Eldora Speedway | 13929
St Route 118 | New Weston | OH | 45348
For immediate news release e-mail: mail@eldoraspeedway.com
LYNCH JR FULFILLS
ELDORA GOAL
ROSSBURG, OH (June 30) -- Nothing is sweeter
than the accomplishment of a goal, and that is exactly what
Ed Lynch, Jr. did Saturday night at Eldora Speedway with a $10,000
victory to close out the 25th annual Ohio Sprint Speedweek.
And while Lynch was celebrating his win, Shane Stewart was relishing
his Speedweek title with a fantastic drive from 21st to third.
Rounding out the tripleheader program with wins were Jerry Bowersock
(UMP Modifieds) and John Brooks (Advance Auto Parts Stock Cars).
Lynch had always wanted an Eldora win to show
on his resume, and after his dazzling performance in his qualifying
heat race it was evident that he had his game face on Saturday
night.
As the green flag dropped on the 24-car starting
field, Lynch lived up to his moniker of The Apollo Rocket by
shooting into a commanding lead over Brock Mayes, Kenny Jacobs
and Jimmy Stinson. Within one lap Jacobs got by Mayes and the
chase was on.
Lynch was unfazed as he continued his torrid
pace on the one-half mile clay oval. Several times Jacob would
pull in close, but could never muster the horsepower to overcome
Lynch. His break came with a lap 16 restart that was necessitated
when Rob Chaney came to a halt on the front stretch.
When the green flag returned, Jacobs masterfully
pulled off a slide job in turn three to take the lead which
quickly turned into a ten-car length gap over Lynch.
All the while they were doing their battle,
Dale Blaney, who entered the night eligible for a $50,000 bonus
with a feature win, was inching his way forward, as was Stewart.
On the restart, Blaney was running 5th, while
Stewart had moved up to 11th.
Lady Luck rose her hand to stop Jacobs on lap
20, as the driveline erupted, and the disappointed veteran coasted
into the pits. That put Lynch back in command, with Mayes second
and Blaney up to third.
The drama set in on lap 23 as Greg Wilson suffered
a flat tire and the caution appeared to bunch up the field,
with Blaney now within striking distance. Just like Jacobs,
though, Lady Luck took a frown on Blaney, as a tire was going
down and on the restart he failed to reach the pace he had been
setting.
Mayes turned in his best-ever Eldora performance
to stay on the heels of Lynch through the closing laps, but
fell short at the finish, with Stewart amazing the crowd with
his drive to third.
Jimmy Stinson and Phil Gressman turned in equally
strong runs to round out the top five.
Attrition played a major role in the Modified
finale.
Bill Lewis jumped into the early lead with
the traffic behind him intense. Mark Kowarch held down second
while Scott Orr, Davey Gantt and Gary Richard stole the show
with their battle for third.
With each restart, Lewis would pull away, until
mechanical woes stopped him on the front stretch on lap seven.
That gave the lead to Kowarch, with Bowersock on his heals.
It only took Bowersock three laps to dispose
of Kowarch as he went on to capture Eldora win number two on
the season. Kowarch maintained his pace to finish second, followed
in order by Davey Gantt, Todd Sherman and Steve Shute.
John Brooks was in a time zone of his own Saturday,
as he led from start to finish. But, behind him it was a different
story with many battle lines going on throughout the distance.
When it
was all said and done at the checkered, it was Mike Dirksen,
Brad Conover, Jeff Babcock and Earnie Woodard following Brooks
across the line.
