Freeland tops field to win Bomber Mid-Season Championship

Ryan Freeland (No. 72) and Joe Cash battle for the lead during their bomber heat race Saturday night. Freeland would go on to pick up the heat race and feature win. Cash would place 16th in the A-main.

PUTNAMVILLE -- North Salem's Ryan Freeland captured Lincoln Park Speedway's Mid-season Bomber feature on Saturday night and got a boost in the season points.

Freeland roared to a victory in the opening heat race of the night as the bombers took center stage at the 5/16th dirt Putnamville oval. Mooresville's Cody Wright picked up the second heat race victory and started alongside Freeland on the front row of the 20-lap A-main. Jason Hunt and Gary Hayden picked up the final two heat race victories of the evening.

Lincoln Park Speedway points leader Jordan Almanza had motor problems in his heat race and was forced to run the B-main. However, he was able to fix the situation and blasted to the win to set himself up for a 17th-place start in the A-main.

Freeland and Wright started out front and stayed there over the 20-lap feature as the rest of the field fought for a top-five finish.

Scott Tidwell and Curt Leonard were side-by-side after the first five laps as Tidwell worked the cushion seeking an advantage. Josh Litton and Hayden were close behind in a battle for the fifth spot.

At the halfway point, Freeland was hitting his marks as Wright gave chase with Tidwell and Leonard still fighting for third. Freeland found his way into lapped traffic as Litton and Hayden opened a sizable gap over Almanza, who had worked his way to sixth.

On the restart, Freeland was able to pull away from Wright over the final few circuits to pick up the win as Tidwell placed third ahead of Leonard and Litton.

Twenty-five UMP Modifieds were on hand Saturday night, but once again it was Derek Groomer that put forth a dominant effort to score his fifth feature win of the season.

Michael Kettnich started on the pole, but an early problem led to him being the first to pull off the track. Groomer, who started fourth, blasted into the lead and wouldn't look back. Kenny Carmichael Jr. started third and moved into second in pursuit of Groomer. He would remain in the second spot as Groomer built on his lead and got into lapped traffic by lap 14.

Jordan Wever was several car lengths behind Carmichael in third with Bradley Sterrett running fourth ahead of Roy Bruce Jr., Jay Humphrey Jr. and Kenny Carmichael Sr.

Over the final circuits, Groomer cruised to the win as Carmichael Jr. crossed the finish line second ahead of Sterrett, Wever and Humphrey.

The weekly battle between UMP National Points leaders continued this week as Steve Peeden secured his seventh feature win of the year and fifth at Lincoln Park Speedway.

Peeden started on the pole and ran a flawless race up front to claim the win as last weekend's victor, Ralph Groomer, came home second ahead of Thursday's winner Josh Boller.

A native of Martinsville, Peeden wasted few laps in building a comfortable lead as Doug McCullough ran second ahead of Wes McClara, Boller and Jake Leitzman through five laps. By the halfway mark, Peeden was already into lapped traffic, but they barely slowed the No. P3 machine. Peeden was able to work multiple lines successfully on his way to the win. Peeden led by a full straightaway before a late caution set up a green-white-checkered flag finish.

When the field went green, Boller gave Peeden a run through the first two corners before Groomer roared into second on the top side above Boller and McCullough. Peeden fought off the challenge to pick up the win as Groomer edged out Boller at the finish line by a nose with McCullough in fourth ahead of McClara.

Drew Dorsett picked up the feature win in the Midwest Mini Sprint Association following the disqualification of Fort Worth, Texas native Anton Hernandez.

Hernandez and Brad Strunk put on an exciting show, swapping the top spot back and forth during the early laps of the MMSA main event. Hernandez ripped around the cushion at the top and took over the lead. However, Strunk continued to stay close until he bobbled and got upside down heading into turn two. Strunk was uninjured in the mishap, but his evening was done.

Following the restart, Hernandez would stay out front the remainder of the way as Dorsett, Justin Lewis and Lynn Ambrose crossed the finish line ahead of Michael Roehling. Dorsett was later credited with the win after Hernandez was disqualified post-race.

This weekend will be a regular show at LPS featuring sprint cars, UMP Modifieds and Super Stocks along with bombers.

Bomber Mid-season

championship feature

1.Ryan Freeland, 2. Cody Wright, 3. Scott Tidwell, 4. Curt Leonard, 5. Josh Litton, 6. Alex Reid, 7. David Wallne, 9. Justin Bumgardner, 10. Andrew Pollock, 11. Jason Hunt, 12. Chucky Walden, 13. Jordan Almanza, 14. Gary Hayden, 15. Adam Farr, 16. Joe Cash, 17. Matthew Grimes, 18. Tyler Neal, 19. Megan Cavaness, 20. James Walters

B-main winner: Almanza

Heat winners: Freeland, Wright, Hunt, Hayden

UMP Modified feature

1. Derek Groomer, 2. Kenny Carmichael Jr., 3. Bradley Sterrett, 4. Jordan Wever, 5. Jay Humphrey Jr., 6. Roy Bruce Jr., 7. Kenny Carmichael Sr., 8. Jeff Deckard, 9. Josh Settles, 10. Josh McDaniel, 11. David Baldwin, 12. Dan Lewellen, 13. Roger Mills, 14. Travis Shoulders, 15. Tyler Loughmiller, 16. David Bumgardner, 17. Brent Hudson, 18. Michael Fish, 19. Gary Ricketts

B-main winner: Carmichael Sr.

Heat winners: Carmichael Jr., Sterrett, Groomer

UMP Super Stock feature

1. Steve Peeden, 2. Ralph Groomer, 3. Josh Boller, 4. Doug McCullough, 5. Wes McClara, 6. Jake Leitzman, 7. Jack Campbell, 8. Scotty Massie, 9. John Shidler, 10. Paul Wright, 11. Michael Clark, 12. Justin Massie, 13. Hayden Rogers, 14. Jerry Hepworth, 15. Kris Starks, 16. Larry Raines, 17. Jamie Adams, 18. Carlos Bumgardner Sr., 19. Justin Clodfelter, 20. Josh McDaniel

Heat winners: McClara, McCullough

Bomber second feature

1. Justin Litton, 2. Lenny Krupa III, 3. Greg Caldwell, 4. Paul Alleyn, 5. Bob Farris, 6. Keivan Clodfelter, 7. Harley Burns, 8. Jeremy Farris, 9. Travis Heramb, 10. Jeff Beggs, 11. Larry Hutto, 12. Chad Nolte, 13. Jerry Hutton

Midwest Mini-Sprint Association feature

1. Drew Dorsett, 2. Justin Lewis, 3. Lynn Ambrose, 4. Andy Bradley, 5. Michael Roehling, 6. Collin Parker, 7. Scott Bradley, 8. Howard McCormick, 9. Ryan Barr, 10. Mike Miller, 11. Smith, 12. Blake Vermillion, 13. Dave Dorsett, 14. Cindy Chambers, 15. Brad Strunk, 16. Mark Horning, 17. Dylan Moan, 18. Rod Henning, 19. Collin Miller, 20. Korbin Hayslett, 21. Anton Hernandez