Sat., July 28
Woodling, McKenzie Get Feature Wins
    Randy Woodling in his No. 75 winged sprint and Ron McKenzie in the No. 24 hobby stock, were joyous but exhausted feature winners Saturday night at the Warsaw Speedway in some of the closest racing of the season.
    The winged sprint feature saw Bimbo Atkins jump out front from his front row start and lead the early laps of the 25-lap race. Woodling and Jeff Walker were close behing. On lap nine, Atkins got up on two wheels in the fourth turn and landed hard on the dirt surface, putting his car out of the competition. Woodling and Walker took over the top spots and battled nose to tail and side by side for the duration of the contest, but Woodling continued to lead lap after lap and took the checkered flag for his first feature win of the season. Walker took third and following him were: Brett Mann, Van Gurley, Kevin Atkins, Joe Davis, Tony Ploughe and Sam Davis. Davis, Jesse Fordyce and Kevin Atkins were winged sprint heat winners, with Woodling being the dash winner. Davis was the B-Main winner and Mann took the fastest time of the night with a 15.41 clocking.
    In hobby stock action, Ron Norman got the early lead until DeWayne May closed in and passed Norman with only three laps completed. McKenzie made his way through the pack of frontrunners to close in on May and race side by side with the leader for several laps. McKenzie finally found some added speed and pulled ahead near the end of the race to take the lead and win at the finish. May took second and was followed by Kyle Howard, Tom Leiter, Roger Fitzpatrick, Norman, Doug Method, and Shane Denny. May took the first of two hobby stock heat wins, the dash and had the fastest time of 19.59. Scott Fitzpatrick won the second hobby stock heat.
    Street stock heat winners were Arnold Prater and Ron Brandenburg. The street stock feature was called due to the curfew, but it will be run as the first event this Saturday. This week will also be the Season Championship for all three classes of cars with all the racing action beginning at 7 p.m.






Sat., Aug. 11
Final Weekend Provided Action


Termite, Feature Winner Jeff Walker, and Max Lambert

    The last race ever at the Warsaw Speedway came and went in fitting fashion as Jeff Walker took his winged sprint to victory lane for the first time this season in front of the largest crowd in years.
    Season points champion, Bimbo Atkins, started on the pole of the 40-lap championship race, and led from the drop of the green flag with Kenny Haynes and Jeff Walker close behind. Walker passed Haynes for second on the 18th lap and by the halfway mark, was side-by-side with Atkins for the lead. Haynes got by Atkins on the last lap for second spot followed by Atkins, Van Gurley, Brett Mann, Todd Kelly, Randy Woodling, and Kevin Atkins. The race was halted twice as Scott Hull brought out the red flag on the opening lap when he barrel-rolled his sprint down the backstretch. Kevin Atkins was running in the fourth position when he flipped his sprint on its side in the third turn to bring out the second red flag of the race. Neither driver was injured and Atkins was able to continue racing. Kelly, Steve Kline, and Ken Weiland were winged sprint heat winners, while Mann took the dash.
    In hobby stock feature action, Ron McKenzie grabbed the early lead of the 30-lap contest and led until mid-race when DeWayne May closed in to run nose to tail, then side by side with McKenzie. May gained the lead, but ran out of fuel nine laps later putting him and a pitting McKenzie on the tail. McKenzie fought his way through the field to regain the lead and finish with his fifth feature win of the season and the season championship. Dick Day placed second with Larry Howard, May, Alan Day, David Baker, and Shane Denny rounding out the top finishers. May and Ron Norman were hobby stock heat winners with McKenzie being the dash winner.
    In the survival of the fittest street stock feature, Harvey Hayes made his way through the field from the back of the pack to finish on top for his first feature win of the season. Early race leaders, Joe Leek and Arnold Prater, ended up watching the finish of the race from the infield. Jim Nutter placed second followed by William Varney, Terry Elliott, Scott Shaske, Leek, Mike Fouts and Prater. Season champion, Leek, took the rained-out street stock feature after a long battle with Prater. Randy Himes took second and Jay Nordman was third. Nutter and Varney were street stock heat winners with the dash going to Prater. Jim Hughes won the mini-sprint feature with Ken Hughes and Randy Yates taking second and third.
    Good luck to all the loyal drivers as they continue their racing careers at other racing homes. A special thanks goes out to all of the fans who supported family racing for 42 years.