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(Savannah, GA) Three rookie drivers visited Oglethorpe
Speedway Park’s victory lane on Friday night.
Eighteen-year-old Sean Meeks and fellow rookie-of-the-year
contender Jay Hendricks became the twelfth and thirteenth
different feature winners in the highly competitive
Coca-Cola Late Model division while rookie Love’s Seafood
Street Stock driver Mike Helmly won for the first time as
well. It was the first time in the track’s fifty-four year
history that three rookie racers have won on the same night
at OSP.
Jay Hendricks is not a stranger to the hallowed
grounds of OSP’s victory lane. Hendricks won an
unprecedented 22 races the past two seasons in the Love’s
Seafood Street Stock division. He and car owner Larry
Milton have been shut out since their move to the Coca-Cola
Late Models in 2005. That streak of being held out of
victory lane was broken Friday night as Hendricks held off
all charges by Robbie Cowart and won his first in the late
model class.
“It’s been a long time since we have been here,”
said an out of breath Hendricks. “I have to thank Larry for
a great race car. All of our sponsors and everyone for
hanging with us this year.”
In the second 20-lap feature for the Coca-Cola
Late Models, Sean Meeks was the star. The 2004 South
Effingham High School graduate shot out to the lead and then
held off strong challenges by current points leader Robert
Diekemper and then hot shoe Shane Riner. Meeks kept his
cool during several mid-race restarts to win his first
NASCAR feature ahead of Riner and Diekemper.
Guyton’s Michael Helmly has been in a relatively
quiet race for the Love’s Seafood Street Stock championship
all year. Helmly is squarely in the top ten for the overall
points despite not reaching victory lane this year.
Friday night Helmly became the third rookie
driver to make it to the victory lane interview on the front
stretch at Oglethorpe Speedway Park. Helmly did a marvelous
job of holding back former street stock champion Brian
Barnes for his first career victory at OSP. The rookie had
Barnes right on his tail for the final fourteen laps of
feature race one. Wayne Page was third followed by Chris
Litchfield and Albert Cosnahan.
The second feature proved to be pivotal in the
three way race for the top spot in the overall NASCAR Dodge
Weekly Series standings in the Love’s Seafood Street
Stocks. Points leader ‘Rapid’ Ray Collins had his bad luck
night begin in the first feature race. His misfortune was
exactly what Chris Litchfield and Donald Norby needed to
climb back into the race for the title.
With Collins in a back up car for the night,
Norby and Litchfield charged for the front of the pack.
Norby was the strongest returning to victory lane after a
horrible stretch in July. Litchfield ended up second and
hopes to have ended his streak of bad luck. Nicky Smith was
third with a solid run followed by Clint Sills and Brian
Barnes who are also looking to get in the hunt for a podium
finish in the point standings.
Collins lead in the points has been reduced to
nine over Litchfield and forty-one over Norby as the drivers
head into the final four race nights of the NASCAR points
season. Barnes and Sills remain fourth and fifth with
Helmly moving to sixth overall.
The ‘Walterboro Wildman” Terron Roberts returned
to victory lane on Friday night as he bested the field of
Southern Racing Supplies Pure Stocks. He outduelled his
teammate Dan Douglas for the win ahead of Donnie Cannon,
Walter Sills and Don Douglas.
In the second go around for the Southern Racing
Supplies Pure Stocks, the ageless one Walter Sills picked up
his second win of the season. Sills held off Buster
Kleckley for the victory with Roberts finishing third,
Anthony Parker fourth and Dan Douglas fifth.
Donnie Cannon had his car destroyed after
getting together with Don Douglas in the final turn. It
appeared to many race fans that Douglas’ part was
intentional. Cannon must have also felt the same way as
security had to separate drivers at the end of the race in
the pit area.
Charles Swann put an exclamation point on his
charge for the points title in the Sunset Novelties Mini
Stock division. Swann dominated the first of two features
after working his way past Swainsboro’s Blue Sheppard. He
then held off a late race challenge by Josh Carter to win
his sixth of the season. Carter was second ahead of Randall
Wegmann, Mark Susen and AJ Horton.
The second feature let the crowd know that Josh
Carter was back in the hunt at OSP. Carter shot out to the
lead and never looked back posting his first win since
reinstatement at the speedway. Wegmann was second with
Swann third, Sheppard fourth and Susen fifth.
David Smith hopped out of his weekly ride in the
Love’s Seafood Street Stocks to run with the Four Star
Security 440 division. His decision worked out as he led
the field for nine laps winning ahead of Jason Rewis,
Michael Bean, Phillip Dickerson and points leader WR Rewis.
Fourteen-year-old Cody Brant was sixth followed by Scott
Maxey, Justin Snider, Gunny Prescott and Danny Herrington.
Oglethorpe Speedway Park cranks back up this
Friday night as Trapnell Motors in Hazelhurst presents the
NASCAR Dodge Weekly Series action and the 6th
Annual “Outhouse Races”. Gates open at 6pm. Racing is at
8pm. Additional information can be obtained by calling the
OSP offices at 912-964-8200 or by visiting
www.ospracing.net.
Official Results from Friday, August 12, 2005
Coca-Cola Late Models (Feature #1): 1-Jay Hendricks, Rincon
2-Robbie Cowart, Savannah 3-Shane Riner, Rincon 4-Robert
Diekemper, Bloomingdale 5-Lonnie Brant, Bloomingdale
6-Sean Meeks, Guyton 7-Casey Barrow, Guyton 8-Steven
Senter, Savannah 9-Shane Walker, Bloomingdale 10-Donnie
Bazemore, Guyton 11-Shawn Pritchard, Rincon 12-Glenn Yawn,
Rincon (Feature #2) 1-Meeks 2-Riner 3-Diekemper 4-Yawn
5-Brant 6-Hendricks 7-Cowart 8-Walker 9-Bazemore
10-Pritchard 11-Senter 12-Barrow
Love’s Seafood Street Stocks (Feature #1): 1-Mike Helmly,
Guyton 2-Brian Barnes, Bloomingdale 3-Wayne Page,
Savannah 4-Chris Litchfield, Rincon 5-Albert Cosnahan,
Guyton 6-Michael Slater, Stillmore 7-Dusty Collins,
Ellabell 8-Donald Norby, Midway 9-Clint Sills,
Bloomingdale 10-Adam Chambers, Hinesville 11-Brian White,
Ellabell 12-Butch Reich, Eden 13-Nicky Smith, Springfield
14-Bill Stevenson, Savannah 15-Gary Munn, Savannah 16-John
McCosker, Richmond Hill 17-Jeff Banfield, Bluffton, SC
18-Mike Crosby, Savannah 19-Ray Collins, Ellabell (Feature
#2) 1-Norby 2-Litchfield 3-Smith 4-Sills 5-Barnes 6-R.
Collins 7-Page 8-Reich 9-Cosnahan 10-Munn 11-Helmly
12-D. Collins 13-Chambers 14-White 15-Slater
16-Stevenson 17-McCosker
Southern Racing Supplies Pure Stocks (Feature #1): 1-Terron
Roberts, Walterboro, SC 2-Dan Douglas, Hardeeville, SC
3-Donnie Cannon, Guyton 4-Walter Sills, Bloomingdale 5-Don
Douglas, Richmond Hill 6-Buster Kleckley, Ridgeland, SC
7-Andy Stallings, Pembroke 8-Anthony Parker, Guyton 9-Greg
Annas, Springfield 10-Billy Oglesby, Pembroke 11-Charles
Williams, Pembroke 12-Alfred Banks, Richmond Hill 13-Alan
Wiggins, Alenhurst 14-John Rewis, Guyton 15-Cari Howze,
Rincon 16-John Loomis, Savannah 17-Molly Spencer,
Brooklet 18-Doyce Glisson, Guyton 19-Mickey Ward,
Pritchardville, SC 20-Daniel Douglas, Hardeeville, SC
(Feature #2) 1-Sills 2-Kleckley 3-Roberts 4-Parker 5-Dan
Douglas 6-Williams 7-Don Douglas 8-Howze 9-Loomis
10-Banks 11-Daniel Douglas 12-Rewis 13-Oglesby
14-Cannon 15-Wiggins 16-Spencer 17-Stallings 18-Annas
Sunset Novelties Mini Stocks (Feature #1): 1-Charles Swann,
Garden City 2-Josh Carter, Guyton 3-Randall Wegmann,
Guyton 4-Mark Susen, Hardeeville, SC 5-AJ Horton,
Statesboro 6-Randy Fields, Springfield 7-Josh Parrish,
Port Wentworth 8-Billy Stanley, Pooler 9-Blue Sheppard,
Swainsboro 10-Jimmy Groce, Sr., Springfield 11-Dean
Roberts, Statesboro 12-Kenny Gregory, Midway 13-Randy
Gregory, Midway 14-Chris Johnson, Rincon 15-Buddy Jacoby,
Rincon 16-Alan Burnsed, Guyton 17-Trace Kicklighter,
Bloomingdale 18-Ricky Cannady, Bloomingdale 19-Bobby
Morris, Guyton (Feature #2) 1-Carter 2-Wegmann 3-Swann
4-Sheppard 5-Susen 6-Horton 7-Fields 8-Parrish
9-Jacoby 10-Morris 11-Cannady 12-Roberts 13-Groce 14-R.
Gregory 15-Stanley 16-Johnson 17-K. Gregory
18-Kicklighter
Four Star
Security 440 (Feature): 1-David Smith, Guyton 2-Jason Rewis,
Guyton 3-Michael Bean, Guyton 4-Phillip Dickerson, Guyton
5-WR Rewis, Guyton 6-Cody Brant, Guyton 7-Scott Maxey,
Savannah 8-Dustin Snider, Savannah 9-Gunny Prescott,
Guyton 10-Danny herrington, Rincon 11-Brian Nerich,
Richmond Hill 12-Sean Swilpa, Ridgeland, SC 13-Clate Fail,
Jr., Brooklet 14-Keith Bath, Bloomingdale 15-Grady
McElhaney
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