Johnston Wins Five While McCarty & Perkins Win Back to Back as Payton & Hibbs Win First
Rob Nugent
Track Announcer
POCOLA, OK (June 27th, 2015) – We must thank Mother Nature for this weekend's weather. We give her a hard time on the week's that the weather is bad for racing, but she was nice to us this weekend. With temperatures in the low 80's on the last weekend of June, and the first weekend of summer, we will accept those conditions all summer, if we can get them.
The first order of business, as always, was to honor the last races (June 20th) 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.
Heat racing action in all five classes took the nice crowd of race fans in attendance to intermission at 9:30 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.
Intermission this past weekend also held the latest session of bicycle races for the kids with the oldest two groups opting to race around the entire length of the Tri-State Speedway 3/8th's mile oval. Plus, as in the previous two bicycle race nights, Menasco Racing Enterprises presented one lucky boy and girl a free bicycle, just for attending the races! The intermission also saw some continued track prep to make the main features the best they could be.
The Factory/I Stock A Feature hit the track first with Dalton Ragsdale (22 - Muskogee, OK) claiming his second win of the season ahead of last weekend's winner, Kyle Woody (77 – Crowder, OK). Jay Anderson (36 – Springdale, AR), finished in third for the second week in a row.
In the IMCA Sport Mod A Feature, Ken McCarty (1 – Rogers, AR) made it back to back A Feature wins for his third feature win of the season ahead of Neil Johnston (17J - Fort Smith, AR) and Rodney Cantrell (21C - Muskogee, OK).
The IMCA Modified A Feature hit the track next and saw Jason Payton (6 - Greenwood, AR) take home his first trophy of the season as Zane Hunter (1/2 - Alma, AR) and Anthony Reeves (1ST - Mulberry, AR) finished in second and third.
The Pure Stock A Feature saw Chris Perkins (88 – Rudy, AR) doubling down for his second win of the season ahead of Bobby Ward (33 - Tahlequah, OK) and Gary Prewett (76 - Muldrow, OK).
This weekend saw the addition of the TSS Modified class, which is a USRA-style class. This first week's action saw Jamie Hibbs (109 - Choctaw, OK) pick up the win ahead of Ryan Taylor (1T - Muldrow, OK) and Dalton McKenzie (8 - Van Buren, AR).
In the Super Stock A Feature, the win was not decided until the last lap, where Neil Johnston (17 - Fort Smith, AR) and Josh Essary (4E - Bella Vista, AR) traded the lead four times in the last four laps,. The win puts Johnston's feature wins at five. Last weekend's second place finisher, Grant Davis (1 - Tahlequah, OK) finished in third.
Complete race results, including heats, are available by clicking on the reults link. Current point standings are available buy clicking ont he points link, as well.
Racing is scheduled to continue on July 4th with the 44th Annual Firecracker Spectacular and 3rd Annual Curtis Tennant Memorial, presented by Shamrock Bolt & Screw. The night will consist of point racing in all regular classes including the new TSS Modifieds, which is a USRA-style modified class. A huge fireworks show is also planned after dark that will rival most city fireworks shows. All of this excitement and entertainment will be at regular admission prices, too!
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 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!
