Plymouth, IN — (August 3, 2013) — Special features put on by drivers of 410 Sprints and I-Mod machines created a bit of a stir Saturday night at Plymouth Speedway.
The 30-lap 410 Sprint feature ended up with six cautions with no major crashes. The 39 of Shane Cottle was dominant throughout the race and got a huge jump on the last restart and put quite a distance on the second place runner, Thomas Meseraull. Logan Jarrett and Dalten Gabbard had a good battle for the third spot with Jarrett prevailing at the end of the race. Three cars tangled on the last lap in turns one and two and Cottle won with the yellow and checkered flags waving simultaneously. It was Cottle with the win, Meseraull with second and Jarrett with the third spot in the first-ever 410 sprint race on the dirt track.
“It was pretty good racing at a pretty good track,” said Cottle. Everyone has done a good job at this racetrack. Hats off to everyone. It was fun!”
In the Thunder Stock division, it appeared Jason Atkinson had the race wrapped up after leading eight laps, but it was lapped traffic that allowed Bryce Shidler to get passed the leader. After the pass, Atkinson could not find the momentum to get to Shidler. Shilder won the race, Atkinson finished runner-up and Virgil Arnold rounded out the top three on the podium.
“We (Shidler and Atkinson) were having fun racing there and we were close together at the point when I passed him,” commented Bryce Shidler. “I was happy to see that lapped traffic!”
It was Billy Cribbs who dominated the 20-lap USAC 600 Open Feature to win his second feature in as many weeks. Third place finisher, Eric Saunders, had to start from the rear of the field after bringing out a caution and fought his way back through the field to finish on the podium. Saunders got a great run and nearly beat Jason Montel for the second spot, but Montel held off Saunders on the last lap and finished a tenth of a second ahead of Saunders at the finish line.
“We had a fast car. The track was great and the car was great. It was an awesome race,” stated Cribbs.
The driver who won the only other I-Mod Feature held at Plymouth Speedway this year picked up the second feature win. Brad DeYoung started on the outside pole and got around Don Stone on the first lap. DeYoung had a two second lead when the first caution came out for a spin in turn two. Lapped traffic caused DeYoung’s 2.5 second lead over Tim Sullivan, Jr. to shrink to a half of a second, but DeYoung was able to keep ahead of Sullivan, Jr. for the win. Pole-sitter Don Stone crossed the line in third place.
“Feels great to get this win and I couldn’t be happier. I’d like to thank everybody who has given me this great opportunity to race,” stated DeYoung.
The USAC r600w Sprint race was caution-free but not drama-free. Points leader Garrett Saunders held a second place run for the entire race, but gave race leader Nicholas Schaefer a good run on the last lap. Schaefer attempted to hold onto the lead as Saunders closed the gap in the corners. Schaefer crossed the finish line .172 seconds in front of Saunders. Bud McCune took home the third place trophy.
“I saw Garrett try to make a move and I tried not to block him,” said Schaefer. “We had a good race car!”
The final race of the night featured the Super Streets and Nate Payton had the lead in the first 13 laps and started to fall back. Roger Duszynski took over the lead from then on. Randy Akers attempted to get by “Big Daddy” on the last lap coming into turn three but couldn’t make it stick. Duszynski got his first feature win of the season with Randy Akers in second and Nate Payton in third.
“This feels so good!” beamed Duszynski. “I’ve been waiting for this for a long time – all season! It’s my first win this season.”
Join us on Aug. 10 for back-to-school night with the UMP Modifieds, Super Streets, Thunder Stocks, USAC 600 Open Sprints and the USAC r600w Sprints. The first 100 kids in the gate that are 12 years of age and younger get a backpack! Several special activities for the kids are planned throughout the night. For more information, visit www.plymouthspeedway.net. You may also follow Plymouth Speedway on Facebook or on Twitter.