Greenville-Pickens race notes 2004-04-10

Greenville SC (April 10, 2004)- He may not have had the fastest car in the end, but Toby Porter got an early lucky break in the 40 lap Late Model feature event Saturday at the Greenville Pickens Speedway and made it pay off in the final circuits to score his second straight win on the historic half mile. Porter, driving the Brad Jeter Chevrolet, got a quick jump from the pole as the green flag fell, but it was fast qualifier Gene Morgan who had his Ford Taurus on the move in the early laps. Porter's biggest break of the race came as Morgan, running third at the time, spun out on lap 7 and had to go to the back of the pack. That gave Porter some breathing room as Morgan worked his way back through the field, and as the white flag fell on lap 39, Morgan was all the way back to third and pressing David Robert's Dodge for the second place position.

Robert's held on for a solid second place showing, with Morgan's early race misfortune and subsequent move to the back of the pack holding his fast race car to only a third place finish. Early season points leader Kenneth Headen of Piedmont was fourth, with defending track champ Marty Ward of Marietta rounding out the top five. Anthony Anders, Blair Addis, Ken Guthrie, Ray Spearman, and Kyle Gregson filled out the 6th through 10 place positions.

"We've got a good race car that handles real well," Porter said in victory lane after the race. "Brad has a good car, and everything is working just right. This was a great day".

Gene Morgan, looking for his first win of the new season, was less enthusiastic after the race. "That's the way it goes sometimes, we had a real good race car but just got a bad break early in the race," Morgan said.

Robbie Jackson held off a hard charging Tim Sams to win his second Super Charger race of the season. The win by Jackson put himself and Sams in a tie for the early season points lead. Liberty's Chris Meinders was third, with Greg Carroll and Eddie Trammell finishing fourth and fifth respectfully.

Chris Black scored his first Charger win of 2004, jumping from the second row to a quick lead, then staying out front to avoid several on track mishaps. About half the original starting field did not complete the 10 lap event. Travis King and David Rocklein survived a huge turn two mix-up to place second and third behind Black. Jamie Passmore was fourth, with Josh Sams rounding out the top five.

In the Charger Two race, Steve Guthrie got his first win after several bad breaks in the opening races of the new season. Guthrie quickly assumed the lead and held off Bryan Davis and Billy Rowland for the win. Eric Cain placed fourth, with Mike Hughes in fifth.

The Renegade One feature produced a first time winner, as Tim Crowe advanced from his third place starting spot and held off Trey Padgett and Chad Hunter to get his first career speedway win. Bobby Sorgee and Chris Crowe rounded out the top five.

In the second Renegade feature, Matt Morgan worked his way through the field and assumed the lead at the halfway point. Morgan got his first ever speedway win as he held off Gary Greenwood Sr., with Jeff Key taking third. Johnny Padgett and Jason Brockman was fourth and fifth

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