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DTRP
Beats Mother Nature in 3 out of 4 Features Rudolph, Buchanan, and Hewson Grab Checkers |
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BY Lori Overdorf |
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The nights action began on the ¼ mile DTRP inner oval as the TQ Midgets took to the track. At the drop of the green Charlie DiRosa vaulted into the lead while the pack behind him scrambled for position. An early yellow flag bunched the field back up together and Arik McGruder took advantage of the situation to pass DiRosa on lap three and take the top spot. McGruder immediately began to build a distance between himself and Bobby Holmes, Justin Mapes, Dave Wollaber, and Timex Morgan. By the halfway point of the race, McGruder had a huge lead over the field but a yellow flag on lap 12 erased the lead completely. McGruder held onto the lead but now had the field on his bumper. With ten laps remaining, it became a five way battle for the lead with McGruder, Mapes, Erick Rudolph, Wollaber, and Morgan Rudolph, who had to battle his way back up through the field after going tail in an early caution, had rocketed up to the third position and was looking for more. With three laps to go, Rudolph dove low on Mapes and captured second. The momentum for Rudolph continued as he found himself on the leaders bumper as the white flag was about to be displayed. With no time to waste, Rudolph made his move and passed McGruder for the lead on lap 24 of 25. Rudolph, who had worked his way up through the entire 22 car field, took the checkered flag in his first TQ Midget appearance of the season. The
inner oval action continued as the 4 Cylinder feature event was next on
the nights schedule. Derrick
Brant and Mike Hossfeld led the field to the green flag and the field
was bumping and banging for position right away.
While Brant took control of the lead, Charles Buchanan was on the
move further back, vaulting up from his seventh place starting position
to second in just two laps. Buchanan
wasted no time in taking the lead from Brant, diving under the leader on
lap three for the top spot. Buchanan
went on to build a huge lead over the field while Dan Roesch, who had
started eighth, moved into second by lap seven and began to hunt down
the leader. A yellow flag
with just nine laps to go erased the considerable lead Buchanan still
held over the rest of the field. Roesch,
Mike Maggiore, Ken Hejna, and Dean Siminski all lined up behind Buchanan
for a chance at the win. When
Maggiore seemed to have mechanical issues and faded back, Hejna and
Siminski took advantage of the opportunity and moved up one spot closer
to the leader. Buchanan had
the dominant car of the night however and the rest of the field was
unable to catch him. Buchanan
cruised home to his fifth 2010 4 Cylinder win at In what turned out to be the final feature event of the evening, the Able Agency Street Stocks showcased some great racing during their 25 lap race. Starting on the front row were Cory Gallager and Scott Mutka who were followed by Ed Nowak and Joe Light. With the green flag in the air, Gallagher grabbed the lead while Mutka slotted into second. Soon the top two of Gallagher and Mutka had pulled away from Mike Nash, John Hewson, and Nate Straus, who were battling hard for the third position on back. By the halfway point, Hewson had passed Nash for third and set his sights on catching Gallagher and Mutka, who had settled into their first and second place running positions. Hewson’s task got easier and Gallaghers and Mutka’s harder as the yellow flag was displayed on lap 15 for a spun out car in turn four. The single file restart saw Gallagher hold onto the lead, but barely as Mutka and Hewson stayed right with him. Gallagher gained a slight bit of breathing room as Mutka had to back of the leader to defend his second place position from Hewson, who was charging hard. A bit further back Straus managed to wiggle his way by Nash for fourth and began making strides towards joining the top three runners. Directly ahead of Straus, Hewson and Mutka battled hard for the second spot. Hewson went high on Mutka on lap 18 and the two raced side by side, door handle to door handle. Hewson finally managed to complete the pass just as the yellow flag appeared on lap twenty. With just five laps to go Gallagher now had Hewson, Mutka, Straus, Nash, and Jim Stein directly behind him. After the field took the green flag for the restart, Hewson made his move down low on Gallagher. The two drag raced down the back stretch and Hewson finally took control of the lead. While Gallagher held onto second, Mutka seemed to fall off the pace a bi and Straus and Stein grabbed the third and fourth spots. As the few laps clicked off, Hewson built a considerable lead for himself and as the checkered flag flew, grabbed his fourth win of the season. The Sportsman were slated to run their race as the final event of the season, but Mother Nature forced the postponement of the event after one lap was recorded in the books. The race will be completed on Saturday, September 4th as part of DTRP’s Fabulous 50’s Night. On
Saturday, August 28th |
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RESULTS |
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TQ Midget Feature Finish (8/21/10): Erick Rudolph, Arik McGruder, Dave Wollaber , Justin Mapes, Timex Morgan, Johnathon Reid, Kent Turnbull, Cam Barber, Wayne Turnbull, Jim Fleischman, Charlie DiRosa, Scott Kruetter, Erik Musto, Chad Haywood, Dan Lawrence, Nelson Rung, Gordie Steffan, Ryan Hessler, Bobby Holmes, Owen Bednasz, Andy Jankowiak, Shaun Szejnar |