Temperatures of nearly 100 degrees did not keep race fans and race teams at bay as many local racing enthusiasts gathered for a night of competition Saturday at Natural Bridge (Va.) Speedway. The action on the track, along with the ever-tightening competition in the point standings, did not disappoint those that weathered the heat to watch the track’s weekly five racing divisions.

The Break Time Street Stock division took the green flag first as Arrington, Va.’s Michael Taylor would weave his way through the field to claim his sixth victory of the season.  Taylor would have to hold off the hard charges of Buchanan, Va.’s Neil Murray before pulling out to an eventual 2.503-second victory. Murray  finished second while David Brogan took  third. Lynchburg, Va. driver Earl Brooks, Jr. finished fourth.   Brooks would have to deal with his emotions as well as the competition on this night, because his father, Earl Brooks, Sr., had passed away on Wednesday. His father was a former NASCAR Sprint Cup Series competitor from 1962 to 1977. Points leader Stephen Campbell would round out the top five. Campbell came into the night with an eight-point lead over Tom Guthrie, who finished sixth.

Lexington, Va.’s Shad Cooper not only had to hold off the competition, but he had to deal with an ill-running car before he could claim the checkers in the Lee’s Auto Repair Sportsman division. After battling Robert Steen and Todd Campbell to the point, Cooper would see his lengthy lead vanish as his car stalled in turn two. Cooper’s car was suffering from a potential fuel pick-up problem. After restarting his car, Cooper reassumed his spot at the front of the field. Natural Bridge officials allowed him to do this, because he did not take his car to the pit area at any time. On the restart, Cooper held off Amherst, Va.’s Clifton Mays to claim his third victory of the season. Mays scored the runner-up spot as point leader Eric Groah claimed third. Groah entered the night just three points ahead of Mays. Campbell claimed a solid fourth-place finish while Steen crossed the stripe in fifth.

It then became main-event time as 15 Spencer Home Center Late Models took center stage. The field was set by hot-lap qualifying earlier in the evening. Nine-time track champion, Gerald Wolfe of Covington, Va., set fast time at 17.033 and Goode, Va.’s Philip Woods qualified at a 17.083. Wolfe drew the number two pill on the invert, which pushed him to outside of the front row and allowed Woods the pole position. It did not take long for the racing to become dicey as some of the late model competitors would go three-wide in turns one and two on the first lap. This dilemma forced contact between Stuarts Draft, Va.’s Eddie Groome and Lynchburg, Va.’s JR Overstreet.  This contact caused damage to Overstreet’s steering. Overstreet visited pit road on several occasions under the caution period, but he was able to continue. On the restart, Wolfe and Woods would battle side-by-side for several laps. Woods would take the low groove while Wolfe battled on the high side. After a few laps of bringing the fans to their feet, Woods then moved out in front to secure the top spot.

Natural  Bridge, Va.’s Tim Stalnaker, who was celebrating a birthday, would pick his way through the field to take over the third spot. Stalnaker’s good run would come to an end when mechanical woes forced him to the sidelines on lap 21. Many positions would change hands throughout the field as two and sometimes three-wide racing dazzled the spectators. As this action heated up, Woods would increase his lead slightly over Wolfe. Woods, driving a crate motor, did a nifty job managing lapped traffic and held off Wolfe by a .753-second margin at the line to claim his second win of the season. Following  Wolfe across the stripe to finish third was defending point’s champion Ricky Knight of Gladstone, Va. Knight entered the race with an eight-point lead on Overstreet. Groome finished fourth, while defending Steel Block Bandits point’s champion, Kris Looney, finished fifth. Jared Powell was sixth, while Overstreet recovered for seventh. Rounding out the top-ten were Ricky Wells, David Bennett and David Keith.

The BB&T Pure Stock event proved hotly contested as the competitors battled wheel-to-wheel, making contact on several occasions, before Lexington, Va.’s Ronnie Martin claimed win number two on the season.
Earlier in the affair, the cars of Howard Hall and Lee Brooks bounced off each other coming out of turn four. This forced Brooks high as his car made hard contact with the outside retaining wall on the front stretch. Brooks, who is the grandson of the late Earl Brooks, Sr., retired for the evening with heavy damage to the right side of the car. Martin would battle his way through the field. He battled Howard Hall side-by-side before securing the spot and setting his sights on Todd Garrett. Another side-by-side battle ensued; this time as Martin and Garrett made apparent contact coming out of turn two. The contact forced Garrett high, and he was overtaken by Lexington, Va.’s Gary Cottee for third. Martin would assume the lead, but he was forced to contend with Ricky Mayberry, who planted himself on Martin’s back bumper for the remaining few laps. Martin held on and claimed a narrow .279 second victory over Mayberry. Martin entered the night second in the points, but looks to claim the top spot as point’s leader Justin Williams vacated that spot to make his late model debut earlier in the evening. Cottee was third, Garrett held on to take fourth and Derrick Ayers finished fifth.

Buena Vista, Va.’s Jeremy Pooley battled from the ninth-starting position to claim his sixth victory of the year in the Conrock All-American division. Madison Heights, Va. driver Jeff Mays took the early lead and appeared to be on his way to victory. However, an apparent overheating problem forced him to slow and fall into the clutches of Pooley and Brian Newton, who had been battling for second. Pooley would battle by Mays, whose car then came back to full power. Mays would mount a charge to regain the lead, but he would be denied as Pooley held on to a .382-second victory at the line. Pooley entered the night as the division’s point leader. Newton held on for third, Brandon Link was fourth and Devin Huffman finished fifth.

Racing will return to Natural Bridge Speedway for a special Friday night edition. The drivers from Eastside Speedway will invade the local track as NBS hosts the Natural Bridge-Eastside two-track challenge. Gates will open at 4 p.m.  This is followed by Saturday’s Interstate Truck and Tractor Pull at the speedway. Gates for this event will open at 2 p.m.