1986 Race Results
(All articles written by Kim Gregory)
Sat., May 17
Weather Threatens, But Doesn't Stop Speedway Action
Although opening night for the all-new Warsaw Speedway was threatened by thunderstorms, a full evening of racing was completed with Van Gurley winning the sprint feature. The limited late model feature was won by DeWayne May, while Harvey Hayes took the roadrunner feature.
In the sprint feature, it was Gurley leading from start to finish in his Gurley-Leep Buick sponsored race car. Barry Baker challenged Gurley for the lead at the start, but could not pass and had to settle for second spot. Third place went to Ray Kenens Jr., with Tony Ploughe and Rob Roberts rounding out the top five. In the first of two sprint heats, Roberts and Chuck Kryder finished first and second, while Ploughe and Baker finished one-two in the second heat. The sprint dash was won by Randy Woodling and quick time went to DeWayne Barker.
May led the field of limited late model cars across the line to win the 20-lap feature event. He was followed by Ron McKenzie, Butch Boggs and Rick Day. Bob Holloway and Day were first and second in the first limited late model heat, and Dan Backus and Jim Bucher Jr. crossed the line one-two respectively for the second heat. The dash was won by Boggs, who also set the fast time for his class.
The roadrunner feature was won by Harvey Hayes, as he sets out to break his record number of 10 feature wins that he had last year. John Ormsby was second, followed by Phil Draper and James Holloway. Next week will be more of the same, with three classes of cars. The gates open at 5pm and the first race is at 8pm. Coming up June 7 will be the winged sprints and a live broadcast from radio station WBTU in Kendallville.
Sat., July 26
Familiar Faces Romp In Speedway Action
Warsaw's Tony Elliott won his fourth sprint feature of the year Saturday night at the Warsaw Speedway. Also, winning his fourth feature of the season was limited late model driver Allen Marsh, while red hot Robert Johnson won his fifth straight roadrunner feature and sixth for the year.
Elliott jumped out to a commanding lead in the sprint feature and led every lap to win the 25-lap race. Mark Owsley passed Dave Darland on lap four where he stayed the rest of the way to finish second. The third spot went to Tony Ploughe, followed by DeWayne Barker, Mark Alderson and Darland. Kurt Danner was not so fortunate in the finale. Barker had spun early in the race and Danner, in an attempt to dodge him, caught a tire on the inside of the track and flipped end over end. Luckily, he escaped uninjured. Sam Davis and Rob Roberts were heat winners and Owsley was the dash winner. Fast time went to Alderson with a time of 17.11.
Glenn Bradley was the early leader of the limited late model feature until lap eight when Bradley, Butch Boggs, and Marsh ran three abreast for the lead. Bradley's tire went flat and Marsh out-ran Boggs for the lead. At the finish it was Marsh and Boggs one and two, followed by Mike Faylor, DeWayne May, and Ron McKenzie. Dan Backus and Rick Day won the two limited late model heat races, while Bradley won the dash. Faylor set a new track record in qualifying of 19.45 that breaks May's record set back on June 28, with a time of 19.64. Marsh also had a record breaking time of 19.62 before Faylor bettered it for fast time.
Johnson led every lap of the roadrunner feature to win. Gerald Holloway passed Shane Denny on lap nine to finish second, followed by Jay Nordman, David Fitzpatrick, Harvey Hayes, and Bob Johnson. Nordman and John Ormsby won the two roadrunner heats, and Arnold Prater set a new track record in time trials with a time of 21.37. This breaks Haye's record of 21.62 set on June 21. The feature win for Johnson was the sixth of the season at the speedway.
