Johnston First to Six While Grover & Little Win Their First and Hibbs Goes Back to Back
Rob Nugent
Track Announcer
POCOLA, OK (July 4, 2015) –Mother Nature once again played the “Guess What I’M Going To Do” game with predicted rain and temperatures in the low 80s. Instead, she gave us no rain on race day and temperatures in the mid-90s and what felt like about 100% humidity. Despite the weather forecasts, 77 cars showed up along with a packed grandstand for the 44th Annual Firecracker Spectacular and 3rd Annual Curtis Tennant Memorial presented by Shamrock Bolt & Screw Company.
The first order of business, as always, was to honor the last races (June 27th) A Feature winners with their trophies, interviews and photo taking on the pass through in front of the grandstands after the pre-race ceremonies of the invocation and the national anthem. Also, a memorial parade lap was held with cars circling the famous high banks three wide while flying a flag of their choice and following the lead car driven by Jeff Tennant, brother of the late Curtis Tennant.
Heat racing action in all six classes got started a little late due to some extra track preparation and took the race fans to intermission at 9:20 PM. The intermission break gave everyone a chance to stretch their legs and get some of the awesome concession stand food along with the soon to be world famous Menasco BBQ.
The Factory/I Stock A Feature hit the track first with birthday boy, Ron Grover (27 – Pocola, OK) claiming his first win of the season ahead of Mike Wiseman (DT1 – Muskogee, OK) and Chris Nooner (5 – McAlester, OK).
Up next was the giant 20 plus minute fireworks salute to America set to patriotic music. As in years past, the show did not disappoint and had the crowd on hand wowing and cheering enthusiastically after the finale and show was complete.
In the IMCA Sport Mod A Feature, Steve Little (97S – Ada, OK) took home his first A Feature win of the season ahead of Alan Goforth (379 – Pocola, OK) and Kaden Weaver (23 - Muskogee, OK).
The IMCA Modified A Feature hit the track next and saw Van Gemmill (21 – Ponca City, OK) take home his third trophy of the season with a strong last lap move relegating Kent Bright (3B – Sand Springs, OK) to a second place finish ahead of Anthony Reeves (1ST - Mulberry, AR) who finished in third for the second straight week.
The Pure Stock A Feature saw Wesley Bourne (5 – Cameron, OK) on top ahead of Junior Grim (16 - Pocola, OK) and Nathan Reed (V1 – Alma, AR).
The TSS Modified A feature was up next with Jamie Hibbs (109 - Choctaw, OK) showing that last weekend was not a fluke as he doubled down for the win ahead of Freddy Hogrefe (57H) and Daniel Tarkington (2 – Checotah, OK) both of whom were in brand new cars.
In the Super Stock A Feature, Neil Johnston (17 - Fort Smith, AR) took home the big paycheck for his sixth win of the year ahead of a strong Ty Evans (5E – Fort Smith, AR) in second and Dennis Schoenfeld (43 – Van Buren, AR) in third).
Complete race results, including heats, are available on our website by clicking ont the results link. Current point standings are available by clicking on the points link, as well.
Racing is scheduled to continue on July 11th with another night of point racing action in all six classes. The following week will kick off on Thursday night, July 16th, with open practice for the 17th Annual Super Stock Showdown presented by Shamrock Bolt & Screw Company. The July 16th-18th event will feature a $17.000 plus purse with a $5,000 payday for the 40 lap feature winner. Complete information is available on our website.
Pit gates will open at 4 PM with the grandstands opening at 5 PM. Pre-race ceremonies will begin at 6:45 PM with the green flag set to drop on the racing action at 7 PM. Information on admission pricing and our complete 2015 racing schedule can always be found on our website by clicking on the schedule link. Also, be sure to stay up to date with us via our social media channels on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and YouTube which can be found by clicking the icons on the bottom of our website home page or by adding a “/” plus “Facebook”, “Twitter”, “Google+” or “YouTube” at the end so it looks like www.Tri-StateSpeedway.com/Facebook, etc.
We will see YOU soon!
