Durbin takes first Boone win of 2011
June 11, 2011
It was Little League Night at the Boone Speedway this past Saturday night as youngsters competed in a batting competition. It was also a celebration of “School’s Out” with all students under 19 being admitted free to the races. The racing saw three winners visit victory lane for the first time in 2011 while the other two classes saw repeat winners. The fifteen heat races and one b-main were run in quick fashion, thanks to only one yellow flag
The Mod Lite 15-lap feature ran first and it was a flag-to-flag contest. Joel Huggins and Travis Stensland battled closely for the lead in the early going until Stensland took command at lap eight. With the laps quickly ticking off, it was appearing those two would finish in that order until on the last lap, Huggins developed problems and pulled into the infield. Travis Stensland would take the win, his first at the track this year, and his father, Jeff Stensland was handed second place when Huggins pulled off. Third went to point
Jake Durbin claimed his first feature win for 2011 at Boone Speedway on Saturday, June 11, 2011.
leader, Josh May, fourth to Charlie Brown, and fifth to James May.
The IMCA Northern SportMods found point leader Scott Davis taking the win, his first at Boone this year, and padding his point lead even more. Brian Miller led many of the laps and was looking to be on his way to victory until a caution late in the race bunched the field. This put Davis on his rear bumper and the chase was on at the restart. Davis would take the win by inches and Miller had to settle for second. Third went to Nick Roberts, fourth to Stacey Clark and Tara Longnecker rounded out the top five.
The IMCA modified ran their 20-lap main event next. Jake Durbin grabbed the lead from Craig Carlson by lap four and pulled away from any challenges—until a caution halted the racing action with three laps to go. The restart would then see Josh Gilman slip around Carlson and into second spot, but leader Durbin had no trouble in maintaining his comfortable lead. Durbin would take his first win at Boone this season, Gilman took the runner up spot, Carlson hung on to finish third, fourth went to Cale Sponsler and Randy Havlik took fifth place.
The 18-lap IMCA stock car feature saw lots of hot action with cars battling up front in a tight pack. Action halted when Terry Cornelison made a rather spectacular roll on the backstretch, ending with the bottom of his car against the cement barrier. Thankfully, he was uninjured. When racing resumed at lap nine, Eric Brown was leading with Rod Richards, Donavon Smith and Jerry Gifford all in hot pursuit. Gifford took command with just two laps remaining and would withstand the challenges behind him and repeat his win from last week. Rod Richards, Eric Brown, Donovan Smith and Trent Murphy finished second through fifth in that order.
The hobby stock feature finished off the night’s racing. Michael Murphy took over the lead from Brandon Brinton at lap six and took the checkers for the sixth time this year at the speedway. The race would end under a yellow/checkered situation when Eric Stanton rolled in corner one after the white flag had flown. Murphy took the win and Brandon Brinton kept second. Third was John Watson, fourth went to Austin Luellen and Danny Watson was fifth. Stanton was okay, but his car had considerable damage.
Next Saturday night, June 18, will be Pat Clemons Inc. & Harris Auto Racing Mid Season Championships. Make plans to attend.
Click HERE for photos from Saturday, June 11, 2011.
Click HERE for complete results.
