May 31st, 2008, found the VMCRA at Motor Mile Speedway for a scheduled thirty lapper, our fourth race of the year. A familar face and a familar car teamed up for the first time and found Victory Lane as Ryan Adams made his first start of the year a successful one as he took the checkerd flag for the win.
First things first. The VMCRA welcomes newcomer Derrick Woodward as he would make his first ever start with our group. Derrick is from Cedar Bluff Va. and hopes to run as many races as possible. Also, Cody Kirby made his first start this year, so welcome back Cody and John. By the way, Cody’s #33 is for sale. Good car. And Ryan Adams would be making his debut in the Watkins #15 after selling his car from last year.
A good field of eighteen cars would show up at Motor Mile ready to race. As stated earlier, we were given five extra laps to race this week. In our two practices, there were no cautions, although both the #8 of Jerry Perdue and the #15 would suffer flat right front tires. In qualifying, a record was set ( I think) as we had our first time female driver win the pole position with Amanda Forney setting the pace with a 20.877 lap. Remainder of the top five were the #15, #16, #17, and the #33. Next five were the #8, #1, #88, #02 driven by Scotty Roach, and the #2. Filling out our starting order were the #24, #97, #5, #27, #9, #48, #20, and #31.
On to our feature race. Amanda would lead us to the green with Ryan Adams taking the initial lead. -Lots of positions swapped until lap 12 when Gary Greenway met the wall in turn three and had hard contact. Gary’s #20 had severe rear damage, but he crawled out ok. Top five at this time were #15, #33, #92, #16, and #1. The green wouls re-appear but not for long as Brian Conklin spun his #5 on the back straight after contact with the #27. No damage as we lined up for another restart. Cody’s #33 and Kevin Berkstresser’s #16 would get around the #15, but Ryan was able to get back to second on the next lap. The #33 and the #15 ran side by side for about 3 laps before Ryan was able to reclaim the lead. On lap 17, the #17 spun in turn two after a little contact with the #92. Matt Wade would break a chain about this time and retire to the pits for the night. Ryan would take the green once again and led the remainder of the way, taking the win in the Clarence’s Steak House #15. Runner up with a great run was the Cline’s Body Shop #33 of Cody Kirby. Kevin Berkstresser has run good all year, and claims third place in his Lee-Hi #16. In fourth place was our point leader, Jason Moye in his Aztec Rental #88, with fifth going to Jason Adkins, driving the Cusson Racing #17 with a cast on one wrist. In sixth was Travis Roach in his good-looking #2, with Jerry Perdue bringing the ARMY #8 home in seventh. Jerry said he may have bent an axle after some close racing. Andy DeFillipis ran a smart race and comes up with an eighth place finish in his #97. Tyler Roach would get credit for ninth in his #24, with Big Brother Scotty Roach rounding out the top ten in Amanda Forney’s backup #02. In eleventh and gaining experience was Justin LaDuke in his #27. Found out Justin is a BIG Toyota fan. Amanda Forney had a late spin, but brings her #92 across the line in twelvth. Just a matter of time before we see the Affordable Marine car in Victory Lane. Finishing thirteenth after a lot of hard work and a spin was the BS Racing #5 of Brian Conklin. It’s no secret that Brian and I are working together this year, so I’m hoping to see him up front. In fourteenth with a steady race was the #48 of Freddie Jackson. In fifteenth in his debut was Derrick Woodward in his GREAT looking #31. Sixteenth goes to Darrel Williams in his #9. Darrel threw a chain, but came in the pits, got out of the car, fixed it, and got back out. Determination. In seventeenth was last year’s champ, Matt Wade in the Mini-Cup Supply #1. Been a rough time for Matt. He’ll be back. And last but not least after his hard crash was Gary Greenway in his #20. We don’t like to see anyone tear up their car. Takes time and money to do this. Gary had his best looking car this year. Look for Gary to be back.
So, that’s Motor Mile. It’s been almost two years since the #15 was in Victory Lane. Gonna take a little time to thank some folks. Brandon Ward, thanks to you and your gang for all the help during the off-season. Ryan, thanks for driving on such a short notice. Pop, thanks for your help and thanks for talking me into bringing the car to Motor Mile. Wasn’t going to run. My brother Mike, thanks for helping both on the car and money wise these past few years. My Jason, thanks for getting me involved with this group. Wish you had been there Saturday night. Thanks to ALL VMCRA members for making this deal work. Motor Mile, sponsors, thanks to all.
Next race is at Shenandoah Speedway on June 14th. Look at their web site for details.
The point races tightened up, both driver and Rookie Of The Year. Long way to go.
Till next time………………….DW
Related Articles
No user responded in this post