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Puterbaugh kicks off July by winning fourth Lincoln
Park feature
By CAREY FOX
Times Sports Editor
PUTNAMVILLE - There's no doubt that after a red hot
month of June, winning back-to-back features, that
Billy Puterbaugh would like to forget the final
feature of the month, one that ended with a hard flip.
The Brownsburg native showed that he was no worse for
wear on Saturday, kicking off July the same way he did
last month, by winning his fourth LPS feature out of
the past six overall and continuing to distance
himself in season points.
Puterbaugh had his DRC Chassis, Zores, Creative Design
Embroidery machine hooked up as soon as it was out of
the hauler, winning his heat race ahead of Shane
Prather as Kent Christian held off Jeff Bland in the
first heat of the night.
Despite a bit of a small car count, the racing did not
disappoint once the features rolled off as Prather
took the green from the pole with Bland on his wing
and Puterbaugh just off his push bar.
Prather took the point at the start but the action was
quickly halted when Eric Krockenberger took a wild
barrel roll off the top of turns three and four to
bring out the red flag. Bland was eliminated by an
apparent flat left rear tire and he headed to the
pits.
On the restart, Prather maintained his spot in front
though Puterbaugh filled his rearview. Several times
he was able to get even with Prather as the pair
quickly found themselves in the back markers.
Puterbaugh made the move to the bottom trying to find
a clear lane, but Prather was able to hold him off
initially.
But Puterbaugh was determined to make the pass and was
finally able to take the top spot, working the traffic
to his advantage in turns 1-2 to make the decisive
move.
Robbie Rice started sixth and disposed of the gap
between himself and Prather quickly and went topside
to take second from Prather just over the midpoint of
the race. Kenny Carmichael Jr. had one of his best
cars recently and clicked off one car after another
from his 12th starting spot and eventually made the
pass on Prather for a third place finish. Prather
settled back into fourth, just ahead of Christian and
Shawn Krockenberger at the checkers. Todd Kimmell kept
the seventh spot ahead of Eric Smith, Stephanie Tuttle
and Josh Clemons in the top-10.
Puterbaugh wasn't able to add much to his points lead
as Rice was the runnerup on Saturday but the lead
stands at 561 to 522 with Shawn Krockenberger in third
with 490.
Harry Shepherd has always had a pretty rabid fan base
as he had plenty of success in the bomber division
several years ago, but his family and fans got the
chance to celebrate a hard fought UMP Modified win,
his first of the year.
This one did not come easy as Shepherd had to fend off
one of the class' best in Ray Humphrey over the final
laps in the Kessco Water, Grease Monkey, Griffin Auto
Salvage ride.
Humphrey made a heck of a charge, coming up from his
11th starting spot to get into the mix over the last
five circuits.
Shepherd meanwhile took the best that not only
Humphrey had, but also Bradley Sterrett who was
lightning quick all night. Of course, Paul Bumgardner
was right in the thick of things early before a spin
and a save, dropped him back a few spots where he
dogged Sterrett in some great action.
Sterrett and Bumgardner put on a whale of a show over
the first half of the A-Main, Bumgardner sliding hard
across the bottom in turns three and four, trying to
get the slide job to stick. Sterrett stuck to his guns
however and didn't back down. Much like Shepherd, who
had his hands full throughout with Sterrett as well as
Gary Hall for stretches of the race.
Meanwhile, Humphrey made his silent charge to the
front and finally got past Hall to give Shepherd's
Hoosier Towing, Carmichael's Exhaust, Wabash Valley
Speedshop machine everything it could handle, actually
pulling side-by-side on the low half off turn four
with the white laundry waving. However, Shepherd kept
the hammer down and was able to take the winner's
share ahead of Humphrey, Hall, Sterrett, Bumgardner,
Chad Combs, Mike Trimble, Clint DeMoss, Kenny
Carmichael Sr. and Chris Brewer.
Bumgardner still leads Carmichael by 64 points with
Hall back in third at 463 points.
There was a new Bumgardner in victory lane on Saturday
night as David Bumgardner Sr. was able to get by Curt
Leonard after his power steering went out. Bumgardner
then held firm to the top spot to best Kenny
Carmichael Jr. down the stretch along with Joe Whisler
and Jeff Starks.
Leonard looked to be the man to beat over the early
stages, leading significantly at stretches before he
was reeled in by Carlos Bumgardner. He stayed fast to
Leonard's bumper for lap-after-lap before mechanical
problems sent him to the pits.
That misfortune left Bumgardner ahead of Joe Whisler
and Michael Williams, who weren't giving each other
any ground. Whisler eventually won that battle as
Williams headed to the pits with apparent mechanical
woes.
Down the stretch, Carmichael, who rolled to the
runnerup spot from a 12th starting position, got close
to Bumgardner, but didn't have enough to get past the
Barnyard Cafe, Cyclone Graphics machine owned by Bob
Haberle.
Bobby Price was sixth, followed by Leonard, Mark
Dickerson, Joe Starks and Stefan Latham.
Points leader Doug McCullough kept his top spot,
though it narrowed to 13 points over Carmichael Jr. as
Leonard stays in third, narrowly ahead of Joe Whisler.
Brazil native Chad Nolte continued his push to get
into the season points race on Saturday night as he
chipped away at a lead by Kevin Kemp to the final lap
when he got a huge run off turn two and then finalized
his pass for the lead over the last corners for the
victory.
Nolte's win gives him 507 season points, behind leader
Lloyd Walls (560), who finished sixth this week and
Ben Williams (549) who was fifth.
Marlin Burns gave a determined rush throughout the
race, chasing Nolte for much of the feature as Doug
Dunagan was in the mix as well before slipping the
cushion late and dropping back to seventh place. David
Daniels had a good run for a fourth place ahead of
Williams, Walls, Dunagan, Wallen Sr., Michael Thompson
and Gary Long.
Lincoln Park Speedway
Sprint Car Feature
1. Billy Puterbaugh, 2. Robbie Rice, 3. Kenny
Carmichael Jr., 4. Andrew Prather, 5. Kent Christian,
6. Shawn Krockenberger, 7. Todd Kimmell, 8. Eric
Smith, 9. Stephanie Tuttle, 10. Josh Clemons, 11.
Jimmy Romig, 12. Danny Pollock, 13. Brian Crawford,
14. Daren Krockenberger, 15. Kevin Studely, 16. Eric
Krockenberger, 17. Patrick Stewart, 18. Greg VanAust,
19. Kyle Krockenberger, 20. Jeff Bland, 21. A.J.
Martin
UMP Modified Feature
1. Harry Shepherd, 2. Ray Humphrey, 3. Gary Hall, 4.
Bradley Sterrett, 5. Paul Bumgardner, 6. Chad Combs,
7. Mike Trimble, 8. Clint DeMoss, 9. Kenny Carmichael
Sr. 10. Chris Brewer, 11. Phil VanSant, 12. Dan
Lewellen, 13. Rick Fulford, 14. Jeremy Edmondon, 15.
John Gurley, 16. Mark Osborn, 17. Brian Kempf, 18.
Jared Hix, 19. Robert Albright, 20. Jeremy Settles,
21. Travis Shoulders
Super Stock Feature
1. David Bumgardner, 2. Kenny Carmichael Jr. 3. Joe
Whisler, 4. Jeff Starks, 5. Doug McCullough, 6. Bobby
Price, 7. Curt Leonard, 8. Mark Dickerson, 9. Joe
Starks, 10. Stefan Latham, 11. Jeff Bell, 12. Jacob
Wright, 13. Kris Starks, 14. Paul Wright, 15. Michael
Williams Sr. 16. Carlos Bumgardner, 17. Ritchie
Hawkins, 18. Larry Raines, 19. Michael Conner
Bomber Feature
1. Chad Nolte, 2. Kevin Kemp, 3. Marlin Burns, 4.
David Daniels, 5. Ben Williams, 6. Lloyd Walls, 7.
Doug Dunagan, 8. Ron Wallen Sr., 9. Michael Thompson,
10. Gary Long, 11. Dustin Colvin, 12. David Wallen,
13. Ron Wallen Jr., 14. Larry Shelley Jr. 15. Stan
Sandusky, 16. Dallas King, 17. Ron Smith, 18. Robert
Hogan, 19. Shane Miller, 20. Sean Yakel
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