By Troy Hennig
For the second year in a row Roger Crockett wins the final night of the Silver Cup Race of Champions at Silver Dollar Speedway. Not only did he win but in victory lane his crew brought out an extra cleaning item, a broom. It was a clean sweep for Crockett. He was quick time, won the first heat race and took the lead on lap 10 of the 25-lap main event to go on and win the final race of the night. “The track was really good tonight,” said Crockett. “It was a driver’s track. I won a lot of preliminary Silver Cup nights but never the final one. Now I’ve got two in a row and will be back next year to try for three in a row.” A total of 34 winged 360’s returned for the final night of racing.
Dean Freitas led the field down to the green flag but it was outside front row driver Steven Tiner who would lead the first lap. Tiner’s lead was short lived when on lap two Robbie Whitchurch took the lead. Sean Becker’s night ended on lap two when he flipped his #2sb off turn two. He was uninjured. Crockett started eighth but methodically picked off cars and by lap six he was third. Lap nine would set up Crockett’s charge to the lead. Crockett was able to pass both Tiner and Whitchurch and by lap 10 he was the new leader. The yellow was waived on lap 12 when John Michael Bunch’s car caught on fire. He quickly and smartly drove the car into the infield right next to the safety crew who quickly put out the flames.
On the ensuing restart Colby Wiesz was in the fourth spot and Brad Furr was fifth. As the two entered turn one Wiesz ran on the bottom while Furr got a good run on the top of the track. Coming out of turn two Wiesz’s car got upset when he hit a rut and it sent his car up the track just a bit. Furr was already committed to the top. What ensued was the two touching wheels and Furr got the short end of the stick. He flipped two times and came to a stop on all four wheels in the back straightaway to bring out the red. Furr was was not hurt but the car was unable to continue.
Two drivers of note who survived the wrecks and moved up through the field nicely were Mike Melwicks and Brett Rollag. Melwicks started 12th and finished in the fifth spot. Rollag had a longer road to travel. He started 18th and finished sixth. Both drivers were impressive throughout the main event.
Back up front it was all about Crockett. He led the event and at times made it look easy. The real race was for second, third and fourth. Whitchurch, Tiner and Wiesz put on the best show of the night. For the final ten laps the three were so close that it was anyone’s guess who was going to come out in second. At the checkered it was Whitchurch holding off Wiesz for second. Tiner came across the line in fourth.
Dan Menne led all 12 laps to win the B main event. Crockett started sixth and won the first heat race. Mike Henry got the win in heat two. John Michael Bunch picked up the win in heat three. Whitchurch started fourth and went on to win heat four.
Crockett’s top lap in qualifying was 11.964 . He was the only driver in qualifying to break into the eleven second bracket.
For full results and with starting positions please visit www.silverdollarspeedway.com
1, Roger Crockett. 2, Robbie Whitchurch. 3, Colby Wiesz. 4, Steven Tiner. 5, Mike Melwicks. 6, Brett Rollag. 7, Dan Menne. 8, Mike Henry. 9, Brock Lemley. 10, Kyle Miller. 11, Mitch Olson. 12, Herman Klein. 13, Chad Groves. 14, Vern Wheeler. 15, Logan Forler. 16, Colin Baker. 17, Dean Freitas. 18, Willie Croft. 19, Brad Furr. 20, John-Michael Bunch. 21, Nicole Miller. 22, Sean Becker.