USA Sprints-Cajun Sprints Milton results

"Wildchild" Lane Whittington Wins Cajun Sprints/USA Sprints North-South Challenge!

Saturday, July 3 - Southern Raceway, Milton, FL -- They call him "Wildchild" but one things for sure he is very fast and Tough to beat as the invading USA Sprints found out this hot and humid night in the Florida Panhandle. Lane Whittingham again denied all onslaughts for his Bounty and was victorious as he took the 1st North-South Challenge between the Cajun Sprints and USA Sprints.

Southern Speedway in Hattiesburg, MS., rained out Friday, but skies cleared for the Cajun Sprinters Saturday in Milton, Florida. The USA Sprints #92 RC Roper of Ft. Myers, FL, and Cajun Sprints #K9 Robert Casada of Petal, MS., joined Linda and 102.7 for the Saturday remote at Pete Moore Chevrolet in Pensacola. Thanks for all who came by to visit.

Mike Summerlin #11 and #8 had the front row with #43 Ricky Beasley and #55 Don Sumrall on row two and 11B Andy Kelly and #7 Marshall Yelverton on row three. Summerlin took the early lead, but mechanical problems would send him to the pits on lap one. By lap two, Andy Kelly had taken the front spot followed by Don Sumrall and Marshall Yelverton. Kelly would take the win followed by Yelverton, Beasley, Sumrall and Bond.

Lincoln Gatwood#38 and #9 Lane Whittington held the top spots with #6 Mike Schroeder and #12 Rusty Sanford on row two, and #R14 Tracy Brown and #K9 Robert Casada on row three. Gatwood took the early lead followed by Whittington and Sanford. But Whittington would take over the top spot and checked followed by Gatwood, Sanford, Brown, Casada and Mike Schroeder.

Heat Race three saw the #33 Charles Graves and #12T Mark Tate held the front row, #92 R.C. Roper and #12K Skeeter Kelly on row two, and #14 Ricky Brewer and #3 Michael Davis on row three. Graves took the early lead with Brewer sprinting to second, but after a spin, Brewer started the rear. After the restart, Graves maintained the lead followed by Tate and Roper. Graves took the win followed by Tate, Roper, Brewer, Kelly, and Davis.

After the heat races there was plenty of buzzing going on in the pits when USA Sprints invader Andy "Hammerdown Kelly" in the Sensenich Propellors # 11 took his heat in dominating fashion and was set to start on the pole! Both camps were tense and all the Teams worked diligently on thier set-ups to get the extra advantage.The USA Sprints found Southern Speedway very uncharacteristic of what they normally see in a race track.The Track had a enormous amount of bite in it in the heats then became dry loose in the feature. Although it was tacky down on the bottom in the corners and hard and loose on the straights.That was because of the steep banking.

In the feature, Andy Kelly#11 had the pole with Marshall Yelverton # 7 on the outside, Whittington and Graves on the second row with Gatwood and Tate on the third row, Sanford and Beasley on the fourth row, Roper and Brown on the fifth row, Brewer and Sumrall on the sixth row, Casada and Bond on the seventh, Skeeter Kelly and Michael Schroder on row eight and Davis on row nine.

Andy Kelly led for a couple of laps until Lane Whttington blasted to the front.Kelly did a great job holding off the #33 of Graves but the steady veteran was more than poised to bide his time for the right move.They were chased by Sanford, and Yelverton in 4th and 5th. With just one caution on lap eight,the fast pace allowed the top five to maneuver through lap traffic with great precision.Tracy Brown who started tenth, Brewer who started eleventh, and Casada who started thirteenth made impressive paths to join the front pack.

Whittington remained in front as he worked the Tims Racing Engines # 9 thru lapped traffic and was never headed.Charles Graves #33 was a distant 2nd closely followed by the # R14 of Tracy Brown who got by Andy Kelly 11b late in the race with Ricky Brewer #14 rounding out the top five. Robert Casada K9 came home 6th with Lincoln Gatwood #38,Ricky Beasley #43, Marshall Yelverton # 7 and RC Roper Hayloft Western Wear # 92 rounding out the top 10.

All in all everyone had a great time and both Organizations were pleased with the results and enjoyed each others racing comrodery.The USA Sprints would like to thank Robert Casada for all his help and hard work as well as Lincoln Gatwood,Billy Ray Gatwood and all the Cajun Sprints for thier graciousness in allowing the USA Sprints to race with them.Both groups look forward to bigger and better things in the future.Stay Tuned!

Feature Finish

#9 Lane Whittington, Denham Springs, LA. 33 Charles Graves, Zachary, LA. R14 Tracy Brown, Hattiesburg, MS. 11B Andy Kelly, Plant City, FL. 14 Ricky Brewer, Baker, LA. K9 Robert Casada, Petal, MS. 38 Lincoln Gatwood, Hattiesburg, MS. 43 Ricky Beasley, Hattiesburg, MS. 7 Marshall Yelverton, Florence, MS. 92 RC Roper, Ft. Myers, FL. 12T Mark Tate, Denham Springs, LA. 6 Mike Schroeder, S. W. Ranches, FL. 12K Skeeter Kelly, Plant City, FL. 55 Don Sumrall, Sumrall, MS. 8 Darrel Bond, Gretna, LA. 12 Rusty Sanford, Seminary, MS. 3 Michael Davis, Plant City, FL. 11 Mike Summerlin, Florence, MS.

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