Bluegrass Speedway

2221 New Haven Road

Bardstown , Kentucky   40004

                                            

2009 Official Media Release #47 (For Immediate Distribution:  August 2, 2009)  

Contact-Michael Despain (Mdespain7@aol.com and/or dirttrackracing@hotmail.com)

 

Victor Lee Victorious in 11th Annual Bluegrass 50 at Bluegrass Speedway

 

Bardstown, KY-August 1, 2009- The O’Reilly Battle of the Bluegrass DirtCar Series presented by Graphic Impressions was in action on Saturday evening at Bluegrass Speedway for the 11th Annual Bluegrass 50 and Victor Lee of Stanford, KY would nip Terry English coming off turn four to the checkered flag to capture the $5,000 payday.  Other feature winners included Pat Hagan of New Haven, KY in WBRT 1320-AM Sportsman and Jason Wheatley of Loretto, KY in Modifieds.             

 

After one false start, action would get underway and Johnny Wheeler and David Webb would duel for the lead, with Wheeler leading lap 1.  Webb would take the lead on lap 2 over Wheeler, followed by Jason Keltner, Terry English, and Dustin Linville.  English would slide to the third spot on lap 3, with Keltner dogging him still for the spot.  Victor Lee would make his way into the top five on lap four, while English began to pressure Wheeler for second.  English would gain the runner-up slot on lap 6 as Lee began to challenge Keltner for fourth.  Lee would motor into the fourth position on lap 7, while Lee continued his charge from his eighth starting spot by wheeling past Wheeler on lap 8 for the third spot.  Keltner and Wheeler would then battle door-to-door for the fourth spot and Keltner would claim fourth on lap 10 as Dustin Neat would join the fray and make it three wide at one point.  Race leader Webb would begin to work slower traffic by lap 12 and English would slowly start to reel in the race leader.  The battle for fourth continued with three-wide action between Keltner, Wheeler, and Neat as the first caution waved on lap 15 when Jerry Rutherford looping his machine in front of race leader Webb, who narrowly missed the spinning car.  The restart would see the caution wave as the field worked into turn one when Duane Chamberlain spun his machine, collecting Justin Rattliff and Todd Coffman in the tangle.  Back underway, English began to pressure Webb for the top spot, while Wheeler would retake fourth in yet another three wide battle with Keltner and Neat.  The lead duo of Webb and English would be in dead heat at the line on lap 17 before English grabbed the top spot off turn two on lap 18.  Webb and Lee would then begin a spirited battle for the runner-up spot, while Wheeler held on to fourth, with Neat taking fifth on lap 21 and grabbing fourth on lap 22.  As the field saw the halfway signal, English was motoring away from the field, while Webb and Lee dueled for the second position.  English would start working slower traffic on lap 29 as Lee would finally win the battle for second over Webb one circuit later.  The front five would remain the same until the next caution flag waved on lap 37 when Jason Keltner would roll his mount to a stop at the top of the track at the entrance to turn one.  After action resumed, Lee would dog English for the top spot, while Neat pressured Webb for third when the final caution of the event waved on lap 39 for a spin by Todd Coffman.  When the green flag waved for the final time, English and Lee resumed their battle, while Neat would drive past Webb for third.  Linville would make his way back into the top five past Wheeler on lap 41.  The next few circuits would see Lee drop back a bit and then mount one last charge on lap 46.  As English would change his line to protect the bottom of the race surface, Lee would pedal his mount upstairs to the high side as the white flag was displayed.  Lee would pull alongside English off of turn two and the duo raced side-by-side into turn three, with Lee able to pull past English exiting turn four and taking the win by a half-car length, with Neat, Webb, and Linville completing the top five.  Lee would take the win in the seat of the Steve West and Gary Craig owned Quality Pawn/Advance Auto Parts/Kentucky’s Best Racing/ West Towing/Corder’s Competition Engines/American Racer Tires sponsored #55 C.J. Rayburn Race Cars, Corder’s Competition Engines powered machine.  The remainder of the top ten would be 17th starting Duane Chamberlain, Tanner English, Johnny Wheeler, 18th starting Jeff Watson, and Todd Coffman.  In preliminary action, David Webb was the Racing Optics Top Qualifier among 22 entries with a lap of 14.877 seconds.  Heat race checkered flags went to Webb in Wayne Bowen Racing Supply heat one, Wheeler in Graphic Impressions heat two,  and Jason Keltner in C.J. Rayburn Race Cars heat three.                    

 

The 15 lap WBRT 1320-AM Sportsman main event would see Pat Hagan outduel Avral Thompson and the start of the event and ride on to grab his sixth feature event win in the division for the season.  Hagan’s win came aboard the Billy Holbert owned Willard’s Heating and Air/New Haven NAPA/New Haven Car Wash/New Haven Quick Stop/Holbert Auto Recovery sponsored #88 Chevy Monte Carlo.  Thompson would finish in second, with third through fifth being scored by Robbie Settles, Barry Chesser, and Rob Jones.  The remainder of the finishing order would be Sam Mull, Joe Dunbar, Jimmy Bryan, and Tim Cummings.  Thompson would be top qualifier among 10 entries, with Hagan also winning the dash, while Mull would claim the heat win.

 

In the Modified main event, it would be the Jason Wheatley show as Wheatley would take the lead at the onset of the 20 lap open-wheel feature event would never be headed in scoring his fourth feature win of the season at Bluegrass in the Kaylee and Tommy Wheatley owned B&W Metals/VFM Manufacturing/Wheatley Tile Flooring/Wheatley Seamless Gutters/Wheatley Auto Sales/Brian Wheatley Landscaping/Cozy Corner/Rosewood Golf Course/Gootee and Mattingly Heat and Air/Central Kentucky Electric and Plumbing/Brady Excavating/St. Joe Garage/Wayne Bowen Racing Supply/Knopp Siding sponsored #7 Larry Shaw Race Cars, Mullins Race Engines powered mount.  Dion Benningfield would win a battle with Benji Lee over the final few laps for the second spot, with Randy Turpin and Joe Gray completing the top five.  Rounding out the top ten would be Adam Cole, Rocky Wilson, Brad Schlosser, Tommy Carlton, and Sam Huffer.

 

SUMMARY-Bluegrass Speedway-Bardstown, KY-August 1, 2009   

 

O’Reilly Battle of the Bluegrass Super Late Models (22 entries)

Racing Optics Top Qualifier- David Webb 14.877      

Wayne Bowen Racing Supply Heat #1- David Webb, Dustin Linville, Mike Marlar, Aaron Hatton, Lee Devasier, Bobby Wolter, Jr., Jerry Rutherford, Terry Keltner      

Graphic Impressions Heat #2- Johnny Wheeler, Terry English, Victor Lee, Tanner English, Justin Rattliff, Duane Chamberlain, Michael Chilton  

C.J. Rayburn Race Cars Heat #3- Jason Keltner, Tim Tungate, Dustin Neat, Todd Coffman, Larry Greer, Jeff Watson, Ed Behn

11th Annual Bluegrass 50 REAL Racing Wheels A-Main- Victor Lee, Terry English, Dustin Neat, David Webb, Dustin Linville, Duane Chamberlain, Tanner English, Johnny Wheeler, Jeff Watson, Todd Coffman, Lee Devasier, Tim Tungate, Ed Behn, Mike Marlar, Jason Keltner, Jerry Rutherford, Michael Chilton, Justin Rattliff, Aaron Hatton, Bobby Wolter, Jr., Larry Greer (DQ-Terry Keltner)

 

WBRT 1320-AM Sportsman (10 entries)

Top Qualifier- Avral Thompson

Dash- Pat Hagan, Avral Thompson, Rob Jones, Robbie Settles, Jimmy Bryan, Barry Chesser

Heat- Sam Mull, Joe Dunbar, Tim Cummings, Elton Martin

Feature- Pat Hagan, Avral Thompson, Robbie Settles, Barry Chesser, Rob Jones, Sam Mull, Joe Dunbar, Jimmy Bryan, Tim Cummings (DNS- Elton Martin)

 

Modifieds (14 entries)

1st Heat- Jason Wheatley, Randy Turpin, Dion Benningfield, Benji Lee

2nd Heat- Joe Gray, Brad Schlosser, Randall Basham, Sam Huffer

Feature- Jason Wheatley, Dion Benningfield, Benji Lee, Randy Turpin, Joe Gray, Adam Cole, Rocky Wilson, Brad Schlosser, Tommy Carlton, Sam Huffer, Matt Watkins (DNS- Gary Parks, Michael England, Randall Basham)