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Harris claims $4,000 payday in ‘Patriot 100’ UMP race
PUTNAMVILLE ‑ Josh Harris made the most of his very first trip to Lincoln Park Speedway.
The Owensboro, Ky., native dominated the competition to take home the winner’s share of Saturday’s American Modified Series event at the Putnamville oval. Harris led the final 67 laps of the 100-lap Patriot 100 for UMP Modifieds to win $4,000 a night after placing second at Bloomington and winning $1,500.
Harris came into the race leading the series points, but had yet to visit victory lane during one of the AMS events. He made sure that he took care of business in extending his points advantage as he passed Tait Davenport on lap 25 and controlled the race for the majority of the remaining laps.
Davenport led early on as Danny Swartz ran second and the pair opened up a solid gap on Harris as Gabe Menser and Derek Groomer were a distant fourth and fifth. However, Harris began to reel the leaders in and took over the second position on lap 20 and then snagged the lead in lapped traffic five laps later.
Once Harris had taken over the lead, he began to build upon his advantage heading into the halfway mark as the caution came out and teams were allowed to make adjustments to their cars.
Harris wouldn’t let up during the final 50 laps as members of the competition began to drop out of the marathon event.
As Harris maintained a comfortable margin up front, Davenport had his hands full with Swartz as Groomer moved into competition along with Menser, Brian Shaw and Richie Lex.
A final caution came out with six laps remaining and gave Davenport a chance at Harris on the restart. When the field took the green flag once again, Davenport threw a big slide attempt into turn two as the pair made contact briefly. However, Harris was able to regain his momentum out of the corner and wheeled his No. 22 into victory lane. Davenport placed second.
In the sprint car A-main, Shane Cockrum held off a furious challenge from AJ Hopkins after a caution with four laps remaining.
Hopkins threw a big slider at Cockrum headed into turn three and slammed the cushion and nearly flipped. However, Hopkins was able to retain his momentum and get back on the throttle to stay in second-place. However, Cockrum checked out over the final lap to cruise away to the victory.
Koby Barksdale led the initial circuits and had as much as a straightaway lead at lap 10 before lapped traffic became a late factor. By lap 13, Cockrum had chased down Barksdale and taken over the top spot on lap 16 before a spin by Barksdale brought out the caution flag.
On the restart, Hopkins powered into second place and quickly began to challenge Cockrum up front. The cushion became an issue as Hopkins drilled the top shelf twice while making a move on the leader and nearly found trouble. However, Cockrum held down the top position to the checkered flag as Hopkins, Jadon Rogers, Tim Creech and Hunter O’Neal wrapped up the top five.
In the UMP Super Stock division, Steve Peeden returned to victory lane to halt Jonny Newgent’s three-race LPS win streak.
Peeden and Newgent raced door-to-door over the first five laps before Peeden edged into the lead and stayed there over the final 15 laps. Peeden pulled away to a solid margin to record his 11th feature win of the season. Wes McClara placed third ahead of Chris Harcourt and Paul Wright.
In the bomber A-main it was Indianapolis’ Cody Wright winning his fifth feature of the season as he topped Josh Litton, Gary Hayden, Jordan Almanza and David Bumgardner.
Wright led from the outset with the real action taking place behind him as Hayden and Jeff Allen battling for second-place early on as Josh Litton ran fourth with Bumgardner and Almanza racing wheel-to-wheel.
Wright built a solid lead as Hayden settled into a battle to the checkered flag before Josh Litton was able to edge past for the runner-up spot. Hayden took third ahead of Almanza and Bumgardner.
This weekend will be a doubleheader as LPS hosts the King of TQ Nationals on Friday and Saturday with sprints, UMP Modifieds, Super Stocks and bombers both nights.
Sprint car feature
1. Shane Cockrum, 2. AJ Hopkins, 3. Jadon Rogers, 4. Tim Creech II, 5. Hunter O’Neal, 6. Joe Ligouri, 7. Travis Berryhill, 8. Lee Underwood, 9. Nate McMillin, 10. Adam Wilfong, 11. Lukas Smith, 12. Brady Ottinger, 13. Koby Barksdale, 14. Ben Phillips, 15. Alec Sipes, 16. Jeff Bland Jr., 17. Nic Harris, 18. Paul Dues
Heat winners: Bland Jr., Cockrum, Creech
UMP Modified feature
‘14th Patriot 100’ - American Modified Series
1. Timothy “Josh” Harris, 2. Tait Davenport, 3. Gabe Menser, 4. Brian Shaw, 5. Richie Lex, 6. Paul Bumgardner, 7. Jordan Wever, 8. Cole Parker, 9. James Walters, 10. Michael Fish, 11. Danny Schwartz, 12. Derek Groomer, 13. Brent Hudson, 14. Josh Boller, 15. Tyler Nicely, 16. Rob Brickert, 17. Jake Leitzman, 18. Kenny Carmichael Sr., 19. Tony Houk, 20. Sydney Landes, 21. Jeff Deckard, 22. Ron Pruitt
B-main winners: Walters, Pruitt
Heat winners: Harris, Davenport, Schwartz, Menser
UMP Super Stock feature
1. Steve Peeden, 2. Jonny Newgent, 3. Wes McClara, 4. Chris Harcourt, 5. Paul Wright, 6. Kris Starks, 7. Bryce Shidler, 8. Chucky Walden, 9. Kenny Fields, 10. Doug McCullough
Heat winners: Peeden, Newgent
Bomber feature
1. Cody Wright, 2. Josh Litton, 3. Gary Hayden, 4. Jordan Almanza, 5. David Bumgardner, 6. Tom Cox, 7. Jeff Allen, 8. David Wallen, 9. Kyle Prince, 10. Bob Farris, 11. Travis Heramb, 12. Devin Wallen, 13. Corey Anstead, 14. Tyler Rodgers, 15. Megan Cavaness, 16. Glen Ogden, 17. Ron Smith, 18. Matt Raber, 19. David Shepherd, 20. Ethan Litton, 21. Keivan Clodfelter
Heat winners: Josh Litton, Jordan Almanza, Gary Hayden