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Weekend of wild racing

Summer racing action is in full swing. This past weekend it was the Texas Motor Speedway’s high banked turns, the tricky triangle that is Pocono International Raceway and the half-mile dirt oval at Eldora, Ohio, that saw action.

Our own Elkins Raceway saw another great night of racing action. The Mini Mod racers opened the night and A Group action saw Chandi Currence win over Braden Beachler. Luke Hyre finished in third. Haley Mahoney and Hunter Davisson rounded out the top five.

In B Group action, George Casto III defeated Presley Wilt for the win. Elliott Smith ran third. Natalie Hibbard finished fourth. Noah Whited did not start the feature.

The WV Pools Street Stocks were up first in the full-size race cars. Anthony Arbogast won over James Swenskie. Jamie Keene finished third. Chris McDonald and Kenny Vest rounded out the top five.

The Jenkins Ford Super Late Models were up next. Tim Senic pulled away to a strong win over Bob Gordon. Kyle Thomas led early and held on to third. Steve Wilmoth and Scott Bittinger rounded out the top five. This was Scott’s first top five since moving from the street stocks to the super lates.

The Budweiser FasTrack Crate Late Models were the next group to take to the track. Michael Duritsky won over the “Mad Mexican,” Troy Frazier. Kris Southern finished third. Billy Beachler and Chad Greene rounded out the top five.

The AMRA Open Wheeled Modifieds now welcome Darren’s Pizza Shack as divisional sponsor and they closed out the night with some of the very best racing. Dave Defibaugh closed the deal after a broken bolt sent him pit side two weeks ago while leading, winning a hard-fought battle over Jamie McCloud. They raced wheel to wheel and both drivers said it was great racing. It’s only a matter of time until Jamie parks that 5M in victory lane. He’s definitely knocking at the door in this super-competitive division.

Phil Jefferies had another solid run, finishing third. Nolan Dalton and Brent Trimble rounded out the top five.

I brought the Mud Bus 3:16 home 13th and was on the lead lap at the finish. This has got to be the most competitive division at our track. Literally eight to 10 cars are capable of winning on any given night.

Mark your calendars for June 30, when the first annual Red Frederick Memorial Race night will be hosted. A $5,200 first-place prize awaits the winner of the 52-lap event for the Super Lates. The night will also include a full program for the other divisions and a big pre-Fourth of July Fireworks show.

This Friday it’s a regular program of Thunder in the Mountains along with Bicycle Races for the children. Be sure and bring a helmet and bike if you plan to compete.

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Friday night also saw the Camping World Truck series of NASCAR race in the WinstarOnlineGaming.com 400 at Texas Motor Speedway.

Stage one was won by Johnny Sauter, then Christopher Bell captured stage two. Bell was also able to win the event under caution after a late race accident ended the event on the white flag lap. There was some controversy, as it appeared Chase Briscoe was in front as the caution fell, according to the track’s rope lighting on the flag poles for the fans. However, the official caution lights run by NASCAR turned on slightly ahead of the tracks courtesy lighting.

The finish was close. After a review of the cameras, both teams agreed that the call was correct and Christopher Bell had won the event.

The crash that brought out the last caution was for the truck of Timothy Peters as it cart-wheeled and flipped violently through the tri oval grass in front of the main grandstand, landing on its roof. Briscoe was second, followed by Grant Enfinger in third. Ryan Truex and Ben Rhodes rounded out the top five. Peters was able to walk away from the accident after safety crews up-righted the truck to cheers from the crowd that was relieved he was OK.

The Pocono Raceway hosted the Xfinity teams Saturday afternoon in the Pocono Green 250 and it was a Brad Keselowski “benefit” race as he dominated the event, winning both stages and taking the victory over Justin Allgaier. Kyle Larson finished third. Elliott Sadler and Daniel Suarez rounded out the top five. The big story of this event was that the whole broadcast team was made up of Cup drivers. They actually did a really good job.

Saturday night saw the World of Outlaw Super Late Models run the $100,000 to win, 100-lap race they simply call “The Dream” at Eldora Ohio. Scott Bloomquist took the win over Brandon Sheppard. Brandon Overton finished third. Tim McCreedie and Chris “Smokey” Madden rounded out the top five.

On Sunday, it was back to Pocono for the Axalta 400. Kyle Busch won the first stage, with Kyle Larson capturing the second stage. Early in the event, both Jimmie Johnson and Jamie McMurray suffered major brake failures on literally the same turn of the same lap and both slammed the wall and were out of the race.

A late race caution caught Kyle Busch leading and they decided to stay out on worn tires. The other lead lap cars came to get tires. Had Kyle chose to pit, many of those lead lap cars would have stayed out. So they really were in a bad spot.

On the restart, Kevin Harvick took the lead but Ryan Blaney took his Wood Brothers Ford to the lead and drove away to his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup series win over veteran Kevin Harvick. Rookie sensation Erik Jones had a great run, finishing a strong third. Kurt Busch and Brad Keselowski rounded out the top five. Kyle Busch on his worn tires held on to finish ninth.

Wow, lots of racing action this past week. It’s that time of year. This week the Camping World Truck series races Saturday evening in the Race for Linemen 200 at Gateway Motorsports Park, and the Xfinity cars run that afternoon at the 2-mile Michigan International Speedway. ON Sunday the Cup cars run the FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan also.

Remember there will be great racing locally at Elkins Raceway Friday night and at the end of the straightaway there’s Another Left Turn.

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