Kil-Kare Speedway

1166 Dayton-Xenia Road

Xenia, Ohio 45385

937 429-2961

 

 

Bates Ends Long Dry Spell at Kil-Kare

 

By Jerry Wahl

 

Xenia, Ohio (4/9) - It has been a long time since Vandalia's Ricky Bates visited the winners circle at Kil-Kare Speedway. However, that dry long spell ended Friday night during the tracks season opening NASCAR Weekly Racing Series at the popular 3/8th mile asphalt oval. It was the last event of the 2001 season when the young driver recorded his first and only late model feature win until Friday night.

  Despite the cool damp night a large crowd was on hand to witness the first events of the season and they were treated to plenty of action.

  Riverside's Ron Simpson and former pure stock driver Ken Kohl brought the field to the green flag for the start of the 30 lap feature which quickly saw the yellow flag come out when three cars tangled on the backstretch . Simpson led the first two laps with third place starter Bates putting his Monte Carlo out front where he stayed until the checker. Defending champion and fast timer (13.68) Sam Heckman came from seventh to second by the  sixth lap but could not catch the determined Bates as he claimed runner-up honors. Mike Miller moved up from eleventh and looked like he would place third but a hard charging Tony Brunke had really been coming on strong after starting twelfth. Brunke claimed third with three laps to go and was rapidly closing in on Heckman. With Brunke third, Miller and Kohl rounded out the top five.

  The track appeared to be super fast as was evident during E-Mod time trials as eleven drivers broke the existing track record held by Xenia's Charlie Davis of 14.22 set September 5 last year. When time trials ended the record of 13.38 belonged to Derek Barnette of Yellow Springs.

  Springfield's Kyle Jones beat Barnette into turn one to claim the lead at the start of the E-Mod feature with Ryan Dunlevy moving into second and Barnette third. Jones continued to lead but fifth place starter Charlie Davis was on the prowl, advancing to second in three laps. He slipped around Jones just after the halfway mark to take the win. Mike Carroll steadily moved up to claim second with Barnette third. Defending champ Jerry Stapleton was fourth and second year driver Jason Mahaffey was fifth. Jones night ended when he spun and made contact with the frontstretch wall which damaged the front-end of his racer.

  Defending mini stock/sports truck driver Eddie Flora and Franklin's Chuck Weaver started in the front row of their feature with Flora taking the lead. Fifth place starter Eric Snell wasted little time as propelled his way into second by the second lap and then dropped Flora to second on lap six. The Huber Heights resident brought his Ford Ranger truck home first with Flora second in  a Chevy S-10 with Weaver third in a Ranger. Kenny Snyder and Shane Sparkman rounded out the top  five.

  Eighteen hungry pure stocks started their feature and the action was fast and furious to say the least. Harveysburg's Brett Clark led the first lap only to be spun on turn four. Back in front on the restart he continued to lead with a pack of wolves right behind him. After five yellow flag periods, it was second place starter Tom Williams of Xenia claiming the win with sixth place starter Heath White claiming second with Clark third. Mike South Jr. nipped last years champ Jeff Marsh for fourth with Marsh fifth.

  The  Haerr family, last years champ Tim of Enon and Sonny of Springfield started on the front row of the compacts with Tim taking the lead at the start. Riverside's Gary Williams started eighth and like a rocket, he shot his Toyota through traffic to the second position by the conclusion of the first lap. As he and leader Tim Haerr weeded their way through traffic, Williams took the lead at the half-way point to claim the fourth  win of his career. Steve Barnhart came from tenth to claim third as Sonny Haerr was fourth and Ronald Sagers fifth.

  Action resumes Friday (4/16) with another full program plus the Legends Cars will be added to the program with the gates opening at 6 p.m. and racing at 7:30 p.m.

 

Late Models

  Feature (30 laps) - Ricky Bates, Sam Heckman, Tony Brunke, Mike Miller, Ken Kohl, Don Mahaffey Jr., Jim Lewis Jr., Jerry Stapleton, Ron Simpson, Russ Bobb, Steve Foster, Mike Ward, Virgil Powell, Doug Miller

 

E-Mods

  Feature (25 laps) - Charlie Davis, Mike Carroll, Derek Barnette, Jerry Stapleton, Jason Mahaffey, Jeff Wilson, Dick Dunlevy Jr., Ryan Dunlevy, Kim Dill, Joe Jennings, rodney Kreusch, Gordon Watson Jr., Rich Miller, Bob Stansell Jr., Kyle Jones, Dan Williams

 

Mini Stocks/Sports TrucksS

  Feature (20 laps) - Eric Snell, Eddie Flora, Chuck Weaver, Kenny Snyder, Shane Sparkman, John Morris, Matt Potter, Shawn Sparkman

 

Pure Stocks

  Feature (20 laps) - Tom Williams, Heath White, Bret Clark, Mike South Jr., Jeff Marsh, Jamie Sites, James Harding, Bill Burba,Mike South Sr., Jason Evans, Mark Smith Jr., Don Robbins, Travis Digges, Melvin McJullen, Duane Bohrer, Matt McCarty, Tony Cottrill, Marvin Amburgy

 

Compacts

  Feature (15 laps) - Gary Williams, Tim Haerr, Steve Barnhart, Sonny Haerr, Ronald Sagers, Shane Williams, Tim Myers, Brett Boykin, Joe Hoelsher, David Shaw, Todd Pelfrey, Frank McCubbin Jr., Frank McCubbin Sr.