STEEL BLOCK MANIA

Lathroum Wins Sunoco Fall Classic Super Late Model Thriller;
Arthur Wins Steel Block, Runs 5th in Super Late Model; Bare 2nd In SLM
As Enthusiastic Natural Bridge (Va.) Speedway Crowd Roars Its Approval

 

Hard-core dirt track late model racing enthusiasts, be they drivers or excited fans bundled up to combat fall’s plunging evening temperatures, never want to face the fact that every racing season must come to an end.

And so it was under a spectacular Harvest moon at historic Natural Bridge (Va.) Speedway Friday and Saturday night as the Fourth Annual Sunoco Fall Classic delivered more thrills and surprises than could have been anticipated by even the most optimistic of those familiar with the unexpected happenings that routinely occur on the 3/8-mile dirt oval tucked away in the shadows of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

For many of the 50 laps in the Super Late Model finale that headlined the two-day show that had to delight even the most cynical of stock car observers, it appeared that Bo Feathers of Winchester, who won the inaugural Sunoco Fall Classic in 2006, might be the one to end Booper Bare’s Fall Classic Super Late Model winning streak at two. Or perhaps local legend Bare from Brownsburg would make it three in a row on the track where he had cut his racing teeth and had watched his dad, Tommy, dominate tough NBS competition for years.

It had already been a quite a night for wheelmen named Feathers as Bo’s son, Trevor, had dazzled the crowd by finishing fourth in the 40-lap Steel Block Late Model feature after starting 21st in the 24-car field.

But when all was said and done and the crowd had screamed itself hoarse, the biggest check and the championship trophy so tall it might demand its own hauler headed toward Mechanicsville, Md. with first-time Natural Bridge Speedway winner Jamie Lathroum, who started second and led 37 laps, leading runner-up Bare to the checkers by a 1.371 margin to earn the $7,500 winner’s portion of the season’s largest purse and to end Bare’s Fall Classic winning streak at two.

The largest check and heaviest trophy headed north to Maryland, but the largest number of checks and the most hardware headed in the another direction in possession of budding star Walker Arthur of Forest, who completed his season to remember at Natural Bridge Speedway by leading flag-to-flag to win the 40-lap Steel Block Late Model feature and followed that performance up with a strong fifth-place finish in the Super Late Model feature.

Young Trevor Feathers was not the only dirt track pilot who showed that more and more these days in racing of all kinds, youth will be served. Teenager Austin Dillon of Clarmonte, N.C. displayed his advertised promise and prowess with his third-place finish in the Super Late Model show after starting 10th in the 24-car grid. It would be fair to declare that racing is in Dillon’s blood as his grandfather, Richard Childress, owns several NASCAR Sprint Cup racing teams and won multiple Cup championships with the late Dale Earnhardt behind the wheel of the Goodwrench No. 3 Chevrolet, the same number emblazoned on Dillon’s ride last weekend.

Lathroum bolted past pole-sitter Jimmy Bernhisel, who suffered “one of them racing deals” on lap 2 and eventually finished 10th, and took the lead on the first circuit. Had the Maryland driver time to look behind him, he would have been seeing double as a pair of double-zeroes were in hot pursuit, with No. 00 Feathers running second with No. 00 Bare chasing Feathers’ rear deck.

The crafty veteran, Feathers, took the lead on lap 32 and led until lap 44 when bad luck forced him to fall back, ceding the point to eventual victor Lathroum. DJ Myers followed Dillon to the finish to claim fourth place, and Arthur capped off an NBS season that saw him win all three Two Track Challenge and several other Steel Block Bandit and Spencer Home Center Late Model features with his fifth-place finish.

Rick Williams, who had tough luck in the feature and was able to complete only seven laps, blistered the oval in 14.873 seconds (91.979 miles per hour) to claim the quick qualifier honors.

Arthur earned quick qualifying honors in the Steel Block division, putting down a sizzling 15.229 tour (89.829 mph) of the speedway.

Two young Addington drivers showed the large throng covering the sloping hillsides surrounding the track that their recently completed Natural Bridge Speedway championship seasons were no flukes.

Michael Taylor, 2009 NBS Break Time Convenience Store Street Stock champion, posted the quick qualifier time of 18.168 seconds (75.297) and shrugged off the No. 4 inversion pill he drew by wheeling to victory after starting fourth in the 12-cat field. The venerable Earl Brooks, a winner of hundreds of races in his storied career, finished runner-up to the youngster who succeeded him as NBS Street Stock champion. David Brogan, who has won multiple point championships at NBS, finished third. Keith Nelson ran fourth and Lester Lyons completed the top 5.

Justin Williams, who won 14 of the 20 BB&T Pure Stock features at NBS this season on his way to a runaway division championship, made it 15 wins this season by holding off Ronnie Martin to win the Fall Classic Pure Stock shootout. Todd Garrett finished third. Derrick Ayers and Will Slagle finished fourth and fifth, respectively.

Jason Thompson was the BB&T Pure Stock quick qualifier, cutting through the dirt oval in 19.599 seconds (69.799 mph).

It will be a little quieter trackside when the Natural Bridge Speedway plays host to its final dirt track racing event of year on the weekend of Oct. 16 and 17.The weekend will mark the first occasion of the Don Pugh Memorial Shenandoah Valley Small Car Nationals., which will feature extended competition for competitors in Street Stock, Pure Stock, 4-cylinders, All Americans and U-cars. Information is available on the Speedway Web site.

 

 

NATURAL BRIDGE (VA.) SPEEDWAY

2009 SUNOCO FALL CLASSIC RESULTS

OCTOBER 2-3, 2009

(3/8-mile high-banked dirt oval)

 

SUPER LATE MODEL RESULTS PACKAGE

 

SUNOCO FALL CLASSIC SUPER LATE MODEL 50-LAP FEATURE

(starting position in parentheses)

 

1) Jamie Lathroum (2), 43:07.242 seconds.

2) Booper Bare (6), 43:08.613.

3) Austin Dillon (10), 43.09.362.

4) DJ Myers (3), 43:10.638.

5) Walker Arthur (8), 43:11.314.

6) Devin Friese (11), 43:12. 465.

7) Tommy Armel (5), 43:12.881.

8) Tyler Hershey (12), 43:13.205.

9) CS Fitzgerald (9), 43:14.060.

10) Jimmy Bernhisel (1), 43:14.151.

11) Bo Feathers (4), 43:14.394.

12) Tim Senic (13), 43:14.978.

13) Tony Crim (16), 43:15.475.

14) Allen Brannon (19), 49 laps.

15) Butch McGill (17), 49 laps.

16) Kris Eaton (23), 49 laps.

17) Gerald Wolfe Jr. (14), 49 laps.

18) Ricky Knight (20), 49 laps.

19) Chris Cromer (22), 48 laps.

20) Gerald Davis (15), 47 laps

21) Matt Quade (21), 43 laps.

22) Brad Omps (18), 20 laps.

23) Rick Williams (7), 19 laps.

24) David Williams (24), 13 laps.

 

 

SUPER LATE MODEL QUICK QUALIFIER

1) Rick Williams, 14.873 seconds (91.979 miles per hour).

2) Bo Feathers, 14.950 (91.505 mph).

3) Walker Arthur, 15.057 (90.855 mph).

4) Jimmy Berhisel, 15.079 (90.733 mph).

5) CS Fitzgerald, 15.124 (90.452).

6) Booper Bare, 15.229 (90.303 mph).

 

R&R Auction Barn Super Late Model 8-Lap DASH FOR CASH

1) Jimmy Bernhisel, 2:12.181 seconds.

2) Jamie Lathroum, 2:14.697.

3) DJ Myers, 2:15.553.

4) Bo Feathers, 2:16.262.

5) Tommy Armel, 2:17.293.

6) Booper Bare, 2:17.840.

7) Rick Williams, 2:18.537.

8) Walker Arthur, 2:19.001

 

SUPER LATE MODEL 12-lap Heat One

1) Rick Williams; 2) DJ Myers; 3) CS Fitzgerald; 4) Tim Senic; 5) Butch McGill; 6) Matt Quade; 7) Kris Eaton; 8) Jared Almarode.

 

SUPER LATE MODEL 12-lap Heat Two

1) Bo Feathers; 2) Booper Bare; 3) Austin Dillon; 4) Gerald Wolfe, Jr.; 5) Brad Omps; 6) Chris Cromer; 7) David Williams; 8) Bobby Thompson.

 

SUPER LATE MODEL 12-lap Heat Three

1) Walker Arthur; 2) Tommy Armel; 3) Devin Friese; 4) Gerald Davis; 5) Allen Brannon; 6) Shane Hill; 7) David Bennett.

 

SUPER LATE MODEL 12-lap Heat Four

1) Jimmy Bernhisel; 2) Jamie Lathroum; 3) Tyler Hershey; 4) Tony Crim; 5) Ricky Knight; 6) Gregory Roberson.

 

SUPER LATE MODEL 15-LAP CONSOLATION RACE

1) Matt Quade; 2) Chris Cromer; 3) Kris Eaton; 4) David Williams; 5) Shane Hilt; 6) Gregory Roberson; 7) Bobby Thompson; 8) Kyle Hardy; 9) Jared Almarode.

 

SUNOCO FALL CLASSIC STEEL BLOCK LATE MODEL RESULTS

 

SUNOCO FALL CLASSIC STEEL BLOCK LATE MODEL 40-LAP FEATURE

(starting position in parentheses)

 

1) Walker Arthur (1); 2) Greg Roberson (3); 3) Gerald Davis (2); 4) Trevor Feathers (21); 5) Tim Stalnaker (9); 6) Eddie Grooms (5); 7) Ricky Wells (7); 8) Chris Barger (4); 9) Ted Kehrer (11); 10) Jon Painter (10); 11) Matt Parks (8); 12) David Keith (23); 13) Kristian Looney (6); 14) John Michael (17); 15) Grant Adams (14); 16) Davis Lipscombe (12); 17) Joey Coleman (24); 18) Tommy Hoy (22); 19) Kris Eaton (16); 20) Louis Timberlake (13); 21) JR Overstreet (18); 22) Ricky Almond (19); 23) Brad Rigdon (20); 24) Chris Jones (15).

 

 

STEEL BLOCK LATE MODEL QUICK QUALIFIER

1) Walker Arthur, 15.229 seconds (89.829 miles per hour).

2) Kristian Looney, 15.575 (87.833 mph).

3) Greg Roberson, 15.607 (87.653 mph).

 

 

STEEL BLOCK LATE MODEL 12-lap Heat One

1) Walker Arthur; 2) Eddie Grooms; 3) Tim Stalnaker; 4) Louis Timberlake; 5) John Michael; 6) Tommy Hoy; 7) Jeremy Coffey; 8) John Reedy.

 

STEEL BLOCK LATE MODEL 12-lap Heat Two

1) Gerald Davis; 2) Kristian Looney; 3) Jon Painter; 4) Grant Adams; 5) JR Overstreet; 6) Lou Littlepage; 7) Joey Coleman.

 

STEEL BLOCK LATE MODEL 12-lap Heat Three

1) Greg Roberson; 2) Ricky Wells; 3) Ted Kehrer; 4) Chris Jones; 5) Ricky Almond; 6) Trevor Feathers.

 

STEEL BLOCK LATE MODEL 12-lap Heat Four

1) Chris Barger; 2) Mark Parks; 3) David Lipscombe; 4) Kris eaton; 5) Brad Rigdon; 6) Andy White.

 

STEEL BLOCK LATE MODEL 15-LAP CONSOLATION RACE

1) Trevor Feathers; 2) Tommy Hoy; 3) David Keith; 4) Joey Coleman; 5) Danny Brown; 6) Lou Littlepage; 7) Petie Coffey; 8) Andy White.

 

STREET STOCK and PURE STOCK RESULTS PACKAGE

 

SUNOCO FALL CLASSIC STREET STOCK 25-LAP FEATURE

(starting position in parentheses)

 

1) Michael Taylor (4); 2)Earl Brooks (2); 3) David Brogan (5); 4) Keith nelson (6); 5)Eddie McClellan (1); 6) Stephen Campbell (8); 7) Terry Dame (7); 8) Ron Miller (12); 9) Troy Fitzgerald (3); 10) Danny Bryant (11); 11) Dakota Riggleman (10); 12) Lester Lyons (9).

 

STREET STOCK QUICK QUALIFIER: Michael Taylor, 18.168 second (75.297 miles per hour).

 

SUNOCO FALL CLASSIC PURE STOCK 25-LAP FEATURE

 

1) Justin Williams; 2) Ronnie Martin; 3) Todd Garrett; 4) Derrick Ayers; 5) Will Slagle; 6) Eric Shiftler; 7) Brian Rhodes; 8) Danny Peery; 9) Ryan Kassab; 10) Shad Cooper; 11) Eddie Moran; 12) Gerald Hostetter; 13) Mic Geist; 14) Brian Newton; 15) Glenn Davis; 16) Jeff Johnson; 17) Jason Thompson; 18) Vincent Helmick; 19) Joe Slagle; 20) Kevin Mays; 21) Chris Mays; 22) Michael Bryant; 23) William Slagle; 24) Brandon Ramsey.

 

PURE STOCK QUICK QUALIFIER: Jason Thompson, 19.599 second (69.799 miles per hour).