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April 21st Race Results

Awesome, simply awesome!!!

The largest field since I have been working at ARP, with over a 140 entries, it was a night to remember, in more ways than one.

A lot of familiar faces, and some huge memories tied to those faces, made for a very exciting race. And by the way, who said we couldn't finish before midnight? We finished at 11:35, and it went so smoothly. We had some repeat winners, some first time winners, some even won in borrowed karts, and a lot of happy racers and race fans.

The weather was great, a bit windy, but the track was awesome, and so was the racing. For the most part it was a lot of happy faces and wide eyes watching some of the best racing Atoka has ever seen. A new guardrail on the back stretch made for even faster and safer racing. Thanks to Jason Moss, for the great racing surface, and congratulations on your new baby boy, TJ!

I want to thank all our racers, and race fans for coming out and supporting ARP.

I want to thank especially our track workers, who are the best I have ever worked with. They get little credit, but do an awesome job.

We also had a birthday.

Pam Malone was our birthday girl.
I am still not sure where the candles went though.

Our Survivor Series race was one of those races you just had to love to watch, and envied the racers as they had to love to be part of the excitement of this format. Can you say, no cautions and some very awesome racing and concentration? For the first 20 laps, Paden Gray, driving the #18P, held off Jeff McWilliams in the #43. But on lap 21, McWilliams made the pass, that was to stand firm for the rest of the 19 laps to follow. Jeff used full concentration, and a very huge amount of determination to win his first feature in the Junior 3 class.

A little about Jeff McWilliams; He has only been racing since June of last year when he raced in our Novice Class. I remember saying to my self that he showed a lot of determination and I knew it would be only a short time until he would come away with a victory, which he did in the Junior 2 class last Sept 23rd. He told me he struggled in the early races at the Thunderdome this past season, but his confidence boost came at the Indoor Nationals last Thanksgiving weekend, where he started 18th, and finished 4th. From then on, he never finished worse than 5th and finished in the top 5 in their points season. After coming in 2nd, for two straight races here at ARP, he told me on this day, that if ever he felt the time for his first victory of the year, it was "this" race. He told me he owes a lot to two people that helped him get into racing, and they are, Todd Burks, and Ricky McWilliams.

This young man is a perfect example of why "I" am so dedicated to this sport. Jeff is a competitive racer, and a very respectful young person. His actions, both on and off the track, represent to me, a kind of hope, that our young racers, can be the visions of our future.

I am very proud of all our racers, especially our junior racers. Some adult racers could learn a thing or two about the sportsmanship, dedication, and the outlook on life that some of our young racers have. Jeff is a prime example of all those qualities.

All things considered, it was an awesome night of racing. I was happy to see, some familiar faces there who helped me and Jason stay in racing after we had lost every thing in a theft back in 1994. If it wasn't for David Henderson, his family and their support for us during a particular bad time in my family's life, I wouldn't be doing this today. It is what racing is all about. Competitive in nature, but at ARP it "is" and will be as much of a family atmosphere as we can obtain, race after race. I give my word on that.

Thanks to every one once again for your support!!

Danny, Jason, and all the staff at ARP!

(remember to click on the picture to view full view)

Junior Novice
1	Brent Rowell	Two in a row for the #29X driven by Brent Rowell. Brent led the whole race and held off a charge from David Davidson to capture the feature win.
2	David Davidson
3	Derek Hagar
4	Phillip Higgs
5	Kody Hughes
Junior 1
1	Justin Carver	The #24, driven by Justin Carver, went from green to checkered to take the feature win in our Junior 1 class. Justin held off Holder, Parker, Boggan, and Barksdale, to take the victory.
2	Will Holder
3	Scott Parker
4	Gary Boggan
5	Brandt Barksdale
Junior 2
1	Rickey Stenhouse	Last race, he finished one inch behind the leader but this was Rickey Stenhouse's feature. Ricky dominated the field to take the top spot.
2	Samantha Gargus
3	Jake Tucker
4	Alan Kirk
5
Junior 3
1	Jeff McWilliams	He took the lead on the 21st lap of our 40 lapper and never looked back, but just behind him all the way was the 18P of Paden Gray, but it was Jeff McWilliams in the #43 who drove a determined race to not only win his first feature in the Junior 3 class but took top honors in our second survivor race. Way to go Jeff!!! Ty Young, Garrett Mack, and Brent Hogue rounded out the top five spots.
2	Paden Gray
3	Ty Young
4	Garrett Mack
5	Brent Hogue
Junior Sportsman Champ [Purple]
1	Tony Pollard	Tony Pollard driving the #93, once again took the top spot in our purple class of the Junior Sportsman Champs. Newcomer Shawn Knuckles took second spot, with Troy Dow, once again taking third spot. Blankenship, Crawford, and the G-man, Carroll, rounded out the field.
2	Shawn Knuckles
3	Troy Dow
4	Dillion Blankenship
5	Dylan Crawford
6	Garrett Carroll
Junior Sportsman Champ [Aqua]
1	Brandt Barksdale	Driving the #724, Brandt Barksdale took his second feature win at ARP in the aqua class of our Junior Sportsman Champs. Lee Thompson held off Cody Burks to capture the second spot, and rounding off the top 5 were Zach Hutcherson, and Nathan Holder.
2	Lee Thompson
3	Cody Burks
4	Zach Hutcherson
5	Nathan Holder
Junior Champ
1	Jake Tucker	Once again it was Jake Tucker taking the victory in the Junior Champ class. We have high hopes for this class and I think you will see it start to grow. Jake had the #73shadow stuck to the track in this race.
2	Jeffery Keltner
3	Chris Billingsley
4
5
Stock Light
1	Ty Jones	I had read somewhere that Ty Jones was not going to be able to race this race due to the fact his race team, [parents], were out of town, and he put out a notice if anyone had a spare kart lying around that happened to need a driver?????. Well he was offered a ride and he proved he could hold his own even if not in his own kart, by taking a hard fought victory in the Light feature. With three lead changes, Ty was able to take the final one from lap 8 on, and go on to victory.
2	James Polmonari
3	Kenny Lovins
4	Rusty Stagen
5	Keith Benson
Stock Medium
1	Ty Jones	James Polmonari, driving the #37, held off Ty for the first 7 laps, but on lap 8, Jones got around Polmonari and took the checkered in this Medium feature. This was truly the battle of the "Young Guns", as these Stock Medium top 5 ages averaged just under 16. Once again Jones came away with a victory "ride". Congrats Ty!
2	James Polmonari
3	Kenny Lovins
4	Daniel Valley
5	Mitchell Bridges
Stock Heavy
1	Robert Kennedy	The#15, driven by Robert Kennedy, led from green to checkered in the heavy race to take the win. Robert held off a hard charge from Henderson, Reed, Polmonari, and Stagen, to take this win in the largest class of the event.
2	Joey Henderson
3	Scotty Reed
4	James Polmonari
5	Rusty Stagen
Stock Super Heavy
1	Rickey Kennedy	The#29 of Rickey Kennedy led form green to checkered, in our super heavy feature. New racers to the class this week were Steve Sherman, Scotty Reed, and Dwayne Ponder, and rounding out the top five was Joey McDaniel
2	Steve Sherman
3	Scotty Reed
4	Dwayne Ponder
5	Joey McDaniel
Over 35
1	Rusty Stagen	It was last weeks Hard Charger Award winner, Rusty Stagen who took the top spot in out Over35 Feature. Rusty held off Jeff Henderson for the win.
2	Jeff Henderson
3	Roger Wilson
4	William Ivy
5	David Gonzales
Mods-Lims-Opens
1	Joey Henderson	Two in a row for the #5 of Joey Henderson. Rounding out the top 5 are Mark Lott, Joe Baker, Garrett Gray, and Carey Moore.
2	Mark Lott
3	Joe Baker
4	Garrett Gray
5	Carey Moore
Senior Champs
1	Jason Moss	Once again it was Jason Moss taking the victory in the Senior Champ class. Jason continues to dominate the tracks surface. Some say it's because he prepares the track surface, but I know better. It is because he has worked very hard to learn all he can about set up and handling. Congrats Jay, on this win and your new baby son, TJ.
2	Dwayne Ponder
3	Dale Sawyers
4	Bryant Blankenship
5	Mike Smith
Star Champs
1
2
3
4

Hard Charger Award
	Jeff McWilliams #43	Jeff McWilliams is our Hard Charger Award winner for this race. Jeff showed determination and hard charging to capture our survivor series race, and his first victory in the Junior 3 class. Congratulations go out to Jeff, his crew, his family, and his entire racing operation.

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