MTRN

By Robert Walden

BULLS GAP, Tenn. (April 21) — The first weekly points race of the 2007 season at Volunteer Speedway saw Jeff Maupin of Greeneville win the “Gateway Ford” Super Late Model feature in impressive fashion by leading the 35-lap event flag-to-flag on “A&L RV Sales Night at the Races.”

Maupin is no stranger to victory lane at “The Gap,” but he hadn’t won a Super Late Model feature race since the 2004 racing season. But he broke out of his long dry spell in a big way Saturday as he set fast-time at 13.057-seconds (110.294 mph) to earn the pole position for the main event. The 27-year-old chauffeur proceeded to grab the lead over Rick Rogers and Vic “The Thrill” Hill at the drop of the green, and once out front he never looked back en route to claiming the victory.

The race ran clean and green until a little past the halfway point, with Maupin flexing his muscle and pulling out to right at a full-straightaway lead over Rogers and Hill. But a frightening accident on lap 20 saw the lapped car of Dempsey Harold Jr. crash hard into the inner concrete retaining wall and safety tire barrier entering the first turn after slight contact from Hill, as both Rogers and Hill were placing Harold another lap down. The red flag waved to allow the track safety crew to attend to Harold, who finally climbed from his car to the cheers of the crowd and walked away with only a slight limp.

Rogers and Hill closed in tight on the rear bumper of Maupin for the restart. But Maupin, driving the Beamer’s Flooring Outlet/G&W Hauling & Rigging/TEG Enterprises/Landair Transport Inc./O’Reilly Auto Parts/Simpson Racing Equipment/Vic Hill Racing Engines/Team GRT Race Cars/Hoosier Racing Tires/No. 0 Monte Carlo, easily sped away from the duo over the final 15 circuits and comfortably rolled to victory.

Finishing behind Maupin were Rogers, Hill, Kerry Jones and Mike Smith. Completing the top-10 at the checkers were Louis Hickey, Michael Jackson, Bryan Hendrix, Randy Davidson and Dwight Sams.

“Man, you just don’t know how good it feels to finally get another win,” said the smiling Maupin after climbing from his car in victory lane. “The last couple of years just haven’t been all that good for me racing. The former team I drove for, we did have some good runs — but it just seems like we had more than our share of bad luck that would end the strong runs we had. We won a few races and led the point standings right up until the final race of the year in 2004, but it was all downhill from that point.

“But where I’m at now with my racing, I feel like each and every week we show up at the track we’ve got a good shot at not just running well — but we come to win races. I really want to thank my racing mentor and also my good friend Vic Hill for all he’s done for me, because he’s really taught me so much about racing — plus he believes in my ability as a race car driver. We work on our cars together in the same shop during the week, and he will tell me just what I need to do to the car just like if he was working on his own car. This is without a doubt the best race car I’ve ever driven — it’s just unreal the motor we’ve got under the hood. You can’t beat the racing engines that Vic (Vic Hill Racing Engines) builds. I also want to thank John Tweed at Landair Transport Inc. for the confidence he’s shown in my racing, and also all of the guys who help work on the car — Justin Kidwell, Rodney Justice, Josh Bible, Tony Price, Ricky Thornburg and Marty Evans.

Dale Ball of Johnson City remains perfect in the “Ramey Ford” Crate Late Model division on the season, as he captured his third-straight feature win. Starting from the pole position, Ball jumped into the early lead over Allen Champ, Jerry Broyles, Tony Trent and Bobby Mays in the 25-lap event.

The strong run for Trent ended on the third lap when he slowed and pulled into the pits, and meanwhile on the move was John Llewellyn who rode around the outside of Mays on the fourth circuit to move into fourth in the running order. But Llewellyn’s night also came to an end when he dropped out with throttle-linkage problems.

Champ began to back-pedal through the field with an ill-handling mount, but out front Ball was in command over Broyles and Mays. With the leaders working heavy lapped traffic, Broyles started applying pressure on Ball for the point with eight laps remaining. Broyles would drop to the inside of Ball racing off the corners, but carrying the momentum off the top-side Ball would pull back ahead speeding down the straightaway.

Ball held off Broyles, Mays, Warren McMahan and Shane Roberts for the victory.

Completing the top-10 finishers from the stellar 24-car field were Kelly Glass, Brad Kenyon, Rusty Fox, Todd Brooks and Greg Burchett.

With over 30 “Rusty Wallace Toyota” Hobby Stock competitors in the pits, Mike Hodges of Morristown was the class of the field. In qualifying he set fast-time at 16.527-seconds (87.130 mph) to earn the $100 pole award. At the drop of the green flag Hodges grabbed a lead he would never relinquish, as he led flag-to-flag in recording the win over Jesse Helton, Jon Cook, Dustin Shaver and Phillip Nichols.

John Broce Jr. led the “Century 21 Masengill-McCrary Realtors” Mini Stock feature for the first 12 circuits before his engine erupted in smoke, thus moving Kevin Atwell of Rural Retreat, Va., into the lead. Atwell was chased to the checkers by a hard-charging Shawn Henry, barely holding on for his second consecutive victory. Finishing third through fifth, respectively, were Toby Jones, Brent Hensley and Runah Henry.

Chad Ogle of Sevierville rolled to his third-straight “Lawson Chevrolet” Open Wheel Modified feature win over Danny James, Jason Bowers, John Harrell and Wayne James.

“GATEWAY FORD” SUPER LATE MODEL (35 laps)

1. Jeff Maupin #0-Greeneville, TN

2. Rick Rogers #44-Knoxville, TN

3. Vic Hill #1-Morristown, TN

4. Kerry Jones #6-Bristol, TN

5. Mike Smith #4-Rogersville, TN

6. Louis Hickey #74-Whitesburg, TN

7. Michael Jackson #Q-Greeneville, TN

8. Bryan Hendrix #5-Knoxville, TN

9. Randy Davidson #28-Morristown, TN

10. Dwight Sams #54-Marshall, NC

11. Dennis Alverson #71-Kingsport, TN

12. Dempsey Harold Jr. #09-Church Hill, TN

13. Terry Price #88-Johnson City, TN

14. Dale Ball #7-Johnson City, TN

Did Not Start: Herman Goddard #22-Knoxville, TN — Shane Roberts #32-Bluff City, TN

“RAMEY FORD” CRATE LATE MODEL (25 laps)

1) Dale Ball #2; 2) Jerry Broyles #72; 3) Bobby Mays #19; 4) Warren McMahan #33; 5) Shane Roberts #17s; 6) Kelly Glass #01; 7) Brad Kenyon #98; 8) Rusty Fox #25; 9) Todd Brooks #T1; 10) Greg Burchett #17; 11) Chris Manning #03; 12) James Cole #5; 13) Josh Henry #B00; 14) Joe “Dirt” Good #911; 15) Hugh “Wishbone” Scalf #56; 16) Allen Champ #11c; 17) John King Jr. #11k; 18) Logan Hickey #16; 19) Van Lester #50; 20) Lee Tipton #02; 21) Tony Trent #18; 22) Clint Solomon #36; 23) Travis Trent #5; 24) John Llewellyn #90

“RUSTY WALLACE TOYOTA” HOBBY STOCK (20 laps)

1) Mike Hodges #m2; 2) Jesse Helton #28; 3) Jon Cook #0z; 4) Dustin Shaver #7; 5) Phillip Nichols #33; 6) Jamie Whitt #1; 7) Everett Cobb #13; 8) Robbie Jones #29; 9) Jim Canning Jr. #31; 10) Rick Fillers #21; 11) Roger Hunter #7-11; 12) Chris Gregg #9; 13) Mike Mays #30; 14) Jason Light #5; 15) Jesse Wilder #79; 16) Matt Letterman #49; 17) Mike Kelley #8; 18) Robbie Woods #16; 19) Bobby Reed #54; 20) Chuck Johnson #17 — DNS: Dale Reed #52; Shawn Nease #29; Ricky Shipley #20; Lester Massey #11; Patrick Flannery #38; Ray Jarnigan #31; Butch Patterson #88p; Gary Morgan #7m; D.J. Harrison #D6; Jimmy Dean #78; Jason Shelton #7s; Terry Stone #34

“CENTURY 21 MASENGILL-MCCRARY REALTORS” MINI STOCK (20 laps)

1) Kevin Atwell #95; 2) Shawn Henry #B00; 3) Toby Jones #66; 4) Brent Hensley #70; 5) Runah Henry #0; 6) Brandon Johnson #B01; 7) Logan Jaynes #100; 8) Jimmy Seay #6; 9) John Broce Jr. #44; 10) Chuck McMahan #99; 11) James Feathers #27; 12) Jeffery Nease #73; 13) Scotty Thornton #T15 — DNS: Allen Carrier #B1; Joey Allen #A00; Randy Lane #5

“LAWSON CHEVROLET” OPEN WHEEL MODIFIED (20 laps)

1) Chad Ogle #10; 2) Danny James #j4; 3) Jason Bowers #22r; 4) John Harrell #19; 5) Wayne James #4; 6) Larry James #j2; 7) Jerry Broyles #72