Bluegrass
Speedway
2221
New Haven Road
Bardstown,
KY 40004
2009
Official Media Release #8 (For Immediate Distribution-April 19, 2009)
Rattliff,
Kramer, Hagan, and Cozzin, Jr. Winners of Season Opener at Bluegrass Speedway
Bardstown,
KY-April 18, 2009- Bluegrass Speedway opened its gates for the 2009 season
opening event on Saturday evening and Justin Rattliff of Campbellsville, KY
scored the victory in the 44 Auto Mart Super Late Model feature event for his
first career victory at the ½ mile Nelson County clay oval.
Joey Kramer of Hanover, IN would score the win in the Modified feature
event, while Pat Hagan of New Haven, KY would see the checkered flag first in
the WBRT 1320-AM Sportsman feature, with Mike Cozzin, Jr. of Borden, IN the
winner in the Street Stock main event.
Michael
Chilton would grab the lead at the start of the 25 lap 44 Auto Mart Super Late
Model feature event, with Jason Keltner, Justin Rattliff, Terry Casey, and
Dustin Linville giving chase. Rattliff
would charge from his third starting spot to grab second from Keltner on lap 2,
with Casey scooting past Keltner for third one circuit later, while Tim Tungate
would drive past Linville for fifth on the same lap.
Rattliff would begin to pressure Chilton for the top spot and would grab
the lead on lap 5. Keltner and
Tungate would begin to duel for fourth, with Tungate taking the spot on lap 7,
only to have his night end prematurely one lap later when the air cleaner came
off his machine and the caution would wave for debris on the track.
The restart would see Rattliff and Chilton quickly pull away from the
field again, with Chilton nipping at Rattliff’s heels, but not able to make a
move. While the lead duo pulled
away from the pack, Keltner and Casey would settle into a spirited door-to-door
battle for the third position. The
leaders would begin to battle slower traffic on lap 17, while the battle for
third heated up even more between Casey and Keltner, with Keltner finally
winning the battle for the three spot on lap 19.
The final caution of the event would fly on lap 22 for a spin by Dylan
Preston in turn two that also collected Kevin Colston, with both able to
continue. The restart would see
Rattliff get a bit of breathing room on the final lap and drive to the win in
the seat of the MGL Auto Sales/Cox Wrecker Service/Campbellsville University/The
Medicine Centre/Gowen’s Auto Glass/Wilson Plumbing/Grant Lee Farms/JET
Pressure Washing/Peterson Fluid Systems/ AFCO Racing Products sponsored #16
Rocket Chassis, Pro Power Race Engines machine.
Chilton and Keltner would take second and third, with Linville nipping
Casey at the checkered flag for fourth. The
remainder of the top ten would be Ed Behn, Johnny Wheeler, Larry Greer, Bobby
Carrier, Jr., and Kevin Colston. Chilton
was the top qualifier among 14 entries with time of 16.012 seconds and would
also win the dash, while Tungate would score the heat win.
The
20 lap Modified feature event would be the Joey Kramer show as Kramer would
rocket to the lead at the drop of the green flag and simply dominate the entire
way in picking up the Modified main event checkered flag aboard the Claudette
Kramer owned Fox Cabinets/Brian Shewmaker’s State Farm Insurance/Larry’s
Truck Service/PBM Performance Products/Bright Beginnings Child Care/AFCO Race
Products sponsored #77 Lightning Chassis, Bullock by Kramer Race Engines unit.
Michael England would finish second, with Benji Lee winning a race-long
battle with Randy Turpin to claim third. Turpin
would finish fourth, while Rocky Wilson would complete the top five at the
finish. Rounding out the top ten
would be Joe Mattingly, Dion Benningfield, Josh Lucas, Brad Schlosser, and
Randall Basham. Kramer would be the
top qualifier in time trials with a lap of 17.231 seconds and also won the dash,
with Robbie Gullion picking up the heat race victory.
In
the WBRT 1320-AM Sportsman main event, Pat Hagan would hold off the advances of
Avral Thompson to pick up the 15 lap feature event win behind the wheel of the
Billy Holbert owned Willard’s Heating and Air/New Haven NAPA/New Haven Car
Wash/ Holbert Auto Recovery sponsored #88 Chevy Monte Carlo unit.
Thompson would take runner-up honors, with Barry Chesser taking third.
Jimmy Bryan and Elton Martin would round out the top five.
Defending class champion Roger Cecil would head up the remainder of the
field, followed by Joe Dunbar, Bartley Grant, and Billy Rigdon.
Eleven entries would see heat race wins go Thompson and Hagan.
In
the most exciting feature finish of the night, Mike Cozzin, Jr. would take the
lead on lap 9 of the 12 lap Street Stock main event and hold off a hard-charging
Shane Lafollette and Timmy Glazer to win the race by a half-car length over
Lafollette, who would only beat Glazer by a half-car length for second.
Cozzin, Jr. would nab the win in his EZ-Eye Advertising sponsored #21
Chevy Impala, with Lafollette and Glazer going second and third, while Brad
Leake and Johnny Cecil would finish fourth and fifth.
Roy Walker would head up the second five, followed by Terry Bartley,
Brian Derringer, Johnny King,a nd Jason Bartley.
Thirteen entries would see heat race checkered flags fall to Leake and
Glazer.
SUMMARY-Bluegrass
Speedway-Bardstown, KY-April 18, 2009
44
Auto Mart Super Late Models (14 entries)
Top
Qualifier- Michael Chilton 16.012
Dash-
Michael Chilton, Jason Keltner, Justin Rattliff, Terry Casey, Ed Behn, Johnny
Wheeler
Heat-
Tim Tungate, Dustin Linville, Larry Greer, Bobby Carrier, Jr.
Feature-
Justin Rattliff, Michael Chilton, Jason Keltner, Dustin Linville, Terry Casey,
Ed Behn, Johnny Wheeler, Larry Greer, Bobby Carrier, Jr., Kevin Colston, Dylan
Preston, Terry Keltner, Tim Tungate, Joey Rigdon
Modifieds
(15 entries)
Top
Qualifier- Joey Kramer 17.231
Dash-
Joey Kramer, Josh Lucas, Michael England, Benji Lee, Joe Mattingly, Randy Turpin
Heat-
Robbie Gullion, Rocky Wilson, Dion Benningfield, Brad Schlosser
Feature-
Joey Kramer, Michael England, Benji Lee, Randy Turpin, Rocky Wilson, Joe
Mattingly, Dion Benningfield, Josh Lucas, Brad Schlosser, Randall Basham, Jeremy
Hisel, Sam Huffer, Gary Parks, Joe David Humphrey (DNS-Robbie Gullion)
WBRT
1320-AM Sportsman (11 entries)
1st
Heat- Avral Thompson, Bartley Grant, Jimmy Bryan, Joe Dunbar
2nd
Heat- Pat Hagan, Barry Chesser, Roger Cecil, Elton Martin
Feature-
Pat Hagan, Avral Thompson, Barry Chesser, Jimmy Bryan, Elton Martin, Roger
Cecil, Joe Dunbar, Bartley Grant, Billy Rigdon (DNS-Paul Lewis, Sr., Robbie
Settles)
Street
Stocks (13 entries)
1st
Heat- Brad Leake, Shane Lafollette, Mike Cozzin, Jr., Johnny King
2nd
Heat- Timmy Glazer, Roy Skaggs, Johnny Cecil, Jason Bartley
Feature-
Mike Cozzin, Jr., Shane Lafollette, Timmy Glazer, Brad Leake, Johnny Cecil, Roy
Walker, Terry Bartley, Brian Derringer, Johnny King, Jason Bartley, Steve
Thompson, Joe Walker (DNS-Willie Edelen)