Tony Elliott Tribute Night One to Watch at Plymouth Speedway

[rebelracewriter]

Tony Elliott Tribute Night One to Watch at Plymouth Speedway

By: Anita Goodan

(Plymouth, IN) The drivers who signed up to be a part of the Tony Elliott Tribute night at Plymouth Speedway Tuesday night put on a show for the fans and a national audience will get in on the fun.

MAVTV was present to film the action which will be replayed at a later date.

Tony Elliott was a two-time USAC champion and won 26 national races. Elliott was killed in a plane crash on Oct. 3, 2015 with three other passengers on their way to watch the Notre Dame vs. Clemson football game in South Carolina. Tuesday night’s race at Plymouth Speedway was held in the honor of his memory and to raise funds for the Tony Elliott Foundation.

The show started with the 410 Open Sprints where the drivers did not disappoint. CJ Leary, of Greenfield, was able to take the lead by lap seven after getting by Shane Cottle and Dave Darland. Darland, of Atlanta, Indiana, ran second for the majority of the feature but got out of his groove in the last 10 laps of the race. That allowed Shane Cottle to get into the second spot. The running order stayed that way until the last few laps. Tyler Courtney, of Indianapolis, who started on the outside pole, fell back in the top 10 after getting too high in the cushion early in the race. By lap 24 in the 30-lap feature, Courtney was in third place. When the checkered flag waved, Leary was the winner with Cottle in second and Courtney in third.

The Shepherd Firearms Pro Sprints feature found a repeat winner from Saturday night’s race. It wasn’t an easy road for Kevin Atkins as he had to get by pole-sitter Bill Hartman, of Marcellus, and Zane DeVault, of Plymouth. DeVault took the early lead. A red flag was displayed as a small fire began under a car that pulled into the infield. After the scene was cleared and the green flag waving, Atkins went to work on DeVault and claimed the lead on lap seven. From there, Hartman and DeVault would trade positions for the second running spot for several laps before DeVault claimed it. All of this was happening under the eye of Eric Saunders, of Lakeville, who was charging passed competitors after starting at the tail of the field. He was soon on the bumper of Hartman who was running third. Saunders had a run on Hartman coming out of turn four on the last lap, but Hartman beat him to the checkered flag. The margin was one-tenth of a second. Atkins, of Warsaw, went home with the win while DeVault finished second and Hartman in third.

In the Swan Lake Resort UMP Modifieds contest, Dan Hamstra and Derek Losh were first and second throughout most of the race. They tangled going into turn one when Losh tried to go on the inside of Hamstra for the lead on the last lap. The front of Losh’s car got locked onto the left rear of Hamstra’s Modified and the pair traveled down the backstretch while connected and slid into turn three. This set up a green-white-checkered finish with completely different front runners. Todd Sherman, of Churubusco, assumed the lead with Jamie Lomax, of Lake Village, in second and Nick Allen, of Wheatfield, in third. The race restarted with Sherman solidly in the lead. Dylan Woodling, of Warsaw, restarted the race in fourth and used the high groove to climb to the third spot. Using the same line, he was able to come out of turn four on the last lap and bump Lomax out of second. Sherman was the winner with Woodling in second and Lomax third. NASCAR driver Justin Allgaier was also part of the lineup but his Modified suffered issues early in the race while running third.

Plymouth Speedway will be open again this Saturday, June 25 for a Saturday night event presented by OmniSource. The Swan Lake UMP Modifieds will be back in action along with the Walmart Thunder Stocks, WTCA Super Streets and the Dickies Restaurant 600 Open Sprints. Racing begins at 7 p.m. ET. The USAC Midgets will be at the track on Wednesday, June 29 and will be nationally televised as well. For more information, visit www.plymouthspeedway.net.

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