Wreckfest Saturday Night

" Saturday Night Wreck fest, at the Burg"

West Georgia Speedway was more than exciting Saturday Night, as drivers came from all directions to be part of the show and tackle the track to hard to tame, except for a few drivers.

Saturday was a "HOT" day in Georgia and drivers had not raced in 2 weekends in a row, and I know they were ready to show their skills behind the wheel.

NO FULL MOON, just some wild eyed drivers, all wanting to win on the 1st lap or somewhere in between.

The pressure was on, and there were some new drivers to the track, and some that had raced there for years and years.

There were the queens of Dirt car racing at the track, and by that I mean, Richard Bagby's loyal wife of many years, and Joe Hillman's wife, both of ladies have seen the ups and downs of their husbands racing careers.

The Modified Mini race started off with a BANG, and I mean a royal BANG like you would see only in a NASCAR race. It was alm

ost as if I was watching a NASCAR race, and seeing cars wildly spinning, and you see one angry driver, throwing something at another driver, in this case it was not a helmet it was of all things, a steering wheel.

It reminded me of Tony Stewart when he would loose his cool, but then again these cars they race are not cheap, and when a driver works hard all week, and the weekend comes, he is ready to race, and not get taken out of a race early. The driver in question was Richard Bagby who has been winning almost every time he takes the track, he is not cheating, he is just a hard charger,with a will to win. The last time I saw Richard come unglued was years ago, when he was racing at North Georgia Speedway, and some how he was taken out early in a race, of course at that time he was running Late Model, and there are some real expenses in that sport.

If you have never met Richard he is tall, and lean and a racing machine. (I made that up).

But he is tall and lean, and works hard and when he races he races hard. I call him "King", that started years ago when he was driving in the Sportsman features, against another legend, Shane Clanton. Those were some intense battles, and since I was shooting the video, I nicknamed him, "King Richard", sounded good anyway I thought.

The drivers at West Georgia Speedway, have always been good to me, of course there are some that I never speak with, and that's fine also. Most drivers, know me and I know them and we kind of bond, and I make sure that I always treat them with the highest respect.

I am getting Old now and some times I don't feel like being at a HOT race track, but I am there walking around the pit area, taking photo's for when the new book I am writing is released, what's it about? What else Dirt Track racing, and drivers and fans!.

It seemed as ever to collect all the wrecked modified mini cars off the track, but once everyone was back and running #07 Frank Long went on to win the race.

The Modified Mini Results:

WINNER #07 Frank Long

2nd #T3 Todd Brewster

3rd #40 Jay Farmer

Then it was time for the Enduro cars to try their luck at the track most drivers fear, and they put on a show.

I was looking for #91 of Lee Owensby to be a real factor in this race, but his car was

a little off, so the battle was really not what I expected and like I thought #M4 of Winford

Minnix who I nicknamed "Charge Card" showed the way around the track, like he did for years.

The one bright spot in the Enduro race was that we had a new untested driver behind the wheel of his newly purchased car that was Richie Taylor's car, and any car that Richie has owned has been a winner. The new driver is Steve Parker, and as he said he rode around in the back of the field testing his car and his nerves. To be honest, Steve did such a great job, that he finished 7th out, of a 14 car field. Next time he will do better, he didn't even scratch the paint.

Steve did a great job, he finished last but who cares because his car will to the winners circle one day.

The results of the Enduro class feature were:

Winner #M4 Winford Minnix

2nd #6 Eddie Swofford

3rd #91 Lee Owensby

Now that the fans have seen the thrills of the Modified Mini race and the fury of the Enduro class, all eye's were on the Hot Hobby Car feature, in which case all the heavy hitters came and brought their big guns. This was going to be a shootout, and the race was all the fans expected.

This race featured the cream of the hobby crop, from #3 Jeff Carter, to #01 of Blant Duke, with #92 Joe Hillman, #01X Cory Hillman, and #29 Rusty Johnson. Lets not leave out #47 of Jason Causey, #K17 of Mark Knight, #40 of William Blair, and #69 Roscoe Collins, who was the possum in this race.

This was the gunfight that we had all looked for and were amazed to see, Sammy Duke had to be smiling ear to ear.

The top hobby drivers were going to do battle at "The Burg", where the track is known for beating the best.

When the flagman dropped the green flag the race was on, with Jeff Carter showing the way around but that would soon change on lap 2 as Carter and Blair got together, sending Carter backwards, as soon as that happened Joe Hillman, took over and was the new race leader, but not for long as William Blair continued to pressure Joe. One thing for sure Hillman is never a driver to fear, he goes all out to win his race, and tonight was not going to be different except what was about to happen was almost out of a movie.

It was late in the race, and drivers were get ready to make their move or hold their position. When 3 cars were heading into turn 3 at full speed. Joe Hillman in his #92 was on the bottom and #40 William Blair was running the high side, when all of a sudden #29 Rusty Johnson, wanted to split the cars and shoot in between Hillman and Blair, he would try but it didn't work as Hillmans car slid up brushing Johnson's car, and of course Johnson went into William Blair, all the cars went spinning, but Rusty Johnson, and William Blair went into the outer wall, while Joe Hillman was left spinning in the center of the track.

When the dust cleared , you could see Rusty Johnson pulling himself out of his damaged race car, the same for William Blair, except Blair was hurling some things that we can't write about at, Joe Hillman and his crew.

To put it mildly, their racing night was over, as Sammy used his tractor to haul their badly beaten up race cars off the track.

Prior to all of this Jeff Carter who should have been running in 4th place had to be hauled in and it was all because his starter went bad. Maybe that was good for him, because he could have been involved in this mess also.

The race was "RED FLAGED" to get the cars off the track, and when all the cars were at a full stop. and I was not filming, I looked down and to my amazement in 2nd place was #69 of Roscoe Collins while #92 Joe Hillman was in the lead, Joe had one major problem and the was when he was in that 3 car wreck he really messed up his back wheels. They were so bad that when he was cruising around the track before the green dropped again, it looked as if his back wheel was about to come off, and that would be more than dangerous. But like true winner, he was not coming into the pits to check his tire, mainly because he would loose track position, and these were the last laps of this race.

So the shoot out was ready, Hillman in the lead, #69 Roscoe Collins in 2nd place and #01x Cory Hillman in third. This was gone to be the race of races, and when the green flag fell, Hillman with his crazy tires that was worse than a donut, was rounding turn

one and two, but he could not hold the lead, as Roscoe Collins did what Roscoe is famous for, making that pass and making it look easy. As soon as Collins was by Hillman, the checkered flag dropped an Roscoe Collins had won another exciting race at West Georgia Speedway.

The final Results of the Hobby Feature were:

Winner # 69 Roscoe Collins

2nd #92 Joe Hillman

3rd #o1x Cory Hillman

Ok now the fans could take a breath, but without a stop those fast Crate Cars made their way to the track, and when they were lining up I could see that on the pole was #8 Michale "Mouth" Keener, but next to him was #16 of Tony Kemp, also in the race was #19 of Jeremy Hall, and #89 of Carey Smith, in his all orange crate car. Also in the lineup was Shane Barrett who was driving his B77 car.

This race has become a show case for #8 Michael Keener, but I thought maybe #16 of Tony Kemp had something for him, but not on this HOT night, Tony just did not have what it took to out motor Keener. Not even #89 of Carey Smith had what it took, so the race was long, but once it was over h

ad Keener winning again, with Kemp in 2nd place.

The results of the Crate race were:

Winning Again, #8 Michael "Mouth" Keener

2nd #16 Tony Kemp

3rd #B77 Shane Barrett

NOW IT WAS TIME FOR A BREAK AND WE ALL NEED ONE, AS THE CONCESSION STAND WAS OPEN FOR BUSINESS. Lori Duke is in charge, and with her many helpers they manage to feed some really hungry race fans, as well as us old folks. Put it this way, you get service with a smile, and get some great burgers, fries, onion rings, hot dogs, corn dogs, nacho's and cheese, and some good cold drinks.

Now the crowd sat back down to watch the super fast Sportsman cars, who come to race ever Saturday Night at West Georgia Speedway.

Starting on the pole was long time winner #99 Rucker Orr, and along side him was a Alabama native, #11 Ryan Law, who is just 21 year old, and races like a veterean. Also in line were #13 of Roger Cassell, and #7 of Steve Nicholson, and there in the race was the white with orange numbers #25 and man on the move Scott Duffy.

When the flagman dropped the green flag, Ryan Law shot out like a cannon, but it was called back, because they said he jumped the start, and was leaving Rucker in the dust. Again this was a official call. So when there was a restart, this time Orr took his #99 to the front, and he would have no challenges, so since he was leading the battle I began to watch was that of Scott Duffy and Roger Cassell, it seemed like there was no way around Roger. All Law could do is ride in 2nd place chasing Orr, and in 3rd place was Steve Nicholson, with Cassell and Duffy fighting it out.

When the race was over, #99 Rucker Orr took home the cash, while up and coming driver Scott Duffy finished in 4th place.

The results of the SPORTSMAN Feature were:

Winner #99 Rucker Orr

2nd Ryan Law

3rd Steve Nicholson.

Many Thanks,

Tino Patti

A Freelance Photographer/Video Journalist

With a WORLD WIDE BLOG FOLLOWING!