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Wendy Bohonek
BEEBE, Ark. (June 6) - The AMP race held at Beebe Speedway, Beebe AR lived up to its advertised title and more. With temperatures reaching the mid 90's in the area, twenty-one super late model drivers pulled the belts a little tighter as they geared up for their heat race action. With two and three wide, down to the wire racing, we were served with an appetizer that was sure to lead to an exquisite main dish.
Heat one action saw AMP points leader Allen Tippen, Minden LA and Rookie of the Year contender Jeff Wells Jr, Trumman AR battle for the top finishing spot with two laps to go, while close behind "Charging Charlie" Cole, Marianna AR and Clay Fisher, DeWitt AR were taking care of business and moving forward. Veteran driver Wayne Skinner, held his own as well as Rachel York, Southhaven MS, as they finished fifth and sixth respectively.
Heat two got underway as another loaded field made their way onto the track. Tommy Surrett gained an early lead with Jon Mitchell, Texarkana TX hot on his heel.
As they challenged each other Shane Diamant, Maumelle AR began to reel them in, and when the leader Surrett bobbled between turns three and four, both Mitchell and Diamant were able to get around him. Diamant took a little ride through the infield as he challenged Mitchell for the lead while crossing the start finish line, but held on, and finished second to Mitchell. Surrett was able to gather himself up finishing third, and brought hard charging Terry Henson, N Little Rock and Ian Samuel, Trumann AR with him.
Heat three brought to the table a mixture of the very young in Dalton Alexander to the seasoned Dewaine Hottinger, Russellville AR, with a mixture of the established talent of Kyle Beard, Trumann AR, Billy Moyer Jr, Batesville AR, and Jon Kirby, Russellville AR, all hungry and ready to devour the 1/4 mile track. Beard took command of the lead with Hottinger close behind as Kirby and Moyer Jr ran side by side all the way to the finish line where I am glad that I didn't have to make the call of who crossed the line first it was that close.
There was only a moment to catch your breath, as the drivers in heat four were on the track and making the dirt fly again. Gary Scott Christian, Broken Arrow OK took the number one spot as Allen Murry, San Antonio TX fell in behind. Christian and Murry pulled away from the pack as the trio, Mike Leal, Andy Hockenhull, Conway AR, and Kenny Basco, Malvern AR fought for the same piece of real estate. The eight words of "We are HUNGRY and the HEAT IS ON!, would have easily summed up the heat race action, but what is fine dining without a great appetizer? When it was time for the main dish to be served I didn't pull up my normal chair in the stands, but rather, was given the opportunity to dine in the infield.
The main event was served up in AMP fashion with driver introductions, command to start engines, and the four wide salute to the fans. With the caution light out, the original AMP flagman Will Essex dropped the green flag and we soon found ourselves elbow deep in some finger licking good racing. Mitchell, Beard, Diamant, and Tippen mixed it up for the top four spots and began to pull away from the rest of the field, while Hottinger, Wells Jr, Moyer Jr, Cole, and Henson grouped together to battle for the fifth thru tenth spots. Watching the race from the infield one gets an interesting taste of how much upper body work these drivers do as they manuver through the turns. I was also privy to a sneak peak of Gary Scott Christian's character after an early caution which brought him into the infield via the hook. While they worked on his car to get him off the hook, and sheet metal adjusted, Christian held his cool, let them do what they needed to do, and didn't hesitate to speed off leaving a wake of dust just in time to rejoin the field as the racing action resumed. Kyle Beard also showed good character by not giving up when spun out while running in the second postition, went to the back of the pack, and rebounded with a ninth place finish. As the laps quickly passed by it was all Jon Mitchell who held his line and sailed past the flag stand as the double checkers flew. As always, when I am a guest of the AMP family, I leave the track satisfied and well feed with some of the best racing there is in the area.
Heat One Starting Order: Allen Tippen, Jeff Wells Jr, Rachel York, Charlie Cole, Wayne Skinner, and Clay Fisher
Heat One Finishing Order: Allen Tippen, Jeff Wells Jr, Charlie Cole, Clay Fisher, Wayne Skinner, and Rachel York
Heat Two Starting Order: Ian Samuel, Tommy Surrett, Jon Mitchell, Terry Henson, and Shane Diamant
Heat Two Finishing Order: Jon Mitchell, Shane Diamant, Tommy Surrett, Terry Henson, and Ian Samuel
Heat Three Starting Order: Kyle Beard, Dalton Alexander, Dewaine Hottinger, Jon Kirby, and Billy Moyer Jr
Heat Three Finishing Order: Kyle Beard, Dewaine Hottinger, Moyer Jr, Jon Kirby, and Dalton Alexander
Heat Four Starting Order: Allen Murry, Gary Scott Christian, Andy Hockenhull, Mike Leal, and Kenny Basco
Heat Four Finishing Order: Gary Scott Christian, Allen Murry, Mike Lear, Andy Hockenhull, and Kenny Basco
Heat Winners Were: Allen Tippen, Jon Mitchell, Kyle Beard, and Gary Scott Christian
Feature Starting Grid:
5, 58X
76, 71A
86, 65,
1S, 2X
21JR, 13
2C, 99
U2, 11K
95H, 7
86B, 3D
B79, 27
Feature Finishing Order:
5 Jon Mitchell, Texarkana TX
65 Dewaine Hottinger, Russellville AR
71A Allen Tippen, Minden LA
76 Shane Diamant, Maumell, AR
1S Jeff Wells Jr, Trumann AR
U2 Terry Henson, N Little Rock AR
21JR Billy Moyer Jr, Batesville AR
2C Charlie Cole, Marianna AR
86 Kyle Beard, Trumann AR
11K Jon Kirby, Russellville AR
99 Clay Fisher, DeWitt AR
7 Wayne Skinner, Stuttgart, AR
13 Mike Leal, Omaha, NE
86B Ian Samuel, Trumann AR
58X Gary Scott Christian, Broken Bow OK
3D Dalton Alexander, West Memphis, AR
B79 Kenny Basco, Malvern AR
2X Allen Murry, San Antonio TX
95H Andy Hockenhull, Conway AR
27 Tommy Surrett, Little Rock, AR
11 Rachel York, Southhaven MS
GRT Pole Sitter Award was credited to 5 Jon Mitchell, Texarkana TX
Shaw Hard Charger Award was credited to U2 Terry Henson, N Little Rock AR
AMP Next Events-
June 13 Batesville Speedway, Locust Grove, ARK
June 14 I-30 Speedway, Little Rock, ARK
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