rebelracewriter Posted March 29, 2009 Report Share Posted March 29, 2009 I'll try to get stories later Texana Raceway Park opener/Aaron Hudgeons Benefit, 3/28/09 Modifieds 2W Paul White 88 Steve Whiteaker jr. E Howard Willis 55 Danny Brown 94 Nick Hardcastle 20 Mike McCarty 51 Benny Perry 26 Darin Leonard 82 Josh Majek 371 Ben Ketteman 122 Perry Johnson 87 Lawrence Mikulencak 66 Johnn Torres 37 Bill Pittaway 76 Jesse Manning 155 Vince Kacir 44 Markus Berndt 8g Greg Dinsmore Modified heat winners, 2w Paul White, 76 Jesse Manning, E Howard Wilis Limited Modifieds 216 Paul White 43 Jeff Mueller 26g J J Jennings 90x Dustin Butcher 175 Mickey Helms 66 Hunt Harrison 90 Barry Moody 33 Jason Zarbock 00x Dustin Brandl 10D Don Painter 47 James Myers 88 Mark McGahey 37 Bill Pittaway 46 Randy Bridges 888 Aaron Lunsford 36 Cody Hilderbrandt 69 Aaron Hudgeons 42 Ricky Konvicka 63 Shane Hoefling 78 Brad Ball 89 Doug Livingston Limited Modified heat winners, 216 Paul White, 43 Jeff Mueller, 26g J J Jennings Hot Stock Truck 84 Justin Bloom 8 Lary Paris 55 Russell Bloom 13 Gregory Turner 15 Gordon Boehm 39 Nathan Kildair 43 Bob Ort 24 John Lieta---DNS Heat winner, 24 John Lieta Bombers 77 Chris Shafer 31 Brian King 55 Monty Chamberlain 36 Randy Kacir 26 David McBride 12 Janet Perks 76 Gary Wright 81 Aaron Ivory 71 Nic Priem 1 Nick Moore 58 James Hoss 63 Chase Sanchez Bomber heat winners, 12 Janet Perks, 77 Chris Shafer Jr. Mini Stock 49 Jason Bloom 55 Lauren Chamberlain 72 Zack Tesch 12 Ashley Perks 03 Justin Sickle 22 Patricia Lucas 14k Stanley Kraly 7 Hunter Lisano 14 Roger Churan Jr Mini Stock heat winner, 49 Jason Bloom Texana Classic Dwarf Cars 41 Willy Veach 19 Andrew Cline 65 Buck McFarlin 3x Frank Fruia 25t Dave Tedford 01s Joseph Snow 24 Victor Vargas 13 Mike Christians 54 Gary Hansen 30 Ronny Fikes 36 Greg Sexton 1 Brad Wright 2ez Easy Casey 82 Brandon Dorsey 7 Steven Gilbert 55 Bryan Heady 97 Brian Breaux 99 Brice Baros 4 Karl Veach 15 Gary Faris 21 John Armstrong 8 Donnie Hunt 79 Douglas Schmidt 12 Robert Smith Dwarf heat winners, 19 Andrew Cline, 65 Buck McFarlin, 25t Dave Tedford Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rebelracewriter Posted March 29, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 29, 2009 (edited) Texana Raceway Park opener/Aaron Hudgeons Benefit, 3/28/09 By J M Hallas Edna, Tx., (March 28th, 2009) Texana Raceway Park kicked off it's 2009 racing with a salute to last year's track champions and a big benefit race for veteran south Texas racer, Aaron Hudgeons, from Cuero, who has battled cancer over the off season. Last year's titlists, rookies and favorites were honored on the front stretch, followed by a parade lap, lead by Hudgeons around the ¼ mile semi-banked, paper-clip shaped track. Hudgeons, as long time area favorite and Limited Modified chassis builder(Rush Chassis) went through surgery and chemotherapy treatment throughout the winter break. As is the case at many tracks around the nation, when one of their own is in need, the rest of the extended racing family rises to the occasion. Hudgeons, whose therapy finishes up in the coming weeks, felt good enough to jump into the Texana Limited Modified, house car. Track owner/promoter Bruce Tesch was first to put $500 in the pot at the drivers meeting, with other drivers and crew donating to the cause. Corpus racer, Bill Pittaway pitched in a few hundred pounds of shrimp with sales of dinner plates going to Hudgeons. The Hudgeons family raffled and sold items, with drivers passing the helmet through the crowd as well. By nights end, over $5,000 was collected to help the Hudgeons family defer medical costs. White "dusts" the Modified field To say that Temple hotshoe Paul White is on a hot streak would probably be an understatement. White pocketed four wins the previous weekend taking both the Modified and Limited Modified wins at Battleground Speedway Friday night, and Houston Raceway Park the following night. Could White do the unthinkable, and win six races in three nights? If the Limited was any indication, the word 'probable' came to mind. White jumped out to a big lead at the drop of the green, sliced his way through lapped traffic, taking the victory by a comfortable margin over the 22-car field. White and Jeff Mueller stayed wheel to wheel up until turn 3 were White gained the advantage. In the pack it was three and almost four wide for position. As the top three sorted out Hudgeons and Shane Hoefling ran side by side for fourth. Hudgeons then fell into the clutches of Dustin Butcher who got along side on lap 4 for sixth, while Brad Ball and Micky Helms ran side by side for eighth. White was increasing his lead on Mueller, who was now being chased down by JJ Jennings on lap 7. White had just caught slower traffic on lap 8 when Randy Bridges spun to bring out the caution. On the restart White got a good jump, while Jennings got past Mueller for second and Butcher moving up to fourth. At the crossed flags it was White, with a healthy lead, Jennings, Mueller, Butcher and Helms holding the top five spots. White was quickly back into traffic but never missed a beat picking his way through. Mueller used slower cars to get back by Jennings for second with five to go. As White continued to cut a path out front, Mueller put some distance on Jennings and Butcher. White easily took the checkers in the Bridwell Motorsports, Motors by Adan, Dust Devil Chassis. Limited Modifieds 216 Paul White 43 Jeff Mueller 26g J J Jennings 90x Dustin Butcher 175 Mickey Helms 66 Hunt Harrison 90 Barry Moody 33 Jason Zarbock 00x Dustin Brandl 10D Don Painter 47 James Myers 88 Mark McGahey 37 Bill Pittaway 46 Randy Bridges 888 Aaron Lunsford 36 Cody Hildebrandt 69 Aaron Hudgeons 42 Ricky Konvicka 63 Shane Hoefling 78 Brad Ball 89 Doug Livingston 121 EJ Gilpin--DNS 21 Victor Lindsey---DQ Limited Modified heat winners, 216 Paul White, 43 Jeff Mueller, 26g J J Jennings White whips 'em one more time In the Modified 20-lap main event White took the lead from the pole and led every lap capping off the third straight 'Daily Double.' The win didn't come easy as he first had to fend off Houston area veteran, Howard Willis in the early laps, then Corpus young gun, Steve Whiteaker jr. after a late race caution rebunched the field. As green waved on the 20-car Modified field, White from the pole was first into turn 1, with Willis getting by Jesse Manning for second, and Greg Dinsmore falling in line fourth. Manning would spin on lap 1, with Dinsmore and Whiteaker barely missing him as the yellow waved. Bill Pittaway and Perry Johnson tangled in the back up. Once back to green Dinsmore had his ride die and spin in turn 3 after the wire fell off the MSD box. On the restart, Willis tried the high side to get by White, while Whiteaker took the low line trying to get second. White, Willis and Whiteaker began to put some distance on Ben Ketteman and Lawrence Mikulencak as they battled for fourth. Mikulencak took a side trip through the infield losing a couple spots to defending track champ, Nick Hardcastle and Mike McCarthy. Mikulencak fought back retaking sixth from Hardcastle on lap 7 and was along side McCarthy for fifth. Ketteman looped it in turn 1 wth Mikulencak and Hardcastle sliding to a halt on lap 9. White eased away from Willis when green waved again and at halfway it was White, Willis, Whiteaker, Mikulencak and Hardcastle, who had gotten their spots back. Johnson, Pittaway and Josh Majek got together on lap 10 to bring the yellow out. When the race resumed, Whiteaker began putting pressure on Willis for second. After running side by side for three laps, youth and exuberance beat out old age and experience, as Whiteaker got the spot. Mikulencak brought out the final caution when spun from fourth on lap 16 erasing the lead that White had built. On the restart, Hardcastle got sideways with McCarthy getting a piece of the action, and Danny Brown sneaking by both for fourth. Whiteaker kept the pressure on White, who finally got a slight lead of three car lengths as the white flag waved. At the checkers it was White in the Bridwell Motorsports, Motors by Adan, Dust Devil Chassis taking the second win of the night. Modifieds 2W Paul White 88 Steve Whiteaker jr. E Howard Willis 55 Danny Brown 94 Nick Hardcastle 20 Mike McCarthy 51 Benny Perry 26 Darin Leonard 82 Josh Majek 371 Ben Ketteman 122 Perry Johnson 87 Lawrence Mikulencak 66 Johnny Torres 37 Bill Pittaway 76 Jesse Manning 155 Vince Kacir 44 Markus Berndt 8g Greg Dinsmore Modified heat winners, 2w Paul White, 76 Jesse Manning, E Howard Willis Justin Bloom got the big jump at the start of the 20-lap Hot Stock Truck feature, with Russel Bloom getting by Bob Ort for second. Lary Paris got by Ort on lap 4 to take over third. Paris then ran down the Bloom's and got past R. Bloom on lap 8 for second. R. Bloom and Ort then battled for fourth, with Ort getting squeezed into the wall on the back stretch, but soldiering on for a few laps before puling off. Paris was able to run down J. Bloom for the lead and was putting the pressure on. In the field, Gregory Turner and Gordon Boehm scrapped it out for fourth as J. Bloom and Paris pulled away. Turner got by Boehm in the waning laps, while J. Bloom was holding off Paris to snag the win. Hot Stock Truck 84 Justin Bloom 8 Lary Paris 55 Russell Bloom 13 Gregory Turner 15 Gordon Boehm 39 Nathan Kildair 43 Bob Ort 24 John Lieta---DNS Heat winner, 24 John Lieta Chris Shafer beat Janet Perks into turn 1 for the lead of the 20-lap Bomber feature, with Monty Chamberlain second, Perks, David McBride and Brian King falling line. Chamberlain spun on his own from second on lap 1, but kept going to avoid a caution. Gary Wright and James Hoss had separate spins on lap 3 to bring a yellow, giving Chamberlain the chance to catch back up to the field. Shafer got a good jump on green with Nick Moore, McBride and King three wide for third. King emerged from that scrap with the spot and moved past Perks on lap 5 for second. Perks lost several more spots near halfway when she got sideways and got passed by McBride, Randy Kacir and Chamberlain working his way back up. Shafer and King began to check out, while Chamberlain got around McBride for third. McBride and Kacir then battled for fourth in the final laps. At the checkers it was Shafer with comfortable margin taking the win over King. Bombers 77 Chris Shafer 31 Brian King 55 Monty Chamberlain 36 Randy Kacir 26 David McBride 12 Janet Perks 76 Gary Wright 81 Aaron Ivory 71 Nic Priem 1 Nick Moore 58 James Hoss 63 Chase Sanchez Bomber heat winners, 12 Janet Perks, 77 Chris Shafer On the start of the Jr. Mini Stock 12-lap feature, Jason Bloom and Zack Tesch stayed side by side into turn 1. Hunter Lisano got turned the wrong way and was drilled head-on by Roger Churan. Both youngsters were alright, but done for the night. Bloom got a good jump on the next start for the lead on lap 1. Justin Sickle and Stanley Kraly hooked bumpers on lap 1 sending Sickle around for a quick caution. Once back to racing, Kraly wasted little time working his way up to challenge Bloom for the lead. Kraly got the top spot on lap 4 and was beginning to pull away until he ended up on the infield berm between turns 1-2. This handed the lead back to Bloom on lap 8. Bloom, Lauren Chamberlain and Tesch pulled away on the restart. In the final laps Bloom put some distance on Chamberlain and Tesch, while Ashley Perks and Sickle swapped fourth. Bloom completed the heat/feature sweep taking the checkers by several car lengths over Chamberlain. Jr. Mini Stock 49 Jason Bloom 55 Lauren Chamberlain 72 Zack Tesch 12 Ashley Perks 03 Justin Sickle 22 Patricia Lucas 14k Stanley Kraly 7 Hunter Lisano 14 Roger Churan Jr Mini Stock heat winner, 49 Jason Bloom On the first start for the Texana Classic Dwarf Cars Dave Tedford got the jump on Gary Faris going into turn 1, but Douglas Schmidt spun and collected Brice Baros to bring out the caution. Tedford repeated the feat on the next start, but Willy Veach got by in turns 3-4 to lead lap 1. W. Veach drifted too high on lap 1, allowing Tedford to retake the point on lap 2 followed by Faris. Buck McFarlin then got by Veach on lap 3 for third. McFarlin and Veach both took a spot from Faris on lap 4. Yellow waved on lap 6 for a spin by Brian Breaux in turn 2. In wasn't long after the restart that John Armstrong found himself looking at the turn 3 wall. When green waved again, W. Veach used the high side to get the lead from Cline on lap 8. After a series on spins on consecutive laps, Frank Fruia had worked his way up to fourth. In the final laps Cline made one last charge on W. Veach who held on for the victory. Texana Classic Dwarf Cars 41 Willy Veach 19 Andrew Cline 65 Buck McFarlin 3x Frank Fruia 25t Dave Tedford 01s Joseph Snow 24 Victor Vargas 13 Mike Christians 54 Gary Hansen 30 Ronny Fikes 36 Greg Sexton 1 Brad Wright 2ez Easy Casey 82 Brandon Dorsey 7 Steven Gilbert 55 Bryan Heady 97 Brian Breaux 99 Brice Baros 4 Karl Veach 15 Gary Faris 21 John Armstrong 8 Donnie Hunt 79 Douglas Schmidt 12 Robert Smith Dwarf heat winners, 19 Andrew Cline, 65 Buck McFarlin, 25t Dave Tedford Edited March 30, 2009 by rebelracewriter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRP Posted March 30, 2009 Report Share Posted March 30, 2009 We want to extend a huge thank you to everyone who was a part of this night and made it so very special in support of Aaron. the Hudgeons family asked us to say a huge heart felt thank you from them direct to everyone. After a counting up all of the donations from the various sources after midnight, there was just over $5,900 collected. That was an outstanding amount when you consider that was done in a 5 hour time frame from 7pm - midnight. Were very fortunate that we have many of the best known names in the region competing with us on Saturday. Interestingly, the top three in mods are known throughout the region and even nation for their abilities. Thank you Jay for announcing on this important night. Your knowledge of the drivers, and their stats, is second to none. That really adds something special when an announcer knows about the drivers. Also, thank you for the great race recaps. Thank you to Lone Star Speedzone for attending. It was an honor to have you out on this opening / benefit night. We're glad you got to talk interview several of the drivers, and we look forwad to seeing the video on your home page. Come back and see us again! A weather forecast that had 40 degree weather predicted, we were very please with the fan count for those who braved the cold. We had 795 paid general admission tickets. We had 96 teams register and a host of crew in the pits. Again, thank you to everyone who was a part of this night! -Monty Chamberlain Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickHolt Posted March 30, 2009 Report Share Posted March 30, 2009 Thanks Monty. By the way, the story is up on the LSS front page. I'm just waiting for a few pics from Brenda to go with it. Nick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rebelracewriter Posted March 30, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 30, 2009 Anytime Monty.....you know I'm always happy to help out. And thank you for allowing me to be part of the tribute to Aaron. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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