COWPATTY NOTES

It was a perfect night for racing last night as finally the weather cooperated. The legends were on the slate and ran flawless heat races. The feature was won by Scott Houdeshell followed by Lucas Montgomery and Todd McCollum rounded out the top 3. The late models were really hungry last night with the $1000 memorial race on the line! Nate Christman was nothing less than spectacular! The rookie ran the top groove to perfection for many laps only to slip up and Chuck Schutz moved into the lead position. At that point in the race it seemed that Schutz had it under control till Randy Stoudt started reeling in Schutz late in the race. With only 3 laps left, Stoudt got by Schutz and cruised to victory. Finishing 2nd was Schutz followed by Ron Kline, Mike Kellner and Kyle Merkel rounded out the top 5. Randy Stoudt also won the very popular Gauntlet race beating Mike Kellner in the final duel. Randy mentioned in victory lane that he did run Mikey up the track that forced him out of the throttle. He also praised Kellner, stating Mike is one hellava driver.

The modifieds were handed some penalties thru-out the evening for rough riding. Some I didnt agree with! JMO! Jason Hamilton was put back 2 positions in his heat race with an altercation with Craig Von Dohren. Kevin Hirthler was sent to the rear with a nasty mix-up with Jon Kellner Sr sending Jon hard into the outside wall. Jon was quick to exit the car and chase after Hirthler before he was restrained. Keith Brightbill had an altercation with Billy Pauch Jr which tore up Pauch's car and knocked him from competition for the night. It looked as though the BIG 3 (Howard, Strunk, CVD) were going to be dueling it out for the win. AJ Desantis drove an excellent race and led many early laps. Howard worked by Desantis by lap 15 and took control. It seemed as though Duane would be the 1st repeat winner of the season. Jeff Strunk was tearing up the track and reeled in Howard and thus took command on a restart. Soon after Howards mount broke ending his evening. Von Dohren ran 2nd, but never really challenged Strunk who cruised to his 1st victory aboard the Vince Gagliardo owned #41. CVD finished 2nd followed by Meme Desantis, AJ Desantis and Kerry Kratz rounded out the top 5. Jeff thanked motor builder, Squeek who he mentioned that he had been pretty tough on recently. Jeff is a class act in victory lane. Jeff also takes over the point lead from Howard. The Gagliardo's were not present in victory lane?????

A very good night of racing that went on a little too late which kept us from going pitside. Good chats with Jason Hamilton & Glenn Gold along with Jeff Imbody pre-race. Always good to meet up with Joe Adams of Joe Adams lettering. Joe always seems to have a good story for us and enjoys visiting the "CPN" site! Joe recently re-did the graphics on Billy Pauch Jr's car. It looks EXCELLENT! Also want to thank the Merkel brothers for placing "CPN" stickers on their hot-rods! Thanks Kyle & Sean! Another thanks goes out to Mike Laise who runs the #318 modified on a shoe-sting budget for placing "CPN" stickers on his mount! Mike needs some added support for his family owned team. I think Mike could really "get it done" with some support! Sorry to say that Captain Ron was without his sword and cooler full of growlers due to a bout with lyme disease! Hope your back in charge soon Captain! We picked up our tickets for Thunder on the Hill tuesday night which is always a good one! Thanks also to Ernie Saxton who gave a shout out to Billy who was sporting his "CPN" shirt. Ernie is in line to pick up his very own "CPN" shirt next saturday! Hopefully we will avoid the thunderstorms on tuesday night! We'll see you then! Keep on Cowpattying!