Layfield Claims Checkers

By Scott Wolfe

STEWART, OHIO (August 27, 2010) - Under a full moon in the foothills of beautiful Appalachia, Skyline Speedway provided the perfect backdrop for victory lane, where Morgantown's Andre Layfield stormed from 13th to first in an exciting Ohio Valley Sprint Car Association feature for 410 sprint cars. Chris Carpenter, Parkersburg, WV ousted dad Freddie Carpenter for his eighth win in the AMRA Late Models, Kenny Johnson, Parkersburg, claimed the AMAR Modifieds, Gary Gould claimed the Pure Stocks, Randy Wise the four cylinders, and the dominator Will Holland claimed the Mini-Wedge main.

In the 410 Ohio Valley Sprint Car Assoc. main event Mitchell Harble got the early jump on the initial start, but a caution waved. Kory Crabtree, a Skyline and OVSCA points' contender was sidelined with mechanical problems on the caution. After a second try in which Wayne McPeek was whistled for jumping, the field went single file with Harble on the point. Harble put his #15 on the high side and blasted around the high-banked oval with great precision.
Just like a week ago, crafty veteran Dave Dickson put the Abbott 7a on the lowside and chased down Harble. Harble high, Dickson low--the duo battled for several laps before Dickson took over on lap eleven. The ever-improving Harble was not deterred and continued to battle Dickson. Another points' contender Josh Davis left with steering woes after contact with another car.

All the while Keith Baxter was on the move after battling hard with a charging Andre Layfield with hot shoe Jimmy Stinson giving chase to Dickson and Harble. Dickson used the same drive he used to victory last week, but Layfield picked off both Harble and Stinson to move into third behind Baxter.

Layfield's victory march came on the high side where his J&J Chassis/Fisher Powered mount locked down in overdrive. Layfield bagged second place Harble, then worked on Dickson, taking command on lap 21. Layfield rode the momentum to the victory in the OVSCA main, his second of the season.

Said Layfield, "I knew when I made it to third that I was going to win. The car was really working great at the top. I knew that the car was good, but we also got a little bit lucky. Any way you look at it I glad to get the win."

Youngsters Sam Ashworth and Cale Conley in the Jamie Miller #6 had good runs. Conley charged from 16th to seventh ahead of sizzling Fireman Brian Benson and Wes McGlumphy. Aaron Higgins had a great run from the tail to tenth and Wayne McPeek charged from 17th to 11th. Layfield was hard-charger, advancing the most positions from 13th to number one.
Rounding out the top ten were Layfield, Dave Dickson, Keith Baxter, Mitchell Harble, Jimmy Stinson, Sam Ashworth, Cale Conley, Brian Benson, Wes McGlumphy, and Aaron Higgins. Cale Conley was another hard charger of the race up to seventh from 17th.
In the AMRA Late Model main, the father-son team of Chris Carpenter and Freddie Carpenter paced the field to the green flag. Chris got the jump on dad and Fast Freddie filed in behind. Once again lots of action took place back in the pack with Jeff Burdette making a quick jump up the ladder.

On the third lap, Scott Wolfe lost a drive shaft to bring out the first caution of the race. When the action resumed young Carpenter was once again on the launching pad. Fast Freddie showed his son the nose a few times, but couldn't make a successful bid. Two noticeable drivers charging to the front were consi drivers Tyler Carpenter in the Buckwheat Shutts Rocket and Dan Morrison in his new Rocket with both drivers missiling to the front up from 16th and 18th respectively. Morrison squeezed one more position out of the mix to capture hard-charger honors.

Burdette bagged a gaggle of heavy hitters to jump past Andy Bond, Josh McGuire, Chris Garnes and Travis Brookover in the early stages. The only other caution was a lap nine skirmish that sent Larry Bond to the tail. Bond recovered to finish ninth. McGuire, Burdette, and Garnes dueled hard, while the dynamic duo of Carpenter and Son set up shop ahead of the pack.

Rounding out the top ten were Chris Carpenter, Freddie Carpenter, Jeff Burdette, Chris Garnes, Josh McGuire, Tyler Carpenter, Dan Morrison, Travis Brookover, Larry Bond, and Ralph Withem.

In the AMRA Modified main, Kenny "Worth the Price of Admission" Johnson gave the fans their money's worth. With a big bang for the buck, Johnson was the elite car in the field, distancing himself a full straight-away lead right out of the gate. While Johnson was on Cruise-control J.P. Roberts anchored second place. Roberts had a hand full of Chris Stotts and Robert Garnes. The mayhem continued sometimes three-wide, but by lap 13 Mike McPherson had run down most of the front-runners and after sacking Robbie Evans, went after Stotts. McPherson, the hard charger in a 12th to third run, took third on lap 16 and grabbed second from Roberts on lap 18 in a great run.

Evans just missed a top five over Matt Holcomb, Jeremy Blake, up from 15th, Buddy Brogan, and Derrick Smith. Smith and Brogan joined Blake in a run from the back to finish in the top ten.

Rounding out the top ten were Kenny Johnson, Mike McPherson, J.P. Roberts, Robert Garnes, Chris Stotts, Robbie Evans, Matt Holcomb, Jeremy Blake, Buddy Brogan, and Derrick Smith.

In the Pure Stock division former go-kart racer Gary Gould pulled off his first ever Skyline feature win. Recently, Gould bought a machine off Jeremy Blake and quickly adapted to the ranks, challenging for the lead last week before getting a flat tire. Gould was the class of the field as he pulled away to huge lead even after two mid-race cautions. Shelly Powell also had the hammer down with her best run of the year for second.
Ryan Wilson had mechanical woes and started on the tail, but came back to third after a good run. Rounding out the top ten were Gould, Powell, Wilson, Levi Woods, Chris Ice, George Klintworth, Curt Reck, Jarrad Willis, and Shane Roush.

Randy Wise picked up his first feature win last week and liked it so much, he duplicated the feat in a torrid battle with Tommy Adkins. That duo fought hard early for the top spot, but Wise sped away at mid-race, leaving Adkins to battle Chris Lauer for second.
With Wise comfortably out in front Adkins took second over Lauer in a close finish. Finishing fourth through tenth were Jeff Rankin, Barry Kitts, Dean Wingrove, Heath Warren, George Klintworth, Michael Linn, and Terry Styer.

The top five Mini-Wedge points finale saw Will Holland take the top spot over Martin, Gibson, Jr., Samantha Roush, Cameron Roush, and Abby White. Will Holland once again took the feature win, this time in a hard fought battle with early leaders Martin Gibson, Jr. and Cole Mayle. Mayle led laps five through eight, but Holland took over on lap nine and stormed on to the win. Rounding out the finish were Will Holland, Cole Mayle, Tanner McLaughlin, Corey DeLancey, Cameron Roush, Martin Gibson, Jr., Samantha Roush, and Skylar Zimmerman

Skyline Speedway is idle next week, but comes back with the season championships on Saturday September 11. For further information visit << www.skylinespeedway.net >> or call 304-539-4410 or the track phone at 740-662-4111.

410 Sprint Cars
Fast Time: Tyler Carpenter 13:99
Dash: Jimmy Stinson 11:98
Heat One: Mitchell Harble, Jimmy Stinson, Wes McGlumphy, Keith Baxter, Andre Layfield, Jon Webb, Benny Hickle, Eddie Miller, Eric Martin
Heat Two: Aaron Higgins, Kory Crabtree, Sam Ashworth, Josh Davis, Charlie Fisher, Greg Mitchell, Eddie Miller, David Smith, Lance Webb
Heat Three: Wayne McPeek, Dave Dickson, Brian Benson, Randy Fink, Dallas Hewitt, Chris Myers, Cale Conley, John Shewbrook
B-Main: Cale Conley, Greg Mitchell, Benny Hickle, Chris Myers, Jon Webb, Ed Neumeister, David Smith, John Shewbrook, Eric Martin, Lance Webb, Eddie Miller
Feature: Andre Layfield, Dave Dickson, Keith Baxter, Mitchell Harble, Jimmy Stinson, Sam Ashworth, Cale Conley, Brian Benson, Wes McGlumphy, Aaron Higgins, Wayne McPeek, Charlie Fisher, Dallas Hewitt, Greg Mitchell, Randy Fink, Benny Hickle, Josh Davis, Kory Crabtree

Late Models
Fast Time: Tyler Carpenter 13:99
Heat One: Freddie Carpenter, Andy Bond, Anthony Huber, Larry Bond, Shane McLaughlin, Nick Corbitt, Tyler Carpenter, Tony Roush
Heat Two: Chris Carpenter, Travis Brookover, Jeff Burdette, Scott Wolfe, Doug Dodd, Justin Powell, Dan Morrison, George Klintworth, Ted Dilley
Heat Three: Josh McGuire, Chris Garnes, Audie Swartz, Ralph Withem, Roy Roush, Steve Bigley, Ronnie Mayle, Ryan Casto
B-Main: Tyler Carpenter, Nick Corbitt, Dan Morrison, Justin Powell, Steve Bigley, Tony Roush, George Klintworth, Ronnie Mayle
Feature: Chris Carpenter, Freddie Carpenter, Jeff Burdette, Chris Garnes, Josh McGuire, Tyler Carpenter, Dan Morrison, Travis Brookover, Larry Bond, Ralph Withem, Roy Roush, Andy Bond, Shane McLaughlin, Anthony Huber, Audie Swartz, Doug Dodd, Nick Corbitt, Scott Wolfe

MALTA AMRA MODIFIEDS

Heat One: Kenny Johnson , J.P. Roberts, Andy Bond, Buddy Brogan, Nick Carr, Joe Hamon, Jason Brookover, Rick Venham
Heat Two: Matt Holcomb, Robbie Evans, Frankie Roush, Derrick Smith, Jason Brooks, Larry Clark, Mike Murphy, P.J. Brown
Heat Three: Chris Stotts, Chuck Yeley, Luke Jordan, Jeremy Blake, Jimmy Rhodes, Mark Luning, Mark Young
Heat Four: Robert Garnes, Jeremy Roush, Mike McPherson, Doug Henry, Dusty Boley, Aaron Ellis, Curt Stacey
B-Main: Mark Luning, Jason Brooks, Nick Carr, Curt Stacey, Jimmy Rhodes, Mike Murphy, Larry Clark, Mark Young, Aaron Ellis, Jason Brookover, Joe Hamon, Rick Venham, Sr., P.J. Brown
Feature: Kenny Johnson, Mike McPherson, J.P. roberts, Robert Garnes, Chris Stotts, Robbie Evans, Matt Holcomb, Jeremy Blake, Buddy Brogan, Derrick Smith, Doug Henry, Mark Luning, Jeremy Roush, Jason Brooks, Andy Bond, Chuck Yeley, Frank Roush, Luke Jordan

Pure Stocks
Heat One: Gary Gould, Shelly Powell, Shane Roush, Ryan Wilson
Heat Two: Levi Woods, Jarad Willis, Curt Reck, Chris Ice, George Klintworth
Feature: Gary Gould, Shelly Powell, Ryan Wilson, Levi Woods, Chris Ice, George Klintworth, Curt Reck, Jarad Willis, Shane Roush

Four Cylinders

Heat One: Randy Wise, Dean Wingrove, Greg King, Barry Kitts, Heath Warren, Terry Styer, John Rankin
Heat Two: Chris Lauer, Tommy Adkins, Jeff Rankin, George Klintworth, David Rankin, Michael Linn, Jordan Cramer
Feature: Randy Wise, Tommy Adkins, Chris Lauer, Jeff Rankin, Barry Kitts, Dean Wingrove, Heath Warren, George Klintworth, Michael Linn, Terry Styer, Greg King, David Rankin, John Rankins, Jordan Cramer

Mini-Wedges

Feature: Will Holland, Cole Mayle, Tanner McLaughlin, Corey DeLancey, Cameron Roush, Martin Gibson, Jr., Samantha Roush, Skylar Zimmerman

Skyline Speedway continues action each Friday night with full racing programs that feature 410 sprint cars of the Ohio Valley Sprint Car Association and AMRA Late Models and AMRA Modifieds. For further information visit www.skylinespeedway.net or call 304-539-4410 or the track phone at 740-662-4111.