Speed-O Rockets Kent Hicks to Cleveland Victory

In front of a packed house and special quest Speed-O The Clown Kent Hicks literally rocketed to his first victory of the season at Saturday night at Cleveland Speedway. With Speed-O entertaining children of all ages with his hilarious high jinks magical mysterious 1931 Model-A Ford (Rosie) it was down to business for the rest of the local racing divisions. Hick was not the only native finding victory lane Saturday night as fellow Clevelander Chris Powell won the feature race in the Claimer Late Model division, Kenneth Elliott won the Pony Stock feature. And former (1999) division champion Donald Forgey took the Street victory. The only non-Cleveland native to win Saturday night was the Hobby feature winner Chris Stewart of Murphy NC, who padded his divisional points lead winning his second race of the season.

In Budweiser: King of Speed Qualifying, John Owenby set fast time clocking a 15:233 lap around the clay oval in his "Orr Construction, Evans Electric" orange # J32 Pontiac Gran Prix. In the first of two heats though it was third fastest qualifier Kent Hicks taking the win from the outside pole starting position. Owenby followed Hicks with David Smith Tim Richardson and rookie Todd Morrow following. In the second heat Randy Burrows collected on lady luck when Dewayne Smith failed to stage before the race started and started on the outside front row along side second fast qualifier Shawn Chastain. Burrows jumped into the lead leaving Chastain to second. Chastain's point lead vanished as mechanical problems ended his night prematurely. Despite starting in the back Dewayne Smith rallied to finish second with rookies James Gamble and Chris Beavers following. A debuting Jake Lowry rounded out the top five. As the field took the green flag Hicks took what was to be an unrelinquishable lead leaving the battle for second. Last seasons rookies Burrows and Owenby dueled over second until Owenby rear the races only caution when he spun in turn two collecting a slew of racecars. David Smith looked for a high groove allowing rookies Gamble and Morrow passage into the top five before races end. Dewayne Smith kept plenty of pressure on Burrows as the checkers flew over Hicks' "Specialty Welding, Rocket Chassis" red, white and blue # 15 Pontiac Gran Prix. Speed-O The Clown flooded the souvenir area with race-fans, wanting to meet and get an autograph of the infamous traveling race clown which closed out another fine night at the Tennessee Valley area dirt track.

Super Late Model:
1.Kent Hicks (# 15) of Cleveland TN
2.Randy Burrows (# 95) of Chattanooga TN
3.Dewayne Smith (# 21) of Cleveland TN
4.James Gamble (# 27) of Ooltewah TN *
5.Todd Morrow (# T1) of Cleveland TN *
6.David Smith (# 22D) of Chattanooga TN
7.Chris Beavers (# 03) of Cleveland TN *
8.Jake Lowry (# 44) of Georgetown TN
9.Brad Coffey (# 3) of Maryville TN
10.John Owenby (# J32) of Cleveland TN

Claimer Late Model: Winner - Chris Powell (# 9) of Cleveland TN
2.Glen Seaton III (# 92), 3.P.D. Doss (# 1), 4.Peanut Clinton (# 51), 5.Shane Breeden (# 12)

Hobby: Winner - Chris Stewart (# 68) of Murphy NC
2.James Nichols (# K3), 3.Lynn Roark (# 5), 4.Jim Twiggs (# 99), 5.Doug Works (# 35)

Pony Stock: Winner - Kenneth Elliott (# 39) of Cleveland TN
2.Jimmy Brown (# 10), 3.Josh Doss (# B28), 44.Justin Winters (# J1), 5.Donnie Webb (# 77)

Street: Winner - Donald Forgey (# 71) of Cleveland TN
2.Herbert Chambers (# 31),3.Tom Swearengine (# R1) 4.Anthony Hawkins (# 3)
5.Jim Erwin (# 8)