7/2/2019
Corey Almond Inherits Pro Late Model Checkers at the Scales at Virginia Motor Speedway; Shelton, McClendon and Givens all Repeat Winners
Jamaica, VA – What looked to be a convincing win for Billy Hubbard of Cobbs Creek, VA in the Victory Lap Pro Late Model division at Virginia Motor Speedway turned into a disappointing night when the driver was found light at the scales. Hubbard got by Kenny Moreland of Waldorf, MD for the lead on lap 2 of the 36 lap affair to take the lead on lap 3. Hubbard would dominate the night stretching his lead out several times to a full straight lead over the battle for second between Corey Almond of Appomattox, VA and Justin Williams of Concord, VA. What turned out to be for the win Almond held off several challenges by Williams over the last five laps to take home what looked like a second only to be handed the win due to the disqualification.
“We hate to win like that but we will take it; I really like Billy (Hubbard) a lot and happy to see him win; if I was going to second to anybody, him or Justin (Williams), I would like him to win,” commented Almond in WhosYourDriver.org victory lane. Justin Williams, Matt Glanden, Davis Lipscombe and Jared Powell rounded out the top five.
In other action Tim Shelton of Fredericksburg, VA survived a wreck that sent him to the rear of the field only to come back through the field to take the win; in the Budwesier Modified feature Hunter McClendon of Williamsburg, VA fended off a couple of slide jobs by Chris Arnold of Chesterfield, VA in on lap 25 of the 30 lap feature to take home the win; and in the Collision One Limited Stock Car feature James Givens of Henrico, VA took the lead on the opening lap with a daring 3-wide pass scored his second win in a row.
Brad Rigdon and Kenny Moreland led the 24 car field to green with Billy Hubbard making it 3-wide heading into turn 3. Moreland would exit turn 2 with the lead followed by Hubbard. On lap 3 Hubbard would take the lead from Moreland with a strong move out of turn 4 to grab the lead. Hubbard would begin to pull away with Moreland, Corey Almond, Matt Glanden and Justin Williams in tow. On lap 6 Williams got by Glanden for 4th while Almond got past Moreland on lap 13 for second. A big crash brought out the caution on lap 13 when Jonathan Raley spun in turn 1 collecting Tyler Hoy in the process.
On the lap 14 restart Hubbard kept Almond behind him while Williams went inside Glanden for third. A caution on lap 18 for a stopped Kenny Moreland, tightened the field up on Hubbard’s bumper. On the restart Hubbard once again pulled away, this time by about eight car-lengths over Almond and Williams. Caution would fall again on lap 23 for the spinning car of Toby Davis.
On the restart Hubbard once again got a great jump on the field again pulling away from the field. With Hubbard in control the best battle on the track was the one for second between Almond and Williams. Williams kept working Almond to the inside with Almond hold on to the spot each time. Hubbard would cross the line with what looked like a convincing win, his first at Virginia Motor Speedway since 2004, but was light at the scales handing the win to Almond. Justin Williams, Matt Glanden, Davis Lipscombe and Jared Powell rounded out the top five.
In the Budweiser Modified 30 lap feature Ryan Toole and Hunter McClendon led the field to green with McClendon grabbing the lead out of turn 4. The races first caution would fly on lap 1 with a spinning Adam Hoegerl. McClendon would pace the field while Chris Arnold got past Toole for second with Andy Boahn following to third. Caution would fly for the fourth time on lap 8 when Curtis Barricks spun and hit the inside wall.
On the restart McClendon pulled away from Arnold and the field and was pacing the field when another caution would fly for a wreck in turn 4 with Curtis Mason and Charlie Hubbard. On the restart McClendon would once again get a great jump on Arnold pulling two car lengths out of turn 2. On lap 25 Arnold went to throwing sliders on McClendon swapping the lead twice in the matter of two corners but caution would spoil the finish. On the races final restart McClendon would pull a couple car lengths and would hold that to the checkers picking up his second win of the season and in a row. Rounding out the top five were
In the Truckin Thunder Sportsman 30 lap feature Matt Ashworth and Joe Weiss led the field to green with Weiss grabbing the lead out of turn 2 on the high side. It wouldn’t take long for the races first caution to come out as Steve Causey looped it in turn 2 on the next lap. The races second caution came out on the restart with Matt Ashworth and Tim Shelton getting together in turn 2 and spinning down the backstretch. That sent the damaged car of Shelton to the rear of the field.
After being the in the caution Shelton set out to get back to the front of the field picking off cars one at a time. By lap 13 Shelton had worked his way to second and the bumper of Weiss where he tried to get outside Weiss in turn 4. Weiss was able to hold on to the top spot for three more corners before Shelton would get outside and this time making the pass and taking over the lead. Once in the lead Shelton pulled away by as much as a full straight and went on to score his second win in a row. Joe Weiss, Tyler Shipp, Steve Causey and Tommy Upshaw rounded out the top five.
Brandon Bowler and Cory Bradley led the Collision One Limited Stock Car 25 lap feature to green with the field quickly going three wide into turn 1 with James Givens on the outside. Givens would rocket off turn 2 to take over the top spot and lead the opening circuit. The races first caution came out on lap 5 for a spinning Raymond Harper in turn 4.
On the restart Givens pulled away from the field with Bradley trying to stay within striking distance. On lap 15 the battle for the top sport tightened up when Givens came up on some slower traffic allowing Bradley a chance to get inside the leader coming out of turn 4. Givens would hold on to the top spot with Bradley and Chad Champion in close pursuit. On lap 19 the races second and final caution would come out for Marty Coltrain with a broken rear axle.
On the final restart Givens pulled away and never looked back going on to score his second win in a row with Cory Bradley, Chad Champion, Trent Clemans and Brandon Bowling rounding out the top five.
The speedway will return to racing next Saturday July 7th to celebrate the 4th of July weekend and return to racing on Saturday, July 13th to host Truckin Thunder Night and week 7 of Dirt Series Championship weekly racing action featuring the Victory Lap Pro Late Models, Budweiser Modifieds, Truckin Thunder Sportsman and Collision One Limited Stock Cars in action.
Competitor gates for Saturday July 13th will open at 3pm with spectator gates opening at 5pm. On track activities will begin at 6:30pm with hot laps.
Bill Sawyer’s Virginia Motor Speedway is a ½ mile dirt oval track is located on U.S. Route 17, eight miles north of Saluda, VA and 25 miles south of Tappahannock, VA in Jamaica, VA. The speedway is just a short drive from Richmond, Fredericksburg, Southern Maryland and the Hampton Roads area.
Race fans can go to www.vamotorspeedway.com to view the complete schedule Virginia Motor Speedway’s 2019 season, find detailed event information, get the latest news, and get complete ticket and camping information. In addition, fans can get social with Virginia Motor Speedway by following @vamotorspeedway on Twitter, clicking "Like" at www.facebook.com/VaMotorSpeedway and on www.youtube.com/VaMotorSpeedway.
Article Credit: Dave Seay
