Submitted by Ted Austad
Photo credits: Francis Hauke
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| Booger Brooks |
(Senoia, GA – August 13, 2017) Senoia Raceway hosts some of the fiercest competition in the region and many have said it is not the easiest place to win. On Saturday night, three drivers found their way to winner’s circle for the first time including Chickamauga’s Booger Brooks who won despite it being his first time ever to compete on the unique gumbo clay surface. Brooks was joined in victory lane by Newnan’s Scott Amoson and Decatur’s Tony Newman as the pair also won for the first time in the Bomber and Hot Shot divisions respectively.
Others claiming checkered flags included Senoia’s Clint ‘Cat Daddy’ Smith in the Super Late Models, Acworth’s Cass Fowler in the Limited Late Models, Newnan’s Marty Lunsford in the Crate Late Models, ‘Smokin’ Joe Hillman in the Hobby and Hampton’s Mark ‘Mad Dog’ Newton in the Mini Stock division feature.
Brooks outdueled Newnan’s Bobby ‘Wild Child’ Arnold at the on-set of the Late Model Sportsman main event. Arnold dropped back after his car slowed on the high side allowing Whitesburg’s William Blair and McDonough’s Ted Minnix to shoot past. Blair and Minnix battled side by side for several laps while Brooks pulled away to a several car length lead.
The race was slowed by a few cautions and eventually was shortened due to reaching it’s time limit, but Brooks never made any mistakes that sometime can come up when first maneuvering the tricky, slick surface of Senoia Raceway. Blair would come home in second ahead of Minnix, Franklin’s Chris Steele and Arnold. Points leader Keith Fields of Griffin was sixth extending his lead with only a few weeks remaining in the 2017 points season.
Scott Amoson took advantage of the inversion of the top six qualifiers in the Bomber division to snag the early race lead. Alabama’s Abe Chase and Newnan’s fourteen-year-old racing princess McKenna Nelms were locked in a battle for second until they hooked coming off of the fourth turn. They could not get untangled and ended up slamming the interior concrete wall ending the night for both drivers.
Amoson charged back to the lead on the restart and then held off Fayetteville’s Randy Cornwell to win his first career race at Senoia Raceway. Cornwell ran second ahead of Whitesburg’s Ricky Neill, Winston’s Richard Dale and Jackson’s Wilson Boozer.
The newest Hot Shot driver to make it to the Senoia Raceway winner’s circle, Scott Newman, never missed a beat as he drove his front wheel drive racer to a flag to flag victory over Nathan Farrow of LaGrange and Keith Hodges. Farrow and Hodges entertained the crowd with a great race for second and third that saw the duo swap positions a half dozen times during the fifteen lap race. Hodges was later disqualified in post race technical inspection which moved Fayetteville’s Dave Williams to third.
Clint Smith also enjoyed a flag to flag win in the Super Late Model feature. The two-time defending champion and current points leader was never seriously challenged winning his fifth of the year over Whitesburg’s Austin Horton and Cartersville’s Zach Leonhardi. The seven car field was the slimmest of the season at Senoia Raceway.
Current Limited Late Model points leader, ‘Magic’ Matt Dooley of Brooks raced with Cass Fowler for the first half of their 20-lap main event. Fowler was finally able to wrestle away the lead spot on lap nine before pushing to a straightaway length win over Dooley. Senoia’s Joey Armistead was third after an entertaining race with Locust Grove’s ‘Racin’ Jason Williams. McDonough’s Brant Hardin was fifth.
The defending Crate Late Model points champion, Marty Lunsford, put it all together finally on a season that has seen it’s up and downs for the young gun. Lunsford ran flag to flag working lapped traffic to near perfection. Eastonolee’s Matthew Wyatt ran his best race of the season finishing in second place while current points leader Dennis Lykins, Jr., of Sharpsburg finished in third. Fellow Sharpsburg racer Wayne Harbin was fourth ahead of Lake Spivey’s Dow Kirkland.
The bounty on Mini Stock guru Mark Newton will remain intact as Newton won his seventh straight. Newton has not been knocked from victory lane in a Senoia Raceway Mini Stock feature since May and has survived two weeks with a bounty placed on him.
Newton held off fast qualifier Parris Simmons of Baldwin. The teenager tried valiantly to beat the veteran using the high side of the race track, but Newton slid in front of exiting turn two on a mid-race restart which took away all momentum the youngster had generated. Newton extended his winning streak and now will face a $300 bounty on his head this upcoming weekend.
This Saturday, August 19th, Senoia Raceway welcomes the USCS Winged Outlaw Sprints Cars to the bull ring for their only appearance of the season. The 700 horsepower, alcohol burning sprint cars will reach speeds faster than most any other car racing this season. The Senoia Summer Nationals VIII will also feature the USCS Mini Sprints, Limited Late Models, Crate Late Models, Late Model Sportsman and Mini Stocks competing in points races.
Grandstand tickets for the Senoia Summer Nationals VIII featuring the USCS Winged Outlaw Sprint Cars are $20; kids 5-12 are $10; four and under are free. Pit passes and trackside parking passes are $35; kids 5-12 are $20; four and under are free.
Senoia Raceway is located just five miles west of Senoia, GA, on Georgia Highway 16. Easy access from both Interstate 75 and 85.
For additional information, visit the track website at www.senoiaraceway.com or call the speedway at 770.599.6161.
Official Results for Saturday, August 12, 2017
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| Clint Smith |
Super Late Models (Feature): 1-Clint Smith, Senoia 2-Austin Horton, Whitesburg 3-Zach Leonhardi, Cartersville 4-Laddie Fulcher, Thomaston 5-Shane Fulcher, Thomaston 6-Ricky Williams, Fayetteville 7-Glenn Morris, Fayetteville Fast Qualifier: Smith (15.845 – 85.2 mph)
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| Cass Fowler |
Limited Late Models: 1-Cass Fowler, Acworth 2-Matt Dooley, Brooks 3-Joey Armistead, Senoia 4-Jason Williams, Locust Grove 5-Brant Hardin, McDonough 6-Dakota Weeks, Douglasville 7-Jamie Carr, LaGrange DNS: Marcus Caswell, Newnan Fast Qualifier: Fowler (16.078 – 84.0 mph)
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| Marty Lunsford |
Crate Late Models: 1-Marty Lunsford, Newnan 2-Matthew Wyatt, Eastonollee 3-Dennis Lykins, Jr., Sharpsburg 4-Wayne Harbin, Sharpsburg 5-Dow Kirkland, Lake Spivey 6-Dylan Knowles, Lanett, AL 7-Colby Darda, LaGrange 8-Jamie Maurice, McDonough 9-Chase Baker, LaGrange 10-Josh Copeland, McDonough 11-Jack Mills, Griffin 12-Tina Johnson, Senoia Fast Qualifier: Lunsford (15.853 – 85.2 mph)
Late Model Sportsman: 1-Booger Brooks, Chickamaga 2-William Blair, Whitesburg 3-Ted Minnix, McDonough 4-Chris Steele, Franklin 5-Bobby Arnold, Newnan 6-Keith Fields, Griffin 7-Taylor Cole, Cartersville 8-Billy Stevenson, Locust Grove 9-Ronnie McCullough, Franklin 10-Jake Traylor, LaGrange 11-Clyde Alexander, Locust Grove 12-Curtis Turner, Brooks 13-Blake Griffin, Grantville 14-Jamie Nicholson, Jr., Locust Grove 15-Dustin Newell, Gray 16-Ben Snider, Valley, AL 17-Jamie Simmons, Tyrone 18-Sam Carter, Covington 19-Johnny Stinchcomb, Newnan 20-Dewayne Aldridge 21-Kayla Boswell, Winston 22-Levi Campbell, McDonough 23-Paul Holloway, Hampton Fast Qualifier: Arnold (16.361 – 82.5 mph)
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| Joe Hillman |
Hobby Stock (Feature): 1-Joe Hillman, Villa Rica 2-Ted Willingham, McDonough 3-John Holcomb, Griffin 4-Jamie Garner, Mableton 5-Tanner Collins, Franklin 6-Larry Bednar, Locust Grove 7-Scott Sherrer, Newnan 8-Ryan Ray, Mableton 9-Brandon Jones, Newnan DNS: Michael Couch, Senoia Fast Qualifier: Hillman (16.363 – 82.5 mph)
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| Mark Newton |
Mini Stock (Feature): 1-Mark Newton, Hampton 2-Paris Simmons, Baldwin 3-JJ Garett, Auburn 4-Brannon Knight, Sand Rock, AL 5-Jamie Nicholson, Sr., Locust Grove 6-Jamie Godbee, Carrollton 7-Bob Faulkner, Newnan 8-Rocky Johnson, Douglasville 9-Todd Brewster, Villa Rica 10-Ross Baines, Rockmart 11-Tommy Faulkner, Newnan 12-PJ Taylor, Car DNS: Heath Brewster, Villa Rica Fast Qualifier: Simmons (18.022 – 84.3 mph)
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| Scott Amoson |
Bomber (Feature): 1-Scott Amoson, Newnan 2-Randy Cornwell, Peachtree City 3-Ricky Neill, Whitesburg 4-Richard Dale, Winston 5-Wilson Boozer, Jackson 6-George Purgason, Hogansville 7-Charlie Garrett, West Point 8-Dorough Bright, Newnan 9-Abe Chase, Valley, AL 10-McKenna Nelms, Newnan Fast Qualifier: Bright (17.366 – 77.8 mph)
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| Tony Newman |
Hot Shot (Feature): 1-Tony Newman, Decatur 2-Nathan Farrow, LaGrange 3-Dave McWilliams, Fayetteville 4-Mark Meyer, Ellijay 5-Jim Jackson, Zebulon 6-Christy Matthews, Brooks 7-Hunter Childs, Senoia 8-James Dunn, Griffin 9-Lucas Pittman, Grantville DQ: Keith Hodges
