DeGRAFF — The Vores Compact Touring Series made its annual appearance with a full field of cars Saturday at Shady Bowl Speedway. Shady Bowl drivers took five of the top 10 spots, including the winner Terry Eaton, Jr. of Quincy.
Tom Gossar brought the 18-car field to the green and led lap one. Andy Jennings then claimed the lead on lap two. Jennings held the point until lap five when Eaton, Jr. sped by. The 2015 track champion then set his sights for the checkered as he powered his way to a small lead in the 30-lapper. Fast qualifier Gary Eaton, Jr. had made his way to second spot and was trying to run down Terry. The only yellow of the race came out on lap 27, when Jake Albright lost a wheel and spun. It became the Terry and Gary show on the restart with three laps to go. Terry Jr. led the final three laps to edge Gary Jr. by less than a car length at the checkered. Terry’s Honda is sponsored by Planks Pizza and L&B Auto Service. Andy Jennings, Matt Jackson and Chris Jennings rounded out the top five. Terry Eaton, Jr. and B.J. Honious were heat winners.
The 35-lap late model feature saw Jacob Muncy of Columbus win his second feature of the season. Muncy traded the lead with last week’s winner Ross Klingelhofer before pulling away late in the event. Klingelhofer was second, with Curt Frazier third, Jesse Gade fourth and Kenny George fifth. The race was redflagged due to a hard crash by Brad Coons. Coons appeared to have something break, with the end result being a hard hit into the turn four wall. Coons was uninjured. Coons set fast time, with Klingelhofer winning the dash and Gade the heat.
The pure stock 20-lapper saw a lot of bent parts before Sidney driver Rob Bryant took the win. It was the first checkered of the season for Bryant in his Bryant Automotive Chevy. Jason Purtee was second, Jeff Binkley third, Lane Crabtree fourth and fast qualifier Josh Foltz fifth. Bryant also posted the dash win.
The street stocks rounded out the night’s action. A great field of 19 cars took the green with Piqua driver Rob Schaeff taking the lead from his outside pole position start. Schaeff held off the field to post his first win since 2011. Schaeff’s Chevy is sponsored by Roger Winget Race Cars and Dick’s Paint and Body. Nic Burnside, fast qualifier Shawn Stansell, Josh Longstreth and Rodney Roush took the next four spots. Buck Purtee was the dash winner, with Ryan Birch and Chris Abbott winning heats. The feature was marred by a flame-filled crash involving Chad Brandyberry. Brandyberry was able to bail out of his flaming car and escaped uninjured.
Larry Day was the winner of the spectator drags in his Dodge Neon RT.
This weekend, Shady Bowl will be racing both Saturday and Sunday. The Saturday program will feature the ARCA Truck Series, Pure Stocks and Compacts. On Sunday the Late Models, Modfieds, Street Stocks and Tuners will do battle. The spectator drag races have been added to both days. If you are going to enter the spectator races you must sign in at the pit gate before 7 p.m. Racing will begin at 7 p.m.
