It was a great night at Port!
The first heat was alright with Hodnett taking the win....I thought he might have 'em covered in the feature based on the way he looked. Smith & Shepard had to pass a few after starting in the back to finish 2nd & 3rd.
The second heat was much more exciting with Shaffer leading 9 laps with Wagner & Kauffman close behind. Cole & Erdley ran them down on the last lap. Erdley made some bonsai moves to pick up that win with Shaffer having motor problems exiting turn 4 jamming the top 5 all together. How no one crashed coming across the start/finish line, I don't know! I do believe Erdley was running 5th with 1 to go.
After a 45 minute intermission.....or was that track grooming.....or was it to give Shaffer time to change the motor....?
The track was fast,and looked ok to me except for the inside of turn 3. Crews groomed and ran in the corners prior to the feature. They're still perfecting the new & old clay mixture.
Shaffer started on the pole with Shepard along side, Kauffman & Smith started 3rd & 4th and Erdley & Hodnett started 5th & 6th.
The initial start saw Shaffer jump...which I never thought would be called back, but it was! On the 2nd try it was much better with Shaffer getting the edge for about 2 laps, and after that it was all Shepard. Caution came out on lap 16 for a spinning #29 in turn 2. Shaffer tried to get ahead of the lapped car of Grubb for the restart, however officials put the 19 between Shaffer & the leader. Caution came out again on lap 24 for another car in turn 2. On this restart, the lapped car of Cole (I believe he was lapped twice?), was between Shaffer & the leader. The "Jet" faced no serious challenge by Shaffer and landed himself in victory lane for the first time in '08.
Congratulation to Jeff & the entire Zemco team on a great run! Jeff aggressively mastered lapped traffic, and seems to be returning to a form I haven't seen much of since the 4j.
It was refreshing to see the doorstops.....I mean Late Models on a real track this year. They put on a hell of a show! Haus started on the front row, and I thought he would easily have this one in the bag. However Wilson managed to stay in front of him for a lap or 2, and the 21 ran him down as well. Haus was not the fastest car, and was actually passed by the 21 until an untimely caution negated the pass on lap 8. Haus definately drove a lot harder once he got passed. After lap 8, the 21 and 3 both dropped out, and Haus ended up in victory lane. Kerstetter took a nasty looking ride on the backstretch, ripping the front end off the car.
Despite the delay for track prep, the feature was still finished well ahead of the "other" Saturday night track. Not to mention Port started an hour later.
The new restrooms in the infield look great, and were a much needed improvement. Thanks to all involved with the effort! Once the cosmetics are worked out around the entrance, the grass starts growing, and they roll out the infield, it should be in great shape!
The biggest disappointment of the night was the OIP being closed! Bring 'em back Port, don't mess up a good thing! Despite the OIP closure, it was still great to be at a track that makes food you can actually enjoy eating.
1. 1-Jeff Shepard; 2. 88-Todd Shaffer; 3. 7m-Mark Smith; 4. 11-Mike Erdley; 5. 22-Greg Hodnett; 6. 7-Keith Kauffman; 7. 55-Mike Wagner; 8. 4H-Todd Hestor; 9. 35-Alan Cole; 10. 16-Cliff Brian; 11. 19-Cale Grubb; 12. 2H-Dave Hahn; 13. 9-Jason Shultz; 14. 45-Bill Brian Jr.; 15. 16H-Matt Horst; 16. 29-Chris Weiss; 17. 4K-Randy Kaylor; 18. 44-Joey Hershey; 19. 3-Bob Bennett; 20. 0-Rick Lafferty; 21. 3B-Joe Biasi Jr.; 22. 18-Daryl Stimeling. |
