BRISTOL ASA LATE MODEL 200, August 7-9, 2008

Schedule tentative. Subject to change.

TICKETS: General Admission $15; Children 12-and-under free with ticketed adult
PIT PASSES: (Under 18 requires parental waiver, strict guidelines for children under 15 enforced)

2 day ASA member - $50
2 day non-member - $60
Friday only $30
Saturday only $35

A&G Coal Night at the Races

by: Shawn Peters, 84expo.com

(Coeburn, VA – 08/02/08) Saturday night short track action returned to ASA Sanctioned Lonesome Pine Raceway to kick off the month of August in style. The night's racing action was sponsored by the A& G Coal Corporation and featured the familiar Pure-4, Mod-4, Charger, Street Stock, and Late Model Divisions. Also on schedule for the evening were the Faster Pastor and the touring Super Cup Stock Car Series events. The Saturday afternoon qualifying session saw Alan Woodruff take home his 3rd consecutive Pure-4 Pole Award in as many attempts. Pole winners in the other weekly divisions were Rocky Yates in Mod-4, Freddie Taylor, Jr. in Charger, Chuck Crigger in Street Stock, and Nate Monteith for the 7th time this season in the Late Model Division.

Former LPR competitor and current NASCAR Nationwide Series regular Eric McClure
takes a break from the grueling schedule to enjoy a night of racing back home at The Pine

Per track rule, last week's feature winner Alan Woodruff (07) started the race from the 10th position in the Pure-4 event. This allowed the inside row, led by Kenny Nix (37) and Josh Estep (94) to move up in line for the start of the race. By lap 3, Estep had moved around Linton Perry (1) and was challenging Nix for the lead. From the drop of the green flag, Woodruff was also on a mission, moving to the 5th position by lap 6. Other early action on the track saw Forrest Gilley (99) with a tire rub, as well as Lannie Hart (18) pulling behind the wall and dropping 3 laps off the pace making repairs to his car. On lap 11, Mike Collins (7) dropped off the pace, as Perry made a move on Estep to re-claim the 2nd position. The last half of the race was a continuous battle between Nix, Perry, Estep, and Woodruff for the top four positions. Perry made multiple attempts to wrestle the lead away from Nix, but to no avail. Woodruff was able to take the 3rd position away from Estep on the last lap to take the final podium position. Nix celebrated his 2nd victory of the season with another Polish Victory Lap, as Perry, Woodruff, Estep, and Jeff Bobo (9) rounded out the top 5. Perry has now opened up a 46-point lead over 2nd place Marion Guy, who raced in Jeff Bobo's 2nd race car on Saturday after his primary car was unable to be repaired before race day. The Bad Boyz Racing Team said that they would have the familiar #20 back at LPR when weekly racing at The Pine returns on August 30th.

Kenny Nix (37), Linton Perry (1), and Josh Estep (94) battle for the lead

during Pure-4 action at Lonesome Pine Raceway.

The #37 Kenny Nix entry would reach Victory Lane once more during the night, as he received the trophy for winning car owner during the Faster Pastor race. Kenny Crook of Maryville, TN made a last turn pass on Craig Shelton of Flag Pond, TN, who was driving Tony Casteel's #4 machine. A total of seven ministers participated in the Faster Pastor event.

(from left) Miss LPR, Faster Pastor winner Kenny Crook, car owner Kenny Nix

and A&G Coal Corporation representative Beth Clendenon.

Rocky Yates (3) lead the field to the green flag for the 4th time this season at LPR, as Hershel Robinette (9) started the race from the outside pole. At the start of the race, Blake Roark (43) began smoking with what appeared to be a tire rub. John Hickman (20) brought his car to the pit lane on lap 12, followed by a caution for debris on lap 13. After a short investigation, the debris was determined to be a rag and a breather cap, leading officials to believe that someone would soon be leaking oil onto the track. At the drop of the green flag, the running order was Yates, Robinette, Freddie Taylor, Jr. (16), points leader Jody Bostic (44), and Roger Holtsclaw (21). Shortly after the green flag, Hickman brought his car back down pit lane on lap 18 and shortly thereafter, Roark's machine began smoking again on lap 20. The officials' suspicions were confirmed on lap 21, as Jenna Wagner (75) spun around in Turn 2 in what appeared to be oil. The call from the tower called for the #43 of Roark to be black-flagged so that officials could take a look at the car, which resulted in the determination of an oil leak. After making quick repairs, Roark rejoined the field for the restart. Yates began to pull away from the field as Robinette and Taylor, Jr. battled for 2nd place. Although Yates crossed the line first, earning what would appear to be his 4th victory of the year in 6 attempts, the car failed to pass post race tech inspection handing the win to Hershel Robinette. The rest of the top five finishers would be Taylor, Jr., Holtsclaw, Bostic, and Wagner. All drivers in the top 5, with the exception of Bostic, brought home their highest finishes of the year in Mod 4. Veteran in-race reporter Jeff Bobo (22) also made his 2008 Mod 4 debut in preparation for the event to be held at the Bristol Motor Speedway, bringing home a 6th place finish.

Roger Holtsclaw speeds through the turns en route to a 3rd place finish.

Once again, the Charger Division proved to be filled with excitement, hot tempers, and bumper-to-bumper action…all before completion of a green flag lap! Attempt #1 at a clean start saw a four-car pileup that occurred as a result of Paul Shull (48) and Freddie Taylor, Jr. (16) tangling in turns 3 & 4, which also collected Caleb Roark (7) and Mitch Gibson (49). Once the damaged cars made their way to pit road for repairs, the leading group then became Kevin Wolfe (17), Nasty Jones (13), Davey Smart (14), and Josh Hale (88) in preparation for Attempt #2. The second attempt at starting the race made it into turn 2, before Roark went around after a bump from Gibson, causing the officials to throw another yellow flag. Attempt #3 made it into turn 3, until Gibson went in too hot and looped his truck around, forcing officials to throw the yellow flag for a 3rd time before an official lap could be recorded. Persistence paid off, as Attempt #4 to start the Charger Division race finally resulted in green flag action lasting for more than three-eighths of a mile. Shull and a determined Taylor, Jr. began charging through the field, as Gibson began stalking Roark through every turn by using what was left of the "chrome horn". Wolfe's car began showing signs of tire smoke as Nasty Jones tried making his move, hungry for his first victory of the season. As the race wore on, Wolfe began to distance himself from the rest of the pack. Meanwhile, Gibson continued to bump Roark's car in the turns and began to extend the aggressive pressure to the straightaway as well. On lap 21, the #49 of Gibson made contact with the #7 of Roark for the final time exiting turn 2, which resulted in both cars making contact with the outside wall. On the final lap of the race, the #49 of Gibson spun, as the leaders came to the checkers. Kevin Wolfe brought home his first victory at Lonesome Pine Raceway this season, adding to his BMS trophy from last month. The rest of the top five finishers were Nasty Jones, Paul Shull, Davey Smart, and Freddie Taylor, Jr.

Mitch Gibson (49) spins his Charger Division truck for the third time on

the final lap of the 25-lap race at Lonesome Pine Raceway on August 2nd.

Nasty Jones celebrates his season-high 2nd place finish
in the Charger Division with style by conducting his post-race
interview while wearing a pink flamingo hat.

Next up would be the LPR debut of the Super Cup Stock Car Series. Jimmie Crabtree Jr. (63) had won the A&G Pole Award earlier in the evening, but started third on the grid after a series rule mandating that the top qualifiers "draw straws". The beneficiary of the random drawing was the 2nd fastest qualifier Mike Kurkowski (67). By lap 11, Crabtree had moved his way back into the lead, followed by Wally Schwiezer (44), Ryan Miller (71), and new crowd favorite Megan Reitenour (92). On lap 12, Mike Williams (24) lost a tire, sending him into a spin and bringing out the first caution of the race. Shortly after the ensuing restart, Joe Harrison III (75) worked his way into the top 5 on the leader board. On lap 53, Reitenour made a move on Miller to take the 2nd position and quickly set her eyes on the leader. By lap 62, Reitenour was on the rear bumper of Crabtree, leading to a 10-lap battle for the top position that culminated with contact sending the two leaders spinning through turns 3 and 4 on lap 72. When the green flag was shown to the field, Ryan Miller found himself in the lead, followed by Harrison, Schwiezer, Crabtree, and Reitenour. On lap 77, Reitenour made a pass on Crabtree to take the 3rd position; however, Crabtree dumped the #92 in the next turn leading to a yellow flag and a rough driving penalty for the driver of the #63. Harrison calmly stalked the leader for a couple of laps before making the pass for the lead on lap 82 of the race. With 14 laps remaining, the #71 of Ryan Miller and Schwiezer made contact exiting turn 4, which sent Schwiezer into a spin bringing out the final caution of the night. Harrison would hold off Ryan Miller and Megan Reitenour to claim his first career victory in the Super Cup series in only his 5th career stock car race after a long career in go-karts. Rounding out the top five were Jimmie Crabtree Jr. and Wally Schwiezer.

Jimmie Crabtree Jr. (63) spins after making contact with Megan Reitenour (92)

during the Super Cup series race at Lonesome Pine Raceway.

Joe Harrison III (75) hoists his A&G Coal Corporation 100 trophy

high into the air after his first career victory in only his 5th stock car race.

Holding the A&G Coal Corporation logo sign is A&G president Jerry Wharton.

Prior to the Street Stock race, Jeff Counts (11) suffered a broken rear end, which was repaired with the help of fellow competitors Rob (25) and Doug Austin (18), adding to the uniquely friendly, yet competitive nature of the LPR Street Stock Division. At the start of the race, Rob Austin made a pass on pole-sitter Chuck Crigger (71) for the lead. On lap 15, the two leaders began catching lapped traffic, giving Crigger the opportunity to attempt to pass Rob Austin back to reclaim the lead. However, the #25 Camaro was skillfully weaving its way through the lapped cars and not giving Crigger a hole. On lap 24, Steven Duty's car (2) began smoking with what appeared to be an oil leak, causing a caution to check the track on lap 26. This would set up a nine-lap shootout with the top 5 currently being Rob Austin, Crigger, Freddie Taylor, Jr. (16), Doug Austin, and Scott Anderson (7). On lap 30, Counts was able to work his way past Anderson for the 5th position. With his 2nd victory of the season, Rob Austin opens up a 42-point lead over Jeff Counts in the season standings.

Brothers Rob and Doug Austin assist Jeff Counts with replacing the rear end
prior to Street Stock action, proving that coopitition is still the way to go.

Jared Bruner leads Steven Duty through turns 3 & 4 during Street Stock action.

It didn't take long for Wayne Hale (19) to take the lead away form pole-sitter Nate Monteith (44), who entered the night with a 4-point lead over both Wayne Hale and last week's winner Brian Blevins (40) in the Late Model standings. The caution flag flew after one lap of completion, the result of a spin by Blevins, which placed Blevins at the back of the pack for the restart, while Wayne Salyers (5) promptly retired to the garage area with a bad oil leak which had been a consistent problem with the #5 car all season. The restart saw Monteith take the lead away from Hale just as quickly as he had lost it on the previous restart. For the next 30 laps or so, the field stayed in line and rode around the track with very little action. All of that changed, when on lap 36, Monteith's BAM Racing teammate Benjamin Blessing (21) slammed hard into the inside retaining wall on the backstretch after getting squirrelly coming off of turn 2. The hard crash led to a lengthy red flag delay as emergency workers and crewmembers worked to remove debris from the track, guard rail, and clean up fluids left behind from the remains of the Racing For Fallen Heroes Monte Carlo. Once the red flag was lifted, the running order was listed on the scoreboard as Monteith, Wayne Hale, Josh Hale (29), Mike Porter (3), and Blevins. However, on the restart, it was apparent that the #19 of Wayne Hale was suffering from mechanical issues, as he entered the pit with an overheating problem. On lap 38, the caution flag was displayed once again; this time for fluid on the track. On lap 42, Blevins moved into the 2nd position and began chasing down leader Nate Monteith. However, Josh Hale made a late race charge and began heavily contesting Blevins for the 2nd position, ultimately making the pass coming to the finish line on the final lap. Nate Monteith picked up his 4th victory of the season with Josh Hale, Blevins, Porter, and Brian Carrico (2) rounding out the top 5 finishing order.

Benjamin Blessing (21) was unharmed after this violent crash on lap 36

of the August 2nd Late Model feature event at Lonesome Pine Raceway.

The next scheduled event at LPR will be on Saturday, August 30th with the Alpha Natural Resources Night of Racing. Many of LPR's regular competitors will participate in another of the Saturday Night Spectacular events at Bristol Motor Speedway this Saturday, August 9th, in special events for Mod-4, Street Stock, and LPR Charger divisions, which will be run in conjunction with the ASA Super Late Model Touring Series. The special BMS event is another of several co-promotions this season by BMS and LPR.

_______________________________________
Shawn Peters can be contacted at lpr@84expo.com


All material including graphics, text and photos are property of 84expo and/or its partners and are subject to all copyright laws © 2008. All rights reserved. The original listed recipients of the press release are hereby granted permission to print and web use of this press release and included images with inclusion of noted and proper credits, for reporting of this 08/02/08 event.

Complete point standings can be viewed by clicking the "Points" tab at the top of this page.

Event photos can be viewed and purchased by clicking the "Photos" tab at the top of this page.

A&G Coal Corporation to bring Super Cup Stock Car Series to Lonesome Pine Raceway

 The newly formed Super Cup Stock Car Series makes its first appearance at Lonesome Pine Raceway this Saturday August 2nd. The new series has been formed to provide racers with an affordable alternative to race steel bodied race cars that are no longer legal to compete in the USAR Series and Nationwide Series. These 3300 lb machines are equipped with 600 horse power racing engines. So come on out and enjoy the Super Cup Series in the A&G Coal 100, along with the regular weekly divisions of Late Model, Charger, Street Stock, Mod 4’s, and Pure 4’s, just added is a Faster Pastor race.

It should be an excellent night of racing action, so be sure to mark your calendars for this Saturday night’s A&G Coal’s Race Night at the Pine!

Super Cup Series cars and drivers will be available for autographs and photos starting at 6:30 pm with racing action starting at 7pm.

For more information on the Super Cup Stock Car Series, please visit www.supercupstockcarseries.com

Possible Entries for the A&G COAL 100:

2008 LPR Points Chase Tight for Some  

(Coeburn, VA - 07/28/08) The division points standings at ASA sanctioned Lonesome Pine Raceway are beginning to heat up as the season enters the stretch of the final six regular weekly events. After seven events of the 2008 season at LPR Nate Monteith with 328 points leads the Graceway Pharmaceuticals Late Model points standings by only a 4-point margin over Wayne Hale and Brian Blevins who are tied for second with 324 points each. At this point in the season Monteith has three feature wins while Hale and Blevins have two each.  

Freddie Taylor Jr leads the new Advance Auto Parts Charger Division with 292 points, holding a 24-point margin over team driver Caleb Roark, and 28 points over third place Nasty Jones. Paul Shull, who started the season late, leads in total victories with three, and sits 4th in points, 58 points out of first. Freddie Taylor Jr has two feature wins and Kevin Wolfe was victorious in a points race at Bristol Motor Speedway. The Charger Division, at this point, has run one less event than all the other LPR Divisions.  

Rob Austin holds a 34-point lead over Jeff Counts in the Street Stock Division and appears to be well on his way to adding another championship to his credentials.  

Jody Bostic, with 308 points, holds a slim 10-point lead over Freddie Taylor Jr in the Mod4 Division, with Hershel Robinette third and only 4 points behind Taylor Jr.  

Linton Perry, with four wins in seven starts, has 332 points holds a 34 point lead over Marion Guy and 50 points over Tony Casteel. Perry also appears to have the Pure4 championship chase in his control at present.  

The complete driver points standings, provided by 84expo.com, can be viewed by clicking on the "Points" tab at the top of the page.

Blevins Charges Back From Spin to Win at LPR

(Coeburn, VA - 07/26/08)  The racing action at ASA sanctioned Lonesome Pine Raceway for Pepsi Night at the Races had fans on their feet waving drivers on and applauding the on track action as some of the most exciting racing at LPR this season took place before them.  

In the afternoon qualifying session, Alan Woodruff earned his second Pure4 Division pole position in as many appearances, making it two in a row. Rocky Yates picked up his third fast qualifier award of the season in Mod4. Chuck Crigger was fast qualifier in Street Stock, earning his second pole of the year. Freddie Taylor Jr picked up his fourth pole of the year in the Charger Division, and Nate Monteith took yet another Late Model pole, his sixth of the season.  

The evening's racing saw the popular Pure4 Division up first with the #07 Honda of fast qualifier Alan Woodruff leading the field to the green. The race quickly settled into a hotly contested battle between Woodruff, Marion Guy and most recent winner Kenny Nix. By lap 10 the top five running order was Woodruff, Guy, Nix, Linton Perry and Josh Estep. Estep was filling in as driver of the #94 Nissan for vacationing Tom Hodges. The caution flag flew on lap 12 for a spin off turn two by the #70 of Jon Clark. On the restart Kenny Nix began applying serious pressure to the #20 of Guy, and on lap 16 the two touched as Nix tried to move underneath Guy in turn one. Nix backed off to let Guy regain control and the two maintained their positions to the finish. Alan Woodruff picked up his first win of the season in only his second start, with Marion Guy, Kenny Nix, Linton Perry and Tony Casteel rounding out the top five.  

Up next on the program was the Mod4 Division with Rocky Yates and Jody Bostic leading the seven-car field to green.Yates, Bostic and Hershel Robinette quickly opened up a lead as the cars of Richard Adkins, Roger Holtsclaw, Jenna Wagner and Freddie Taylor Jr battled for position behind them. Taylor moved around the #75 of Wagner on lap 4, and the caution flew three laps later as Wagner's car spun off turn 2. Hershel Robinette pitted during the caution and returned to the track just as the field was taking the green, leaving him too far behind to be a contender for the remainder of the event. Wagner retired her #75 to the pits with electrical problems shortly after the restart. Yates raced to his third win in five starts for the season with Jody Bostic, Freddie Taylor, Jr, Roger Holtsclaw and Richard Adkins completing the top five.  

The featured Late Model Division ran third on the program this week and produced some of the most exciting Late Model racing action seen at LPR in quite some time. This week's field included veteran driver Mike Porter of Princeton,West Virginia, making his first 2008 start at LPR, and new drivers Jeff Collingsworth and Brian Carrico making their first ever starts at LPR. At the drop of the green, front row starters Nate Monteith and Brian Blevins raced side-by-side into turn one, and continued side-by-side for two laps before Monteith was able to move into sole possession of the top position. Behind them, Royce Peters, Wayne Hale, Robbie Ferguson, Josh Hale and Bruce Green were in a torrid side-by-side and nose-to-tail battle for positions 3 through 7. The first caution of the event flew on lap 12 after Jeff Collingsworth's #26 Ford Taurus spun off turn 2. Robbie Ferguson made a pass on the low side of Wayne Hale to take over the 3rd position on lap 29, and one lap later the lapped car of Brian Carrico tangled with second running Brian Blevins in turn 3 which resulted inBlevins spinning out.  During the ensuing caution, Ferguson's #32 was brought to pit road so that officials could check for a possible fluid leak which had been reported by another team. Ferguson's car was checked and then allowed to return to his position. Because of the spin, Blevins was relegated to the rear of the field for the restart, and began a charge to the front with the drop of the green which had fans standing and waving the popular young driver on. As Blevins began his charge through the field, Monteith's car suddenly dropped off the pace on lap 35 as a result of a tire leaking down. Peters passed Monteith for the lead, with Ferguson, Wayne Hale, Josh Hale and Bruce Green in hot pursuit. Blevins quickly worked his way by Green, Josh Hale and Monteith. On lap 38, he moved around Wayne Hale on the outside to take 3rd, and two laps later made the same pass on Ferguson for 2nd. On lap 43 Blevins moved around the #38 of Peters to take the lead and lead the final 7 laps to pick up his second win of 2008 at LPR. During the jockeying for position over the race's final laps, Josh Hale got around Wayne Hale for the 4th position on lap 46, and Nate Monteith managed to salvage a 5th place finish coming across the line just ahead of Wayne Hale and Bruce Green.  

LPR's new Charger Division is growing in popularity every week, and this week's action demonstrated yet again just why. Freddie Taylor Jr and Paul Shull lead the field to green, and continued to race side-by-side for six full laps before Shull was able to edge ahead and drop in front of the #16 of Taylor. During that opening six laps, the #17 of Kevin Wolfe was running a close 3rd and looking for any opening to get by either Taylor or Shull. By lap 18 of the 25-lap event, Shull and Taylor started to put a little distance on the 3rd running Wolfe, as Nasty Jones, Caleb Roark and Mitch Gibson raced for position behind them. Shull maintained his lead to the finish to pick up his third Charger Division win of the season. Freddie Taylor Jr, Kevin Wolfe, Nasty Jones and Mitch Gibson completed the top five.  

The final event of the evening was the Street Stock event, which saw popular Chuck Crigger and perennial favorite Rob Austin leading the field to green. Crigger grabbed the lead at the green and never relinquished it, as the #25 of Rob Austin dogged him for the entire 35 laps. The event had one caution flag, on lap 16, as a result of a spin in turn 2 involving the #8 of Jared Bruner and the #7 of Scott Anderson. Both Bruner and Anderson were able to continue after the spin. Following Crigger's #71 machine under the checkers were Rob Austin, Jeff Counts, Doug Austin and Alan Woodruff completing the top five finishers.  

Racing will return to Lonesome Pine Raceway next Saturday August 2nd with A&G Coal Night of Racing, featuring the SuperCup Series Touring Cars. Super Cup cars have six hundred horse power racing engines, and are very similar to Nationwide cars. This will be the first appearance for the Super Cup Series at LPR. After qualifying, the SuperCup cars will line up on the front stretch for an autograph session. The gates will be opened for the spectators to come down and meet the drivers. LPR has a full night of racing scheduled, with all of the track's regular divisions on the program, plus the SuperCup A&G 100 event, and a special "Faster Pastor" event. Spectator gates will open at 5:00 p.m. and racing begins at 7:00.

For complete results click on the "Results" tab at the top of this page.

For up to date points click on the "Points" tab at the top of this page.

Official Host Hotel for BMS Mod-4 Event

The "Official Host Hotel" for the August 9th Mod-4 event at Bristol Motor Speedway will be

Best Western-Johnson City, located at 2406 North Roan St., Johnson City, TN 37601,

phone 423-282-2161 or 877-504-1007.

Competitors should be sure to ask for the special BMS Mod4 event rate.

LPRaceway.net & LonesomePineRaceway.net Back Online

We sincerely apologize for the outage of our website. The outage was entirely caused by the incompetence of the technical support of the hosting company we formerly used. Our site has now been relocated to a new host on a server owned and controlled by Dynalive.net.

Thank you for your patience and continued support of Lonesome Pine Raceway!

(Coeburn, VA – 07/12/08) It's hard to follow up a Fourth of July show like we had last week, but the competitors at ASA sanctioned Lonesome Pine Raceway were up to the task on Saturday night. Only eight days removed from the track, racing returned with several drivers hungry for their first victory of the season. The Late Model Division also entered the evening with a two-way tie at the top of the standings between Nate Monteith and Wayne Hale, adding to the excitement of the evening.

The night's racing action was sponsored by Advance Auto Parts and featured the familiar Pure-4, Mod-4, Charger, Street Stock, and Late Model Divisions. The Saturday afternoon qualifying session saw some familiar pole winners, as well as a first timer during the 2008 season. Alan Woodruff won the pole in the Pure-4 Division in his first outing of the 2008 season. Woodruff took a week of from his normal duties as pit crewmember for Tony Vance's Street Stock team to wheel the #07 Pure-4 machine around the track. Pole winners in the other weekly divisions were Rocky Yates in Mod-4, Paul Shull in Charger, Shane Higgins in Street Stock, and Nate Monteith for the 5th time this season in the Late Model Division.

The first event of the evening as the Pure-4 Division with a bit of a slow start, as the #13 truck of (driver name unavailable at press time) appeared to have a blown head gasket during pre-race staging, which sent the track into a 15-minute delay as speedy dry was placed around the track. Another issue hit before the green flag, as the #91 of Tim Pressley was leaking fuel during the parade laps. After a quick trip to the pits, Pressley would rejoin the field with one to go. Alan Woodruff (07) and Kenny Nix (37) led the way to the green flag, which would come inches within sheer and inexplicable disaster as several competitors, including points leader Linton Perry, would narrowly miss hitting a dog (ironically named "Lonesome") that somehow made her way onto the racing service on lap 5. Thankfully, the dog was able to jump over the back pit entry gate just as the leaders were passing, although she came literally inches from ending her life. Continuing to the action, the cars of Marion Guy (20), Tom Hodges (94), Linton Perry (1), Steve Skeen (17), and Tony Casteel (4) were locked into a tight 5-car battle for several laps, until the Guy and Casteel got together exiting turn 4 on lap 14 while battling for the 5th position. After several laps of hounding Woodruff, Kenny Nix was finally able to wrestle the lead away on lap 21 and held on for his first victory of 2008 at LPR. Nix celebrated his victory with a Polish Victory Lap while waving the checkered flag out of the drivers' window. Completing the top five finishers were Woodruff, Hodges, Skeen, and Perry.

 

 

Paul Shull (48) leads Freddie Taylor Jr (16) as he races to his

second win of the season in the Charger Division

 

Wayne Hale (19) wrestles lead from eventual winner Nate Monteith (44) on lap 2

Josh Hale (29) breaks loose under Casey Holt (22) as the two

*************************************************************************

Fourth of July Action at ASA Sanctioned Lonesome Pine Raceway

Presented by Papa John's Pizza  

(Coeburn, VA - 07/05/08)  A special Friday evening of racing action presented by Papa John's Pizza was held at ASA sanctioned Lonesome Pine Raceway on the Fourth of July, with four of the track's five regular divisions competing and a special Open-Wheel Modified race added to the program.  

Bluff City, Tennessee driver Nate Monteith picked up his fourth Hobart Sales & Service pole in five events in afternoon qualifying, then led the entire 50 laps to win his second Graceway Pharmaceuticals Late Model Division feature event of the year. Wayne Hale, Brian Blevins, Wade Day and Caleb Holman rounded out the top five finishers. After five events, Nate Monteith and Wayne Hale are tied for the Late Model Division points lead with Brian Blevins only six points back in third.  

Nate Monteith took the pole and the feature win in the

special Fourth of July Celebration racing program at LPR

- photo by Shawn Peters/84expo.com -

The BAM Racing Team sported a patriotic look for July 4th!

- photo by Shawn Peters/84expo.com -

Roger Neece raced to his third Street Stock win in five races, taking the lead from pole winner Shane Higgins on lap eight and leading remaining 27 laps. Higgins, Rob Austin, Tony Vance and David Brown completed the top five. Rob Austin holds a 10 point lead over Tony Vance in the Street Stock standings.  

The Open Wheel Modified cars which normally run on the dirt at Wythe Raceway put on a special race for the LPR fans, with fast qualifier Duke Bare taking the win over Mike Johnson, Roby Orr and Willie Gibson. Tim Widener, who crashed hard in turn one of the opening lap, was credited with fifth place.  

The Mod-4 Division event saw Kirby Gobble of Abingdon, VA, pick up the win, leading all the way from his pole position start to capture the 30-lap feature. Finishing second through fifth were T.J. O'Quinn, Rocky Yates, Hershel Robinette and David Brown.  

Linton Perry of Yuma, VA, won his fifth straight pole position of 2008 in the Pure-4 Division, and went on to record his fourth victory of the season in the 25-lap feature event. Tom Hodges, Marion Guy, Steve Skeen and Tony Casteel completed the top five finishers.  

A special 4th of July fireworks show and watermelon eating contest rounded out the evening's entertainment.  

The LPR Advance Auto Parts Charger Division competed at Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday July 5th as a special 25-lap companion event to the UARA-STARS touring series. The starting order was decided by draw because on rain in the area. Kevin Wolfe of Abingdon, VA won the event, followed at the finish by Freddie Taylor Jr,  with Caleb Roark, Nasty Jones and Paul Shull rounding out the top five. The Charger event at BMS did count in LPR points for the division.

LPR Charger Division field heads to the green flag at Bristol Motor Speedway

led by #17 Kevin Wolfe and #48 Paul Shull

- photo by Shawn Peters/84expo.com -

Kevin Wolfe experiences the emotional high of a victory at BMS!

In the first LPR Charger event at BMS in May, Wolfe suffered a hard crash

after cutting a tire while leading. This time he took home the trophy.

- photo by Shawn Peters/84expo.com -  

The next scheduled event at LPR will be Saturday July 12th, with the running of the Advance Auto Parts Night of Racing featuring all the regular LPR divisions.

(Complete results and up-to-date statistics can be viewed by clicking the "Results" and "Points" tabs at the top of this page.)

*********************************************************************

Bradley's Funeral Home/Greenway Creek Golf Course

Night of Racing at Lonesome Pine Raceway

(Coeburn, VA - 06/28/08) After a two week break in the action, the roar of racing engines returned to ASA sanctioned Lonesome Pine Raceway Saturday evening with returning veterans and a 14-year-old touring professional headlining the program.  

The evening of ASA racing action presented by Bradley's Funeral Home and Greenway Creek Golf Course featured LPR veterans Robbie Ferguson, Royce Peters, Steve Treadway and Tri County Speedway regular and former LPR winner Bruce Green all making their first starts of the 2008 season at LPR, and 14-year-old UARA touring series star Darrell Wallace, Jr. making his first ever start at LPR  

Saturday afternoon qualifying sessions saw Nate Monteith take fast qualifier honors in the Late Model Division, with pole winners in the other weekly divisions being Roger Neece in Street Stock, Freddie Taylor, Jr in Charger, Jody Bostic in Mod-4 and Linton Perry making it four consecutive poles in Pure-4.  

The first event of the evening featured the popular Street Stocks with Roger Neece grabbing the lead from the pole and never looking back as he led all 35 laps of the event while fierce battles for position went on behind him.  For the first five laps Tony Vance, David Brown, points leader Rob Austin and Shane Higgins ran nose-to-tail in positions 2 through 5. On lap six Brown made a pass of Vance to take second, then three laps later both Vance and Austin worked their way underneath Brown moving him back to fourth position. The first yellow flag flew on lap 15 when hard luck driver Jeff Williams had the lower pulley come off his motor as the field raced down the back straight. Just four laps after the restart, Doug Austin's #18 Camaro exploded the transmission, bring out another caution and ending Austin's run.  The final 16 laps of the event saw some spirited battles for position behind the leader as Rob Austin worked his way to second and Higgins to third. The final laps of the race also saw an exciting side-by-side position swapping duel between Jeff Counts and Chuck Crigger. Counts and Crigger swapped position several times over the final laps without ever touching each other as they raced for 6th and 7th positions. At the finish it was Neece picking up his second win of 2008, with Rob Austin, Shane Higgins, Tony Vance and David Brown completing the top five.

Duke Bare did the "double" Saturday as he competed in LPR's Street Stock event

in his Wrangler look-alike #2 Monte Carlo then headed to Wythe Raceway

to compete in the Dirt Open Wheel Modified there later in the evening.

~ photo by Shawn Peters/84expo.com~  

Next up in the running order was the Pure-4 Division with fastest qualifier Linton Perry having to move his #1 Honda back to the 10th starting position per track rule as the winner of the previous race. Perry was 3-for-3 in 2008, having won all three events to date, going into the Saturday evening event. Perry's required 10th place start moved Robert Darnell's #88 to the pole, and Darnell quickly opened up a lead from the drop of the green as, just as in the Street Stock event, battles for position raged behind him. In turn one of lap one, the cars of Tom Hodges, Marion Guy and Steve Skeen were three wide racing for position, and the top six cars continued to swap positions lap after lap as Darnell opened up his lead. On lap 10 Darnell's Honda began to trail smoke and the smoke grew steadily worse as the laps ticked off. Behind him the battle went on, with Perry cracking the top 5 on lap 18. Darnell's car was not putting any fluid on the track with what appeared to be oil leaking onto the exhaust and burning off. By lap 21 Perry had moved past Kenny Nix and Tom Hodges to take third position, and just as he set his sights on Guy for second, Hodges made a last lap pass for third moving Perry back to fourth. In one final effort, Perry got back around Hodges for third before they got back to the checkers, and ended his 2008 win streak at three. At the finish it was Darnell picking up his first win of 2008, with Guy, Perry, Hodges and Nix completing the top five.

Robert Darnell on the way to his first win of the season

~ photo by Shawn Peters/84expo.com~

Next on the program was the Mod-4 feature with pole winner Jody Bostic leading the six-car field to the green. Hershel Robinette got a good jump from his outside front row starting position to grab the lead and he proceeded to lead the first 26 laps of the 30-lap event with the other competitors having fairly comfortable positions over each other. As the field entered turn one on lap 27 Robinette's #9 Mercury Cougar slid wide in the turn allowing Bostic to get underneath and a pass for the lead. Bostic lead the remaining three laps to pick up his second win of the season, with Robinette, T.J. O'Quinn, Freddie Taylor Jr, Matthew Eades and Jenna Wagner completing the field.  

The Late Model feature got underway next with one of the best quality fields of cars assembled at LPR in quite some time. Fast qualifier Nate Monteith lead the field to the green followed by Royce Peters, Steve Blackburn, Bruce Green and Wayne Hale. By lap five Robbie Ferguson had moved his #32 into fourth position and was challenging Blackburn for third. At lap ten Peters was challenging Monteith for the top spot and Ferguson began to experience overheating problems with his car. As Ferguson eased back out of the tight nose-to-tail running order in an effort to get cool air in his radiator, Green moved back into fourth position. On lap 14 Ferguson brought his car behind the wall and out of the event after the water temperature reached 250 degrees. As Peters continued to try to set Monteith up for a pass for the lead, Bruce Green, young Darrell Wallace Jr, Brian Blevins, Wayne Hale, Steve Blackburn and Josh Hale were swapping positions back and forth in battles for 3rd through 8th positions. A little farther behind that group the cars of Bruce Blessing, Mardy Roberts, Steve Wright, Steve Treadway battled for position. A lazy spin by Benjamin Blessing entering turn one collected the #22 car of Caleb Roark ending Roark's night. Blessing was able to continue in the event after hasty repairs. Bruce Green later spun off turn two as he battled for position inside the top five, relegating him to the rear of the field for the restart. On lap 46 of teh 50-lap event Bruce Blessing suffered a cut left front tire in the close quarters competition bringing out a caution. Green steadily picked his way back through the field after his earlier spin, and took third position from young Wallace as Blackburn and Hale tangled behind them in turns three and four in the races final laps. Monteith took his first win of the 2008 season with Royce Peters finishing a close second. Green, Wallace Jr and Blevins completed the top five.

Royce Peters takes his #38 almost to the apron in a bid to 

take the lead from eventual winner Nate Monteith #44.

~ photo by Shawn Peters/84expo.com ~  

A thunderstorm which had been moving in from the Southwest all evening hit the raceway just after completion of the Late Model event washing out the Charger Division feature.   Lonesome Pine Raceway will host a special Friday night program on July 4th with Open-wheel Modified cars as part of the scheduled events. The Friday schedule will also include regular events for Late Model, Street Stock, Mod-4 and Pure-4. The LPR Charger Division, which will race at Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday July 5th, will not be on the Friday program at LPR. The Friday night program will also include some special activities for the kids, along with a watermelon eating contest and a big fireworks show.

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Returning Veteran and 14-Year-Old Racer Highlight

ASA Lonesome Pine Raceway Program for June 28th

(Coeburn, VA - 06/23/08)   The return of one of ASA sanctioned Lonesome Pine Raceway's all-time fan favorites and the first time appearance of a 14 year-old racing phenom will highlight the LPR Late Model Division action this Saturday June 28.  

Popular Robbie Ferguson, veteran driver from Jonesborough, TN, will make his 2008 debut at LPR driving his new #32 Late Model out of the Ferguson Motorsports shop and plans to be a regular at LPR for the remainder of the season.   

Young Darrell Wallace, Jr., 14-year-old racer from Kannapolis, NC will make his first ever start at LPR. Wallace already has quite a racing resume, and currently is a regular with the UARA-STARS Touring Late Model Series.  

The featured Late Model Division field will also include LPR defending champion and current points leader Wayne Hale of Piney Flats, TN, Nate Monteith of Bluff City, TN, LPR's most recent winner Brian Blevins of Coeburn, VA, former LPR and NASCAR Regional Champion Steve Blackburn of Prestonsburg, KY, Mardy Roberts of Kingsport, TN, Josh Hale of Honaker, VA, Kres VanDyke of Abingdon, VA, Steve Wright of Bristol, VA, 15-year-old racer Caleb Roark of Abingdon, VA, David Hopkins of Avondale, WV, Bruce Green who is a regular at Tri-County Speedway in Huson, NC, and others.    

In the all new for 2008 LPR Charger Division Freddie Taylor, Jr of Abingdon, VA, winner of two events this year will be trying to add to his points lead against such drivers as June 7th winner Paul Shull of Clintwood, VA, young Caleb Roark, Mitch Gibson of Coeburn, VA, Chilhowie's Nasty Jones, Abingdon's Kevin Wolfe, and new drivers in the division Davey Smart from near Ashville, NC, and Dalton Hopkins from Avondale, WV. Hopkins is the son of LPR veteran driver David Hopkins. The Charger Division cars are Late Model type cars with spec motor, spec shocks and spec carburetor with claimer rules.  

Also on tap for the weekend's racing activity will be Street Stock, Mod-4 and Pure-4 Divisions. Castlewood, Virginia's Rob Austin will be looking to add to his points lead in Street Stock, as will Vansant, Virginia's Jody Bostic in Mod-4 and Yuma, Virginia's Linton Perry in Pure-4.  

Spectator gates open at 5:00 p.m., with qualifying getting underway at 5:30 and the racing action, presented this week by Bradley's Funeral Home and Greenway Creek Golf Course, slated to begin at 7:00.

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ATV Dirt Drag Racing Cancelled for June 14th  

With the weather forecast calling for 80% chance of rain and thunderstorms in the

area Saturday, our ATV Dirt Drag Racing program has been cancelled for this weekend.

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First Time Winner and Hot Racing Action

Highlight R.A.C.E. Mining Night  at Lonesome Pine Raceway  

(Coeburn, VA - 06/07/08)  The racing action on R.A.C.E. Mining Night at ASA sanctioned Lonesome Pine Raceway was as hot as the outside temperature and highlighted by having a very popular young driver score his first career win.  

In the afternoon qualifying session, local racer Brian Blevins earned the pole for the Late Model feature in his beautiful Blevins Trucking / Davis Service Center Impala SS, with Nate Monteith, Wayne Hale, Steve Blackburn and Kres VanDyke earning starting positions two through five.  

Abingdon, Virginia's Freddie Taylor, Jr earned his third pole in as many races in the track's new Charger division.  

Shane Higgins qualified number one for the second week in a row in the Street Stock division, followed by Roger Neece, Tony Vance, David Brown and Rob Austin.  

Kirby Gobble of Abingdon made his first appearance of 2008 at LPR this weekend and set fast qualifying time in the Mod-4 division, with Rocky Yates, Jody Bostic, Freddie Taylor, Jr and Hershel Robinette completing the top five starters.    

Linton Perry continued his dominating performance in Pure-4 as he once again set fast time in qualifying, but would have to start 10th per track rules, as the previous week's winner. Completing the top five qualifiers in Pure-4 were Marion Guy, racing reporter Jeff Bobo, Tony Casteel and Steve Skeen.  

The evening's racing action got underway with the Pure-4 feature. With Linton Perry moving back to the tenth starting position, the inside row moved forward, putting Jeff Bobo and his #9 Dodge Omni on the point. At the drop of the green Marion Guy nosed his #20 Honda into the lead with Bobo making a quick cross-over to the high side. Bobo stayed side-by-side with Guy for four complete laps before finally putting the #9 out front for a lap. Guy nosed back ahead on the next lap as the two cars continued to race side-by-side. At the completion of lap 7, with the two still side-by-side, Bobo was a nose ahead. Just as Linton Perry worked his way into the top five on lap 10, the leaders caught the much slower car #49 of newcomer John Jones to put Jones a lap down. Bobo was able to use the #49 as a pick to move away from Guy and open up the first real lead of the event. On the next lap, Perry moved around Guy and into the second position. Contact between the #20 of Guy and the #17 of Steve Skeen resulted in a spin by Skeen on lap 12 and brought out the first caution of the race. During the caution period the #4 of Tony Casteel was forced to the pits with a flat left rear tire. The caution which closed the field was all Linton Perry needed as he made a quick pass under Bobo on the restart. The action wasn't over however, as the #20 of Guy and #17 of Skeen got together again in turns 3 & 4, resulting in some serious damage to the #20 Honda. Skeen received a black flag and was relegated to the pits for the remainder of the race. On the final restart veteran campaigner Tom Hodges moved his #94 Nissan under Bobo and they also raced a number of laps door-to-door with Bobo holding his position running the high line until Hodges was able move by Bobo on lap 20 and solidly into second position.  Linton Perry picked up his third victory in as many races, with Tom Hodges, Jeff Bobo, Stacy Head and Anthony Horne completing the top five.  

Steve Skeen #17 gets into the back of Marion Guy #20

as #94 Tom Hodges drives by on the inside.

~ photo by Shawn Peters / 84expo.com ~  

The Mod-4's were next up on the program and this always exciting division had the fans on their feet for the entire race. Fastest qualifier Kirby Gobble and outside pole winner Rocky Yates Raced side-by-side and nose-to-tail for the first seven laps of the event. Off turn four on lap 8, Gobble made a move to the inside of Yates and just as quickly hit water which had been dumped from the slowing #43 of Blake Roark. Gobble slid, did a masterful job of staying off of the #3 of Yates and dropped back in behind Yates down the front straight. The water spilling on the track from the #43 brought out a caution which closed the entire field. The #43 of Roark pitted to try to fix the water leak, but on lap 16 a water hose blew off the #43 and brought out another caution. Once again under green, the #88 and #3 continued their side-by-side lead swapping duel, as first one would nose ahead to lead a lap and then the other. Gobble lead lap 23 at the start-finish line, then Yates lead lap 24 at the line. The next two laps appeared to be a dead heat. On the white flag lap Gobble got in front and held that position down the back stretch. In turn 3 Yates made yet another attempt to pass, the cars made contact, Gobble spun and the caution flew. The cars were lined back up for a green-white-checker finish and popular driver Matthew Eades of Abingdon, Virginia, who had run a strong race throughout the event took the lead on the last lap to score his first ever feature win. Rocky Yates, Freddie Taylor, Jr, Richard Adkins and Jody Bostic (whose car was involved in a last lap crash) completed the official top five finishers. The fans continued to stand and cheer throughout the post race interviews as they had been witness to one of the most exciting and competitive Mod-4 events ever run at LPR.

Matthew Eades celebrates his first ever Mod-4 Victory.

~ photo by Shawn Peters / 84expo.com ~

The Advance Auto Parts Charger division field had only four cars on hand this week, as the #17 of Kevin Wolfe and #49 of Mitch Gibson weren't ready in time for the weekend. North Carolina driver Davey Smart had intended to have his new Charger car #14 in the field, but he also just ran out of time to get ready. Smart was at the track to watch, and said that he will have his car in the field on June 28th. In this week's action, "Mountain Man" Paul Shull grabbed the lead at the green from pole sitter and two-time winner Freddie Taylor, Jr. Shull lead all the way to take the win over Taylor, Caleb Roark and Nasty Jones.  

The Street Stock division was next up on the program, and fans quickly saw that the excitement hadn't ended. Pole winner Shane Higgins jumped the initial green flag and the field was lined back up for another attempt at the green. During the pace laps the cars of Higgins and outside pole starter Roger Neece made hard contact on the back stretch, with Neece's #22 spinning into the wall and receiving some serious sheet metal damage. Neece pitted for hasty repairs and returned to the tail end of the field for the green flag. David Brown lead the field into turn one at the green. A fuel pickup problem put Jeff Williams' #21 behind the wall in the opening laps, with the cars of Freddie Taylor, Jr, Chuck Crigger and Terry Stone also suffering mechanical problems and parking early. As Neece skillfully worked his way from the rear of the field, veteran campaigner and fan favorite Rob Austin of Castlewood, Virginia, moved his #25 to the lead which he would hold for the remainder of the race. Neece made it to second position and was gaining on Austin at the finish, with Tony Vance, David Brown and Shane Higgins completing the top five.  

The Graceway Pharmaceuticals Late Model event closed out the evening of competition with Brian Blevins leading the field to green. In turn one of the first lap the cars in mid-pack stacked up in a chain reaction style,with the #94 of Jeff Woodward unable to avoid contact with the rear of the #00 of Bruce Blessing. Blessing's car spun bring out the yellow. Woodward came behind the wall with quite a bit of damage to the front, and his crew worked feverishly to make repairs and get him back on track. The restart saw Blevins again pulling slightly away and Monteith and Hale continued to battle for second. On lap six Blessing's #00 and Woodward's #94 again made contact in turn 4 with Woodward's car receiving severe damage which took him out of the race. On lap 24, after several laps of hard side-by-side racing, Hale was able to pull by Monteith and take second position. The intense battle for second between Hale and Monteith had allowed Blevins to open up a little breathing room, which he maintained to the finish of the 50-lap feature. Blevins took the checkered flag to the cheers of the fans who were delighted to see the popular young driver get the Late Model feature win. Blevins was followed at the finish by Hale, Monteith, Steve Blackburn and Josh Hale completing the top five

.  

Brian Blevins celebrates his first Late Model victory of the season at LPR

~ photo by Shawn Peters / 84expo.com ~  

Racing action will return to Lonesome Pine Raceway June 28th with a full program of "Racing the way it used to be!"

Complete up-to-date points and statistics can be viewed by clicking on the Points tab at the top of this page. Complete photo galleries are online and may be viewed by clicking on the Photos tab at the top of this page.

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Young Gun Roundup--2008

Start to Finish LLC will hold a test session for the opportunity

to compete in an upcoming Super Cup Race.

Ten drivers will be selected to try out.

One driver will win the ride.

`

Drivers wishing to participate must be at least Fifteen years old

and must have parents permission in order to test.

All participants must send a resume or statement of experience.

Test to be held at a Super Cup track in July, 2008

Other qualified drivers may be offered the chance to compete in a Super Cup Race.

Send resumes to:

Start to Finish LLC

P O Box 336

Skyland NC. 28776-0336

Super Cup car owners will provide the cars and observe the test.

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NOTICE

Pit gate will open at 2:00 p.m. Saturday, June 7th

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LPR ATV Dirt Drag Racing

May 31, 2008 Results  

KIDS ET Trophy

Nathan Mathieson (Norton, VA)  

Open ATV ET Trophy

1st Billy Wireman

2nd Joe Rose (Coeburn, VA)

3rd John Adams  

Utility Money

Jeremy Asher  

4-Stroke ET Money

1st Jeff Smith

2nd Randy McMillian  

2-Stroke ET Money

1st Jamie Chafin (Abingdon, VA)

2nd Joe Rose (Coeburn, VA)  

2-Stroke 350 Mod Heads-Up

Rodney Asher (Wooten, KY)  

4-Stroke Heads-Up

Jim Chafin (Big Stone Gap, VA)  

Open ET Big Money ($500 to win)

1st Carey Brown (Hurley, VA)

2nd Jeremy Asher

3rd Jeff Smith  

Open ATV Big Money ($500 to win)

Jim Chafin (Big Stone Gap, VA)  

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL THE WINNERS!

(Photos are online...click "Photos" tab at top of this page)

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LPR ATV DIRT DRAG RACING

Saturday May 31, 2008

Gates Open at 2:00 p.m.

$500.00 purse in Open ET

$500.00 Open ATV Heads Up

We will have competitors from four states

Expect the track record to be broken.

Expected to be the largest crowd ever at the LPR ATV Dirt Drags!

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NOTICE

Several competitors have not yet returned a completed Federal Form W-9. The form was handed out to competitors at back gate sign-in. The form must be completed and returned to LPR in order for your purse check to be issued.

This form tells us to whom (or to what entity) payment should be issued, to what address, and to what Social Security number or Federal ID number the payment should be credited.

If you have misplaced your Form W-9, please call 276-698-8833 or 276-698-8834 or 276-395-5155 to obtain a Form W-9.

Thank you!

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American Energy Night of Racing at Lonesome Pine Raceway  

(Coeburn, VA - 05/24/08) --  Lonesome Pine Raceway's oval track facility took the weekend of May 17th off as LPR and Bristol Motor Speedway jointly promoted the Saturday Night Short Track Spectacular at BMS, but the racing returned to Lonesome Pine Raceway Saturday night May 24th with an action filled program presented by American Energy.  

Many of the LPR regulars were still sharing stories of their BMS adventure, and Wayne Estes, BMS Vice President of Events, was on hand to personally thank LPR and the LPR racers during pre-race ceremonies for their participation in the BMS Saturday Night Short Track Spectacular. Estes and the LPR management gave special recognition to BMS winners Jeff Counts (NHRA Circle Track Challenge), Mitch Gibson (LPR Charger exhibition race) and Robert Darnell (Appliance Race).  

Counts spoke on behalf of all the LPR competitors, thanking both BMS and LPR for the opportunity to compete at "The World's Fastest Half-Mile" and for the combined efforts of BMS and LPR to bring Saturday Night Short Track Racing back to what it used to be.  

In other pre-race ceremonies, the Lonesome Pine Raceway Victory Lane was officially dedicated as the Wanda Phillips Victory Lane. Phillips was for many years one of LPR's most loyal supporters and was a multi-time winner and track champion. She suffered a fatal heart attack during an event at LPR last season, and was in fact leading that event when the race was red-flagged. Wanda Phillips was awarded the win for that final event, and also posthumously received the 2007 Ladies Division Championship Trophy.  

The evening's racing action got underway with the popular Mod-4 Division with Vansant, Virginia's Jody Bostic taking the lead at the start from his pole position, and leading all the way to pick up his first win of the 2008 season. Colin Eades of Abingdon, VA, suffered a mechanical failure in his #5 Ford Fusion on lap 10 and retired for the evening. Haysi, Virginia's T.J. O'Quinn retired to the pits and out of the race on lap 24 while running in the top five. Finishing second behind Bostic's yellow #44 was Hershel Robinette of Abingdon in his #9 Mercury Cougar, with David Brown, Freddie Taylor Jr., and Richard Adkins rounding out the top five.

Jody Bostic and family celebrate their first victory of 2008

~ photo by Shawn Peters / 84expo.com ~

 LPR's Pure-4 Division was up next on the program with fastest qualifier Linton Perry of Yuma, VA, having accepted a challenge which was billed as the "Linton Perry Haircut Challenge". Perry was to start 10th in the 14 car field, and agreed to have his hair cut in Victory Lane if he should win the race. With Perry moving back to the 10th place starting position, Robert Darnell in his brand new #88 Honda moved to the number one starting position, followed on the starting grid by Tony Casteel, Jeff Bobo, Kenny Nix and Mike Collins as the top five. A multi-car spin in turn 1 of the opening lap required a complete restart of the event. After the restart, there was another multi-car spin on lap 3 with Perry's car receiving front end damage in the melee as he went high against the wall to try to miss the spinning cars. Perry pitted during the caution laps to have fenders pulled away from the front tires, and returned to the track at the rear of the field. As Darnell opened up a slight lead, the field battled behind him in exciting nose-to-tail and side-by-side action. Perry methodically and carefully picked his way through the field as the fierce competition went on all around him. With two laps to go in the 25-lap event, Perry had Darnell in sight, but apparently just out of reach. Darnell's car had been slowing slightly over the final laps with a tire problem, and just as the cars took the white flag, the handle went away completely on the #88 of Darnell, allowing Perry to scoot by and take one of the most exciting wins ever in LPR's Pure-4 Division. Following Perry across the line to complete the top five were Robert Darnell, Kenny Nix, Steve Skeen and Tony Casteel.

Pure-4 winner Linton Perry prepares for his victory lane haircut

~ photo by Shawn Peters / 84expo.com ~  

The highly competitive Street Stock Division took the green with North Carolina's Shane Higgins on the pole in his #9 Camaro and Castlewood, VA's Rob Austin starting second in his #25 Camaro. Higgins wasted no time in opening up lead of two to three car lengths as the field battled behind him. Caution flew on lap 8 as the division's winningest driver, Roger Neece, suffered a broken right front spindle on his black #22. During the ensuing caution Brian Blevins pitted the #3 Ray Lester Camaro to have an ignition problem checked and Steven Duty, making his first start, came behind the wall for lengthy repairs. Duty did return to finish the race.   On the lap 10 restart, it was Higgins leading with Rob Austin, Jeff Counts, Doug Austin and Jeff Williams completing the top five. Higgins once again began to open up a lead as cars behind him battled for position. On lap 13 Blevins brought his car behind the wall for the night with a clutch problem. On lap 20, Higgins' night ended with a broken axle and spin in turn one. Rob Austin inherited the lead at that point, and on the restart appeared to be on his way to adding another LPR victory to his resume. However, Jeff Counts fresh off his big win at Bristol the week before was coming on strong. As the final 15 laps clicked by, Counts moved closer and closer to Austin. Just as the cars approached the white flag, Austin's car dropped a cylinder and Counts flashed by to take the lead and the win. Rounding out the top five finishers at the checkers were Rob Austin, Terry Stone, Tony Vance and Jeff Williams. Stone's car failed to pass post race tech, which moved Vance and Williams to 3rd and 4th in the official rundown, and advanced David Brown's #4 car to fifth place

.  

Jeff Counts celebrates his second win in as many weeks

~ photo by Shawn Peters / 84 expo.com ~  

The brand new LPR Chargers Division was up next on the program, and this event just proved that it doesn't take a big field of cars to have an action filled nail-biter of a race. Freddie Taylor, Jr. earned the pole for the event with veteran racer Paul Shull of Clintwood, VA starting along side in second. At the green third starting Mitch Gibson made a move for the front and as the field entered turn one, the cars of Taylor, Shull and Gibson all made contact. Shull went hard into the outside wall and out for the night with severe damage to the rear end of his #48. Taylor went head on into the inside wall suffering significant damage to the right front of his #16. Taylor pitted repeatedly during the caution to have sheet metal stripped away and front end alignment checked. On the restart the race for the lead became a spirited battle between Gibson and young Caleb Roark of Abingdon, VA. Roark made a pass on the low side down the front straight to take the lead, and just as quickly found himself spinning down the straight after contact with Gibson's #49. Taylor, following the philosophy of Jim Valvano's famous ESPY Awards speech in which he intoned, " Don't give up, don't ever give up!" moved to the lead and took the win for his second in a row in the new division. Roark came back to finish second, followed by Nasty Jones in third, Mitch Gibson fourth and Paul Shull credited with fifth in the five car field.

Freddie Taylor, Jr. in victory lane with battered car.

~ photo by Shawn Peters / 84expo.com ~  

The featured Late Model Division closed out the evening of racing with pole winner Nate Monteith and second starting Wayne Hale leading the field to the green. The caution flew quickly as the #29 of Josh Hale and the #55 of Mardy Roberts got together in turn one on the start with Roberts spinning. The field was lined up for a complete restart since they had not completed a lap when the first caution flew. On the second attempt at starting the race, Monteith's #44 appeared to slip slightly in turn one forcing him to slow more than normal. Hale didn't have time to react to the situation, popped the #44 in the rear sending it around as Steve Blackburn went around the outside from fourth to the front. However, since the field had not completed a lap under green, there was to be another complete restart. Drivers continued to debate proper line-up as they circled the track behind the pace car, with at one point cars running three abreast, side-by-side behind the pace car, before the field was red flagged and lined up for the third attempt at a start. The field got off to a good clean start on the third attempt, with Monteith claiming the front spot and Hale settling into second. The front two ran that way until lap 17 when Monteith gave a slight opening on the bottom in turn three and Hale made a move for the lead. The two cars made slight contact as the #19 nudged the #44. Monteith had to lift slightly to maintain control, and that was all the #19 needed to get by and then maintain the lead for the remaining 33 laps to the finish. Hale took his second win in as many races with Monteith finishing second, former LPR and NASCAR Regional Champion Steve Blackburn of Prestonsburg, KY, came home third, Brian Blevins fourth and Mardy Roberts fifth.

Wayne Hale, family and crew celebrate second win of the season

~ photo by Shawn Peters / 84expo.com ~

Racing action will return to the fast 3/8 mile Lonesome Pine Raceway on Saturday June 7th with a full program featuring all the regular divisions. The LPR ATV Dirt Dragway will be in action next Saturday, May 31st, with a full program of championship ATV Dirt Drag Racing.

Click on the Results tab at the top of the page for full race results.

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Kalitta and Counts Team Up To Win NHRA Circle Track Challenge

Doug Kalitta sits in his Street Stock car before the start of the NHRA Circle Track Challenge.

Jeff Counts and family celebrate victory after the NHRA Circle Track Challenge.

The odds-on favorite heading into the NHRA Circle Track Challenge Saturday night at Bristol Motor Speedway was former USAC champion Doug Kalitta.

Kalitta had much more experience on ovals than any of the other NHRA all-stars in the event - and he had already had plenty of success at Thunder Valley, having won three Top Fuel titles at Bristol Dragway.  So it came as no surprise to see him in victory lane at the end of the 12-lap segment of the Circle Track Challenge.

In other Saturday Spectacular races at BMS last night, 16-year-old Matt DiBenedetto of Hickory, N.C. bested the field to lay claim to the Thompson Metal 150 UARA event. Finishing second was Alex Yontz, followed by Cliff Daniels, Darrell Wallace, Jr. and Caleb Holman.

Terry Horak of Myrtle Beach, S.C. won the 30-lap Pro Challenge race while Mitch Gibson of Coeburn, Va., was the 20-lap Charger race winner.

Kalitta, who started ninth in the 15-car field of NHRA all-stars, took the lead from Greeneville's Allen Johnson on lap 10 after stalking him for several laps around the .533-mile oval.

"I tell you, it was tough out there," he said. "I had to work hard out there but I had a lot of fun. I really appreciate the fact that I had the opportunity to do this.

"I had to get up in the wall a little to get past Allen and I tell you, it was so much fun. I was just glad to be able to get around these guys at the end."

Kalitta's partner in the race was Castlewood, Virginia's Jeff Counts. Counts finished up the 25-lap race up front after inheriting a lead given to him by Kalitta.

"I've been racing since back in 80s," Counts said. "I took break to raise my daughter. This is the first time she could join me in victory lane. God has just blessed us. Doug helped me so much by driving the car and telling me which line to run. As you can tell I learned by watching him."

Ron Capps finished second in the NHRA portion of the race, followed by Antron Brown and Greg Anderson. Both Capps and Brown had round track experience. Last night's race was Anderson's first on an oval. Capps, who started seventh, knew there would be plenty of tight racing. "That was awesome," said the Funny Car driver. "I knew there would be sparks and there was plenty of sparks. I knew it would be amazing and it was. I had a great time out there."

Anderson started 12th and patiently made his way to the front after Justin Humphreys and Gary Scelzi found trouble in the early laps. For the Pro Stock legend, driving on a circle track proved to be a lot of fun.

"That was just great," he said. "I drove over Scelzi's driveshaft and I nearly hit (polesitter) Jack Beckman... I guess it's like Cole Trickle... I just aimed for the wrecks. It was exciting. It was like nothing I've ever done before. It was really a lot of fun."

Other NHRA stars taking part in the Circle Track Challenge were Beckman, Johnson, Justin Humphreys, Jeg Coughlin, Gary Scelzi, Jason Line, Cory McClenathan, J.R. Todd, Kurt Johnson and Tony Schumacher.

(BMS staff photos & press release courtesy of BMS PR)

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NHRA driver Doug Kalitta charges through the field to win the

first segment of the NHRA Circle Track Challenge at BMS

~ photo by Shawn Peters / 84expo.com ~

Veteran Lonesome Pine Raceway racer Jeff Counts celebrates an emotional victory in the NHRA Circle Track Challenge at Bristol Motor Speedway.

~ photo by Shawn Peters / 84expo.com ~ 

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NHRA Circle Track Challenge Starting Lineup Set

Fans cast over 11,000 votes on www.bristoldragway.com to determine the Circle Track Challenge starting lineup, which is as follows:

(NHRA Driver / Street Stock Driver)

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Vote To Determine Lineup For NHRA Circle Track Challenge May 17 At BMS

When NHRA's finest take to Bristol Motor Speedway for the NHRA Circle Track Challenge Saturday, May 17 fans will have their say in how the field starts for the 25-lap race.

Voting is now open to determine the starting lineup for the NHRA Challenge. Drivers participating in the race will be listed and fans will simply vote for their favorites in the positions they'd like to see them start the event. Visit the voting page now.

The NHRA Circle Track Challenge takes place Saturday evening, after a big day of action at Bristol Dragway, home of the May 16-18 O'Reilly NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals. The NHRA Circle Track Challenge is part of a full program of racing at BMS, which also includes the Thompson Metal 150 UARA late model race, as well as several other feature events.

While there are currently 20 drivers on the list of possible entrants, the number of cars in the field will be determined by car count. For example, should 15 cars be entered, 15 drivers will be in the lineup so the fan vote will be key in who makes the field and where they start.

The NHRA drivers will be racing Street Stock cars. They will drive the first segment of the race, then turn their rides over to their street stock partner, the owner of the car, who then will finish the race. An NHRA winner will be crowned after the first segment and the starting positions for street stock drivers for the final segment will be determined by the finishing order of their NHRA "teammate." A second segment winner and an overall winner also will be crowned.

Voting for the way the NHRA field will start the Circle Track Challenge will close on Thursday, May 15. 

Drivers expected to participate in the Circle Track Challenge include Tony Schumacher, Gary Scelzi, Ron Capps, Jeg Coughlin, Greg Anderson, Jason Line, Doug Kalitta, Kurt Johnson, Allen Johnson, Dave Grubnic, Morgan Lucas, J.R. Todd, Doug Herbert, Jack Beckman and Cory McClenathan. Cast your vote now!

Lonesome Pine Raceway regulars e