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Harris/Swaim Earn Wins at Tri-County

Hudson, North Carolina (June 9, 2006) - Finally, racing action resumed at Tri-County Motor Speedway Friday night under a full moon, along with a couple weeks of down time for racers, made for exciting racing and fans were treated to serious racing action and surprises.

The evening started off with the May 26^th make-up races and Rock Harris etched his name into the history book with his first win of the season in the Late Model Stock portion and Monty Cox soared into victory lane to claim the Pepsi Super Stock Challenge.

The evening ended with Travis Swaim making the trip to the winner’s circle in his first visit to the speedway and the Super stock race was declared a three way tie for the win with Scott Franklin, Kaleb Pressley and Monty Cox all celebrating in victory lane.

In the first Late Model Stock race, Harris started on the front row, along with Josh Goble and was able to get out front at the drop of the green and while Goble and Waycaster were battling for second, Harris was able to pull away enough to be comfortable, until the first caution on lap 10.  As the field came to green again, Harris was able to maintain the lead while watching the action continue in his rear view mirror.  Ricky Bryant was able to move past Waycaster on lap 22 in his charge to the front and then claimed second from Goble on the white flag lap to earn second.  Goble was third, Dexter Canipe, Jr. fourth and Travis Swaim was fifth.

Waycaster fell to sixth, Travis Jarrett was seventh, Lee Tissott eighth, Kevin Leicht ninth and Bruce Green was tenth.

In the Pepsi Super Stock Challenge portion of the make-up races, Monty Cox was leading when the rain came, on May 26^th, and was determined to not let that race get away after a two week delay.

Jeffrey Worley started on the front row with Steve Parris, and Worley was able to get the lead at the start, but by lap three Parris was able to move past to lead the field.  In the meantime, Franklin, Cox and Mark Livingston were staging a wild battle to get to the front, often racing three wide while in traffic.

Parris kept the lead for a short time and David Messer took his turn at the front, but by lap six Cox had come from the seventh starting spot to the lead, with Franklin, who started tenth, hot on his trail to second.

Just before Cox got the lead the field came under a red flag for a serious turn three crash involving Worley, Brian Stahl, Kaleb Pressley and Tim Aultman.  Aultman and Pressley returned to the race, but Stahl and Worley’s evening ended in the pits.  None of the drivers were injured.

As the race resumed, a classic battle for lead unfolded between Cox and Franklin, and due to the time limit, the race ended at 20 laps with Cox in victory lane.  Franklin claimed second with Mark Livingston third, Parris fourth and Aultman fifth.

In the regularly scheduled racing program, Travis Jarrett started the Late Model Stock feature on the pole, with Nick Waycaster on the outside.  Waycaster seemed to have his racer dialed in as he took the lead on lap one, while Jarrett had to battle with his teammate, Travis Swaim.   Swaim took over second, but was not able to get by Waycaster.

On lap 15 the first caution flew and as the field restarted, Waycaster still leading Swaim, but the second caution came on lap 36 when Waycaster  developed engine problems and left debris on the track. Waycaster’s best run of the season came to an abrupt end and Swaim was on the point in his first time racing on the 4/10 mile oval.     Ricky Bryant had worked his way up to restart in second, but was unable to catch Swaim.

With Swaim earning his first Late Model Stock win, Bryant came home second, and another new face, Marc Davis, rounded out the top three.  Davis, a member of the Joe Gibbs Racing program, seemed to have the handle on the tough track, as did Swaim.

Lee Tissot was fourth, Kevin Leicht was fifth, Goble sixth, Jarrett seventh, Harris eighth, Eric Green ninth and Jason Cochran tenth.

The second Super Stock race kept fans on their feet and officials on their toes, as in the end the race was a three way tie for the win for the first time in Tri-County Motor Speedway history.

James Dolan and Steve Parris shared the front row behind the pace car and as the pace car dropped from the track and field came to green, Parris was able to grab the lead while Dolan stuttered on the spot and fell back into heavy traffic.  By lap three Pressley had the point with Franklin and Cox following close.  The three racers put on a show fans will not long forget as all three were seeing trophies on the mantle.  Franklin got past Pressley on lap 16, all the while Cox was biding his time and hoping the top two would make a mistake.  Pressley and Franklin continued the battle down to the white flag and Cox knew he had to be ready and when the two were continuing to battle for the win in the most exciting race of the season.  As the top two came off of turn four for the checkers, they made contact but were able to hold on, while Cox hoped for the best and dove to the inside and the three crossed the line side-by-side in a dead heat.

All three came to victory lane to celebrate.  All three will receive credit for the win.  All the while, Ricky Brown sat back and watched the action unfold in front of him as he earned fourth. Mark Livingston was fifth, Parris was sixth,  Aultman seventh, Shawn Day eighth, Jason Franklin ninth and Jessica Barlowe tenth.

At the start of the Street Stock race, Gary Lovelace and Mike Hatton shared the front row and in an exciting start, David Manis, hungry for his first win, came from the sixth starting spot all in one lap to take the lead.

Manis was leading, with Kevin Hensley in second, but in third, Waylon Flynn was on the move.  By lap five, Flynn was in second with his sight set on Manis and by lap six his mission was accomplished.  Meanwhile, Ernie Harris had his sight set on Flynn from eighth.  It took Harris until lap 18 to get to second and ready to challenge Flynn, but was unable to gain one more spot and Flynn crossed the line first and Harris had to settle for second. Kevin Townsend was third, Kevin Eby fourth, and Marshall Sutton completed the top five.

In the Mini Stock feature, Doug Setzer was able to get his first win of the season, but had to battle with Waylon Flynn and AJ Sanders to get to the checkered flag. Flynn seemed to be ready to take another win until his Toyota slowed and Sanders was able to lead th next lap, but when the cars returned back to the line it was Setzer out front and he was able to stay there until the end.  Sanders was second, with George Anen third, Tyler Church fourth and Matt Leicht was fifth.

The Baton Tire Fast and Furious lived up to the name with Nikki Long taking her second win.  Shelby Waycaster had the early lead and then Jackie Stone moved into the top spot and then Jason Garwood took his turn on the point, but Long picked them off one-by-one and with three laps to go, Garwood was last on her list and she took over the lead to go on for the win.

Garwood was second, Stone third, Stephen Shore fourth and Waycaster was fifth.

Jeff Banks brought out a new Tri-County Mini and it proved to be just as fast as the previous ride.  He was able to hold off Tyler Baird, who was looking for his second win of the season.  With Baird finishing second, Travis Cook was third, Matt Sizemore fifth and Drew Bagwell fifth.

For complete rundowns in all divisions, check our website at www.tricountymotorspeedway.com.

Official Results June 9, 2006 Tri-County Motor Speedway 

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