Wilmoth Takes Nailbiter At Speedway

As Tyler County Speedway celebrated Christmas In July with a Toy Drive and a visit from Santa Claus it was Paul Wilmoth, Gary Midcap Jr., Louie Krushansky, Mick Baker, Ben Black, Ivan Wamsley, John Sinnett, and Caleb Thomas who were all feeling festive by virtue of their first place feature finishes on Saturday Night. Race fans were welcomed back to the areas most exciting ¼ mile bullring after a week off and were greeted to a pit full of race cars and a night filled with awesome 3 wide racing action.

Clarksburg, WV's Paul Wilmoth aboard the Gary Midcap owned Rocket Chassis would pass race long leader Mike Benedum on the last lap to notch his 2 nd late model victory of the season as the Tyler County Speedway. A very hard fought late model feature would keep race fans on the edge of their seats throughout the 25 lap contest. Front row starters Benedum and Wilmoth would lead the stout 16 car field to the green with Wilmoth getting the jump on the high side and would engage into a side by side battle with Benedum until lap 3 when Benedum would vault to the front and set a blistering pace. Meanwhile the action around the ¼ mile bullring was intense as Steve Wilmoth, Butch McGill, Steve Weigle and Donnie Dotson were battling two and three wide for positions 3 thru 6. Not to be outdone with the battle up front a hard charging Sonny Conley who would start shotgun on the field in the 16 th spot was working his way to the front in impressive fashion. As the leaders would encounter heavy lapped traffic on the final circuit of the 25 lap main event heading down the backstretch Benedum would move to the low side in a bid to pass a tandem of lapped cars. Meanwhile a lightning quick Paul Wilmoth would close in a matter of seconds and make a typical Tyler County Speedway last lap pass on the highs side around the lapped cars and wrestle the lead away from a stymied Benedum to take the win. Settling the battle behind the lead duo were Steve Wilmoth, Butch McGill, current point leader Steve Weigle, 16 th starting Sonny Conley, Donnie Dotson, DJ Pellen, Doug Eaton and Scott Irvin would round out the top ten.

Gary Midcap Jr. in the familiar #36 would put his ride back into the Allen's Pontiac-GMC-Buick Victory lane and keep his stranglehold on the Litman Excavating Semi Late division point lead. Midcap would distance himself early in the race and go virtually unchallenged for the remainder of the event on his way to his 3 rd victory of the season. Following Midcap across the line in impressive fashion was Joel Prossor, Ron Deitch, Doug Crall and Matt Flesher.

Louie Krushansky of Morgantown, WV would pilot his GRS chassis to victory lane in the Sound Source AMRA Modified feature event. It was not easy as "Lucky" Louie, the defending Road Warrior Tour champion would wrestle the lead from early race leader Mark Dickson, who would later drop out with mechanical failure. Once in front Krushansky would manage to hold off Gerald Deitch, Donnie Nething, Dale Keplinger and JR Nolan to the finish.

Middlebourne, WV's Mick Baker would lead all competitors across the stripe in the DM Automotive Pure Stock division to notch another victory to his resume and put a solid grip on the 2006 point chase. Following Baker at the line were Kevin Dotson, Brian Rush, Mike Mason and Chad Dotson.

Out of towner Ben Black would make a rare stop at the Tyler County Speedway pay off in the Wayside Furniture Dwarf Car division as he would look very impressive in picking up his first win at the speedway. Black would beat Trent Hall, Mike Hickman, Robert Stackpole and Tyler Hall to the payout window.

In Custom Engraving Junkyard Warrior racing it was once again Ivan Wamsley and John Sinnett picking up separate feature wins.

The kids of the Sistersville Center Mini Wedge Division would take to the track to kick off the evening and race fans were treated to an excellent exhibition of side by side competition from the youngsters in one of the best mini wedge races the Tyler County Speedway has seen. Leading the way and claiming the thrilling victory was Caleb Thomas edging out Daniel Eddy and Brandon Fluharty at the stripe.

Next week at the Tyler County Speedway will be the 19 th Annual Earl Hill Memorial for Super Late Models, paying $3,000 to win plus all other classes will be in competition.