Two Defending Champs Return to Victory Lane at Natural Bridge Speedway

After a week off, the engines roared back to life this past Saturday night at Natural Bridge Speedway.  It was a race against Mother Nature as threatening skies covered the Shenandoah Valley throughout the day.  Even with the threat of rain, a large field of cars converged on Natural Bridge Speedway to do battle in the third event of the season.  At the end of the night, two defending track champions would find victory lane for the first time in 2010, a driver would win for the first time in his career, and the skies would finally open up postponing the final two features of the night.

The first order of business on the night’s racing program was hot lap qualifying for both the Spencer Home Center late models and the BB & T pure stock drivers.  For the second consecutive time, David Watts topped the charts in the late model division with a lap of 16.510 and an average speed of 82.859 mph.  The top five qualifiers were Watts, Matt Marshall, Ricky Knight, Philip Woods, and Greg Roberson.  Each week the fastest qualifier draws a number to determine the number of cars to be inverted for the feature event.  Watts drew the number 2, landing him on the outside front row on the starting grid with Matt Marshall on the pole.  The late model feature event would run later in the evening

The Lee’s Auto Repair sportsman division took to the speedway for their 25-lap feature event with Lexington’s Shad Cooper and Timmy Mays on the front row.  Cooper led the field into turn one and jumped to the lead.  Cooper’s lead would be short lived as Mays flexed his muscle on lap 3 driving by Cooper.  Cooper brought the caution out on lap 5 with a spin in turn two.  Daniel Snead, who started 7th, would take advantage of the caution to close in on the front runners.  Mays held the lead until lap 18 when Snead made his move and took command of the race.  Snead, of Waynesboro, led the final 7 laps to claim his first ever feature event win.  Following Snead across the line were Timmy Mays, Clifton Mays, Michael Alderman, and Eric Groah. 

After a brief rain delay, sixteen Spencer Home Center late models took the green flag for their 35-lap feature event.  Matt Marshall and David Watts brought the field to the green flag with Watts grabbing the lead. The man on the move was Gladstone’s Ricky Knight.  The defending champ moved into the second spot on lap 3 and set his sights on Watts.  Watts was able to keep Knight at bay until lap 16 when Knight, using the bottom groove, worked his way around Watts.  Knight looked as if he would cruise to his first win of the season when the caution flag slowed the field on lap 31.  The caution set up a 4 lap shootout between Knight, Watts, Marshall, Roberson, and Gerald Wolfe.  On the restart, Knight picked up where he left off, leading the final four laps to claim his first victory of the season.  Marshall’s car struggled on the restart and he faded to 10th.  The top 5 were Knight, Watts, Roberson, Wolfe, and Philip Woods. 

The BB & T pure stock division would headline the night’s racing program.  Jason Thompson was the fastest driver in hot lap qualifying.  Thompson, coming off his victory two weeks ago, would also draw an inversion pill after qualifying.  Thompson drew a 6, putting Glen Almond and Lee Brooks on the front row for the 30-lap, $300 to win feature event. 

Brooks used his outside starting spot to dive into turn one and take the lead over Almond.  Brooks led the first four laps until mechanical problems ended his night. Ricky Mayberry, who took second from Almond on lap two, inherited the lead.  Justin Williams also worked his way to the front.  He moved into second on lap 4 and started closing in on Mayberry for the lead.  Mayberry and Williams would battle door to door for several laps until Williams took the lead on lap 10.  A number of cautions would slow the event.  Mayberry and Thompson made contact on lap 11 with Mayberry retiring from the event.   A caution would fly on lap 19 when the number 88 of Jennings Vest made contact with the outside wall coming off turn two.  During the caution, rain began to fall on the speedway.  The race was declared official after 19 of 30 laps were complete with Williams, the defending champ, driving into victory lane for the first time this season.  Following Williams across the stripe was Almond, Howard Hall, Derrick Ayers, and Todd Garrett.

The street stock and all-American features would fall to Mother Nature as a steady rain fell on the speedway.  Their feature events will be made up at a later date. 

The Three State Flyer Super Late Model series will make their inaugural visit to Natural Bridge Speedway this Saturday night, May 1st.  Many of the top regional drivers will be on hand to compete for the $3,000 winner’s check.  Also on the racing program will be a street stock invitational event paying $400 to win.  The sportsman and pure stock divisions will also see action.  Gates will open at the speedway at 3:30 with on track activities beginning at 5:30.