Barrow, Petro, Fields and Helton Visit Victory Lane at Brownstown Speedway
BROWNSTOWN, IN – May 8 – It was Tony Stewart night at Brownstown Speedway this past Saturday night. With Stewart on hand to greet the race fans and also to race, a great crowd of spectators and 140 race cars signed in for the evening’s program. Feature winners included Ernie Barrow in Late Models, Randy Petro , UMP Modifieds, Mike Fields in Street Stocks, and Jeff Helton in the Bomber division.
Former track champion James Huff and Frankie Coomer brought the 20 Lap Late Model feature to the green flag, with Coomer establishing himself as the leader on Lap 2. Meanwhile, a superb battle was taking place for the second through fifth positions as Huff, Ernie Barrow, Doug Ault, and Mark Barber traded those positions numerous times, often racing three-wide around the track in the process. As Coomer continued to lead, Barrow and Barber began to close in on Coomer . On Lap 9, Barrow and Barber both passed Coomer and that duo raced side-by-side until Lap 11, when Barrow established himself as the leader and began driving away from the field. The Bloomington, IN veteran would take the checkered flag first in the #57 Fleetwood Excavating sponsored mount ahead of Barber, Coomer, Ault, and Steve Barnett. Defending track champion Marty O’Neal finished sixth, with James Huff, Greg Williams, Scott Smith, and NASCAR’s Tony Stewart completing the top ten.
The UMP Modified feature was a caution filled affair that saw Scott Patman and Randy Petro establish themselves as the top runners throughout the event. Petro took the lead at the start of the feature race. Patman and Petro raced hard for the lead, with Patman taking the lead on Lap 6. Numerous cautions would plague the event, but this duo would pull away on each restart. Petro changed his line on track with three laps to go and pulled beside Patman down the backchute as the pair were coming to the checkered flag. The two were side-by-side off turn four, with Columbus, IN’s Petro beating Patman by the front bumper of the race car. Petro’s #95 Lightning Chassis entry and Patman’s Pro Chassis mount would be followed by Adam Sasser, Brad Cummings, and Rick Hines. The second five were Brent Londeree, Tony Burton, Brad Thrasher, Rob Bickert, and J.D. Francis.
Greg O’Neill would take the lead at the start of the Street Stock feature and hold the top spot until Lap 9 when Brownstown, IN driver Mike Fields took the lead away and held off a charging Tim Clark to capture the win in his good-looking NAPA Auto Parts of Brownstown, and Seymour / Mad Dog Motorsports #33. O’Neill came home third with Tom Allman and Jason Hehman completing the top five. Rounding out the top ten were Steve Hunt, Ryan Thomas, Eddie Kindred, Joe Johnson, and Al Flick.
The Bomber division saw 51 entries and when the dust had settled on the division’s main event, it was the Northern Indiana Packaging #6h of Jeff Helton that sat in victory lane as the feature winner. Rick Applegate, Darren Crawhorn, Matt Cummings, and Matt Bex trailed Helton at the finish. Completing the top ten were Charlie Stevens, Ryan Scott, Robbie Wilson, Darrell Dearing, and Alan Martin.