Alex Yontz came home the victor in the first Bristol
event of the UARA 2007 schedule.
The weekend began with a full day of practice at BMS on
Friday and 45 Late Model Stock cars on hand to test the new concrete laid on
the track in the past few weeks.
UARA regular Justin Hill was the man on the move during
all practice sessions Friday. Saturday morning however the turn four
wall proved to be the conqueror and Hill’s hopes were gone.
Hill who was posting some very impressive times got
loose in the middle of the turn and it was on from there. The damage
to his car was couldn’t be repaired before race time.
Brandon Dean was the fast car during Saturday morning’s
first practice followed by Wade Day, Deborah Renshaw, Matt McCall and C.E.
Falk. All of these drivers hopes for a great race were washed away by
Mother Nature when the misty rains cancelled qualifying. The race
lineup was determined by points and the entry post dates omitting all of the
above. Second round practice Saturday had Dean on the point once again
followed by Keith Stiltner, Clint Mills, Matt DiBenedetto and Matt McCall.
The staring field takes to the track at 5 p.m. and when
the green falls B.J. Mackey goes out for the lead followed by Ross Furr,
Matt DiBenedetto, Lee Tissot, Roger Lee Newton, Kevin Leicht, Jake Crum,
Mark Setzer and Alex Yontz. There is determination in all these
drivers to be the man at the front.
Caution 1 of 10 falls on lap 5 as the C.E. Falk and
Clint Watkins machines spin on the front stretch. On the green Mackey
continues to lead but on lap 19 young Jake Crum has a fast machine and he
and Ross Furr are putting on quite a show for position with Alex Yontz in
hot pursuit.
Caution 2 falls on lap 24 when cars scatter in turn one
with Dennis Queen, Marty Ward, Mikey Kile and Matt DiBenedetto not being
able to escape unscathed. Marty Ward will be the only survivor of this
incident and the field will go to a short red flag condition to clean up the
tangle.
The field went back to green on lap 33 and lap 34 finds
Jake Crum working on B.J. Mackey for the lead followed by Yontz.
Mackey will hold on for third with Ross Furr and Roger Lee Newton right
there with him. Close behind there is a freight train trying to catch
up to the front runners. This group is lead by Kevin Leicht followed
by Clay Greenfield, Lucas Ransone, Daniel Pope II, Matt Leicht and Les
Howell.
Robbie Ferguson, Josh Hale and Jason Grant spin on the
front stretch bringing out caution 3 on lap 45. The field will go back
to green for 9 laps then Lucas Ransone spins coming out of turn two but
makes no contact and will continue on. Four laps later on lap 58
caution 5 falls as Kevin Leicht, Casey Holt and Steve Blackburn spin as they
find cars up ahead of them every way but straight coming out of turn three.
The field gets back to green on lap 64 with Clay
Greenfield and Roger Lee Newton putting on a show running side by side three
laps running with Greenfield eventually nailing 6th place at this
point while Jake Crum and Alex Yontz have set sail with a good lead on the
pack. On lap 73 Les Howell passes Newton for 7th.
Lap 90 finds Alex Yontz right on the Crum machines
bumper giving him a run for the money. Just as Yontz appears to have
the upper hand caution 6 flies as Les Howell spins in turn 2. The
field continues with action all over the track as drivers vie for positions
and on lap 99 the car of Zeke Shell slows and comes to a stop on the track
in turn one. He gets rolling again but has a right front bearing
burned up and locked bringing out caution 7. Caution 8
flies shortly after the field takes the green as the front straight is
covered with debree on the bottom groove.
Crum and Yontz give it their all on the restart and do
some serious rubbing for 1st. Yontz will take the lead on
lap 118 and set a blistering pace that no one seems to have enough power to
match. By lap 127 Yontz has a lead of 15 car lengths over Crum.
Lap 131 finds second place runner Crum spinning out of turn 4 ending his
hopes of a win as he looses a lap to leader Yontz.
Crum will come home 21st overall with the
Aluminum Racing Products “Hard Luck” Award to his credit.
The field gets back to green on lap 138 looking good
for the finish when Casey Holt spins out of turn four on lap 149 bringing
out the 10th and final caution. This final caution will set
the field up for a green, white, checker finish with Yontz being the victor
overall.
Daniel Pope II would come home as the Melling Select
Rookie of the Race and local driver Wayne Hale landed the Holley Performer
of the Race award. Hale who had cam shaft problems Friday managed to
bring home a 13th place finish without ever turning a lap in
practice Friday or Saturday. Quite an impressive feat for his first
visit at Bristol Motor Speedway.
BRISTOL FINISH
1. Alex Yontz
2. Mark Setzer
3. B.J. Mackey
4. Ross Furr
5. Clay Greenfield
6. Roger Lee Newton
7. Daniel Pope II
8. Keith Stiltner
9. Matt Leicht
10. Johnny Gottsacker
11. Robbie Ferguson
12. Steve Blackburn
13. Wayne Hale
14. Barry Andrews
15. Kevin Leicht
16. Casey Holt
17. Josh Hale
18. Marty Ward
19. Vic Hill
20. Jason Grant
21. Jake Crum
22. Lucas Ransone
23. Zeke Shell
24. Les Howell
25. Lee Tissot
26. Steve Carver
27. Mikey Kile
28. Dennis Queen
29. Matt DiBenedetto
30. Clint Watkins
31. C.E. Falk
32. Lance Gatlin
The UARA-STARS will be in action again at Bristol Motor
Speedway, August 11, 2007
For more info visit
www.uara-stars.com or call 828-692-3833 Press
Release by: Wink Bodenhamer
