08/26/13 It was a night to remember for five division drivers who fought hard to bring home championships in the inaugural dirt track season at Plymouth Speedway.
Bobby Hinkle dominated the Super Street feature leading all laps from the pole. It wasn’t so easy for runner-up Roger Duszynski and third place finisher Brandon Roundtree. Duszynski had to battle for position for quite a few laps with Nate Payton before taking the second spot and then Roundtree challenged Payton for third as Payton faded back as the race wore on. Duszynski even had a bobble on lap 14 but a caution gave him the second spot back and that’s where he would finish.
Hinkle was happy to have such a great run on season championship night.
“It was do or die for us and we did it! We had to beat a few people to make it happen, but we got it done,” stated Hinkle.
It was Bob McLean who picked up the season championship in the Super Street division.
“It’s been a rough season, but it feels great to win the championship. Thank you to all of my sponsors,” smiled McLean.
The Traxxas USAC 600 Open Sprints found the pole-sitter Billy Cribbs on top of the podium. Cribbs had a pretty good lead on his competitors before a caution came out on lap 13 as Kris Knox’s machine suffered a broken axle. That closed the gap between Cribbs and Randy Shilling and the pair challenged each other all the way to the checkered flag. Cribbs won the race by one-tenth of a second! Jason Montel rounded out the top three on the podium.
Cribbs was not only the winner of the race, but he was the season champion of the Traxxas USAC 600 Open Sprints Division.
“It feels great,” beamed Cribbs. “Words can’t even describe how I’m feeling right now. I was scared I wasn’t even going to win this race with Randy Shilling restarting right behind me, but we got it done!”
Tommy Beezley II and Frank Marshall, who traded places in the points this season and were one and two in the points going into the night, were one and two for most of the UMP Modifieds race. Marshall worked his way from sixth place to third by the third lap after a few cautions at the start of the race. By the time things got sorted out, Beezley II had a commanding lead on the field, even with a handful of cautions. Marshall closed in on Beezley II by lap eight but Beezley II’s Modified machine was too fast for Marshall. Beezley II went home with the first place race trophy with Marshall second and Terry Hull third.
Beezley II congratulated Marshall on winning the championship in his post-race interview.
“Feels good to be on top tonight and congratulations to Frank Marshall on the championship,” Beezley II stated. Thank you to my family, friends and everyone who works on the car. Glad to come home with the win.”
Marshall was complimentary of the track in this inaugural dirt track season.
“We ran great and we were fast. This was fun. I’ve got a lot of good people helping me along with my sponsors. Thank you to everyone, thank you fans and this track is great. We’ve had six wins and a lot of second-place finishes.”
Bryce Shidler needed to have a good race in the Thunder Stock Division to edge out Randy Lambert who was a mere 15 points behind Shidler in the points going into the night’s racing action. Before the race even got into the first green flag lap, Lambert got caught up in an accident that caused too much right front damage to continue in the race. Shidler wrapped up the championship at that point, but he wasn’t done racing. In a caution-riddled race and due to time constraints, the race ended in 10 laps with Shidler taking the checkered flag in the first position. Jason Atkinson, who challenged Shidler for the lead at one point, finished second and Virgil Arnold was third.
“I feel so great about this win,” commented Shidler. “We’ve been working hard all year Thank you to everyone for getting my car ready every week.”
Garrett Saunders had a commanding lead in the points in the Traxxas USAC 600 Restricted Winged Sprint Division and found clean air quickly in the feature after starting at the tail of the field. Bud McCune had the lead for the first three laps after starting in the second position. McCune and Saunders swapped places a few times in the opening laps, but Saunders got to the front and stayed there for the rest of the race. Saunders had a seven second lead on McCune by the time the checkers flew. Nick Katrakis finished third.
Saunders, the Traxxas USAC 600 Restricted Wing Sprint champion, will be moving to the open division in 2014 to run with this brother, Eric.
“We started in the open division already this season as we’re trying different setups. It’ll be fun to race with Eric. Thank you to everyone who has helped me with the car, including all of my sponsors.”
That may be the end of the regular season, but there is one more opportunity to see your favorite drivers in racing action this year. The Blueberry Bash will feature the UMP Modifieds, Super Streets, Thunder Stocks, Traxxas USAC 600 Winged Sprints, Traxxas USAC 600 Non-Winged Sprints and the Traxxas USAC 600 Restricted Sprints on Saturday, Aug. 31. A huge fireworks display will end the evening. Gates will open at 4 p.m. and racing begins at 7 p.m. ET.
For more information on the points standings or ticket information, visit www.plymouthspeedway.net. Follow Plymouth Speedway on Facebook and Twitter.
By: Anita Soltis
