East Lincoln Speedway Results 5-8-2010
It was Ladies Night on Saturday as East Lincoln Speedway celebrated Mother’s Day weekend. Wheeling to the Powder Puff victory for the second year in a row was Denver’s Jeannie Nuhfer, wife of Super Stock Four driver Brian Nuhfer. Nuhfer, who started eighth, drove a patient race. She went to the front of the field after two of the lead cars got into the wall along the front stretch. She took the checkered flag followed by Tina Bridges in second, Cassie Morris in third and Jennifer Willett in fourth. Nuhfer, who also does the graphic design for a number of racecars at the track, thanked her husband for his support.
20 cars were on the slate for the night’s Stock Four competition. Pole sitter Barney Fuller spun out early and went into the wall on lap three after trying to race through traffic from the rear of the field. Kannapolis’ A. J. Paladino took over the lead on the restart followed by Mooresville’s Lee Oiler and Concord’s Chris Smith. Oiler made several attempts to get to the front but Paladino held him off. Cautions after laps five and eight resulted in a green and white together one lap shootout. Paladino took the checkered flag, keeping Oiler at bay off the final turn. Smith finished third followed by Logan Sparks in fourth and Matt Emmerling in fifth.
The Mini Sprint feature lined up Linwood’s Justin Lineman alongside the year’s dominate driver, Terry Peters of Concord. Peters jumped to the lead while current point’s leader Darren Hasty and Lineman swapped positions on the first three laps. Lineman settled into second and the race ran caution free until lap 12. The race ended on green and white together. Peters got his fourth win of the season. Lineman finished second with Hasty third, Brian Roseman fourth and Peter White fifth.
Legends driver Josh Morrow had trouble with his hauler, barely making it to the track to grab a shotgun starting position for the feature. The early pace was set by division point’s leader Lee Jordan of Rock Hill, S.C. On lap three, Sherrills Ford’s Robert Poole, who was running second, went into a wild spin between turns one and two. Amazingly no caution flag came out but the incident allowed Morrow to storm down the backstretch and take over the second position. Jordan continued to lead followed by Morrow, Chandler Leven and Rick Little. The caution came out on lap seven and Morrow muscled to the lead after the restart. Jordan followed in second as the battle continued for spots three through five. Morrow extended his lead taking the checkered flag for his first win of the season at ELS. Jordan came in second followed by Little in third, Poole in fourth and Bill Gardner in fifth.
Super Street Stocks started with last week’s winner, Gary (Pechi) Fioramanti, on the pole. The green flag dropped and Lincolnton’s Randy Powell took command of the race. Powell maintained the lead position followed by Pechi and Tony Palladino. The caution came out several times as early season winners Brian Nuhfer and Jason Sitterly struggled with their cars’ handling. With nine laps down Powell was still in the lead with Pechi in second and Jennings Herman up to third. With four laps to go Powell suddenly got out of shape losing the handle off turn four and allowing Herman to burst to the front. Herman took over the top spot followed by Pechi. Powell slid back to finish in fourth behind Palladino and Jamie Major took fifth. Jennings, the division’s point’s leader, drove a smart race and secured his first victory of the 2010 season.
After three consecutive wins, Stanley’s Brandon White started 13th for the Limited Sportsman’s feature. Veteran driver Lynn Mercer of Dallas took charge of the top spot as the race behind him was a scene for fans to behold. Position battles occurred between spots three to five as well as six and seven with the top cars all over each other. After initial cautions, the race ran flag to flag. Mercer led with Denver’s Blane Huffman and Stanley’s Jeff Graves competing for the second spot. Behind them Concord’s Chris Smith battled Chris Stowe and Ronnie White, while Brandon White picked his way through the field. By lap eight, Brandon White slid past Graves into the third position. The top three maintained their strong runs and Mercer took the checkered flag with Huffman finishing in second. Points leader Brandon White took third with Ronnie White fourth and Graves fifth. Mercer, the uncle of Hickory Motor Speedway’s 2009 late model champion Andy Mercer, has run dirt his entire life. He has won several championships over the years in the late model and open wheel modified divisions and is glad to be back having fun competing at East Lincoln Speedway.
The final feature of the night had Aaron Webb, like White, starting at the back after a three week victory run in the Renegades division. 18 cars were on the grid as fans saw the year’s return of the Bishop brothers in their bright blue no. 33 and no.3 cars. After a seven-car pile-up started the race, Billy took the lead on the restart. He was caught in a caution after three laps and Dallas’ Mark Woody went to the front followed by Luther Bishop and Belmont’s Ronald Pope, a regular top competitor at Carolina Speedway. Woody and Bishop swapped spots through cautions and restarts at the midway point. Bishop grabbed the lead for good by lap eight. He took the checkered flag followed by Woody in second, Jamie Major in third, Pope in fourth and Billy Bishop in fifth.
East Lincoln Speedway Results, Top Five, May 8, 2010: Stock Fours 1) A.J. Paladino, Kannapolis 2) Lee Oiler, Mooresville 3) Chris Smith, Concord 4) Logan Sparks, Statesville 5) Matt Emmerling, Lincolnton; Mini Sprints 1) Terry Peters, Concord 2) Justin Lineman, Linwood 3) Darren Hasty, Indian Trail 4) Brian Roseman, Hickory 5) Pete White, Cornelius; Legends 1) Josh Morrow, Hamburg, Pa. 2) Lee Jordan, Rock Hill, S.C. 3) Rick Little, Winston-Salem 4) Robert Poole, Sherrills Ford 5) Bill Gardner, Charlotte ; Super Stock Fours 1) Jennings Herman, Concord 2) Gary (Pechi) Fioramanti, Maiden 3) Tony Palladino, Kannapolis 4) Randy Powell, Lincolnton 5) Jamie Major, Alexis; Limited Sportsman 1) Lynn Mercer, Dallas 2) Blane Huffman 3) Brandon White, Stanley 4) Ronnie White, Charlotte 5) Jeff Graves, Stanley; Renegades 1) Luther Bishop, Mt. Holly 2) Mark Woody, Dallas 3) Jamie Major, Alexis 4) Ronald Pope, Belmont 5) Billy Bishop, Mt. Holly
