Weston, Sneva, Tharp, Grissom and Baker Friday Night Winners

Anderson Speedway fans were treated to a great racing program at the WLBC Friday Night Summer Series as Sarasota, Florida's Jeff Weston took his first Ed Martin Automotive Group Modified win of the year while Indy's T.J. Sneva continued his winning ways in the Legend feature. Anderson drivers continued to dominate other classes with Josh Tharp copping the ThunderCar Figurer 8 main, Roy Grissom Sr. the ThunderCar Oval and Jerry Baker the Chappy's Rent To Own Front Wheel Drive Headliner.

Brian Nester grabbed the lead on lap two and was chased to the finish by Scott Neal and Mark Harrison in the first  modified heat. Tom McKinney proved to be a tough customer to pass in the second heat with Weston easing around on lap five to go on to the win over Joe Jennings and McKinney.

McKinney led from the green in the feature and was again the obstacle for Weston to pass. Weston accomplished the pass on lap seven. Neal was making a valiant run on the outside coming from the back of the inverted field. Then on lap 16 disaster struck when he was passing on the outside and ended up running out of racing room and tore a wheel off.  Weston went on to show everyone why he was the 2000 point champion. Rounding out the top five  were Steve Christman, Marshall Emberton, Don Skaggs and Jennings. Neal was fast qualifier at 12.782 seconds.

Rusty Frady got around Ron Tiller with three laps to go to capture the first heat checker over Scott McGinley and Greg Dietzen. Clark Dietzen passed Kyle Pollock on lap three of the second heat to sail on to victory over Homer Adams Jr. and Eric Black.

T.J. Sneva did not have the luck of the inversion on his side and the field of 25 started totally inverted. The race quickly became a dog fight. Paul Holden led the first five circuits before being headed by Eric Deaton.

Deaton and Frady went into a great battle while Sneva worked his way through traffic to go into fifth by lap 18. Sneva quickly entered the picture by jumping to third on lap 20, second on lap 22 and making the lead pass at the white flag. 

The 17-year-old youngster soon showed everyone why he has been the only man to win a feature in 2003. Chasers were Rusty Frady, Al Renner, Eric Deaton and James Robertson. Sneva was again fast qualifier at 14.164 seconds.

In the Chappy's Rent To Own Front Wheel Drives, Jerry Baker, George Baker Jr. and David McHenry put on quite a driving exhibition. Jerry Baker led from the get-go. Then, George Baker Jr. was able to scoot by at the white flag. Both Bakers and McHenry body slammed to the checker with the three finishing under a blanket. Jerry Baker took the win by a fender over McHenry, George Baker Jr., Chris Jennings and Larry Thomas.

Jonathon Pitts led the ThunderCar Figure 8 from the green until he and Roy Ellis slammed together in the crossover on lap three, eliminating both cars. The drivers were ok. Josh Tharp inherited the lead and found the going rough as Roy Grissom Sr., brother Matt Tharp, James Peterson and Tim Brown locked into a ferocious battle. Although the race finished in that order it was another action packed ThunderCar Figure 8 event.

Rick Trueblood led the opening six laps of the ThunderCar Oval feature before being passed by Roy Grissom Sr. Then, Brandon Leisure moved in at the halfway point to pressure Grissom but to no avail as Grissom took the victory over Leisure, Jack Taylor, Tim Brown and Donnie Ellis Jr.

For additional information contact Anderson Speedway at (765) 642-0206.