J.R.GENTRY SMOKES THE FIELD AT LAKEVILLE SPEEDWAY
 
     The weather man watching over the Holmes county area on Friday afternoon had not promised the loyal fans of Lakeville Speedway
a great deal of hope that the rains would stay away.However,the drivers,fans,crews,and staff were blessed with a great clear evening
for some great side by side racing for the second night of the 2008 season.There was a certain buzz in the air surrounding the speedway
that was attributed to the return of the winged Sprints to the ultra smooth speedplant.
     Looking back to April 18th,J.R.Gentry had recorded a 5th place finish in the main event in his ElCampesino sponsored #014.This week
he started 6th in his heat and finished 5th.Late in this heat race,it appeared he had found something that wasnt there earlier.His mid pack heat finish forced him to start deep in the field at 10th place.Eric Eicholtz and Jay McDougal brought the field to the green flag with John Reasor and Mike Lonas filling up the second row.By the 4th lap it appeared that 6th place starter Clint Coffman was going to the one to keep your eye on as he starting his march to the front falling in behind Lonas as Gentry was already shown in 7th.Gentry then made it into the top five by lap 8 as he and Coffman ran side by side for a couple of circuits.Gentry set his sights on Lonas and gathered him in by lap 14 as McDougal had recorded the lead for the first half of the event with Eicholtz shown in the runner up spot.Gentry had tried the high side of the track late in the heat race and on lap 17,went back up top in the multi-groove racing surfaced and blasted past the two front runners.Once Gentry cleared those two cars he set sail and was never challenged for the final 8 laps and won by a large margin.He was followed to the checker by Eicholtz,Benny Lester who came from starting 7th,Coffman and McDougal.Heat wins were won by Lonas and Coffman.
      The evenings events were sponsored by Eddie's Sunoco and the return of the Sprints made it a two fold special evening.Tim Hunter from Millersburg has had some great success at Lakeville Speedway over the years and was very elated to be back home so to speak.Hunter looked awesome in the heat race and started the A Main in the 3rd spot.By the time they had reached the backstretch,Hunter had taken over the lead and began to seperate himself from the other sprinters in his Berlin Bakery sponsored #2H.As Hunter was working his mount flawlessly,5th place starter Nick Mulheim was moving into 2nd place as he steered past Jeremy Aumend and Jerry McClure.On lap 9,Danny Mumaw went to the high side and passed McClure for 3rd.When the checkered was thrown it was Hunter,Mulheim,Mumaw,McClure and Aumend.
     In the Pure Stock heats,Hud Wharton and Billy Goerz were winners and the fans figured that that would be the two to come down to the wire for a feature win.Shaun Cains and Larry Loney filled up the front row for the drop of the green in the main event.Wharton wasted no time and by the time the 2nd lap was scored,he had moved from starting 5th to the lead.Dave Haven Sr. started his charge from 3rd along with the 2007 track champion,Tony Cline from 4th.Last weeks winner ,Billy Goerz and Haven Sr.ran side by side and they switched positions from top to bottom to thrill the crowd.At the end of lap 6 the lineup read,Wharton,Cains,Goerz,Haven Sr and Cline.As Wharton made his way through turn 4,there was a backfire noise from the power plant and he coasted to a stop in turn 2 and was hooked back to the pits and was finished for the evening.Now,Shaun Cains regained the lead that he had at the start.Two more laps were scored and Goerz made his move to the point.Cline and Haven Sr was contesting for 3rd place and as the laps wound down,Cain was able to hold off the pressure that Cline was putting on him.As it came to the finish line,Goerz in his Custom Cabinets sponsored #55 made his way to the American Payroll Advance winners circle for the second time in the early season.Cain finished second,Cline was third,Haven Sr drove to a fourth place finish and Donna Canode came from starting 9th to round out the top 5.
     Jeremy Hudson made his first trip to the New Lakeville Speedway in his Holmes Tire #19 a good one as he went from the outside of the front row to the checkered without much pressure as he pretty much ran away from the rest of the field.Early in the contest 4 time track champ,Dale Beckett looked as if he may have something for Hudson as he and Cody Rinard went door handle to door handle and brought with themJosh Robinson and and Jordan James.While these tussels are happening Shawn Rush who started 10 was nipping at all thier heels and was picking off car by car to get into the mix.Beckett fell to some bad luck on lap13 and coasted to the infield.Rush gave it all he had,but Hudson had put too much clay between he and the runner up.It was Hudson,Rush,Josh Hershberger who came on late in the race from starting 11th,Josh Robinson and Jordan James.Robinson was disqualified in post race inspection for having a wheel weight.That moved Brad Hensel to the fifth finishing spot.Heat wins were won byRush,Beckett and Hensel
     Last weeks feature winner Doug Hensel and Tim Rush picked up heat wins in the Mini Stock Novice Class.Corey Hornikel in his Coffman Corvette sponsored mount started in the 4th spot in the feature and really checked out on the rest of the field.Trevor Quicksall made several charges to reel in Hornikel,but couldnt catch him.Hornikel got his first feature win.Upon inspection following the feature,wheel weight was found on Quicksall's racer and he was dqed.The official finish was Hornikel,Rush,Danny Rose,Hensel and Sonny Flannery.
     Brandon Craver won the heat and the feature in the Mini Truck class.Both the heat and the feature saw Craver and last weeks feature winner and 2007 track champ Todd Gallion set the pace for the entire event.third place went to Dave Giaugue and fourth was taken by Ben Brannon.
     Zach Medley settled last Friday for the runner up spot in the Cruiser division,but this week took his ride to the winner circle.Charlie Dawson was the heat winner.It was Medley,Doyle Mast,David Radcliff,Cody Radcliff and Duncan
     The New Lakeville Speedway will be back in action this coming friday night,May 2nd with Lakeville Late Models,Winged Sprints,Pure Stocks,Mini Stocks,Novice Mini Stocks,Cruisers and Trucks.For all up to date information,please visit us on the web at www.lakevillespeedway.com
 
                                                                      SUMMARY
 
LATE MODELS
 
Heat 1-Mike Lonas,Benny Lester,Kristin Flory,John Reasor
Heat 2-Clint Coffman,Eric Eicholtz,Nate Potts,Jay McDougal
 
Feature -J.R.Gentry,Eicholtz,Lester,Coffman,McDougal,K.Flory,Lonas,Coby Bartrum,Reasor,Tom Fultz,N.Potts,Jack Stewart,Matt Irey
 
SPRINTS
 
Heat 1-Tim Hunter,Danny Mumaw,Nick Mulheim,Bryan Grove
 
Feature -Hunter,Mulheim,Mumaw,Jerry McClure,Jeremy Aumend,Chad Levingston,Martin Funston
 
PURE STOCKS
 
Heat 1-Hud Wharton,Shaun Cains,Tony Cline,Brett Burgess
Heat 2-Billy Goerz,Dave Haven Sr.Larry Loney,Donna Canode
 
Feature -Goerz,Cains,Cline,Haven Sr,Canode,Paul Harringer,Burgess,Murray Anderson,Tom Capra,John Stream,Loney,Wharton,Dave Haven Jr.
 
MINI STOCKS
 
Heat 1-Sean Rush,Steve Quicksall,Jason King,Mark Myers
Heat 2-Dale Beckett,Jordan James,Cody Rinard,Josh Robinson
Heat 3-Brad Hensel,Jeremy Hudson,Josh Hershberger,Lenny Quinn
 
Feature -Hudson,Rush,Hershberger,Jordan James,Hensel,King,Quicksall,Myers,Rinard,Quinn,Glenn Elliott Jr,Jeff James,Michelle West,Wayne Newberry,Beckett
 
NOVICE MINI STOCKS
 
Heat 1-Doug Hensel,Trevor Quicksall,EM Duncan,Sonny Flannery
Heat 2-Tim Rush,Cory Hornikel,Kevin Wright,Danny Rose
 
Feature -Hornikel,Rush,Rose,Hensel,Flannery,Wright,Kerri Johnson,Dustin Daugherty,Duncan
 
TRUCKS
 
Heat 1-Brandon Craver,Todd Gallion,Dave Giaugue,Gail Wallace
 
Feature -Craver,Gallion,Giaugue,Ben Brannon
 
CRUISERS
 
Heat 1-Charlie Dawson,Zach Medley,Cody Radcliff,Royal Mast,
 
Feature -Medley,Mast,d.Radcliff,C.Radcliff,Dawson