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Rain puts damper on racing

Racing news this week took a back seat to hurricane Matthew as it ravaged the East Coast. Our thoughts and prayers go out to our family and friends who faced the wrath of this major storm event. Also we send out thanks to all the power crews and others who continue to help in the rescue of survivors and rebuilding of the infrastructure.

This past weekend, Pittsburgh Pennsylvania Motor Speedway hosted the super late models for the $20,000 to win Pittsburgher 100. Josh Richards took the first-place money back to Shinnston. Josh was followed by Scott Bloomquist, Greg Satterlee, Don O’Neal and Jimmy Owens.

It was postponed by rain on Friday and the entire event was run on Saturday and I’m sure it was a great race. News from this event was not good from Friday’s hot lap sessions. Late model driver John Flinner Jr. flipped his car into the outside wall. He was taken to an area hospital in Pittsburgh with severe head injuries and was in ICU at last report. Special note; Former PPMS regular driver Michael Norris set fast time with a 131 mph lap! That’s on a half-mile dirt oval.

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In NASCAR action, rain played havoc with the planned events for Friday and Saturday. Both the Xfinity and Sprint Cup events were run on Sunday.

The Sprint Cup cars ran first and Chase Elliott was strong early; however, a hard crash ended his day. Austin Dillon, Joey Logano and Kevin Harvick, all Chasers for the Championship, suffered setbacks and find themselves at the back of the Chase Grid moving to next week’s event in Kansas.

Jimmie Johnson, however, appears to be back to his winning ways.

He turned in a dominating performance to win the Bank of America 500. The rumbles are beginning. Could this be his seventh Sprint Cup Championship?

Time will tell, but don’t count out the Knauss/Johnson combination.

Johnson was seconds ahead of second-place Matt Kenseth. Kasey Kahne had one of his best finishes of the season in third. Ryan Newman finished fourth and this week announced that he will continue to race for RCR with a contract extension. Kyle Larson rounded out the top five. Jimmie locked in to the semifinal round of the Chase with his victory. The Chase moves to Kansas Motor Speedway for its next round.

The Xfinity series took to the track after the Cup cars finished their event. Joey Logano drove to victory in the Drive for the Cure 300. Elliott Sadler finished a close second. Daniel Suarez continues to hold the lead in their Chase with consistent top 5 finishes. This week it was a third-place finish for him. Kyle Larson and Erik Jones rounded out the top five.

Charlotte was an elimination race for this series. Four drivers were taken out of the run for the championship. Ty Dillon, Brennan Poole, Ryan Sieg and Brandon Jones all saw their hopes for a Championship come to an end for this year.

There are eight drivers moving forward as they begin their next segment. Daniel Suarez holds a slim advantage over Elliott Sadler. Justin Allgaier, Erik Jones and Brendan Gaughan all are nipping at their heels and a win would change everything. Gaughan, Ryan Reed, Darrell Wallace Jr. and Blake Koch all need wins or great finishes in the next three races to be included in the final four group to battle for the Championship at Homestead Miami Speedway.

We had one of the highlights of our race season Saturday as we loaded up and pulled the Mud Bus John 3:16 car through the Mountain State Forest Festival Grand Feature Parade as part of The Inter-Mountain entry, along with the newspaper’s float, which featured the live music of Michael Bonnett and Rivers Edge. I truly love to see the smiles and hear the shouts of the fans both young and old as I roll along the route.

Air is getting chilly and the leaves are changing. The Championship Awards Banquet for Elkins Raceway is scheduled for Nov. 19 at the Beverly Fire Hall. For information and tickets, call 304 636 8661. Come on out and cheer for your favorite racers.

The top 10 finishers in the points race are recognized and invited to take home a trophy. Trophies are ordered for those who plan to attend so be sure and order your tickets and come out and be a part of the celebration. There are also door prizes given away.  We have to get our racing fix from the TV but still, at the end of those straights are plenty of left turns.

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