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Hot racing competition at Natural Bridge Speedway

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natural bridge speedwayEnthusiastic dirt-track facing fans braved Saturday’s brutal heat, turning out in large numbers at Natural Bridge Speedway. The fans certainly made many trips to the concession stands to  keep themselves hydrated, but imagine the scorching heat experienced by drivers wearing fire suits and helmets, as they piloted their machines around the 3/4-mile banked clay oval.

Fans also experienced a special treat, as the speedway held a meet-and-greet session with NBS drivers, who parked on the speedway, allowing a large group of fans to descend on to the racing surface to inspect the interiors of the race cars and chat with their favorite drivers.

The fans got to see several divisions ranging from a 17-car late model field to a look at racing’s yesteryear as 10 vintage modified and stock cars sped around the track with a car built years ago by former NASCAR Cup driver Rick Mast of Rockbridge Baths winning by a nose at the finish line.

The late model field stretched its normal competitive length from 30 to 40 laps, and veteran observers predicted that more than a few late model machines would encounter damage in the large, competitive field. Fans and officials were entertained by a late model feature that saw the 17 competitors running caution-free for the first 35 laps before the race’s only caution came on lap 35 and bunched up the field for the race’s lone restart.

Justin Williams, who had taken the lead from quick-starting David Watts on lap 10, had a tremendous restart and quickly pulled away to a significant lead once again. The victor, who was also the quickest qualifier in late model time trials, reached the checkers after stretching his lead over runner-up J.R. Overstreet, third-place wheelman Watts and regional late model powerhouse Joey Leavell, who finished fourth. Brownsburg’s Tyler Bare closed quickly to complete the top 5.

Williams’ aggressive driving saw him lap several competitors before pulling off a series of slick passes of lapped cars as the race moved to its conclusion.

Samuel Bryant of Fairfield took advantage of his front-row starting slot in the six-car sportsman field, quickly grabbing the lead on the initial lap and holding on to his edge on his way to grabbing the checkers.   Lexington’s Ronnie Martin Jr., who has run near the front over his past several races, grabbed the runner-up slot behind Samuel Bryant, whose brother, Aaron also competes in the NBS sportsman division and finished fifth in Saturday’s feature. Joey McClung and Shad Cooper finished third and fourth, respectively.

Blayne Brown led flag-to-flag to cop a dominating victory in the 25-lap street stock feature. Brown pulled away from the remainder of the seven-car field, leaving Keith Herring, Troy Fitzgerald and Lee Herring to conduct a fierce battle for the next there finishing slots.

Eventual winner Howard Hall and Matt Whitten ran side-by-side for the first several laps of the 25-lap pure stock battle. Hall stretched his lead when Whitten slid. Hall, Brandon Link and Whitten hooked up in a 1-2-3 train for several laps before Whitten slid off the track in turn four of lap 8. Hall made a great restart and held the lead for the remainder of the race to notch the win.

The All-American field of 11 wheelmen put on quite a show  Several cars held the point at some point of the race, but several cautions, a couple of which involved cars in the lead, created constant scrambling in the running. Glen Almond broke away from the field and led the field to the checkers. Kevin May finished second and Jonathan Burnette came home third.

The traveling vintage series car exposed fans to cars from the past six decades. Jimbo Tenant and his car, built years ago by Mast, won a drag race to the finish out of turn four on the final lap to take the hardware.

The speedway will be dark this Saturday night to encourage race fans to attend the Rockbridge County Fair. Racing returns on Saturday, August 6, and will feature the Virginia Sprint Racing Series and two 15-lap street stock races.

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