Fans night at Spring City Raceway

By Joe Dunn

Spring City raceway finished off their last night of racing with an emphasis on the fans. Before the nights racing action began, all of the cars were lined up on the track with the drivers standing by. All the fans were encouraged to leave the grandstands and head out onto the track to meet their favorite drivers.
With Halloween so close many of the kids were dressed in costume, and when the reached the track they discovered that nearly all of the drivers had bags of candy to pass out. It was a good night for the fans, kids and adults alike to meet the drivers, shake hands, pose for pictures and get autographs.
Joining in the spirit of the event was street stock driver Shorty Stewart as she stood by her car passing out candy while dressed as a green M&M candy. Heads turned when they saw her and the smiles just kept coming.

Sam Johnson, a Super Stock driver was voted the most popular driver and it was evident as fans young and old lined up at the 51 car waiting for autographs.

When the racing did get underway things progressed pretty smoothly through the heat races. The first feature race was the Mod Street class where Mike McGuire eventually took the checkered flag after the early leaders fell by the wayside. Todd Poole and Jackie Parks rounded out the top 3. Next up was the Super Street class where more action prevailed. In the end it was none other than Sam Johnson taking the checkered flag, followed by Jake Maloney and Taylor Sutton .

The big class of the night was the Limited Late Models, or at least it started as a big class, but some early clashes caused the field to shrink. Among the early casualties after doing some beating and banging was Gary Lively. When the dust settled it was Randy Runyan claiming victory with Mike Usry second and Jim Bolen third.
The Street Stock feature saw Charlie and Joe Godsey battling out front until they got together in turns 1 and 2. When the banging stopped both cars were hooked together and it took several track workers to free the cars. The call was made to restart the field and Joe Godsey was not all at happy with the call. To show his displeasure, he parked his car under the flag stand and exited the car to have a temper tantrum that did not belong on any race track. His childish actions delayed the race and prevented the race from being restarted. On an evening intended for the fans, including several children, his actions showed a complete lack of respect for the racers, fans and track officials, as well as an unsportsmanlike conduct that should not be tolerated. In the end, Yoder Godsey was declared the winner with Shorty Stewart second and Donnie Maloney third.
The Super Minis took the track next with Dyllis Devaney taking the checkered flag followed by Kenny Lemons and Jason Manley. The final race of the night was the Front Wheel Drives where Daniel Sizemore took an easy win over Charlie Godsey and Chad Pugh.