Fan Appreciation Night to Nier, Berwanger
8 min read
By Scott Wolfe
CHILLICOTHE, OHIO-A nearly full house estimated at several thousand packed the stands for “Fan Appreciation Night” at Brad McCown’s Atomic Speedway Saturday night where Jimmy Nier, Piketon, Ohio brought home the 410 Outlaw Sprint win. A stout field of 37 sprint cars packed the pit area for what proved to be a wildly exciting night. Jeremy Berwanger, “The Murray City Bandit” rode away with the 25-lap Late Model main event win, while Kenny ‘Worth the Price of Admission’ Johnson claimed the AMRA Modified crown–his fourth of the season at Atomic– and Jamie Adams won the Street Stocks.
Thirty Seven cars representing five states– Ohio, West Virginia, Kentucky, Indiana, and Michigan– were whittled down to the twenty car starting A-main field. Jimmy Nier blasted from sixth to third on the first lap as Nathan Skaggs raced Sam Ashworth to the start-finish line to lead the first lap. Skaggs led the next nine circuits before Nier chased him down to take the lead. Aaron Higgins gave his mount a great ride in a fifteenth to tenth place run, while Ryan Brought barnstormed through the pack from 17th to 9th.
“No Fear” Jimmy Nier continued to lead while Skaggs persistently tried to retake the lead, only to fall to a hard-charging Danny Smith. Ashworth, Mark Imler and Brandy Bower hammered it out for position, while Jimmy Stinson and Cole Duncan made late-race surges toward the front.
By lap 16 Smith had his radar locked in on Nier. Two laps later Smith was right on Nier’s coattails and actually inched by in turn number three. With heavy traffic on the horizon, Nier regained momentum off four and led by a car length in turns one and two. Nier’s race winning pass in his #00 Fisher powered Maxim came in turn three when Nier blitzed between the lapped cars of Chris Myers and Cody Gardner. The door slammed shut on Smith, who had to fight past those lapped cars, allowing Nier to open up a convincing margin of victory at the flag stand. Heat winners were Sam Ashworth, Cole Duncan, Nier, and Jimmy Stinson. Ryan Broughton and Dave Dickson won each of the two B-mains.
Rounding out the top ten were Jimmy Nier, Danny Smith, Nathan Skaggs, Jimmy Stinson, Cole Duncan, Mark Imler, Sam Ashworth, Brandy Bower, Ryan Broughton, and Aaron Higgins. The Hummel Factory Kahne Shock Hard Charger was Ryan Broughton with a 17th to 9th place run.
“It’s great to see all these fans in the stands,” smiled an excited Nier. “I’d like to thank everyone for coming out tonight for $5 night and thanks to my crew for giving me a good race car. I heard Danny back there and knew I had to do something. I saw a tight hole open up between those two lapped cars and said to myself ‘It’s now or never’ and went for the opportunity. That probably saved us a down to the wire battle with Danny (Smith).”
The Late Model feature was one of pure dominance for “The Murray City Bandit” Jeremy Berwanger, whose Billy Lloyd Engines/Audie Swartz race cars #44j blasted to victory in only his second-ever late model run at Atomic. The former AMRA Modified Champ and Skyline Champion moved to the Late Models and already has two feature wins.
A pair of Bobst Auto Parts cautions slowed the field, giving Greggie Oliver a shot at victory. Oliver tried Berwanger several times on the restarts, but each time Berwanger would get heat in his tires and take off toward the win.
For Berwanger it was smooth sailing the last five laps as he worked traffic to perfection for the Late Model win. While many cars tailed out on corner exit, Berwanger was straight and smooth. Berwanger had got the jump on third generation driver J.T. Conley, who had earlier set fast time. Conley held second for eight laps, before giving way to Oliver.
An all-out ‘Battle Royale” between John Whitney, Jr., Kevin Wagner, and Billy Gullion highlighted some of the best racing on the track. Whitney sacked Wagner and Gullion and at one time was making a run on the top three, only to be stymied of any further hopes of advancing.
Berwanger brought home the win ahead of Greggie Oliver, J.T. Conley, John Whitney, Jr., Kevin Wagner, Billy Gullion, Chris Shannon, Russ Frohnaphel, Joe Brewer, and Mick Sansom. Several drivers picked up a couple positions in the run for hard charger. Late Model racing returns June 14 for Veteran’s Night. Veterans are admitted for $5 with military ID.
Berwanger said, “Special Thanks to Tim Dohm and Jackie Boggs. Audie Swartz builds a great race car. The car would run anywhere, up high, down low, just about any place I pointed it. This engine is from my Modified, so it’s getting a little tired. But when the track dried out, the car hooked up great. It’s great to get a win here at Atomic in the Late Model.”
Kenny Johnson, Mineral Wells, West Virginia has many nicknames and all in some way describe his wildly incredible driving style. Brandon Oliver took the early lead over Mark Bailey with Johnson quickly up to third. On lap two Johnson claimed Bailey then a couple markers later Johnson roared by Oliver and soared toward victory. Bryan Whiteman caught fire late in the race and at one point was the fastest car on the track. Fireball Pinkerton charged from 10th to fourth and was gaining on the leaders, when something went awry on his #8.
Philip Bapst, the hard charger last week, again was impressive with a solid run into the top five. Whiteman and Bapst battled with Mark Dickson and Pinkerton most of the race. Bailey and Jess Hartman joined Jason Cottrill and Donnie Miller on runs into the top ten.
Meanwhile, the dazzling Johnson bobbed and weaved through traffic to claim his eighth overall win of the year to go with seven second place finishes.
Kenny Johnson, Brandon Oliver, Brian Whiteman, Philip Bapst, Mark Dickson, Mark Bailey, Jess Hartman, Jason Cottrill, Donnie Miller, and Mike Conkle rounded out the top ten. Conkle went from 15th to tenth, Bapst from 9th to fourth, and Justin Murray 17th to 12th, all picking up five positions for hard-charger honors.
“How about those Atomic Speedway fans. I love Atomic Speedway and I love these Atomic Speedway fans,” cited Johnson to a round of resounding cheers. “It’s been a good year and tonight was a good night. Thanks to everyone that turned out tonight. I hope you had fun and come back June 14th. I’ll be here! Also thanks to my crew and sponsors for helping me get to victory lane.”
Jamie Adams drove the Jim Hildebrand #427–an Adams Chassis with what Adams dubbed a “tired old Ford with 48 races on it” under the hood. Adams blasted into the lead and rode off into the sunset far ahead of the rest of the pack. Newcomer Rob Smith had a strong run into second with a late race pass of four-time winner Dean Boyd. Adam Jones charged from the back to fourth, while the rest of the pack fought hard for position.
“The engine was tired but when the track slicked up it was just what we liked,” said Adams. “I hope to have the Late Model out soon, but there is a big two-day show for Street Stocks next week and we wanted to shake this car down for that big race.”
Jamie Adams, Rob Smith, Dean Boyd, Adam Jones, Tommy Mossbarger, Dave Landman, Tim Cutler, Justin Poling, Brian McQuay, and Larry Highland rounded out the top ten.. Adam Jones was the hard-charger in a 7th to fourth place run.
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. There will be no racing next Saturday June 7th, but action returns in two weeks for Veterans Appreciation Night on June 14th.
Coming Events
June 14- Veterans Night: Sprints, AMRA Modifieds, Street Stocks, Sport Mods
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- 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 May 31, 2014
PINE TREE TOWING AND RECOVERY 410 Sprints (37)
Fast Time: Danny Smith 13:540
Heat One-Cole Duncan, Danny Smith, Ronnie Blair, Josh Davis, Cody Gardner, Ryan Broughton, Cody Gardner, Wes McGlumphy, Nate Reeser, George Hawkins
Heat Two- Sam Ashworth, Brandy Bower, Chris Myers, Aaron Higgins, Brian Benson, Bob Tucker, Brian Nuckles, John Shewbrooks, Mark Coleman
Heat Three-Jimmy Nier, Nathan Skaggs, Kirk Jeffries, Ryan Myers, Dave Dickson, Taylor Ferns, Brice Dickson, Rick Fraley, Dean Kester
Heat Four-Jimmy Stinson, Mark Imler, Jesse McCreary, Jamie Myers, Eddie Slone, Tom Bush, Kevin Sabo, Cale Thom as, Todd Kane,
B-Main One: Ryan Broughton, Cody Gardner, Wes McGlumphy, Brian Benson, Bob Tucker, Brian Nuckles, Jeff Conrad, Mark Coleman, John Shewbrooks, Nate Reeser
B-Main Two: Dave Dickson, Eddie Slone, Taylor Ferns, Tom Bush, Brice Dickson, Kevin Sabo, Rick Fraley, Cale Thompson, Dean Kester, Todd Kane
Feature: Jimmy Nier, Danny Smith, Nathan Skaggs, Jimmy Stinson, Cole Duncan, Mark Imler, Sam Ashworth, Brandy Bower, Ryan Broughton, Aaron Higgins, Jesse McCreary, Josh Davis, Ron Blair, Kirk Jeffries, Eddie Slone, Chris Myers, Cody Gardner, Jamie Myers, Ryan Myers, Dave Dickson
GULLION ENTERPRISES AMRA LATE MODELS (16)
Fast Time: J.T. Conley 15:880
Heat One- J.T. Conley, Greggie Oliver, Kevin Wagner, Chris Shannon, Joe Brewer, Brandon Conkel, Avery Taylor, Braden Roof
Heat Two-Jeremy Berwanger, Billy Gullion, Kevin Wagner, Brian Casey, Russ Fronaphel, Mick Sansom, Brandon Thompson
Feature: Jeremy Berwanger, Greggie Oliver, J.T. Conley, John Whitney, Jr., Kevin Wagner, Billy Gullion, Chris Shannon, Russ Frohnaphel, Joe Brewer, Mick Sansom, Brandon Thompson, Brian Casey, Avery Taylor, Braden Roof, Brandon Conkel
ADVANCE SERVICES H & c AMRA MODIFIEDS (20)
Fast Time: Jess Hartman 15:809
Heat One-Jess Hartman, Mark Bailey, Jason Cottrill, Fireball Pinkerton, Bob Crace, Jr., Glenn Keaton
Heat Two-Brian Whiteman, Brandon Oliver, Jimmy Lennex, Matt Holcomb, Justin Murray, Mike Long, Glen East,
Heat Three-Kenny Johnson, Mark Dickson, Phil Bapst, Donnie Miller, Mike Conkle, Jeff Surber, Brian Moore,
Feature: Kenny Johnson, Brandon Oliver, Brian Whiteman, Philip Bapst, Mark Dickson, Mark Bailey, Jess Hartman, Jason Cottrill, Donnie Miller, Mike Conkle, Bob Crace, Jr., Justin Murray, Matt Holcomb, Brian Moore, Glen East, Dave Fireball Pinkerton, Mike Long, Jeff Surber, Glenn Keaton, Jimmy Lennex
STREET STOCKS (10)
Heat One-Jamie Adams, Tim Cutler, Rob Smith, Dean Boyd, Tommy Mossbarger, Dave Landman, Adam Jones, Justin Poling, Brian McQuay
Feature: Jamie Adams, Rob Smith, Dean Boyd, Adam Jones, Tommy Mossbarger, Dave Landman, Tim Cutler, Justin Poling, Brian McQuay, Larry Highland
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