Results North Florida Speedway 3/31

Night Of New Winners At North Florida Speedway

LAKE CITY, FL (3/31) - Saturday Night was a coming out party as four of the
five feature winners celebrated their first ever feature win. The first race
of the Brown Motorsports Summer Spectacular series for the Hobby Stocks was
the only event where the Old Guard triumphed tonight. Heath Walker and Kevin
Durden fronted the pack of twenty cars that started the race. Durden
outgunned Walker into the first turn for the lead. Walker immediately had
his hands full with Scotty Nolan and the ensuing battle for second allowed
Durden to stretch his advantage. Nolan finally picked up the second spot on
lap 13 when Walker's car gave out. A late caution bunched up the field and
Durden began feeling the same pressure that Walker felt in the opening laps.
Nolan tried but Durden stayed steady and got the better of the exchange at
the checkers. Durden picked up win number three of the 2007 points season
while Nolan's second place finish kept him in pace with the overall points.
David Dowling Sr. was never far from the leaders and finished a strong third
ahead of Travis Barnes and David Miller Jr. The second race of the series is
scheduled for April 21.

It was finally David Ponton's night as he kicked off the parade of first
time feature winners. Ponton won the opening green flag drag race over Tim
Dowling and that was the difference in the Street Stock main. Ponton stayed
ahead of the war for second where Dowling tried hard to stay ahead of Randy
Merwin and Dean Sands. The race ran many laps under the green and traffic
reared its head on lap twelve. Leader Ponton got through unscathed; second
through fourth places did not as several cars tangled down the front
stretch. Sands and Merwin were finished for the night while Dowling got his
spot back due to the lapped car rule. Ponton had a good restart and with a
clear track ahead sailed off to victory. Dowling raced uncontested for
second ahead of Richard Adams, Nick Reid, and Cliff Crawford.

Justin Carney captured his first win when he blew out the Mini Stock field.
After a first lap caution, the Minis ran the remainder of their race under
the green flag and Carney took a dominating half-lap victory over runner-up
James Conway. Denny Conway finished third, Jonathan Rutledge finished
fourth, and Kenn Devane finished fifth.

Jake Wood took the early lead in the B-Modifieds. Ronnie Chance has had the
hot hand in both A and B Modifieds and even in a different car was a threat
to win. He overtook Kenny Blair and Pete Timbie in a three car shootout for
second and was gunning for the lead, but Wood would not be denied this
evening as he held Chance at bay and earned victory #1 in his career. The
finishing order was Wood, Chance, Blair, Timbie, and Mike Tripp. The
B-Modifieds are a great class for those who want to race open-wheeled cars
but don't have an unlimited wallet. An engine claim rule and hard tires keep
the engine prices reasonable.

Pure Stocks are a fan favorite at NFS and tonight's race only added to their
allure. Twenty cars made the start and Jesse Sullivan passed early leader
Chris Rowe on lap two but had no time to enjoy the moment as Shawn Taylor
immediately challenged for the point. Taylor grabbed the lead on lap seven
and Shane Taylor soon passed Sullivan for second. Tonight it was Shane doing
the pursuing as Shawn looked stronger as the race progressed. Shane's night
ended with one lap to go when his left front tire parted ways with the rest
of the #82 machine. Shane's loss was Shawn's gain and the latter was the
first across the line and another first time winner was crowned.
Unfortunately things didn't go as well for Shawn in the post-race technical
inspection and the winner's trophy was awarded to Sullivan who, yes, earned
his first victory ever. Gerald Lewis was credited for second and was trailed
by Rick Reed, Russ Moseley and Shane Taylor.

The B-Modifieds return this Saturday night along with the Late Models and a
Powder Puff race for ladies who are not regular competitors at NFS. There
will also be racing for the Street Stocks, Hobby Stocks, and Pure Stocks.
For more information and 2007 race schedules please visit
www.northfloridaspeedway.com.