By: T. J. Layne
COAL GROVE, OHIO-Under chilly temperatures, a good crowd along with a packed pit area gathered on Friday, May 18th at the Rocky Top Raceway for the first special event of the season, the Twin 30’s. The Twin 30’s consisted of a 30 lap, $2,000 to win Late Model race and a 30 lap, $1,000 to win Modified race.
In the 30 lap Late Model A-Main, R. J. Conley took the lead at the start and ran a torrid pace. Behind R. J., brother Rod Conley and Josh McGuire battled for the second position with the entire field behind them swapping positions on the four groove racing surface. On lap twenty, the race took a dramatic turn as leader R. J. Conley had nowhere to go and hit the lapped car of Jason Edge who spun right in front of him. Conley and Edge were both done for the evening.
Josh McGuire inherited the lead and led the field down to the restart. McGuire led for the next three laps as second place car Rod Conley put his #71r on the high side and ran side by side with McGuire for the lead. Conley and McGuire battled side by side for the next two laps with Conley taking the lead with five laps to go. Nobody would have anything for Rod Conley the rest of the race as he came across the checkers to win the $2,000 Twin 30’s prize! The battle for second was a good one as they were three wide at the finish line with Josh McGuire finishing second, Greg Oliver third, Jackie Boggs fourth, and D. Jay Miller fifth. R. J. Conley won the dash race while Delmas Conley and Tim Dohm won Carl Grover Motorsports heat races. Arnie Fields won the B-Main.
In the 30 lap Modified A-Main, Doug Adkins took the lead at the start while the battle for second raged two and three wide between Matt Smallwood, Todd Robinson, and Eddie Harmon. This battle went on for several laps as contact was made with Harmon hitting the wall and Smallwood getting charged for a caution for getting into Robinson. Both Harmon and Smallwood were done for the night. For the remainder of the race, Robinson started to hunt down Adkins but came a few car lengths short as Doug Adkins took the $1,000 Twin 30’s prize in leading every lap! Todd Robinson finished second with Corey McKenzie third, David Fitzpatrick fourth, and David McWilliams fifth. Matt Smallwood won the dash race while Jason Perry and David McWilliams won Carl Grover Motorsports heat races.
In the Bomber A-Main, Wayne Hughes took the lead at the start with John Rayburn running right behind him in second. Hughes and Rayburn battled for the lead for several laps as with five laps to go, the two made contact with both spinning! Rayburn was charged with the caution and had to go to the rear of the field with Hughes getting his spot back. That put Jeremie Bretz in second as in the final laps he battled side by side for Hughes for the win. To the checkered flag, Hughes and Bretz were side by side at the finish line with Hughes winning by five feet! Bretz finished second with Newt Sturgill third, Perry Dearing fourth, and John Rayburn fifth. Wayne Hughes and John Rayburn won Carl Grover Motorsports heat races.
“The most exciting, action packed show in town” at Rocky Top continues on Friday, May 25th for “Veterans Appreciation Night”. All veterans will be admitted to the races free with proper identification. On the card will be a full racing program of Late Models, Modifieds, and Bombers. This will be a very special night as we will honor all the veterans in attendance and enjoy another exciting night of racing. General Admission is only $12 with Pit Admission $25. For more information go to www.rockytopraceway.net.