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PRP Press Release from September 18, 2021

PRP PRESS RELEASE
By Chuck Greenslate

Saturday night saw Portsmouth Raceway Park host its final points race of the 2021 season and final event prior to next month's Dirt Track World Championship. Brandon Fouts, Brian Skaggs, Mike Meyers, and Zack Pendleton were officially crowned as track champions. Shannon Thornsberry, Skaggs, Billy Staker, and Pendleton all scored feature wins.

The Giovanni's Pizza Late Model A-Main was a wild one. Eventual race winner Shannon Thornsberry from Martin, KY was maybe the fourth fastest car at best, but he kept digging, stayed together, and got a little lucky as the three drivers in front of him all broke with the race winding down.

Brandon Fouts led the first 24 laps of the 25-lap feature and appeared to be on pace for the victory. The Kite, KY driver, who had already clinched his first PRP Track Championship prior to the start of the evening, would manage to sputter around the speedway on the white-flag lap for a fourth-place finish.

Early on in the race, Fouts was challenged by Wheelersburg's R.J. Conley, but Conley would pull off the track with 11 laps to go. Wheelersburg driver Nick Bocook would eventually have to exit the track while riding second. Due to their misfortunes, Thornsberry would move up to the runner-up spot.

It appeared that Thornsberry was going to finish second until Fouts had his issue. Thornsberry's fortunes Saturday were quite ironic. The last points race of the season has not been kind for the 2019 track champ in recent years. With a little luck, he could've possibly claimed titles in 2017 and 18, but accidents on the final points races those seasons cost him.

Placing behind Thornsberry in Saturday's feature were Mike Hildebrand, Kevin Wagner, Brandon Fouts, and Charlie Jude. Rounding out the top 10 were Robert Starret, Austin Mullett, Lucas Crooks, Corey Lewis, and RJ Conley.

Fouts and Conley were the Late Model Heat Race winners. Fouts set fast time tripping the clock with a time of 14.699. Fouts has set quick time every race this season with the exception of the two Lucas Oil shows.

Brandon Fouts certainly earned the 2021 title. He finishes PRP's points races with three wins and six top-five finishes in nine starts.

Pedro's Brian Skaggs was once again dominant in the Local Happenings App/Keaton's Collision Center Modified Division. For the third consecutive race, he set quick time during the Dynamic Shock Service Time Trials, led every lap of his heat, and led every lap of the feature en route to his first ever PRP Modified Track Championship.

Skaggs was outstanding all season winning six of the nine A-Mains he started. He did however have to work a little harder Saturday than he has on many nights. Lucasville's Anthony Slusher stayed right with him the entire race and pulled up alongside once but could never get by.

Beaver, KY's Ervin Vance put on an incredible show in the Modified A-Main. He entered the night leading the points holding a five-point edge over Skaggs. Skaggs had the tie-breaker though because he had more wins, so whoever finished ahead of the other would exceed the other in points.

Vance put himself in a solid position early on winning his heat, but his motor let go as he was crossing the finish line. Melvin, KY's Jody Puckett would allow Vance to use his car in the feature, but because of the car change, Vance would have to start dead last in 20th position. Vance would climb all the way up to third advancing 17 positions, but would fall in the championship chase by merely five points.

Rounding out the top 10 behind Skaggs, Slusher, and Vance were Brandon Smith, Mark Dickson, Tony DeHart, Robert Garnes, Adam Colley, Joe Hamon, and Tommy McClain.

There was a great field of O'Reilly Auto Parts Limited Late Models, as 21 entries were on the scene. "The Rosemount Rocket" Billy Staker took the win fending off Fayetteville's Mike Meyers. Pete Crum, CJ Branham, and Dakota Pennington made up the rest of the top five. Kent Keyser, Kyle Gentil, Lane Meredtih, Matt Melvin, and John Melvin completed the top 10.

Meyers' 2021 Limited Late Model Track Championship is his third at PRP. In seven A-Mains, he scored three wins and posted six top fives.

Stout's Zack Pendleton again made it look easy in the EMC2 Party Rentals & Inflatables Sport Mods. He won his eighth feature in nine tries claiming his second PRP Sport Mod Championship to go along with three Bomber Track Championships. His five PRP titles equals him with Doug Adkins for the second most behind John Melvin, who has nine.

Cody Gifford placed as the runner-up in the points and in Saturday's Sport Mod Feature. Emily (Jordan) Jones returned to the drivers' seat to place third in her first PRP showing of 2021. Stevie Thornsberry finished fourth, and Jeromy Brady rounded out the top five. The rest of the top 10 consisted of Mike Drake, Danny Hamilton Jr, Dillon Hamilton, Robbi Johnson, and Jason Spillman.

PRP's next race will be the 41st Annual Dirt Track World Championship slated for October 14th, 15th, and 16th. That three-day event will be culminated by the 100-lap, Lucas Oil Late Model Feature paying $100,000 to win. Also racing that weekend will be Modifieds, Limited Lates, and Legends Cars. Discounted pre-sale tickets for that event will be available online up through October 1st. For more details, log on to portsraceway.com.

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Media Results for 9/18/2021 at Portsmouth Raceway Park - Portsmouth, OH
Late Models 19 Entries
A Feature 1 25 Laps | 00:34:27.322

1. 17-Shannon Thornsberry[3]; 2. 39-Mike Hildebrand[5]; 3. 33-Kevin Wagner[6]; 4. 81-Brandon Fouts[1]; 5. CJ1-Charlie Jude[11]; 6. 32A-Robert Starret[13]; 7. 73B-Austin Mullett[10]; 8. 1C-Lucas Crooks[12]; 9. 1-Corey Lewis[8]; 10. 71C-RJ Conley[2]; 11. 1B-Nick Bocook[4]; 12. 6-Roger Gancs[14]; 13. 12-Jeffrey Martin[17]; 14. 71-Delmas Conley[9]; 15. 27-Shawn Martin[7]; 16. 23-GC Erwin[15]; 17. (DNS) 46-Jerry Graley 1; 18. (DNS) 145-Chase Frohnapfel; 19. (DNS) B1-Josh Bocook

Heat 1 8 Laps | 00:03:20.832

1. 81-Brandon Fouts[1]; 2. 17-Shannon Thornsberry[2]; 3. 39-Mike Hildebrand[3]; 4. 27-Shawn Martin[4]; 5. 71-Delmas Conley[6]; 6. CJ1-Charlie Jude[5]; 7. 32A-Robert Starret[7]; 8. 23-GC Erwin[9]; 9. 46-Jerry Graley 1[8]; 10. 12-Jeffrey Martin[10]

Heat 2 8 Laps | 00:03:38.672

1. 71C-RJ Conley[1]; 2. 1B-Nick Bocook[2]; 3. 33-Kevin Wagner[3]; 4. 1-Corey Lewis[4]; 5. 73B-Austin Mullett[7]; 6. 1C-Lucas Crooks[6]; 7. 6-Roger Gancs[8]; 8. (DNS) 145-Chase Frohnapfel; 9. (DNS) B1-Josh Bocook

Qualifying 1 | 00:03:02.553

1. 81-Brandon Fouts, 00:14.699[13]; 2. 71C-RJ Conley, 00:14.703[18]; 3. 17-Shannon Thornsberry, 00:14.791[3]; 4. 1B-Nick Bocook, 00:14.920[4]; 5. 39-Mike Hildebrand, 00:14.987[11]; 6. 33-Kevin Wagner, 00:15.285[9]; 7. 27-Shawn Martin, 00:15.478[14]; 8. 1-Corey Lewis, 00:15.502[12]; 9. CJ1-Charlie Jude, 00:15.636[19]; 10. 145-Chase Frohnapfel, 00:15.894[8]; 11. 71-Delmas Conley, 00:15.973[15]; 12. 1C-Lucas Crooks, 00:16.062[10]; 13. 32A-Robert Starret, 00:16.152[16]; 14. 73B-Austin Mullett, 00:16.191[2]; 15. 46-Jerry Graley 1, 00:16.271[1]; 16. 6-Roger Gancs, 00:16.688[5]; 17. 23-GC Erwin, 00:17.189[17]; 18. B1-Josh Bocook, 00:17.189[7]; 19. 12-Jeffrey Martin, 00:17.189[6]

Modifieds 22 Entries
A Feature 1 20 Laps | 00:22:22.960

1. 20S-Brian Skaggs[1]; 2. 2-Anthony Slusher[2]; 3. J3-Jody Puckett[20]; 4. 244-Brandon Smith[3]; 5. 0-Mark Dickson[6]; 6. 35-Tony DeHart[14]; 7. 000-Robert Garnes[5]; 8. 13-Adam Colley[4]; 9. 44-Joe Hamon[10]; 10. 7T-Tommy McClain[12]; 11. 73A-Alisha Hammond[18]; 12. 10-Henry Sizemore[13]; 13. 34-Derek Richmond[11]; 14. 42-James Grigsby[9]; 15. 11S-Tyler Smith[7]; 16. 66-Austin Linvile[16]; 17. 43J-Jacob Hall[8]; 18. 1P-Piper Adams[15]; 19. (DNS) 7-Ben Adkins; 20. (DNS) 99-Danny Hamilton Jr

Heat 1 8 Laps | 00:13:39.814

1. 20S-Brian Skaggs[1]; 2. 13-Adam Colley[7]; 3. 11S-Tyler Smith[4]; 4. 44-Joe Hamon[5]; 5. J3-Jody Puckett[2]; 6. 66-Austin Linvile[6]; 7. 7-Ben Adkins[3]; 8. (DNS) 59-Danny Doyle

Heat 2 8 Laps | 00:08:29.111

1. 2-Anthony Slusher[1]; 2. 000-Robert Garnes[2]; 3. 43J-Jacob Hall[3]; 4. 34-Derek Richmond[4]; 5. 35-Tony DeHart[5]; 6. 1P-Piper Adams[7]; 7. (DNS) 99-Danny Hamilton Jr

Heat 3 8 Laps | 00:05:01.698

1. P20-Ervin Vance[1]; 2. 244-Brandon Smith[2]; 3. 0-Mark Dickson[4]; 4. 42-James Grigsby[3]; 5. 7T-Tommy McClain[5]; 6. 10-Henry Sizemore[7]; 7. 73A-Alisha Hammond[6]

Qualifying 1 | 00:00:59.728

1. 20S-Brian Skaggs, 00:16.233[6]; 2. 2-Anthony Slusher, 00:16.688[1]; 3. P20-Ervin Vance, 00:16.764[15]; 4. J3-Jody Puckett, 00:16.820[14]; 5. 000-Robert Garnes, 00:16.915[4]; 6. 244-Brandon Smith, 00:17.062[7]; 7. 7-Ben Adkins, 00:17.138[2]; 8. 43J-Jacob Hall, 00:17.176[13]; 9. 42-James Grigsby, 00:17.381[16]; 10. 11S-Tyler Smith, 00:17.465[10]; 11. 34-Derek Richmond, 00:17.468[9]; 12. 0-Mark Dickson, 00:17.546[19]; 13. 44-Joe Hamon, 00:17.636[18]; 14. 35-Tony DeHart, 00:17.737[8]; 15. 7T-Tommy McClain, 00:17.958[12]; 16. 66-Austin Linvile, 00:18.099[3]; 17. 99-Danny Hamilton Jr, 00:18.118[17]; 18. 73A-Alisha Hammond, 00:19.762[5]; 19. 1P-Piper Adams, 00:22.421[20]; 20. 13-Adam Colley, 00:22.421[11]

Limited Late Models 21 Entries
A Feature 1 15 Laps | 00:25:03.307

1. 7S-Billy Staker[2]; 2. 10M-Mike Meyers[8]; 3. 34C-Pete Crum[6]; 4. CJ7-CJ Branham[10]; 5. 11P-Dakota Pennington[11]; 6. 702-Kent Keyser[17]; 7. 10-Kyle Gentil[19]; 8. 94M-Lane Meredtih[14]; 9. 81M-Matt Melvin[5]; 10. 81-John Melvin[9]; 11. B4-Brandon Brown[1]; 12. W1-Cory Workman[13]; 13. 4B-Cale Boggs[12]; 14. 97C-Kevin Terry[15]; 15. 95-Nicky Pennington[3]; 16. 5C-Jacob Curnutte[4]; 17. 17R-Jesse Lyons Jr[7]; 18. 83-Brayden Dillow[16]; 19. (DNS) 63-Gary Wilcoxen; 20. (DNS) B52-JR Crum; 21. (DNS) 01-Collin Holmes

Heat 1 8 Laps | 00:05:01.509

1. B4-Brandon Brown[1]; 2. 5C-Jacob Curnutte[6]; 3. 17R-Jesse Lyons Jr[3]; 4. CJ7-CJ Branham[7]; 5. W1-Cory Workman[5]; 6. 97C-Kevin Terry[4]; 7. 702-Kent Keyser[2]

Heat 2 8 Laps | 00:05:19.699

1. 7S-Billy Staker[5]; 2. 81M-Matt Melvin[4]; 3. 10M-Mike Meyers[7]; 4. 11P-Dakota Pennington[3]; 5. (DNS) 10-Kyle Gentil; 6. (DNS) B52-JR Crum; 7. (DNS) 01-Collin Holmes

Heat 3 8 Laps | 00:08:42.496

1. 95-Nicky Pennington[3]; 2. 34C-Pete Crum[4]; 3. 81-John Melvin[6]; 4. 4B-Cale Boggs[7]; 5. 94M-Lane Meredtih[5]; 6. 83-Brayden Dillow[2]; 7. 63-Gary Wilcoxen[1]

Sport Mods 12 Entries
A Feature 1 15 Laps | 00:09:52.704

1. 24Z-Zack Pendleton[2]; 2. B9-Cody Gifford[1]; 3. 7J-Emily Jordan[6]; 4. 8D-Stevie Thornsberry[3]; 5. B5-Jeromy Brady[4]; 6. 5-Mike Drake[5]; 7. 99-Danny Hamilton Jr[12]; 8. 99X-Dillon Hamilton[8]; 9. 14J-Robbi Johnson[7]; 10. 55-Jason Spillman[11]; 11. (DNS) 11-Jason Thayer; 12. (DNS) 21-Brandon Pierce

Heat 1 8 Laps | 00:04:47.808

1. B9-Cody Gifford[6]; 2. 8D-Stevie Thornsberry[4]; 3. 5-Mike Drake[2]; 4. 14J-Robbi Johnson[1]; 5. (DNS) 55-Jason Spillman; 6. (DNS) 99-Danny Hamilton Jr

Heat 2 8 Laps | 00:03:13.760

1. 24Z-Zack Pendleton[3]; 2. B5-Jeromy Brady[1]; 3. 7J-Emily Jordan[5]; 4. 99X-Dillon Hamilton[4]; 5. 21-Brandon Pierce[2]; 6. 11-Jason Thayer[6]

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