Published: September 24, 2007 10:08 pm            

BOWMAN: Stanbrough wins 29th feature of season at Gas City

With the 2007 season winding down, the Gas City I-69 Speedway crept closer to its season finale on Friday with an exciting feature in the non-wing sprint car series.

It was again the excellence of Jon Stanbrough on display as the Avon standout got by A.J. Anderson with just two laps remaining in earning his 29th feature win of the season.

Peddling the Foxco/Jarvis Engines/DRC Chassis No. 53, Stanbrough started the 25-lap feature on the third row. After mounting an early charge, Stanbrough appeared to fade a bit with an ill-handling car as Anderson and Billy Puterbaugh, Jr. fought tooth and nail for the point. Anderson, driving Chuck Pearce’s Bud’s Auto Sales/Pearce Racing No. 26P, finally assumed the lead after going three-wide with Stanbrough and Puterbaugh in an entertaining battle.

When Kokomo’s Josh Spencer took a wild tumble between turns three and four that also collected Jason Holt, Rex Norris III and Sam Imel, the first red flag of the event allowed drivers time to make adjustments inside the cockpit.

Anderson again looked to be in good shape with five laps left when Critter Malone took one of the nastiest crashes of the season aboard the Phillips’ Racing No. 71P that had previously been piloted by Casey Shuman.

Malone slid off the track in turns one and two, then flipped wildly down the backstretch, coming to rest near the fence in turn three. After a few minutes, an obviously dazed Malone emerged from the car under his own power.

With a five-lap shootout remaining, Stanbrough hammered the cushion coming off turn four to get past Anderson.

Car owner Pearce acknowledged that the final red flag was the undoing for his team and driver Anderson.

“We didn’t need that red flag at all,” said Pearce. “I really don’t think [Stanbrough] would have gotten around A.J. if that [red flag] hadn’t come out. It gave Jon the opportunity to adjust on the car and he definitely made the right adjustments.”

Puterbaugh, Jr. followed the pair across the finish line for third while Mark Clark turned in yet another stellar outing to finish fourth. Chris Windom rounded out the top five. Travis Welpott, Brett Burdette, Holt, Marc Arnold and Ted Hines completed the top-10.

If points were awarded to a driver passing the most cars, Arnold would have won hands down.

Driving Paul Hazen’s famed Bud’s Auto Sales/Geiger Seamless Gutters/Kercher Engines/DRC Chassis No. 57, Arnold worked his way through the B-main, then was solidly in the top five before spinning late in the race to bring out the caution and tag the tail of the field on the restart.

Jamie Frederickson was 18th and Spencer 21st, but both drivers’ finishes were by no means indicative of the way they ran. Both were lightning quick in their respective heats and Frederickson was running eighth when he got tagged from behind, breaking his suspension and ending his night.

Rick Johns continued his string of solid finishes in the U.M.P. Modified feature, but came up a little short to finish third behind Bub Patrick and Terry Hull. John Fosnaugh was fourth and Jack James fifth. Jerry Taylor was 12th in his family-owned No. 55 entry.

It was once again all Randy Lines in the Street Stock feature, winning over Dan Meyers. David Hurst was third, Andy Bishop fourth and Shane Baker fifth.

Wesley Gordon won the 600cc winged mini-sprint feature over Robbie Starkey.

Miami County Speedway

Jordan Lambert, Halen Shafer, Addison True and Stephanie Mockler registered feature wins in their divisions Saturday night on Fan Appreciation Night.

Lambert took the checkers in the Open Class with Brandon Rose trailing him to the line. Bob Bourff was third, Taylor Courtney fourth and Tony Moore fifth. Wes McIntyre and K.C. Hughes won heats and Bourff the Trophy Dash.

Shafer drew closer to eclipsing the 20-win mark with his victory in the Stock Class main event. Moore was second, Mike Duhamel third, Sam Kimmel fourth and Tyler Adams fifth. Kris Knox, Mike Braden and Duhamel won heats and Kimmel took the Trophy Dash.

True registered yet another win in the Junior Class feature, topping Kolt Kinsler and Trenton Bitzel. Danny Gibson and Avery Demland rounded out the top five. True won the lone heat race and Bitzel took the Trophy Dash.

Mockler was the class in the always-competitive non-wing division as she took the checkered flag with David Herron chasing her to the stripe. Jacob Moore was third, Mark Lambert fourth and Mark Perry fifth.

Megan Wood, Jimmy Wood and Joe Leek won heat races. Mockler took the Trophy Dash while Jordan Lambert paced the field in the B-main.

Brett Bowman covers auto racing for the Tribune. He can be contacted by e-mail at brettbowman29@aol.com

        

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