Overstreet Goes Back to Back at Natural Bridge Speedway

On a picture perfect night for racing at Natural Bridge Speedway over seventy race cars signed into the pit area for what promised to be a thrilling night at the 3/8th mile oval.  The large crowd would not be disappointed as each division offered up a competitive feature event, including the ever popular “Powder Puff” for the female racing enthusiasts.  At the end of the night, five repeat winners would find themselves in victory lane as the point battles tightened up as the speedway enters the second half of the season.

J.R. Overstreet left no doubt Saturday night that he has Natural Bridge Speedway figured out and he will be a contender for the late model championship at the end of the season.  Overstreet returned to victory lane just one week after winning the Ben Cross Memorial, the biggest win of his career in the late model division.  Covington’s Gerald Wolfe and Buena Vista’s Chris Barger brought the late model field to the green flag. 

Wolfe grabbed the lead from Barger and immediately started to distance himself from the field.  Barger settled in behind Wolfe but Overstreet was on the move.  Overstreet worked passed Barger on lap eleven and then zeroed in on Wolfe.  The two battled for a number of laps before Overstreet powered past Wolfe for the lead on lap twenty- two.  Once in front Overstreet set a torrid pace.  Overstreet stretched out his lead and cruised to victory nearly five seconds ahead of Wolfe.  David Bennett, who was the fastest qualifier for the eighteen late models, finished third.  Jared Powell, making only his second start of the season at Natural Bridge, was fourth.  Stuarts Draft’s Eddie Groome turned in a solid performance and finished fifth.  Unofficially, Overstreet’s win cuts Ricky Knight’s point lead to eight points in the late model standings. 

Seven street stock drivers were on hand to compete in their twenty-five lap feature event but after Charles Wyant had a violent crash on the first lap of practice the field was done to six racers.  Neil Murray, who is just running a part-time schedule this season jumped out to the early lead and ran away to claim his third checkered flag of the season.  Earl Brooks stayed within striking distance of Murray but could never seriously challenge for the lead.  David Brogan had another solid race coming home third.  Current point leader Stephen Campbell finished fourth and Scottie Hostetter rounded out the top five.  

It is hard to say whether it is better to be lucky or better to be good but Ricky Mayberry was both Saturday night as he went to victory lane in the pure stock feature event.  Eric Shifflet and Eddie Moran led the field to green with Shifflet grabbing the lead.  Moran held down the runner-up spot until Lee Brooks worked passed him on lap four.  Brooks then chased down Shifflet and made the pass for the lead on lap eleven.  Meanwhile, both Justin Williams and Ronnie Martin were working their way from the rear of the field.  Williams made his way to second and it appeared that is where he would finish.  However, a late race caution gave him one more shot at Brooks.  The two raced door to door until the two made contact coming off turn four on lap twenty-three.  The two drivers went spinning with Mayberry inheriting the lead.  Mayberry went on to claim the victory.  Shifflet held on to second, followed by Ronnie Martin, Todd Garrett, and Eddie Moran.

Jeremy Boxler and Steven Dudley paced the All-American field to the green flag.  Boxler took control of the race while Dudley experienced problems off of turn two.  Dudley slammed the outside guardrail and was forced to the pit area to make repairs.  He later rejoined the field.  Current point leader, Jeremy Pooley, started deep in the field but quickly worked his way to the front.  Pooley was up to third by lap four and patiently started closing in on the two leaders.  Boxler held the lead until lap eleven when both Jeff Mays and Pooley made their move around Boxler.  Just one lap later Pooley made his move around Mays and sailed away with the win by 0.841 seconds.  Mays held on to finish second.  Brian Newton scored another top five finish, coming home third.  Mike Lawhorne returned to action with a solid fourth place finish and last week’s winner, Brandon Link, rounded out the top five.

The two championship contenders in the sportsman division nailed down the top two qualifying positions.  Eric Groah entered the night just one point ahead of Clifton Mays.  Groah ripped off a lap 18.186 with an average speed of 75.223 mph as the fastest qualifier.  He drew a number 2 for the inversion which put he and Mays on the front row for the feature event.  Groah blasted to the lead from the outside pole with Mays in tow.  The two drivers would use two distinct grooves throughout the event.  Groah’s machine seemed to work best on the high side while Mays kept his car glued to the bottom of the speedway.  Defending track champion Mike Bryant and Daniel Snead joined the battle at the front of the field early in the feature event but neither driver could mount a charge to overtake Mays or Groah.  A late race caution bunched the field up for one final restart.  Mays briefly showed his nose to Groah but Groah would not be denied.  Groah went on to claim his 4th win of the season.  Mays crossed the stripe in second, followed by Bryant, Snead, and Derrick Rankin.

The “Powder Puff” feature rounded out the night’s racing program.  Nine driver’s were originally scheduled to take the green but some of our female competitors lost their opportunity at fame when the cars they planned to compete in were involved in accidents earlier in the night.  Six drivers took the green flag.  Cherie Taylor led flag to flag to claim the victory.  Sissy Hostetter tried to mount a charge on the final lap but lost control of her machine heading down the backstretch.  Hostetter would do a complete spin and continue on her way to finish second.  Jessica Ayers had a solid race and finished third.  Rounding out the finishing order were Sharee Hostetter, Wendy Boxler, and April Branham.