A lap 11 spin by Rodney Wright stopped Trevor Gamble from pulling away from the rest of the Hobby Stock pack. A few other minor cautions hindered the action including the lap 14 spin by 3rd place Brian Shea. With 3 to go Tim Gay passed Gamble and never looked back. A close, yet not so close, win for Gay with Gamble 2nd, Tim Powers 3rd, points leader Sean Monaghan 4th, and John Clark finished 5th.
"The Magic Man" Mark Whitener seems to be a freak of nature. Earlier in 2012 he had to watch races because of a neck injury. In 2 races at Bubba Raceway Park he has led 37 of the 50 laps with 1 win and 1 DNF. This win, however, was not as easy as it seemed. On lap 6 Ivedent Lloyd, Jr. brought out a caution as he slowed with a flat right rear. The only other caution was for Bubba Clem's turn 2 spin on lap 15. As The Magic Man took the Big Frog Motorsports #58 "Corvette" to a nearly 3 second lead and ultimate win Jason Fitzgerald battled to 2nd. Tyler Ivey found himself 3rd on the night with Richard Ferry 4th and Brandon DeWitt completing the top 5.
Mini Stock action was intense between Buddy Pope, Reid Christensen, and Ray Ethridge. On lap 3 Ethridge spun while battling for 2nd and would drop out as he couldn't refire the #21. Christensen spun on lap 6 just as Ethridge but continued on. Buddy Pope took a win in what is a trying time for the Pope family. Reid Christensen would finish 2nd with Ethridge completing the top 3.
On lap 2 the first lead change in Thunderstock action occurred when Justin Durbin passed Todd Roberts. Durbin would lose the lead after a caution for Greg Boynge's tire. Shane Nichols was the man who took the lead from him and didn't look back though he knew the field was there. Mike Stalnaker began to attack driver #65 but Nichols wouldn't budge. Even a green white chekered after Daniel Keene spun in turn 1 couldn't keep Nichols from victory lane. Stalnaker settled for 2nd while Jason Gamble, Justin Durbin, and Jonathan Appleby went home with top 5 finishes. With the win Nichols took the points lead.
Next Saturday night is Night Of A Thousands with the Top Gun Sprint Cars return and the Scorpion Performance Products Modifieds, Hobby Stocks, Thunderstocks, and Gladiators. Pits open at 4 and grandstands at 5. Racing at 7! For more information you can go to www.bubbaracewaypark.com or call the Speedway at 352-622-9400!
Bubba Raceway Park Results (3/10)
RaceCar Engineering Late Models
1- 58 Mark Whitener (Big Frog Motorsports)
2- 2F Jason Fitzgerald (James Mixon)
3- 47 Tyler Ivey
4- 17 Richard Ferry
5- 2 Brandon DeWitt (DeWitt Racing)
6- 21 Ivedent Lloyd, Jr.
7- 01 Jack Nosbisch
8- 35 Christian Augspurger
9- 71 Bo Allen
10- B69 Bryan Bernhardt
11- Z Tim Zackery
12- 14 Bubba Clem
Limited Late Models
1- 01 Kevin Mills
2- 8 Eddie Gainey
3- 14 Jerome Dipple
4- 21D Jamie Dayhaw
5- 0 Wayne ONeal
6- 66 Ricky Land
7- 10X David Ponton
8- 27M Miles Cox
9- 21G Forrest Gough
10- 20 Adam Higginbotham
11- 17 Blaise Hetznecker
12- 7 David Denson
Hobby Stocks
1- 90 Tim Gay
2- 12 Trevor Gamble
3- 44 Tim Powers
4- 21M Sean Monaghan
5- 80J John Clark
6- 94 Robert Sirmons
7- 26 Brian Jerrels
8- 77M Mark Maresca
9- 2 Trey Isgette III
10- 77 Matt Kramer
11- 19 Brian Shea
12- 99 Rodney Wright
13- 5 Jeff Barrett
14- 89 Trey Cameron
DNS- 88H Howard O'Steen
DNS- 81 Don Woosley
Thunderstocks
1- 65 Shane Nichols
2- 77 Mike Stalnaker
3- 02 Jason Gamble
4- 12 Justin Durbin
5- 60 Jonathan Appleby
6- 44 Todd Roberts
7- 5W Eddie Kilbury
8- 3W Vaughn Woodall
9- 34 Mark Trexler
10- 6 Tony Campbell
11- 73 Brandon Tillander
12- 23 Glenn Baum
13- 28M Brian Mullins
14- 47 Daniel Keene
15- 49 DJ Horiski
16- 15 Mike Valdez
17- 90 Cody Johnson
18- 83 Joe Boyd
19- 2W Aaron Linn
20- 28E Brandon Elwood
21- 44B Greg Boynge
22- 121 Gordon Cade
Mini Stocks
1- 81 Buddy Pope
2- 30 Reid Christensen
3- 21 Ray Ethridge
DNS- 11 Cody Kinsey
Bubba Raceway Park