Buis Oil / Eagle One Evening Gives Norton a Surprise Win

Indianapolis'  R. J. Norton Jr. was as surprised as the crowd to find himself in the winner's circle in the Ed Martin Automotive Group Modified Feature Friday evening at the Anderson Speedway in the MAX/WLBC Summer Series as the front runners locked horns with three laps to go vaulting him to victory.

James Robertson took the Legend headliner while Anderson's Shane Cullen and James Peterson captured the ThunderCar Oval and ThunderCar Figure 8 headliners. Anderson's Zack Taylor and Centerville's Jessica Jennings were the Chappy's Rent To Own Front Wheel Drive victors.

The Modified feature was a dandy with four lead changes in the 30-lap affair. Jamie Hadley was the early leader before Norton went to the point on lap three.

Norton, in his first appearance of the year, led until being headed on lap 11 by defending champion Mark Harrison. Harrison and 2000 track champ Jeff Weston went into battle with Harrison using a lot of track to try and hold off Weston.

With three laps to go, Weston, after hammering on Harrison a few laps, tried a pass on the inside only to see Harrison go sailing and both drivers going to the tail on the yellow flag incident.

This vaulted Norton to the point who went on for the surprise win over Bruce Cooper, Joe Jennings, Harrison and Tom McKinney. McKinney led the first three laps of the heat before Cooper took over to take the checkers over McKinney and Weston. Weston set fast time at 12.819 seconds.

Legend action saw Daniel Russell lead the first two go-arounds of the 25-lap headliner before Mike Hamilton took over. That lead was short lived as James Robertson took to the point and sailed on to his third win of the season defeating Hamilton, Mike Satkowiak, Ron Tiller and Scott McGinley.

Russell and Hamilton exchanged the lead four times in 10 laps in the fast heat with Hamilton the victor by a length over Russell and McGinley. Paul Holden led flag to flag in the second heat race.. Trailers were Rodney Oliver and Clark Dietzen. Eric Black was fast timer at 14.235 seconds. 

The ThunderCar Oval feature saw the yellow on lap two when Daniel Beeman spun and was nailed by Tom Tacket eliminating both cars. Joe Stanley enjoyed the early lead before being passed by Shane Cullen on lap seven.

On the ninth circuit, Ranny Hinton slammed the wall bringing the final yellow. Cullen continued on the point with Bill Lawson in hot pursuit. Lawson got tangled in traffic and spun out with five laps to go. Parris Swallows took over and stayed behind Cullen to the checker. Finishing third through fifth  were A.J. Jones, Brandon Phillips and Joe Walters.

In the ThunderCar Figure 8, James Peterson convinced the field in a hurry that he was the man to be reckoned with. Peterson led from flag to flag but Josh Tharp was glued to his bumper the distance. They weaved in and out of traffic and avoided a busy crossover. Peterson took the win over Tharp, Mike Peters, Steve Weaver and Nick Moore.

Thirty-five Chappy's Rent To Own Front Wheel Drives battled in two 15 lap features. Zack Taylor took his first win ever in feature No. 1 leading the distance. Following were Randy Owen, Bill King, Mike Ellis and Gene Folsom.

Jessica Jennings didn't have an easy time in feature No. 2 although she led all but the first circuit. Kevin Rhodus started 13th but was running second by lap 10.

Rhodus tried Jennings and low and heading into Turn 2 got under Jennings and got her turned sideways. Jennings was able to recoup and grabbed the lead back from Rhodus on the backstretch. Jennings took another hit from a slower car on the way to the checkers but was not to be denied her second win of the year. Trailers were Rhodus, Larry Schrock, Patrick Spillis and Larry Thomas, Jr.

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