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June 4, 2007 Hendersonville, NC Five Races / Five Winners Roger Lee Newton Sails to UARA-STARS Victory
While storms brewed in the mountains nearby Roger Lee Newton claimed his
first career UARA-STARS victory at Shenandoah Speedway on Saturday June 2,
2007. Newton took his Townsend built Five Star Chevy to the point on
lap 39 and sailed off into the sunset with Jake Crum right on his rear
bumper. In victory lane Newton said “Yeah, I did more damage doing that burnout after the race, than I did during the whole race, but we were bad off,” said Newton. “We were pushing the whole race. That was as bad as the car was all day. We worked a year-and-a-half on this and we deserve it. We were good on short runs, but the long ones, we were pushing, pushing, pushing”.
Kevin Leicht took the pole with Newton on the outside. Leicht jumped out front on the first lap and led the first 38 circuits. The first caution came out on lap 4 as local driver Kenny Bradley and Josh Hale spin in turn four. The field went back to green on lap 10 and the show was on from there.
Leicht and Newton roll on out as BJ Mackey and Matt Leicht run side by side for three laps Matt Leicht finally took the third spot. Just a short distance behind this action Clay Greenfield and Johnny Gottsacker are having their own side by side event going on along with Daniel Pope and Alex Yontz . Greenfield will come out front of this group for now. Caution 2 flies on lap 18 as the cars of Barry Andrews and Casey Holt spin in turn 2. The field goes green again and Gottsacker gets the momentum to pass Greenfield. Daniel Pope and Mark Setzer do some battling for position with Greenfield right there with them. Pope will gain the spot. While this action is going on Roger Lee Newton decides he has seen enough of the rear bumper of Kevin Leicht and takes over the lead on lap 39. The action is hot all through the field. Alex Yontz and Johnny Gottsacker do the side by side thing for several laps. Yontz comes out in front after what I call some serious rubbing going on. Lap 61 finds the third caution flying Casey Holt spins in turn 4 after contact from the Kenny Bradley car. The field is back to green on lap 66 but the caution quickly flies again on lap 69 as the cars of Johnny Gottsacker, Ryan Salomon and Kenny Bradley spin in turn 1. During this caution the Brandon Weber cars pits and changes a tire. Weber is penalized a lap for that action.It is a rule infraction to change a tire that is not flat. hen the field goes back to green Clay Greenfield and Jake Crum are battling for position. Crum will come out front and continue on to have the best finish of his young career with the UARA. Crum will come home second when the event is over and also claim the Holley Performer of the race having gained 17 spots throughout the night. This young man was on a mission and should be very pleased with his night. Matt Leicht brings out caution 5 on lap 91 when as announcer Russell Schmidt said “he suffered severe derangement of internal parts” —otherwise known as blowing his engine. Roger Lee Newton continues on with the run of his life going on as back in the field the action is on. Greenfield and Robbie Ferguson put on quite a show running side by side for four laps running. Ferguson will retain the position for the time being. Caution 6 flies on lap 126 as the cars of Zeke Shell and Johnny Gottsacker spin in turn four. While this is going on and the smoke is as thick as hair on a dogs back cars scramble. When the field comes around it is evident that second place runner Kevin Leicht didn’t make it through without suffering severe front end damage to his car. Leicht’s team will try to make repairs but his night if over. The final caution of the night fell on lap 143 when the car of Joe Pellegrino spins in the first turn. Pellegrino finished his night winning the Tri County Graphic Solutions smooth move of the race award. Pellegrino was running up to par for the evening but did his best to give his fellow racers all the room they needed to compete while gaining laps for himself.
After getting the field back in position the race will come to a green-white-checker finish. Newton will take the green with Crum and Ross Furr giving it their all. In the end it is Newton who prevails. Crum said, “My crew just told me to be patient and I was. I was driving as hard as I could. I was really hoping I could reach Roger (Newton), ‘cause I really wanted to win one.” “We had a good race car all weekend…we didn’t have nothing for the (No.) 33 car” said Furr. “We’d like to have reached the leader, but the (No.) 92 snookered us on the restart.” Sunoco Pole: Kevin Leicht Brisco Outside Pole: Roger Lee Newton Melling Rookie of the Race: Daniel Pope Holley Performer of the Race: Jake Crum ARP Hard Luck: Kevin Leicht Sonic Most Lap Lead: Roger Lee Newton Comp Cams Engine Builder of the Race: Billy Banks Tri-County Graphic Solutions-Smooth Move of the Race: Joe Pellegrino RACE RESULTS
The UARA-STARS will be in action again at Coastal Plains Speedway June 16th in Jacksonville, NC For more info visit www.uara-stars.com or call 828-692-3833 Press Release by: Wink Bodenhamer
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