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Topless Night Howard O'Neal # 09 took a wild ride during the big block modified heats

May 26, 2011

By Bonnie Nibblett

MMMM!! Good Racing!

Delmar, DE…..The racing at the Delaware International Speedway is in full swing. The World of Outlaws Late Model show was held at the speedway back on May 12. A good field of 39 cars competed for the 25 racing positions available. Four heats and 2 B Mains determined the line up.

Winner of the WoOLMS Fulton Bank 50 Rick Eckert # 24 signing autographs before the feature for a fan

It was Rick Eckert of York, PA in the # 24 that led all 50 laps to pick up $10,000 with winning the Fulton Bank ‘50’. Eckert started 2^nd and took the lead on the start and never looked back. Darrell Lanigan 29, Tim McCreadie (T-Mac) 39X, Josh Richards (the kid), and Jason Covert 32C rounded out the top five. The race took 31 minutes and 37.2 seconds to complete. It was a really great show, hope you got to go.

Also this month, the first “Topless Night” was held a couple weeks back. Each class removes the top roof of all the stock cars giving the fans an up close view of the drivers in the cockpits of the cars while racing on the track. The night was one of the season’s closest racing actions. NAPA Big Block Modified driver Brad Trice picked up his first career win in the modified field. Trice has been knocking on the door for a while to get that win and it finally panned out that night. The fans were on their feet cheering Trice on. Trice started on the pole but had some heavy hitters riding right behind him trying to get an opening to take the lead. Trice held off former champion H J Bunting III, Matt Jester, Scott Ambruster, Jr. and Robert Dutton to claim the win. Trice & Bunting were wheel to wheel to the flag.

Other modified winners so far this year have been H J Bunting III, Dana Walker, Beau Wilkins and Trice.

Kenny Pettyjohn just edged by leader Richard Jarvis, Jr. as the two came off turn 4. Jarvis was so strong after taking the lead by lap 3. Jarvis was trying to claim his 3^rd win of the year and had it until the last lap. Coming off turn 4 Jarvis went just a hair wide giving Pettyjohn the only hole he needed to take the win. They dragged race too the checkered.

With all the rain on many weekends lately a lot of tracks could not run. It was a pleasure to have the WoOLMS driver local Austin Hubbard driving his own # 11 car on “Topless Night” visit Delmar. Hubbard was 3^rd, Staci Warrington, and Herb Tunis rounded out the top 5. It was the best finish for Warrington this season as she has been having a black cloud over her thus far it seems. On the WoOLMS race Warrington had mechanical woes and could not compete. 2010 Redbud69racing.com Late Model Rookie of the Year Amanda Whaley has had a rough season so far too. Whaley had and oil leak on the WoOLMS show forcing her not drive, the other weekend she had tore up her car when she kissed the back wall off turn 2 during the heat while leading. So it has been a rough patch for our ladies.

Big Block Modified heat action topless

The AC Delco Modified division has had Matt Hawkins win 3 out of 4 races. He won 2, and on topless night Joseph Tracy won but came up lite on the scales making 2^nd place car the winner (Matt Hawkins). The only other race winner was rookie Tyler Reed on April 30. It was his first career win in this division. Reed finished 3^rd place in track Modified Lite points in 2010.

The Crate Model class has had 3 winners out of 4 races. Joe Warren has won twice, Chris Hitchens on the season opener night, and Mike Wharton are the other 2 winners. Any of the top 10 drivers could win either night as well. This class has had the most cars each week and really been good racing.

The Modified Lite action has not been dull either. 2010 DIS Mod Lite Track Champion Brandon Dennis has taken the first 2 wins. But Landis Musser claimed one and “Topless Night” 2010 Redbud69racing.com Mod Lite Rookie of the Year Ray Gulliver claimed his first career win in the Modified Lite feature at Delmar.

The URC Sprints return this weekend for the 2^nd appearance of the year. Veteran Kramer Williamson took home the first feature win in April. Who will win this weekend? Grasso, Michael, Williamson could repeat?

The U S 13 Dragway continues on Sunday’s with Summit ET racing series. Gates open 10 Am, time trials start 11 Am. The Dragway will begin to run on Friday nights starting June 11. Gates will open at 3:30 Pm and time trials begin at 4:30 Pm. Visit the tracks web for upcoming events at www.delawareracing.com or call the tracks hot line at 302-846-3968.

You can follow all the events for the track on the web site www.delawareracing.com or join us on Facebook. The speedway & Dragway are both located on the Delaware Motorsports Complex located in Delmar, DE on Sussex Hwy (Rt. 13).

The U S 13 Kart Club Track is located on the left just before you enter the complex grounds. Check their web for any events at www.dekarting.net. This Friday night is round 2 of the “Flathead Forever Series”. Gates open at 5 PM, practice starts at 7 PM. Come see the future racers.

To keep up with all your Delaware tracks racing news be sure to visit www.redbud69racing.com or follow us on Facebook. Be sure to visit the largest racing message board on the shore at http://redbud69racing.proboards2.com/index.cgi powered by redbud69racing.com. See you at the track!