sought to seal off the inside and move to the bottom with Carpenter zooming to the top. Side by side for the duration of the race, Carpenter led lap 16 only to have Garnes strike back and retake the lead and win by a car length at the finish.
Travis Brookover drove a steady race to third and in the first seven laps Brookover was in the fray with Carpenter and Garnes. Ralph Withem caught Brookover at the finish, but settled for fourth. Withem won a race-long battle with Derek Doll, Steve Bigley, and Dan Morrison for that spot, while Randy Armes, Pete Crum, and Bob Adams, Jr. each ran hard-fought races. Bigley was shuffled back to 9th at the finish.
Behind Garnes in the top ten were Freddie Carpenter, Travis Brookover, Ralph Withem, Derek Doll, Dan Morrison, Randy Armes, Steve Bigley, Pete Crum, and Bob Adams, Jr. The hard chargers were Randy Armes and Jeremy Blake each moving up three positions; Armes from 10th to 7th and Blake from 17th to 14th.
The win was Garnes’s second win of the season. The race was run in 8 minutes and 18 seconds, including one caution flag.
Veteran driver “No Fear” Jimmy Nier claimed his second win of the season in the OVSCA 410 Sprint main. Nier sat on the outside pole as second heat winner alongside first heat winner Mark Imler. Imler spun the wheels in the middle of the turn and collected the cars of Lance Webb, Kory Crabtree, Dave Dickson, and Andre Layfield. Crabtree, Dickson, and Layfield went to the tail. That set the stage for some high-speed adrenaline rushes for the fans.
On the restart Wes McGlumphy had the pole, but Nier throttle up as McGlumphy appeared to ring his tires. Ryan Broughton momentarily took the lead, but that was as close as anyone came to the barnstorming Nier. Nier slowly pulled away and continued to stretch his lead to the finish.
Young drivers Broughton and Nathan Skaggs held off the challenges of Danny Smith in a run for the top three. After a tail restart, Layfield had worked his way to a top five only to fade to seventh behind a recovering McGlumphy and Josh Davis. Wayne McPeek had a great run going from 16th to 6th, but blew a tire on the 23rd circuit. Jimmy Stinson had a great run going as well, but looped it on the do-over of the 23rd circuit and went pitside.
McGlumphy restarted well to move up two spots, while another hard-charge Kory Crabtree sliced-and-diced to a top ten ahead of veterans Keith Baxter and Dave Dickson. In the Sprints the hard charger was Kory Crabtree moving up nine positions from 17th to 8th. Dickson moved up from 18th to tenth and Layfield 15th to 7th.
During hot laps, Aaron Higgins jumped the cushion and flipped hard numerous times off the backstretch and out of the ball park in turn three. Higgins was momentarily shaken, but uninjured
Rounding out the top ten behind Nier were Broughton, Nathan Skaggs, Danny Smith, Wes McGlumphy, Josh Davis, Andre Layfield, Kory Crabtree, Keith Baxter, and Dave Dickson.
Kenny Johnson is perfect ! At least at Skyline Speedway in 2013. The veteran and defending champion endured 14 laps of heavy resistance from J.P. Roberts. Reflective of the late Model main, the Octane Race Products Modified feature looked to follow the same script.
Roberts, however, bobbled once and that cost him a shot at the roses. Jeremy Berwanger, the “Murray City Bandit” took over second and raced through traffic with Johnson for the next five laps, only to have a charging Robbie Evans take the runner-up slot.
Gary Gould continued his string of good runs, anchoring down fourth after fending off a quartet of challenges from four different drivers. About midway through the race, John Burdette sat up on the wheel and went hammer down, one of only a handful of cars that wondered off the bottom like Johnson. Burdette picked off a car a lap until Gould held off the veteran at the start-finish line for fourth.
Ultimately, Johnson blitzed to his fourth Skyline win of the year and 10th overall.
Roberts recovered to finish sixth ahead of Roberts, Andy Bond, Mike McPherson, Robert Garnes, and Tyler Evans. The top five were Johnson, Evans, Berwanger, Gould, and Burdette, the hard charger in a 12th to 5th place run.
Next week is Kids Goldrush week, while June 28th is the 5th Annual Greg Schilling Memorial paying a $17,000 purse for AMRA Octane Modifieds.
For more information please visit << www.skylinespeedway.net >> Skyline Speedway on ********, or call 304-539-4410; 304-542-8322, or the track phone at 740-662-4111.

The summary: June 14, 2012

410 Sprint Cars (24)
Fast Time: Danny Smith 12:77
Alky Race Fuels Heat One: Mark Imler, Ryan Broughton, Danny Smith, Keith Baxter, Greg Mitchell, Bob Tucker, David Smith, John Shewbrooks
Racegear by Impact Heat Two: Jimmy Nier, Nathan Skaggs, Josh Davis, Andre Layfield, Eddie Slone, Nick Ley, Brian Benson, Jeff Conrad (DNS)
Octane Race Products Heat Three: Wes McGlumphy, Lance Webb, Kory Crabtree, Dave Dickson, Jimmy Stinson, Wayne McPeek, Eric Martin
B-Main: Wayne McPeek, Nick Ley, Eric Martin, Bob Tucker, Brian Benson, David Smith, John Shewbrooks
Feature: Jimmy Nier, Ryan Broughton, Nathan Skaggs, Danny Smith, Wes McGlumphy, Josh Davis, Andre Layfield, Kory Crabtree, Keith Baxter, Dave Dickson, Greg Mitchell, Eddie Slone, Eric Martin, Nick Ley, Jimmy Stinson, Wayne McPeek, Mark Imler, Lance Webb

KRYPTONITE AMRA Late Models (21)
Fast Time: Freddie Carpenter 13:74
Heat One: Freddie Carpenter, Travis Brookover, Derek Doll, Randy Armes, Tony Roush, Larry Bond, J.R. Crum
Heat Two: Chris Garnes, Dan Morrison, Pete Crum, Andy Bond, Tyler French, Tanner Hendrix, Johnny Vandale (DNS)
Heat Three: Steve Bigley, Ralph Withem, Bob Adams, Jr., Jason Gillian, Brian Eaton, Jeremy Blake, Tom Hendrix
B-Main: Larry Bond, Jeremy Blake, J.R. Crum, Tom Hendrix, Johnny Vandale, Tanner Hendrix
Feature: Chris Garnes, Freddie Carpenter, Travis Brookover, Ralph Withem, Derek Doll, Dan Morrison, Randy Armes, Steve Bigley, Pete Crum, Bob Adams, Jr., Andy Bond, Tyler French, Jason Gillian, Jeremy Blake, Brian Eaton, Larry Bond, Tony Roush, J.R. Crum

OCTANE AMRA MODIFIEDS (19)
Heat One: J.P. Roberts, Robbie Evans, Mike McPherson, Mitchell Sharp, Kyle Bond, Jason Brooks, Tyler Hendrix
Heat Two: Kenny Johnson, Andy Bond, Tyler Evans, Robert Garnes, Shawn Donahue, Chad Roush
Heat Three: Jeremy Berwanger, Gary Gould, Jesse Rupe, John Burdette, Brad Stone, Jeremy Blake
B-Main: Jeremy Blake, Jason Brooks, Tyler Hendrix, Chad Roush
Feature: Kenny Johnson, Robbie Evans, Jeremy Berwanger, Gary Gould, John Burdette, J.P. Roberts, Andy Bond, Mike McPherson, Robert Garnes, Tyler Evans, Jesse Rupe, Jason Brooks, Tyler Hendrix, Brad Stone, Mitchell Sharp, Kyle Bond, Shawn Donahue, Jeremy Blake

Mike’s Auto Body Mini-Wedges (11)
Heat One: Coleman Evans, Austin Washburn, Adam Douglas, Tanner Martin, Kasey Rankin
Heat Two: Ryan Bigley, Aiden Powell, Hunter Krivesti, Kalista Barnes, Seth LaGraff, Evan McPherson
Feature: Adam Douglas, Coleman Evans, Austin Washburn, Aiden Powell, Hunter Krivesti, Tanner Martin, Seth LaGraff, Kasey Rankin, Ryan Bigley, Kalista Barnes, Evan McPherson (DNS)