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Shuman dazzles crowd with win at Lincoln Park Speedway.
By CAREY FOX
Times Sports Editor
PUTNAMVILLE - After two weeks of weather
disappointments, racing action finally won out over
the rain as Lincoln Park Speedway made its debut on
Saturday night.
The hard work that has been put into the track over
the past month or more was quickly evident as the cars
hit the Putnamville oval. Though the car count was a
bit thin overall, most of the drivers seemed to agree
that the track conditions were the best they've been
in several years.
Undoubtedly, sprint car hotshoe Casey Shuman would
probably agree that the track was to his liking though
he certainly wishes his fuel cell held a tad more fuel
next go round.
Shuman started outside the front row alongside
defending track champion Billy Puterbaugh as the
A-Main gassed up.
Shuman took the point from the initial green flag and
survived a couple of caution flags for the victory
over Puterbaugh and Kenny Carmichael Sr. in the
top-three.
But his arrival in Victory Lane was nearly cut short
as he climbed from his car and proclaimed that he had
run out of fuel on the final lap and had to get a push
back to the pits in the Maxwell Industries, Sprint
Mart machine.
Puterbaugh had Shuman in his sights for the entire
feature, but each time a caution flag flew, Shuman was
able to get on the throttle at precisely the right
time and kept Puterbaugh guessing.
The final yellow came out with just one lap remaining
and Shuman was able to get the jump on Puterbaugh and
had just a few precious drops of fuel to spare heading
across the finish line ahead of Puterbaugh.
Carmichael Sr. had his best race of the early season
and was able to beat Kent Christian across the line
with Blake Fitzpatrick in fifth, Robbie Rice in sixth,
Shane Hollingsworth, Todd Kimmell, Aaron Mosley and
Stephanie Tuttle rounded out the top-10.
Fitzpatrick came from 13th to take his top-five spot.
When it comes to UMP Modified racing at LPS, it's
never wise to bet against No. 54.
Paul Bumgardner, the defending track champion, drove
away late from the feature's early leader, Harry
Shepherd, to take the opening night victory.
Bumgardner won his heat in the Spiker Excavating,
Cardinal Contracting, Durabuilt Racing ride and
started the feature outside Shepherd.
A first lap melee quickly brought out the yellow for
several damaged cars, but Shepherd grabbed the lead on
the re-start.
Bumgardner was hot in pursuit and was soon part of a
side-by-side war with the Terre Haute competitor in
the No. 35 Kessco Water sponsored modified.
Meanwhile, back in the pack, Daryl Herbert was
starting near the tail of the 18-car field and began
picking off competitors from the opening lap.
Bumgardner slipped underneath of Shepherd coming out
of turn four to grab a slight advantage with Kenny
Carmichael Sr. and the quickly arriving Herbert.
With laps quickly ticking off, Bumgardner was
extending his advantage over Shepherd and Bradley
Sterrett had joined the fray with Herbert and
Carmichael. The group gave Shepherd all he could
handle down the stretch, but Shepherd held down the
second spot across the line.
Sterrett settled into the third spot ahead of Herbert
and Carmichael. Harold Grayless took sixth, Gary Hall,
Jaymie Turner, Mark Auler and Jeremy Edmondson wrapped
the top-10.
Travis Shoulders won his heat race, but was unable to
take his first row starting spot after suffering motor
problems.
Mooresville's Chris Hillman decided to chase UMP Super
Stock points this season and that decision brought him
to Lincoln Park Speedway.
He seemed to be one of the first to figure out the
quickest line around the track and won his heat race
accordingly along with Greencastle's Curt Leonard.
Starting outside of row one, Hillman checked out from
the rest of the field soon after the green dropped.
Leonard was left to deal with Doug McCullough and
Kenny Carmichael Jr. along with Kris Starks down the
stretch.
McCullough eventually took down the third spot
followed by Carmichael, Starks, Joe Whisler, Travis
Heramb, Joe Jeffries, Michael Beatty and Scott
Carrington.
Hillman's win came in the Kay Hardwood Floors,
Mooresville Welding BC Chassis No. 11.
The opening race of 2008 will be one that 16-year old
Dustin Shoulders remembers for a long while.
Shoulders staged a spirited dual with defending track
champion Lloyd Walls throughout the main event.
Shoulders, who made his debut during the final month
of last season, has quickly made an impression amongst
his peers.
On Saturday, Shoulders roared to the top and overcame
a late race bobble that lost him several spots before
a caution flag came out.
On the re-start, Shoulders jumped to the top and took
over the lead ahead of Walls, C.J. Bryan and David
Daniels. David Wallen of Brazil, placed fifth in the
feature after winning his heat race. Gary Long began
the second-five ahead of Kevin Kemp, Michael Thompson,
Stacey Shepherd and Josh Ford.
Next week will be "Salute to Cloverdale Night" with
anyone with a Cloverdale residence and a state-issued
ID receiving $2 off admission. Sprints, modifieds,
super stocks and bombers are on the card.
Lincoln Park Speedway
Sprint Car Feature
1. Casey Shuman, 2. Billy Puterbaugh, 3. Kenny
Carmichael Sr., 4. Kent Christian, 5. Blake
Fitzpatrick, 6. Robbie Rice, 7. Shane Hollingsworth,
8. Todd Kimmell, 9. Aaron Mosley, 10. Stephanie
Tuttle, 11. Shawn Krockenberger, 12. Kevin Studley,
13. Danny Pollock, 14. Andrew Prather, 15. Kenny
Carmichael Jr., 16. Mark Nieft Jr., 17. Eric
Krockenberger, 18. Joey Moughan
Heat winners: Billy Puterbaugh, Casey Shuman
UMP Modified feature
1. Paul Bumgardner, 2. Harry Shepherd, 3. Bradley
Sterrett, 4. Daryl Herbert, 5. Kenny Carmichael Sr.,
6. Harold Grayless, 7. Gary Hall, 8. Jaymie Turner, 9.
Mark Auler, 10. Jeremy Edmondson, 11. Josh Edmondson,
12. Jared Hix, 13. David Kingery Jr., 14. Tony Helton,
15. Phil VanSant, 16. Robert Albright, 17. Travis
Shoulders, 18. Garry Ricketts
Heat winners: Travis Shoulders, Paul Bumgardner
Super Stock Feature
1. Chris Hillman, 2. Curt Leonard, 3. Dough
McCullough, 4. Kenny Carmichael Jr., 5. Kris Starks,
6. Joe Whisler, 7. Travis Heramb, 8. Joe Jeffries, 9.
Michael Beatty, 10. Scott Carrington, 11. David
Bumgardner, 12. Derek Doub, 13. Elijah Himinger, 14.
Dan McCullough
Heat winners: Curt Leonard, Chris Hillman
Bomber Feature
1. Dustin Shoulders, 2. Lloyd Walls, 3. C.J. Bryan, 4.
David Daniels, 5. David Wallen, 6. Gary Long, 7. Kevin
Kemp, 8. Michael Thompson, 9. Stacey Shepherd, 10.
Josh Ford, 11. Marc Yakel, 12. Brad Neese, 13. Ron
Wallen Jr., 14. Ron Smith, 15. Dallas King, 16. Ryan
Freeland, 17. Ron Wallen Sr. 18. Sean Yakel
Heat winners: David Wallen, Lloyd Walls
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