Winchester Speedway
May 12, 2012
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Winchester Streak Extended as “The Jet” Lands in Victory lane
Anderson First to Repeat With LLM Score

by Doug Watson
Winchester, VA- Mechanicsville Md.’s Jamie “The Jet” Lathroum was triumphant for the first time this season in last Saturday nights, 35-lap Raye Vest Memorial qualifier, at the Winchester speedway. Lathroum’s win, worth $2400, made him the fifth different late model winner in the five races contested at the track this season.

Ronnie DeHaven Jr. and Jeremy Miller brought the 24-car starting field to the initial green flag of the event. Miller drove to the race lead as the pack entered turn-one, with DeHaven in tow. Miller’s lead would only last five-laps as DeHaven surged into the race lead on lap-six. DeHaven was on a rail and appeared as though he would score his second Winchester win of the season, However, Jamie Lathroum had other ideas. Lathroum reached second by the ninth-lap and dogged DeHaven over the next ten-laps before he would make, what would be, the winning pass on lap-twenty. Lathroum would then have to survive one late-race yellow flag, before scoring the win by a half-straightaway over DeHaven.

“We Were beginning to doubt ourselves.” Lathroum stated in his post-race interview. “After Potomac last night, we changed so much stuff on the car, we had to find a way to get out of this slump we’ve been in.” A solid qualifying effort played a key role in Lathroum’s winning drive. “We timed well tonight and that put us up front for the heat race. I though we’d be pretty good for the feature, But Ronnie (DeHaven) is really good here and when he got the lead I just had to wait until the time was right to make my move. I just want to thank Doc (Oliver) Huey and all the boys for sticking with me.” Defending WoO late model champion Rick Eckert was third, Keith Jackson was fourth and Jeremy Miller settled for fifth at the finish. Setting fast time in time trials over the 32-car field was Ronnie DeHaven Jr. with a one-lap time of 15.782. Heats went to DeHaven, Miller and Eckert with Nick Dickson winning the consolation.

Andy Anderson drove to his second win of the season in the 20-lap limited late model feature. Anderson started fourth and would take the race lead from Justin Weaver on the fifth-lap and then held off a late race rush by Brad Ritter to post the win. Weaver held on for third, Tanner Kerr came from twelfth to finish fourth and Jonathon DeHaven completed the top-five. Heats for the 22 cars on hand went to Anderson and Kris Eaton.

Mike Franklin became yet another new winner with his first win of the season in the 15-lap pure stock feature. Franklin started second, but would eventually lead every lap to score the win over two-time class winner Buddy Wilson. Mike Corbin was third, Terry Staton took fourth and Matt Kerns filled the front-five. Heats for the 16 cars entered went to Franklin and David Kaiser.

Randy Linaburg drove to an emotional win in the 15-lap four-cylinder main. The race was run in honor of former class champion Mark Digges, who passed away two-weeks ago. Linaburg and Scott McCartney swapped the lead back and forth for several laps before Linaburg took the lead for good on the ninth-lap. McCartney held on for second, Lester Riley was third, Jeff Koller fourth and defending class champion Tommy Whitt completed the top-five. Heats for the 14 cars on hand went to Linaburg and Whitt.

Dustin Proctor made his first start of the season a good one as he took top honors in the 15-lap enduro stock feature. Proctor started fourth and would take the top-spot for good on lap-two. “Krazy” Kenny Thomas was second after starting eighth, Mark Vegh collected third, Ray Priest fourth and last weeks winner Bryan Green rounded out the top-five. Heats for the 15 cars signed in went to Vegh and Priest.

Kevin Pollard became the first repeat winner of the season with his second triumph of 2012 in the nightcap 15-lap u-car feature. Pollard started on the pole and lead all but one-lap of the race to score the win over Travis Carroll, who continued his five-race streak, of top-two feature finishes. Kevin Oates came from twelfth to finish third, eighteenth-starting Tom Paddock was fourth and Joey Strosnider completed the top-five. Heats for the 30 car field went to Steve Fadeley, Pollard and Strosnider.


Late Model feature finish
1. Jamie Lathroum 2. Ronnie DeHaven Jr. 3. Rick Eckert 4. Keith Jackson 5. Jeremy Miller 6. Jason Covert 7. Roy Deese Jr. 8. Kyle Hardy 9. David Williams 10. Stevie Long 11. Gary Stuhler 12. Brian Tavenner 13. Daryl Hills 14. Keith Barbara 15. Kenny Pettyjohn 16. Kenny Moreland 17. Nick Dickson 18. Mark Pettyjohn 19. CS Fitzgerald 20. Brad Omps 21. Jason Miller 22. Ron Delano 23. DJ Myers 24. Bo Feathers DNQ- Jerry Bard, Trever Feathers, David Watts, Tony Crim, Gerald Davis, Tommy Armel, Tyler Hershey, Pancho Lawler.

Limited late model feature finish
1. Andy Anderson 2. Brad Ritter 3. Justin Weaver 4. Tanner Kerr 5. Jonathon DeHaven 6. Tyler Emory 7. Kris Eaton 8. Will Rowe 9. Eddie Groome 10. Richard Walls 11. Jacob Burdette 12. Jimmy Richards 13. Justin Shriver 14. James Lichliter 15. Kevin Deremer 16. Sam Jenkins 17. Kris Holliday 18. Jeff King 19. Keith Walls 20. Tom Chaffins 21. Dallas Richards 22. Neil Alexander

Pure stock feature finish
1. Mike Franklin 2. Buddy Wilson 3. Mike Corbin 4. Terry Staton 5. Matt Kerns 6. Brian Luttrell 7. Donnie Kenney 8. Mike Warrenfeltz 9. Danny Sullivan 10. Michael Carter 11. Craig Parrill 12. Mike Grady Jr. 13. Eddie McClellan 14. David Kaiser 15. Dylan Rutheford 16. Dave Alley

Four-Cylinder feature finish
1. Randy Linaburg 2. Scott McCartney 3. Lester Riley 4. Jeff Koller 5. Tommy Whitt 6. Ed Gageby 7. Austin Stover 8. Sonny Hatzell 9. Robbie Holmes 10. Kody Dennis 11. Jesse Boyce 12. Allen Whitt Jr. 13. Robert Plaugher Jr. 14. Bryan Neff

Enduro stock feature finish
1. Dustin Proctor 2. “Krazy” Kenny Thomas 3. Mark Vegh 4. Ray Priest 5. Bryan Green 6. Jamie Mills 7. Devon Riley 8. Danny Holmes 9. Gary Moreland 10.Gary Proctor 11. Daniel Bowden 12. Jonsey Jones 13. Lane Hessong 14. Rodney Minor 15. Bill Hargett

U-Car feature finish
1. Kevin Pollard 2. Travis Carroll 3. Kevin Oates 4. Tom Paddock 5. Joey Strosnider 6. Brenda Alexander 7. Josh Wilkins 8. Robert Wilson 9. Ronnie Bolstridge 10. Jason Wilkins 11. Justin Katz 12. Robert Perry 13. Allen Jones 14. Cody Sweeney 15. Kevin Welsh 16. Jeff Oster 17. Alan Dice 18. Chas Schneider 19. Randy Wilkins 20. Reese Alley 21. Kim Breeden 22. Michael Pfaff 23. Heavy Shanholtzer 24. Chris Kline 25. Gene Wilson 26. David Funk Jr. 27. Jeff Wilkins 28. Steve Fadeley 29. Steve Katz 30. Richard Locke