Layne Holds off Allman and Boyer
Muncie’s Derrick Layne used patience early in the Street Stock feature at Anderson Speedway and when the two leaders tangled giving him the lead.

Layne moved into the lead on the 16th of 40 laps and then held off Rob Allman and Rich Boyer the rest of the way to score his first win of the season.

Several times Allman and Boyer attempted to use the high groove to gain positions but both had to back off and hope that Layne would slip on the low side.

Frankie Oakes took the lead at the start chased by Larry Greene, Layne, Randy Hoppes and Ronnie Rose.

On the second lap Greene and Layne were able to get inside of Oakes on the back straight to claim the top two positions but the driver on the move early was Rose.

Rose moved into second by making an inside move on Layne entering the third turn and set his sights on Greene. On lap 16 entering turn one, Greene spun and Rose was collected, the end result leaving Rose with a flat right rear tire and two laps later Greene was parked with a flat left rear.

That gave Layne the lead pursued by Allman, Boyer, Jacob McElfresh and last week’s feature winner Josh Myers.

Layne said the tight racing is indicative of Anderson Speedway, which he described as a “bull ring”.

“I didn’t have the fastest car, but track position really helped,” he said. “I missed the wreck and things worked in our favor.”

Layne said he knew Allman and Boyer were right on his rear bumper over the course of the final laps.

“I think they were better early in the race and I could feel them tapping the rear bumper,” he said. “The longer the race the better our car got. I just concentrated on hitting my marks and the car came in.”

Allman said every week he is getting more accustomed to the new car that was unveiled at the start of the 2010 season.

“Next time out we’re looking to run on the high side,” he said following his second place win. “To run the high groove you have to be a lot faster, it isn’t working for us right now. I looked outside on him (Layne) a couple of times and I didn’t make any progress.”

Boyer in a brand new car for the 2010 season recorded his second consecutive top three finishes in the division, coming home in second place on opening night.

“We’ve still got some bugs to work out,” he said. “We have to figure the set-up out, the car is getting loose. At first tonight it was good but the longer we went it got loose.”

Boyer said he tried to make the outside line work but the car couldn’t get traction and was running loose in the corners.

Fans were treated to two exciting races in the division with Elwood’s Jacob McElfresh and 16-year-old Tyler Marsh of Muncie claiming his first win ever at Anderson Speedway.

In the opening race McElfresh and Layne raced side by side for the first two laps before McElfresh snagged the point and Myers moving from the fourth to second spot in one lap.

From there McElfresh stayed on the point chased by Myers with Allman claiming the third spot followed by Boyer and Layne.

Oakes took the lead in the second heat race and Marsh and Greene were able to use the outside line to both gain positions on the third lap. Marsh went around Oakes entering turn one and Greene made an identical move entering turn three.

Randy Hoppes suffered a flat left front tire on the fourth circuit while running in the top five.

At the checkers it was Marsh, Greene, Oakes followed by Kevin Rudisill and Billy Van Meter.