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Three straight for Hollingsworth at LPS
PUTNAMVILLE -- A much needed overnight rain shower wasn't enough to dampen the spirits of the race fans at Lincoln Park Speedway, and a very good crowd was treated to an outstanding crop of racing talent and a huge car count in Putnamville on Saturday night.
A heavy shower canceled many racing shows across the state, but LPS was fortunate enough to escape much of the deluge and was rewarded with 44 sprint cars, 31 UMP Modifieds, 23 UMP Super Stocks and 31 bombers on hand for racing action.
In sprint car action this summer, no one has been hotter than Brownsburg native Shane Hollingsworth. He came in with back-to-back wins and was scheduled to make a trip to the Springfield Mile for a USAC Silver Crown event during the afternoon. However, that date was washed out via the rain and Hollingsworth was able to focus on the task at hand -- a three-peat victory on the Putnamville dirt.
With 43 other drivers with victory on their minds, Hollingsworth had his work cut out for him, but set himself up well with a win over Korey Weyant in heat No. 3. The evening got off to a rough start for Brent Berry, who flipped nearly the length of the front stretch in the first heat. He was transported to the hospital for evaluation after reportedly losing consciousness briefly. He was however, alert and speaking with medical personnel following the wild ride.
Heat No. 1 went to Seth Parker with Ethan Barrow winning the second heat and Justin Marvel edging Jon Sciscoe for the fourth heat win and J.T. Stapp held off Todd Kimmell in the fifth heat.
When the feature lined up, Parker was out front alongside Barrow with Hollingsworth and Marvel in row two and Stapp and Weyant in row three.
Barrow nabbed the point from the opening green with Hollingsworth immediately challenging as an early yellow for Danny Holtsclaw ended his evening prematurely. When the race re-started, Stapp quickly brought out a second caution and moved to the back of the field after a spin, but Hollingsworth was ready to pounce on the third start.
The current track points leader dove to the bottom on the re-start and took the lead, but it was nullified on a third caution for Justin Grant.
The fourth time was the charm; Hollingsworth took the lead from Barrow and held it for a couple of circuits before the red flag flew for Parker, who clipped a front wheel on a car in the middle of the back stretch and flipped twice. He was uninjured in the crash.
Hollingsworth built his lead when the race resumed as Barrow, Marvel, Ty Deckard, Siscoe, Weyant and Kimmell followed. Deckard made his move in three and four, trying a slide job for the lead, but instead brought out the caution.
Shortly after the re-start, Wes McIntyre got upside down to bring out another red flag in turn two. Hollingsworth maintained his lead down the stretch and wasn't seriously challenged again despite a final lap flip by Dakota Jackson after contact with Chase Stockon in turn four. Both drivers were okay following the crash.
The red flag set up a green, white, checkered flag finish, but no one was able to challenge Hollingsworth, who topped Barrow, Weyant, Marvel and Kimmell in the top five. Sciscoe was sixth ahead of Jonathan Vennard, who started 18th. Chris Babcock, Shawn Krockenberger and Jake Scott wrapped up the top-10.
In the UMP Modified division, Paul Bumgardner was hungry for some redemption after finishing second by only a couple of feet in the previous week's feature.
On Saturday night, he got that elusive win, taking the lead after a great battle early with Roger Cary and then pulling away for the victory over the second half of the feature. Cary was left with second as the real battle came down to a war for third amongst a group of cars.
Craig Conyer, Clint DeMoss, Travis Shoulders and Donald Kiger weren't backing down as the group settled into a three-wide scrum for that third spot. The entire group switched positions for most of the final eight laps before Conyer claimed the third spot ahead of DeMoss and Shoulders in the top five. Boller was sixth ahead of Donald Kiger, Rob Fuqua, Gabe Menser and Chad Combs.
UMP National points leader Devin Gilpin was on hand, but mechanical problems kept him from starting his heat race; he was unable to get them corrected to run the B-Main.
The best feature of the night looked like it might be a runaway during the first half as Randy Petro started on the pole for the UMP Super Stock feature and was on a rail early on, building a solid lead ahead of Slick Griffin and Kenny Carmichael Sr.
However, late in the race, Petro appeared to have a tire that was going down as he tried to hold onto the lead. A pack of hungry drivers behind him included Carmichael Sr., Griffin, Chris Hillman, Steve Peeden and Doug McCullough.
With five laps remaining, Carmichael Sr. and Hillman made their move, diving low under Petro looking for the to spot. The group was three-wide for the last couple of laps before Hillman edged out of the pack for the victory ahead Peeden, who zipped through to steal the runner-up spot ahead of Petro and Carmichael Sr. Griffin was fifth with David Bumgardner in sixth. Marty Cooper took seventh, Scott Carrington, Joe Starks and McCullough finished the top-10.
In the final feature of the night, Dustin Shoulders claimed his 10th bomber feature of the season, getting by a determined David Wallen in the middle stages of the main event. Wallen led early on as Josh Fagg and Lloyd Walls gave chase.
Walls would run with the leaders shortly before he would slow a bit with a tire problem. Up front, Shoulders was able to get by Wallen after a couple of laps running side-by-side with him. From there, he was able to claim the feature victory over Wallen and Eric Miller. Fagg was fourth ahead of Tony Cochenour, Michael Williams, JR Watkins, Kevin Kemp, Bob Farris and Ben Williams.
Next week will be a regular show with sprints, UMP Modifieds, UMP Super Stocks and bombers.
Lincoln Park Speedway
Sprint car feature
1. Shane Hollingsworth, 2. Ethan Barrow, 3. Korey Weyant, 4. Justin
Marvel, 5. Todd Kimmell, 6. Jon Sciscoe, 7. Jonathan Vennard, 8. Chris Babcock, 9. Shawn Krockenberger, 10. Jake Scott, 11. Jesse Cramer, 12. Dakota Jackson, 13. Chase Stockon, 14. J.T. Stapp, 15. Wes McIntyre, 16. Ty Deckard, 17. Seth Parker, 18. Justin Grant, 19. Kenny Carmichael Jr., 20. Lance Grimes, 21. Danny Holtsclaw
B-main winners: Lance Grimes, Chase Stockon
Heat winners: Seth Parker, Ethan Barrow, Shane Hollingsworth, Justin Marvel
UMP Modified feature
1. Paul Bumgardner, 2. Roger Cary, 3. Craig Conyer, 4. Clint DeMoss, 5. Travis Shoulders, 6. Josh Boller, 7. Donald Kiger, 8. Rob Fuqua, 9. Gabe Menser, 10. Chad Combs, 11. John Hipps, 12. Jaymie Turner, 13. Jim Bailey, 14. Gary Hayben, 15. Kevin Davis, 16. Carlos Bumgardner, 17. Chris Brewer, 18. Schuyler Nahre, 19. Dan Lewellen, 20. Roger Mills
B-main winner: Kevin Davis
Heat winners: Roger Cary, Paul Bumgardner, Donald Kiger, Josh Boller
UMP Super Stock feature
1. Chris Hillman, 2. Steve Peeden, 3. Randy Petro, 4. Kenny Carmichael Sr., 5. Slick Griffin, 6. David Bumgardner, 7. Marty Cooper, 8. Scott Carrington, 9. Joe Starks, 10. Doug McCullough, 11. Donnie Shoemaker, 12. Danny Harris, 13. David Kikendall, 14. Kris Starks, 15. Travis Heramb, 16. Josh Burton, 17. Kenny Weaver, 18. Roy Bruce Jr., 19. Don Duncan, 20. Kenny Carmichael Jr.
B-main winner: Donnie Shoemaker
Heat winners: Randy Petro, Slick Griffin, Kenny Carmichael Sr.
Bomber feature
1. Dustin Shoulders, 2. David Wallen, 3. Eric Miller, 4. Josh Fagg, 5. Tony Cochenour, 6. Michael Williams, 7. JR Watkins, 8. Kevin Kemp, 9. Bob Farris, 10. Ben Williams, 11. Blake Cross, 12. Chad Nolte, 13. Larry Shelley Jr., 14. Kenny Treash, 15. Jason Thornburg, 16. Lloyd Walls, 17. Ron Wallen Sr., 18. Josh Presley, 19. Dale Lewis, 20. C.J. Bryan
B-main winner: Ben Williams
Heat winners: C.J. Bryan, Dustin Shoulders, Eric Miller