banner

Josh Rice Rides to “Butterball” Tune-Up Victory at Richmond Raceway

 

Richmond, KY(July 11, 2015) Richmond Raceway would present the “Butterball” Tune-Up event on Saturday evening for the Barry Turner of Century 21 Advantage Realty Super Late Models and Josh Rice of Verona, KY would earn a $2,000 payday and a guaranteed starting spot in next’s week “Butterball” Memorial contest.  Other feature event winners included Adam Bowman of Seymour, IN in REVELution Race Cars Pro Late Models, Jimmy Robinson of Richmond, KY in Modifieds, Jeremy Howard of Berea, KY in KDRA Super Stocks, and Stacy Harrison of Keavy, KY in Four Cylinders. 

Michael Chilton would take the initial lead in the early going of the Barry Turner of Century 21 Advantage Realty Super Late Model “Butterball” Tune-Up event, with Dustin Linville working the high side to slide into second, but by lap 10, fifth place starting Josh Rice had worked his way to the runner-up spot and began to set his sights on Chilton.  A caution for Aaron Hatton, who slowed on lap 17 with left front suspension damage, would close the field back up and Rice would proceed to take the top spot on lap 18 as action would slow one circuit later when fourth place running Cody Mahoney would slow on the frontchute and seventh place running Justin Rattliff would slow in turn four and while the field was under caution, the track lights on the backchute went off and after a short delay, power would be restored.  The restart would see Tim Tungate, Steve Cornelius, Donnie Everman, and Dennis Barton tangle in turn one, with Tungate’s night ended with left front suspension damage.  Once back underway, Rice would slowly creep away from the field and take the victory in the John Kuzman owned HEAT Inc./Kuzman Racing/Extreme Sportswear/Bennett Excavating/Poske Performance Parts/Champion Spark Plugs sponsored #11 Club 29 Race Car powered by a Jay Dickens Race Engine.  Linville would slip by Chilton in the late going to take second, with Chilton finishing third, while James Rice and Tommy Bailey would complete the top five.  The remainder of the top ten would be Victor Lee, Johnny Wheeler, Jason Barrett, Greg Johnson, and John Whitney.  Twenty-two entries saw Linville as top qualifier at 14.174 seconds, while heat wins fell to Chilton, Bailey, and Mahoney. 

Adam Bowman would make his first-ever visit to Richmond Raceway a memorable one as he would lead flag to flag to win the REVELution Race Cars Pro Late Model main event aboard the Smoker Friendly/Valvoline/Bowman Motorsports/Main Source/Diamond Auto Center/B&H Electric/Hoosier Tire/Penske Racing Shocks sponsored #77 MasterSbilt Race Car, GM604 crate powered entry.  Jerry Denson would earn runner-up honors, with Chris Johnson, Wesley Ball, and Tom Collini completing the top five.  Rounding out the top ten would be David Freeman, Brian Royalty, Chad Spradlin, Chris Fair, and Clayton Spradlin.  Thirteen entries saw Bowman as top qualifier at 15.394 seconds and win a heat, while Johnson was also a heat race winner.

Russ Gabbert would duel with Jimmy Robinson throughout a caution-filled Modified main event that would eventually see Robinson take the race lead on lap 14 and proceed to drive on to his first win of the season behind the wheel of the Tony Courtwright owned Vapor Stix/Be-Cool Window Tinting/Denny Sod Company/Justin’s Special Touch Car Care/AutoZone/D&H Signs sponsored #54 Harris Race Car sporting a Bullock Race Engine.  Gabbert would take second, while Victor Lee claimed the final podium position, followed by Delane Browning and Blake Brown in fourth and fifth.  Completing the top ten were Wade Rookard, Ricky Brandenburg, Jeff Watson, Jimmy Crabtree, and Stevie Tipton.  Robinson would establish a new track record in time trials among twenty-six entries at 15.986 seconds, while Robinson, Gabbert, and Lee were heat race winners, with Matthew Jordan claiming the B-Main victory. 

Jeremy Howard would pick up his second straight win in the KDRA Super Stock division by taking the checkered flag first in the seat of his Howard Racing Chassis/Terry Rice Race Engines/Xtreme Style Signs and Graphics sponsored #310 entry.  Jeremie Bretz would take second, followed by Logan Preston in third, while Allen Hackworth, Jr. and Bill Robinson completed the final two spots in the top five.  The rest of the top ten would be Johnny King, Doyle Hibbard, Glen Hounshell, Jr., Rudi Strebeck, and Martin Stacey.  Nineteen entries would see Eddie Stewart as top qualifier at 16.314 seconds, establishing a new track record for the division and also win a heat, while Howard won the other heat.

Stacy Harrison would see the checkered flag first for the second time this season by claiming the Four Cylinder feature event victory in her Reelz Video and Tanning/Hillbilly Garage/Global Tanning sponsored #3 Dodge Neon machine.  The remainder of the top five at the finish would Justin Johnson, Bill Taulbee, Tyler Patterson, and Freddy Breeden.  Ten entries would also see Harrison win the heat event.

SUMMARY-Richmond Raceway-Richmond, KY-July 11, 2015  (www.richmond-raceway.net)

Barry Turner of Century 21 Advantage Realty Super Late Models (22 entries) Top Qualifier- Dustin Linville 14.174 1st Heat- Michael Chilton, Dustin Linville, Victor Lee, Justin Rattliff, Johnny Wheeler, John Whitney, Steve Cornelius, Tom Webster 2nd Heat- Tommy Bailey, Josh Rice, Aaron Hatton, Tim Tungate, Elliott Despain, Dennis Barton, Michael Erp 3rd Heat- Cody Mahoney, James Rice, Greg Johnson, Jason Barrett, Jeff Watson, Chris Ruble, Donnie Everman “Butterball” Tune-Up- Josh Rice, Dustin Linville, Michael Chilton, James Rice, Tommy Bailey, Victor Lee, Johnny Wheeler, Jason Barrett, Greg Johnson, John Whitney, Elliott Despain, Dennis Barton, Donnie Everman, Steve Cornelius, Cody Mahoney, Tim Tungate, Justin Rattliff, Chris Ruble, Jeff Watson, Aaron Hatton, Tom Webster, Michael Erp

REVELution Race Cars Pro Late Models (13 entries) Top Qualifier- Adam Bowman 15.394 1st Heat- Adam Bowman, Jerry Denson, Clayton Spradlin, Mason Covey, Brian Royalty, David Freeman, Greg Coulton 2nd Heat- Chris Johnson, Wesley Ball, Chad Spradlin, Chris Fair, Melanie Denny, Tom Collini
Feature- Adam Bowman, Jerry Denson, Chris Johnson, Wesley Ball, Tom Collini, David Freeman, Brian Royalty, Chad Spradlin, Chris Fair, Clayton Spradlin, Melanie Denny, Mason Covey, Greg Coulton

Modifieds (26 entries)
Top Qualifier- Jimmy Robinson 15.986 (new track record) 1st Heat (top 6 transfer)- Jimmy Robinson, Jeff Watson, Blake Brown, Tim Patrick, Shawn Hibbard, Clay Reece, Ben Petrey, Matthew Jordan (DNS- Jerry Brandenburg) 2nd Heat (top 6 transfer)- Russ Gabbert, Delane Browning, Dennis Roberson, Jimmy Crabtree, Stevie Tipton, Vic Rouse, Steven Brandenburg, Korey Cochran, Tommy Turner 3rd Heat (top 6 transfer)- Victor Lee, Wade Rookard, Jared Reams, Zach Powers, John Holt, Jr., Ricky Brandenburg, Virgil Parriman, Brent Estes B-Main (top 4 transfer)- Matthew Jordan, Virgil Parriman, Korey Cochran, Brent Estes, Jerry Brandenburg, Steven Brandenburg, Tommy Turner (DNS- Ben Petrey)
Feature- Jimmy Robinson, Russ Gabbert, Victor Lee, Delane Browning, Blake Brown, Wade Rookard, Ricky Brandenburg, Jeff Watson, Jimmy Crabtree, Stevie Tipton, Dennis Roberson, Vic Rouse, Brent Estes, Korey Cochran, Matthew Jordan, Shawn Hibbard, Virgil Parriman, Zach Powers, Jared Reams, Tim Patrick, Clay Reece, John Holt, Jr.

KDRA Super Stocks (19 entries)
Top Qualifier- Eddie Stewart 16.314 (new track record) 1st Heat- Eddie Stewart, Glen Hounshell, Jr., Bill Robinson, Johnny King, Terry Cheeks, Rudi Strebeck, Anthony Wiseman, Allen Hackworth, Jr. (DNS- Buster Goforth, Trae Soper) 2nd Heat- Jeremy Howard, Jeremie Bretz, Faron Robinson, Logan Preston, Doyle Hibbard, Martin Stacey, Sarah Patrick, Glenn Saylor, Darrell Cain
Feature- Jeremy Howard, Jeremie Bretz, Logan Preston, Allen Hackworth, Jr., Bill Robinson, Johnny King, Doyle Hibbard, Glen Hounshell, Jr., Rudi Strebeck, Martin Stacey, Darrell Cain, Sarah Patrick, Faron Robinson, Glenn Saylor, Eddie Stewart, Anthony Wiseman, Terry Cheeks (DNS- Buster Goforth, Trae Soper)

Four Cylinders (10 entries)
Heat- Stacy Harrison, Justin Johnson, Dalton Cox, Bill Taulbee, Jamison Gipson, Tyler Patterson, Jeff Chumley, Freddy Breeden, Eddie Caudill (DNS- Keith Gipson)
Feature- Stacy Harrison, Justin Johnson, Bill Taulbee, Tyler Patterson, Freddy Breeden, Jamison Gipson, Dalton Cox, Jeff Chumley, Eddie Caudill (DNS- Keith Gipson)