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| David and Greg both win at I-20 Speedway Batesburg, SC (May 20, 2007) – Team 65 hit the track running this week as for the first time in our team history David and Greg both won on the same night. David quickly set the
pace by winning his heat in the Super Stock 4 division, getting the
outside pole for the Main. Travis Greene (#131) started on the pole
with Bryan Ridgeway (#33) starting in third, Bubba Hartley (#8) starting
fourth and Donnie Shealy (#99) starting fifth in the 16 car field. David
wasted no time getting by Greene and set the pace for the field. The
race was stopped for three caution flags but David managed to pull away
to as much as a 10-car lead. Second and third place was contended for
by Ridgeway and Shealy, with Shealy getting by Ridgeway with just three
laps to go. Shealy’s car suddenly slowed and Ridgeway got by to
go after David but had to settle for second this week after winning
the past two weeks in a row.
Greg also started on the outside pole in the Stock 4 Main. This week Vic Evans (#07) shifted gears a little bit and converted his Super Stock 4 to a Stock 4. Vic started from the pole, with the John Keisler (#38) car driven this week by, Vince Sanford in third and Ray Elders (#00) fourth. Greg took the lead before getting to turn one and never looked back. The caution free event quickly ran its 10 laps with Greg getting his third win of the season followed by Vince Sanford, Vic Evans in third and Elders in fourth.
The Speedway celebrated the troops this weekend and the U.S. Marines were out in force at the event. Team 65 was proud to meet Staff Sergeant Rick Leggett from the Aiken, SC recruiting office. Sgt. Leggett stopped by our pit and stayed awhile, getting to meet the team and learn a little about our racing family.
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Batesburg-Leesville, SC (May 12, 2007) - Rain throughout the day Saturday led to a soupy track and the night's racing events had to be cancelled as a result. Better luck next week!
Batesburg-Leesville, SC (May 6, 2007) – After battling rain and then wet track conditions racing action at I-20 Speedway finally got underway just over two hours late. David was in the first of two Super Stock 4 heat races. He started his heat race in fifth position. On the first lap coming out of turn 4 the #47 car of Bryan Addy slammed the wall and ricocheted into David’s car, spinning it around and sending it head on into the front stretch wall. The extensive damage ended the team’s chances to continue for the night. Luckily although the damage is ugly, it is repairable so David and Greg should have the car back together and ready to race next weekend. The Street Stock four race this week was
made more exciting my visiting drivers Mike Bates (#B5), Mitch Warlick
(#04) and Bubba Albert (#29). Greg lined up in the third starting position
in the Main behind pole sitter Albert and James Rushton, Sr (#51). Albert
jumped the green flag at the same time Rushton slid to the inside of
the track, causing several cars to spin to take evasive action. The
yellow flag was flown and Albert was sent to the rear of the field for
jumping the flag. On the restart Albert and John Keisler (#38) spun
in turn one. It appeared to us that they were reacting to the #51 of
Rushton who had gone out of the groove and was running high. The officials
charged Albert with the spin and penalized him for rough driving, disqualifying
him for the night and sending him to the pits. This was a harsh punishment
for what appeared to be a spin to avoid a wreck. The disgusted Albert
team loaded up and left.
Greg inherited the lead with Mike Bates and Mitch Warlick in hot pursuit for five laps. Greg had a 10-car length lead when Bates spun in turn two. At the restart Greg took off with Warlick chasing and Bates in a close third. On the final lap with Warlick on his bumper Greg caught up, again, with the lapped car of Rushton who was riding in the center groove at a much slower speed than the advancing leaders. Greg chose the high side around Rushton who came up the track just as Greg went around, getting into Greg’s car. Warlick went low and the two leaders split Rushton in the middle. The contact between Greg and Rushton got the #65 loose and was just enough to let Warlick get by. The final dash to the checkered flag was won by Mitch Warlick, followed closely by Greg, with Mike Bates getting third. Although a disappointing finish for Team 65 we were still very pleased to have some good cars in the Street Stock 4 field this week. We hope it showed the fans just how exciting this division can be. Hopefully the slower cars in the race will be more aware of where they are on the track so they are not dead center in the racing groove when they are not up to speed. The last lap of last night’s race could have ended in a disaster had both Greg and Mitch not carefully scrambled around the slow car of Rushton.
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