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The Red Frederick Memorial looked like it was going to be an event to remember Friday night.
Fans were backing up to get in the gate and even with the threat of rain the hill was filling up fast. The pits fewatured some of the finest race cars this region has to offer. And then it began, a little shower at first and some sunshine.
Then it rained pretty steady for a while and once again it stopped and appeared that we may just be able to dry the track and get a late start but get it in. Then the bottom fell out of the clouds and Mother Nature decided it was time to go home.
I think I saw some nice trout in the pit area!
The event was postponed until July 14 and it will now be a part of the Richard Skidmore Memorial race weekend. This annual event was scheduled for July 15. Now there will be back-to-back special events.
The Jenkins Ford Super Late Models will race for $5,200 plus lap money at $100 per lap led on Friday and another $5000 to win on Saturday.
There will be free camping available on site so should make for one of the greatest race weekends ever. Extra purse money in all the classes and a full schedule of divisions will race both nights. The final details are being worked out as far as the fireworks go. Please check the track Facebook page for updates on these events.
This weekend it will be a final opportunity to tune up and get ready for the doubleheader races. Thunder in the Mountains will kick off again at 6 p.m. Friday with another great event for all five classes, plus there is a "boxcar" race planned for the kids. So grab a cardboard box and decorate it to match your favorite driver or your favorite number and colors and come race. This should be a blast to watch.
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Every Fourth of July weekend, Tyler County Speedway in Middlebourne puts on a special series of races called the Mega 100. This includes the annual Earl Hill Memorial race for the Super Late Models plus a $10,000 to win race for the Renegade open-wheeled modified series.
These are the same cars as our AMRA open-wheeled modifieds that race at Elkins Raceway, but this series races at different tracks. This purse makes this one of the top three races in the nation for these cars. On Saturday night two races took place with the Modified field being divided and these races decided who would make it to the big feature on Sunday.
The first one was won by Taylor Cook, followed by Rick Aukland, Travis Dickson, R.J. Otto and Jesse Wisecarver. Feature two was won by Kyle Strickler, followed by Derrick Ramsey, Mark Dickson, K.C. Burdette and David Stremme. The Super Lates also raced Saturday and Corey Conley took the win over Zack Dohm, Jared Hawkins, Derek Doll and G.R. Smith. This set the stage for the Mega race on Sunday.
In the Modifieds, Taylor Cook took the Big Check for $10,000 back home with him winning over Kyle Strickler. Rick Aukland finished third. Former NASCAR star David Stremme and Derrick Ramsey rounded out the top five.
Local racers Jared and Jacob Hawkins finished 10th and 11th. Shawn Jett was 12th. Elkins Raceway champ Brent Trimble finished 15th.
Several drivers from the area tried to make the Mega but fell short. DNQs were Vic Vandergrift, Mitch Thomas, Randy Bohan, Tyler Jones and Nick Corbin.
The Earl Hill Memorial event for the Super Lates was won by Derrick Doll over Keith Barbara. Jared Hawkins was third. Jackie Boggs and Devin Moran rounded out the top five. Other local racers finished in the top 12. Mason Ziegler finished sixth. Corey Conley was eighth, followed by Ryan Montgomery, Shane Hitt, Michael Lake and Robbie Scott.
There also were some races held at that track in Florida.
Daytona International Speedway hosted the NASCAR Xfinity series and the Monster Energy Cup series for their July visit to the world center of speed. The Xfinity cars were set to run Friday evening; however, rain caused them to stop after only 12 laps and postponed the remainder of the event until Saturday morning.
Stage one was won by a series regular driver, Blake Koch (pronounced coke), and because of running the same day as the cup race, the top 10 finishers in both stages were Xfinity drivers.
There was yet another rain delay and when racing resumed, Elliott Sadler won the second stage. Crashes set the tone for the event and a big one aligned the field for the final laps. William Byron was able to lead the cars back to the overtime line on the final lap as cars crashed behind the leaders.
Elliott Sadler finished second. Dakota Armstrong finished third with Jeb Burton and David Star rounding out the top five.
The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup series took to the high banks under the lights Saturday night. The Coke Zero 400 had its share of crashes also.
Brad Keselowski took the first stage and Matt Kenseth won the second one. Both of these cars appeared very strong.
The race wound down and the top drivers were hard to find. There were several new names in the top five. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. proved to everyone he is going to be a threat on the restrictor plate tracks, backing up his earlier win at Talladega. He grabbed the late race lead and did a wonderful job blocking his way to victory over a hard-charging Clint Bowyer.
Paul Menard finished a solid third. Michael McDowell was in the fight for the win but lost a little ground to the others late and finished fourth. Ryan Newman put a second RCR Chevy in the top five with his fifth-place finish.
Wow, lots of racing last week and the season just keeps rolling along. Remember, at the end of the straightaway there's another left turn!