Goodier Wins in 1^st Ever Crate Sportsman Race as Woodhull Kicks Off 44^th Season

            Woodhull Raceway’s 44^th consecutive season kicked off with mid-summer like temperatures and S&W Awards Crate Sportsman rookie Art Goodier drove in mid-summer like form to pick up the feature win in his first ever Crate Sportsman event.  On Joe Willcox Performance night, 24 Crate Sportsman rumbled to the green with Ray Smith on the pole.  Smith would get the jump at the wave of the flag, but caution would come out early as defending co-champion Kenny Peoples Jr. was involved in a crash, which sent him pit side.  On the ensuing restart, Smith elected to take the outside pole, which placed Goodier at the point of the field.  After the field went green, Goodier wasted no time and took command of the race entering turn three.  Art quickly stretched his lead to five car lengths by lap three and by lap five was already encountering lap traffic.  While Goodier was setting sail, a spirited battle between Joe Dgien and Casey Pavlick was being fought for the runner-up position.  The two young guns raced skid rail to skid rail for a number of laps, all the while navigating lap traffic themselves.  A rash of quick cautions negated Goodier’s cushion and placed him directly in Dgien’s sights.  However, Goodier stayed strong in the middle of the track and took home the victory as Dgien staved off Pavlick for 2^nd.  Veteran Dave Yehl put on an impressive charge as he wheeled his way from a 13^th starting spot to gather up a 4^th place finish.  Pole sitter Smith hung tight for fifth. 

            Bob Buono and Tim Schram drew front row spots for the NAPA 360 Late Model feature, as the “invert 18” stick was drawn to set the feature line-up.  That placed heat winners Glenn Whritenour and Jeremy Wonderling deep in the field as they rolled to the green.  Schram powered his way to an early lead, but the man on the move was defending champion Wayne Roberson, who shot like lightning from his 11^th starting spot up to second in just three laps.  The excitement was short lived, however.  Just as Robertson put Scram in his crosshairs, the #20 machine stopped suddenly in between turns three and four.  A broken drive shaft put a halt to what appeared would have been a dominating performance.  On the ensuing restart, Buono’s night ended in a cloud of steam and Schram seemed to have control of the race.  Lurking in the shadows, though, was former champion Whritenour, who had methodically picked his way up to fourth from his 14^th place starting spot.  With Wonderling in tow, Whritenour muscled under Schram for the top spot and quickly opened up a ten car length lead.  A late race caution drew Wonderling to Whritenour’s back bumper, but the low grove was working for the #15 car and Whritenour claimed the season opener.  A pair of rookies followed Wonderling across the line for third and fourth.  Newcomers Josh Sawyer and Brett Buono both had impressive runs in their first ever race in a 360 Late Model.  Second year pilot Josh Smith rounded out the top five.

            Morgan’s Auto Repair Street Stock pilot Brian Knowles served notice that he will be a force to be reckoned with by picking up a heat win and the feature checkers Saturday night.  Knowles started the main event on the point, got the early jump and never looked back.  Rod Mullen got his #3 within sight of Knowles’ deck lid, but couldn’t make a charge for the lead.  While Knowles cruised to victory, Mullen edged out veteran Jeff Smith for second.  Rookie of the Year contender Brett Marlatt put on an exciting drive by logging a sold fourth place finish.  Zack Sutton bested defending champion Dan Gordon for fifth.

            Jason Ketrow clung to an early lead in the Signs Plus Mini Stocks, but had plenty of heat on him as Brian Grant Sr. and Ted Morseman Jr. battled inches off his bumper.  Morseman took his Mustang to the high side and powered around Ketrow for the lead, and brought Grant with him.  Morseman’s machine was hooked up on the high side, with Grant maneuvering to the bottom and digging down low.  Grant could run up to the door of the #44, but couldn’t quite get the run he needed to grab the lead.  Morseman’s line proved strong enough to claim the win, with Grant leading fellow veteran Eddie Mills across the stripe.  Tom Kleintop squeezed past early-leader Ketrow late in the race to claim fourth.

            R.T. Moshier jumped to the lead at the start of the LaBarron Bothers FWD feature, only to be run down quickly by second generation pilot Brian Grant Jr.  Grant used his powerful Subaru to wrangle away the lead and set sail to the feature win.  Defending champion Ron Daily Jr. wound up second, followed by FWD rookie John Heidrick.  Gary Baker crossed the line in fourth, with pole sitter Moshier hanging in for fifth. 

            Next week the Signs Plus of Kanona Mini Stocks headline the card with an extra distance main event as Mountain Dew presents another exciting night of racing on the high banks.

Woodhull Raceway Quick Results   4/19/08

Joe Willcox Performance Automatics

S&W Awards & Photos Crate Sportsman (20 laps) 24 Cars

Heats:  Donnie Lawson, Joe Dgien, Tony Hooker 

Feature:  ART GOODIER, Joe Dgien, Casey Pavlick, Dave Yehl, Ray Smith, Donnie Lawson, Charlie Winchell, Bill VanEtten, Tony Hooker, Gary Lampman, Nate DeLong, Scott Brown, Bill Shea, Kreg Crooker, Larry Keegan, Cale Paul, Kevin McPherson, Bob Paul, Bob Johnson, Donnie Knowles, AJ Costley, Kenny Peoples, Jr, Nick Galayda, Wesley Campbell 

Napa 360 Late Model (20 laps) 16 Cars 

Heats: Jeremy Wonderling, Glenn Whritenour 

Feature: GLENN WRITENOUR, Jeremy Wonderling, Josh Sawyer, Brett Buono, Josh Smith, Mike Smith, Jared Dennis, Tim Schram, Darwin Davis, Donnie Tuthill, Bob Buono, Wayne Robertson, Mick Seeley, Steve Williams 

Morgan’s Auto Repair Street Stocks (20 laps) 19 Cars 

Heats: Brian Knowles, Jeff Smith 

Feature: BRIAN KNOWLES, Rod Mullen, Jeff Smith, Brett Marlatt, Zack Sutton, Dan Gordon, Jared Hill, Cliff Moss, Tony Foth, Brian Butler, Russell Morseman, III, Butch Dibble, Gilbert Sharpsteen, Brett Crawford, Kevin Patton, Kurt Stebbins 

Signs Plus Mini Stocks (20 laps) 25 Cars 

Heats: Jason Ketrow, Ted Morseman Jr., Brian Grant, Sr. 

Feature: TED MORSEMAN JR., Brian Grant Sr., Eddie Mills, Tom Kleintop, Jason Ketrow, Tracy Dunn, Rick McDaniels, Chris McCann, Dennis Erdmann, Mike Smith, Lynn Burrell, Aaron Bartas, Chuck Leisure, Rich Sharpsteen, Jeff Erdmann, William Gardner, Jeff Brown, Randy Dunn, Pat Toupin, Brian Freese, Chris Woodard, Billy Groover, Brent Kirk, Randy Bauman, Morgan Taft, John Hand Jr. 

LaBarron Brothers Repair & Parts FWD (15 laps) 25 Cars 

Heats: Artie Mosher, Brian Grant, Jr., Ron Daily, Jr. 

Feature:  BRIAN GRANT JR., Ron Daily Jr., John Heidrick, Gary Baker II, Artie Mosher, Tom McGlynn, Mark Schenck, Ron Hill, Cody Baker, Andrew Mathieu, Jacob Clark, James Howard, Scott Cummings, Allison Pierce, Gary Baker I, Lynn Richmond, Mark Sullivan, G.W. Rogers, Courtney Patton, Brandon Martin, Robert Symonds, Roger Taft, J.R. Hoppe, Joe Birdsell, Billy Joe Birdsell, 40