Winchester Speedway
Winchester, TN
July 14, 2007

Photos and Story by Sam Holbrooks
Lee Farless captured his first win of the season in the Mini-Stock division
at Winchester Speedway on the 14th. (Sam Holbrooks photo)
Dewayne Hicks of Hazel Green, Alabama broke fellow Heart O' Dixie
driver John Whaley's stranglehold on the Pure Stock class with his feature
win on July 14th. (Sam Holbrooks photo)
While Randy Gifford had already taken Shannon Davis's #1 to Victory
Lane several times so far in 2007, it was Davis himself who drove to his
first win of the season in the familiar #1 on Saturday night, July 14th.
(Sam Holbrooks photo)
Freddie Prosser, Jr. shared wins with his father, Fred Prosser, Sr. in two of
Winchester Speedway's three Modified Mini divisions. It was the younger
Prosser's first win of the season. (Sam Holbrooks photo)
Michael Brown headed up the field of 750cc Modified Mini racers for his
first win of the season on July 14th at Winchester Speedway.
(Sam Holbrooks photo)
Clyde Petty sits in the middle of a Outlaw Pony sandwich as he drives
between #11 Roland McElvie and #99 Bobby Stephens at Winchester
Speedway.  Petty, of Tullahoma, got his fourth win of the season on the
14th. (Sam Holbrooks photo)
Winchester Speedway Race Coverage

By: Sam Holbrooks



WINCHESTER, Tenn. -- July 14. After a weekend of "R and R" for
Winchester Speedway and it's competitors, the historic Middle Tennessee
track roared back to life under the lights for the second half of its' 50th
season of racing.

Returning race fans also witnessed a rare occurrence in the normal ebb
and flow of local racing; in ten racing divisions, nearly every feature event
saw its' strongest competitor shut out of Victory Lane. Only one event was
won by a driver who would have been considered a betting man's favorite
to prevail in his respective division, based on his performance in recent
weeks.

That driver was Mark Haddon, of Estill Springs, who hit the ground
running and dominated the 2-bbl. Late Model feature. The real battle was
for second, a race-long, often wheel-to-wheel dogfight between Shane
Hensley and Billy Harris that was not decided until the final turn, when
Hensley finally nudged ahead of Harris to take the runner up position at
the line. Terry Fowler and Randy Judge completed the top five.

Even Haddon was not immune to the changing fortunes of racing, however.
After apparently sweeping the night by taking the Super Late Model main
event as well, he was disqualified. After winning by a car length to
culminate an intense fight with Shannon Davis, that win was scratched
when Haddon refused to submit to an inspection of his engine, and Davis
had his first of the season.

Haddon's chances at a Late Model sweep appeared fairly solid as he took
his #9 car out front in the Super Late Model main, while Jerry Ashley took
advantage of a bobble by Davis to take over second. Davis recovered to
reclaim the lost position from Ashley, then went after the leader with a
vengeance.

The last eight laps saw an intense fight for the lead between Haddon and
Davis, with Haddon getting the edge by a length. Davis moved to the
Winner's Circle when Haddon opted out of a "teardown." Moving into
second through fifth were Ashley, Bruce Williams, Ronnie Caldwell, and
Billy Harris.

To date, Jeff Frame has been overall the fastest man in the Outlaw Street
division, but he may also have the worst luck.

After his two previous races had seen huge leads end in surprise turn one
spins in his own engine fluids, the gremlins came to visit Frame once again
on Saturday after he swept around Jason Todd, then Brian Hudson to
claim the lead.

With a late caution forcing a three-lap dash to the finish, Frame got into
the middle of a turn three pileup that blocked his route to the checkered
flag. He would come up a quarter of a lap short of success as Hudson
drove past. With Frame credited with a disappointing seventh, Todd
claimed second over David Russell, Greg Smartt, and James Sullivan.

With a pole position start in hand for John Whaley, this year's eight-time
Pure Stock winner can usually be considered the best bet for a trophy in
that division, but not on this night.

The New Market, Alabama ace dropped back to third as Neal Brown and
Scott Blackwell held down the top two spots early on. Finally Whaley
drove ahead of Blackwell and Brown to take the lead, but Hazel Green's
Dewayne Hicks had other ideas as he charged through the field from his
eighth position.

After Blackwell got around Brown for second on lap nine of the 15-lap
affair, he found himself in the lead on the next circuit when Whaley was
charged with a caution.

Meanwhile, Hicks had swept past Brown to finally close in on frontrunners
Whaley and Blackwell, and after the restart, he rolled past Blackwell late
in the race to take the lead. Hicks then held off a strong challenge to grab
the win by less than a length over Blackwell. Right behind was Whaley,
who had rallied back to third to finish ahead of Josh Bondurant and Brown.

As 12-time Mini-Stock winner Jonathan Smartt fell out of winning
contention early on, McMinnville's Lee Farless gobbled up one position
after another from his ninth place start and finally reeled in early leader
Josh Carlton. After a hard fight between the two, Farless finally pulled
ahead and went on to his first win of the season. Carlton was a very close
second over Josh Ingleberger, Marc Cardwell, and Mike Norman.

After a badly performing Mustang left him winless in his heat race, Clyde
Petty got the bugs ironed out and made his way to the front of the Outlaw
Pony field. The Tullahoma driver usually finds himself locked into mortal
combat with Manchester's Brad Sain, but in Sain's absence this evening,
Petty's job appeared a bit easier as he claimed his fourth win. Following in
the top five were Roland McElvie, Tony Patterson, Bruce Fullmer, and
Colten Roberts.

Another Late Model driver doing double duty, Winchester's David
Jackson led a very short field of Open Wheel Modifieds to his second win
of the season in that class. His dominant #5 car was trailed by Ken
McAfee and Josey Seals after Shannon Davis was forced to pull out early.

Michael Brown, of Shelbyville, made his way to Victory Lane in the 750 cc
Mini-Mod feature over Michael Wood and Doug Richardson, while senior
Shelbyville racer Fred Prosser, Sr. won the Modified Mini-Mod division
feature ahead of Troy Taylor and Knox Garner.

Not to be outdone by his father, 600 cc Modified Mini driver Freddie
Prosser, Jr. handed a stunning defeat to the most dominant driver in that
division, young Fayetteville ace Corey Holmes.

Holmes had made his way from sixth place to the lead in less than two laps
and was poised to dominate another race, but after dropping well behind
Holmes, Prosser, Jr. appeared to make up lost ground by sheer force of
will to get his lost lead back. Gassing it hard and finally reeling in Holmes
in the final laps, he got his first win of the season over Holmes and Fred
Prosser, Sr.