SCOTT, FOGG & MORRELL ARE FIRST TIME WINNERS IN FRIDAY ACTION AT SPIRIT

 

​The Friday night action at Spirit Speedway produced three new feature winners for the 2019 season.  For Wayne Scott, in the Ace Overhead Door 600 Micro Sprints, and Dave Morrell, in the Slingshot division, the wins were their first ever on the Logan Township quarter mile track within the Bridgeport Speedway.  For Luke Fogg, it was a first win of the 2019 season in the JS Weld-Rite/Mongoose Chassis 270 Micro Sprint competition.

Even though the sky said otherwise, the racers seemed to be of the opinion that there was a full moon on Friday night as the racing action was frequently interrupted for multi car incidents.

In the Ace Overhead Door 600 Micro action it was Travis Hill who drove his No. 98H into the lead after it took two complete restarts to get the twenty lap feature event underway.  Hill looked impressive after racing away with the win in his qualifier earlier in the evening but Hill would later say that he was “too good, too early” in the main event.

Hill took the crossed flags at halfway followed by Wayne Scott, Luke Thomas and Jon Keller.  Scott decided that it was time to go when he saw Thomas’ nose underneath him.  Scott closed the gap on Hill on lap eleven.  He tried the inside but that didn’t work with Thomas ready to take advantage of any opportunity.  On lap thirteen, Scott and Hill raced side by side with Scott holding the advantage.

It was Eddie Barber III who was on the move in the race’s final laps.  With five to go, Barber ran fifth.  He passed Keller on lap seventeen and then made his way past Hill on the white flag lap.

Scott raced to his first ever Spirit checkered flag followed by Thomas, Barber, Hill and Mike Rutherford who raced his way through the pack to snag a top five finish on the final circuit after qualifying through the consolation.  Nick Sapp finished sixth followed by Jon Keller, PJ Williams, Colin Bustard and Johnny Boland in the Linderman No. 4.

In the JS Weld-Rite/Mongoose Chassis 270 Micro sprint action, it was  Lee Reinhardt took over the lead at the green  and led the way through lap six.  During a caution with six complete, Reinhardt headed off the track with mechanical issues.

Reinhardt’s departure turned the lead over to five time winner, Alex Swift who had just taken over second from Brandon Shipley.  With Swift in the lead, the finish seemed predictable but Luke Fogg had other ideas.

The racing chiropractor raced in third behind Swift and Shipley at the half way mark.  Swift had pulled away from the field but Fogg got closer and closer on each lap.  He raced by Shipley to take second and then with five to go, Fogg raced by Swift to capture his first win of the season.

Fogg took the win followed by Swift, Shipley, John Wagner, Jr., and Steve Coslop.  Shea Wills finished sixth with rookie driver, RJ Witcraft taking seventh over Jon Dougherty and Ross Holler.

Every track, every division has that driver(s) who supports every event but whose finishes don’t always reflect his level of dedication.  For the Slingshots at Spirit Speedway, that driver is Dave Morrell.

Morrell has been in the thick of the hunt all season but on Friday night he was perfect – winning the heat race and then the feature event.  Morrell’s first ever feature win in a Slingshot came with 2018 Champion, Dave McCullough finishing second.  Charlie Palmucci finished third with Ashley Therien and Joseph Hansen rounding out the top five.

Jason Dunkelberger picked up his third win of the season in the Mini Late Model feature over Tucker Gordner and Chris Pascoe.

The Spirit Speedway will be idle this Friday night with the second hand of the 2019 Poker Series being run on Sunday, August 4th.  Racing will get underway at 6pm on Sunday for the 270 & 600 Micro Sprints, Slingshots and Xcel 600 Modifieds.