Towns County Herald’s Sporting News

NASCAR 2009 By Gerald Hodges/the Racing Reporter Local Racing MARTIN GETS FOURTH WIN car was really good the first Gordon to finish first and sec- “People in this sport Action OF SEASON few laps, but then it got really ond in the LifeLock 400 at know what they’re seeing. If I tight. So we had to make some Michigan in June and seeing was running 35th every week- JOLIET, Ill.—Mark adjustments. Had a close call them finish in the same order end or 25th every weekend by Carl Vanzura Martin is disproving the theory there with Carl (Edwards). We at Chicagoland, sweepstakes they might say, ‘He ain’t got that older drivers can’t win in lost a bunch of positions. It was winners Donna and Richard it no more, he’s washed up.’ Murphy’s Jacob Anderson takes Mid-Season championship the NASCAR Sprint Cup Se- basically just fighting back from Musgrave of Newcastle, Colo., But I don’t. When my car is Young Murphy driver Jacob Anderson set his sights on ries. His win Saturday night in that point on. won a $1-million prize. fast, I lead laps, and I run up the four foot trophy that goes with winning the Nesmith Crate the Lifelock.com 400 at Chi- “We got ourselves inside Top-20 Chase contenders front. It’s as simple as that. I Late Model Mid-Season Championship at Tri-County Race cago was his fourth victory of the top-10, which is still a great after 19 of 26: 1. Stewart-2884, know what I can do when my Track Saturday night. In a caution free 30-lap event, Ander- the 2009 season, more than any effort. Then, you know, the 2. J. Gordon-2709, 3. Johnson- stuff is right.” son led from the drop of the green until the checkered flag other driver. caution came out at the right 2672, 4. -2526, 5. “I never seen any of it waved. The finish at the end behind Anderson showed Seth And all four wins have time for (crew chief) Steve Hamlin-2457, 6. Edwards- coming [with Ganassi],” Truex Wimpey, Kevin Sutton, Kevin Bradshaw, Jason Deal, Terry come after he turned 50. Letarte to make an excellent 2438, 7. Newman-2385, 8. said. “The plan when I re- Ledford and Kurt English crossing the finish line. “That was fun,” Martin call to come and get four tires. Kahne-2336, 9. Montoya-2321, signed was to go back to four Thirteen super fast Sportsman took to the track in prepa- said. “That's what life's all The pit crew did its job getting 10. -2298, 11. Mar- cars, get some teammates in ration of next weeks Mid-Season Championship, and what a about right there. These guys us off basically first. At that tin-2296, 12. Kenseth-2295, 13. there that run well, and we race they put on for the fans. After several restart due to one (Martin's No. 5 point it was just trying to ma- Biffle-2285, 14. Reutimann- could get in there and be com- of the pole setters jump starting, the race settled down to crew) deserved to win. We neuver through the traffic.” 2219, 15. Bowyer-2169, 16. petitive together. Tiger, GA’s Wesley English and Morganton’s Bobby Panter could have parked the car (Fri- battled Vickers-2149, 17. Burton-2113, “Chip has been great to battling all night for the win, English held on with the top day) with an hour left in prac- Gordon during the closing laps 18. Ambrose-2078, 19. work with, and what he has to five going to Panter, Galen Robinson, Sammy Berrong and tice. I knew it was awesome. but had to settle for third. McMurray-1960, 20. Logano- work with really has helped us Doug Sneed. “But the best car doesn't “Well it’s still good, 1956 there. This year would have Murphy driver Chris Thompson drove his Monte Carlo usually win. The double-file said Kahne. “We’ve been on a Only the top-12 drivers been a lot tougher without that. to a popular win in the Modified Street feature over a hard restarts are to mess the best roll I would say for a while will be in the Chase for the But that wasn’t the way we charging Billy Roberson. The two ran door-to door almost car up so he doesn't win, to now. I’d say this is eight or Championship, which begins were supposed to head. I got the whole race. Brad Thomas, Heather Taylor and Brandon make it good for the fans -- and nine weeks straight where with race 27. promised a lot of things that Dills made it a close top five finish. it did -- but luckily we pulled we’ve been capable of running LOGANO IS CHICAGO just disappeared. A lot of After a close race between Hiawassee’s Steven Sofield it off anyway.” in the top-five or top-10 and we NATIONWIDE WINNER things changed, and that’s just and Hayesville’s Kurt Kelly which saw Kelly leading at half Martin pulled away af- finished it off tonight solid. We picked up how it goes.” way in the race, Kelly developed problems and pulled into ter a double-file restart with just have to keep it up.” his third NASCAR Nationwide Weekend Racing: The the pits. Sofield took the street Stock win followed by Charles two laps left in the race. He dodged one Series win of the season, and Sprint Cup teams are idle this Toomey and Josh Roberts. gained two positions to 11th in accident and rallied back from the fourth of his career, in weekend in preparation for The most exciting race of the night came in the Mini the standings and will have at a pit miscue and a flat tire to Saturday’s race at the next weekend’s race at the In- Stock feature that saw 13 of the 15 cars enter take the green least 40 bonus points for the finish fourth. . dianapolis Motor Speedway. flag. Right off of the bat, Sylva driver Justin Woodard and Chase, if he can hold a posi- “You always need strong Top-10 leaders after 18 The Nationwide Series goes to Andrevs driver Marty Clark followed by fellow Andrews tion in the top-12. nights like we had tonight,” said of 35: 1. Kyle Busch-2931, 2. Gateway International driver Adam Creekmore shot to the from with first Woodard His four wins are the Stewart “When you’re trying Edwards-2739, 3. Keselowski- Speedway,a 1.25-mile facilty and then Clark leading. Much like last week when Jeff Cooke most of any one season since to put yourself in a position to 2597, 4. Leffler-2527, 5. just across the river from St. and Casey Roberts had to work their way through lapped 1998, when he was driving for win a championship, consis- Logano-2395, 6. Allgaier-2140, Louis, MO. The Camping traffic in the Southern All Stars race, Clark, Woodard and . tency is the biggest thing. To 7. Bliss-2129, 8. Gaughan- World Trucks are at the 1.5- Creekmore drove with perfection. Ricky Dyer and Travis Martin took the check- be able to knock off top-fives 2080, 9. S. Wallace-2065, 10. mile . Robinson rounded out the top five. First time racer 14-year ered flag .415 seconds ahead of like we did tonight, that’s what Keller-2013 Sat., July 18, Camping old Kelah Hendon had a great sixth place finish as well as team- it’s going to take to win a cham- TRUEX TO MICHAEL World Trucks Built Ford WALTRIP RACING carrying the flag before the features started. mate . Kasey Kahne pionship. That’s what makes Tough 225, race 12 of 25; Tri-County races each Friday night with go karts and ran third, followed by series nights like tonight so crucial, is go- Starting time: 6:30 p.m. ing to scale back his 2010 rac- every Saturday night with stock cars on the program. points leader Tony Stewart and being able to battle back from (EDT); TV: Speed Channel. In other local racing action, Tony Knowles won at Dixie . some adversity.” ing scheule and concentrate Sat., July 18, Nation- more on his role as team Speedway, Anthony White won at Cleveland Speedway, Jeff Gordon did not lead Ryan Newman, pole sit- wide Missouri-Illinois Young Harris driver Randy Nichols won at Toccoa Speed- a lap in the race, but rallied ter , Jimmie owner. Replacing him will be Dealers 250, race 19 of 35; Martin Truex Jr. way and Jonathan Davenport set fast time at 311 Speedway late after taking four tires on a Johnson, and Juan Starting time: 9 p.m. (EDT); for the $4000 to win Carolina Clash race and led 35 laps of pit stop on lap 248 of the 267- Montoya completed the top-10. Waltrip will keep his TV: ESPN2. No. 55, and race in at least four the 40 lap event only to break and ended up 17th at the finish. lap race. Note: Martin is within Racing Trivia Question: Blairsville’s Brian Kinnersley won the Nesmith Crate Late “Our performance over- one victory of 's races - maybe as many as 12. Why is Indianapolis Motor Truex will be in the No. 56. Model feature Friday night at Sugar Creek Speedway in Blue all was so-so,” Gordon said. 1991 record of five wins in a Speedway often referred to as Ridge . Young Casey Elliot has been having some good runs “We definitely had a challeng- season by a driver 50 or older. Truex said the future of “The Brickyard?” was at Lanier Speedway in Flowery Branch. Take in a race this ing night. We started off, our … By picking Martin and Jeff Last Week’s Question: week end at one of your favorite tracks. much more solid than that of When was the first NASCAR Earnhardt Ganassi Racing, his race held at Indianapolis Mo- current team. tor Speedway? Answer. Aug. July 3rd Activities Day winners! “There is not a lot in 6, 1994. The winner was Jeff question here,” said Truex. Gordon. The Towns County Recreation “They have all their ducks in a You may contact the row. They know what they’re Department held its annual Racing Reporter at: doing. They know where [email protected] Activity Day on July 3. The they’re headed. That’s com- weather was great, and all of fortable for me. I feel like their the participants seemed to cars on the race track are run- ning great, and we’re just re- have an enjoyable day. Here are ally starting to see what they’re a few of the winners who capable of on the track.” competed that day. Truex is 24th in points, while his teammate Juan Montoya is 11th . Steven Sofield added another win at Tri-County. “I am running with Montoya, but I’m not finishing Photo by Jack Appleget (with him),” Truex said. “It’s 3 Legged Race not necessarily that I’m not Chaiz Davenport happy with the performance Herald’s sports quote of the week Jonathon Watson over there or they’re not doing the things or making good cars because we’ve had good cars “If you think the last four words of the na- and run well. … I know what I and team owner tional anthem are 'Gentlemen, start your en- can do. People out there know Rick Hendrick after Martin’s what I can do. Chicago win gines,' you might be a redneck.” Towns County Herald - Jeff Foxworthy, comedian Local sports and racing covered by North Georgia Rapids Swim Team Lowell Nicholson Men’s Homerun Derby Charles Duncan B.J. Bush Jim & Lisa Bryant Jerry Kendall and Carl Vanzura

11 & under Homerun Derby Jonathan Watson 10 and under baseball team

The North Georgia Rap- beautiful rosette ribbons for ids Swim Team recently headed their efforts. All team mem- south to Winder, Georgia to com- bers swam personal best times pete in the North Georgia Swim and were pleased with their Youth Single’s Horseshoes League Pentathlon Swim Meet. team’s achievements. Jonathan Everett Eleven teams, consisting of over The team practices at 250 swimmers participated in this the Blue Ridge Mountain Fit- popular summer meet. ness Club’s saltwater pool Front row: Trey Chastain, Cole Ledford, Kobe With family vacations im- year round. New team mem- Men Single’s Horseshoes pacting the team’s numbers, the bers are always welcome with Ray Everett Denton, Zachary Davenport, Jacob Parker team sent only seven swimmers ages ranging from six to eigh- Middle row: Nicholas McConnell, Major Moss, to compete. Of those seven, five teen. For more information finished within the top seven of contact swim coach Barry Gay Willem DeVries, Jackson Taylor, Brody Graper their age group, taking home at 706-835-1662. Back row: Coaches Brett Davenport, Kevin Parker Not pictured: Russel Cox 2009 Rec Dept Summer Day Camp Towns County Recreation Children need to bring Depeartment’s Summer Day a swimsuit, towel, sprayable Camp is here for boys and girls sunscreen and sack lunch. The ages 6 thru 12. The session runs Recreation department will two weeks, Monday thru Friday furnish the drinks for the Chatuge Shores golf scores from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. campers. Sessions will be as follows: Registration will be the The following are scores from the last two weeks. Session IV July 20 - July 3l first Monday of each session 7-2-09 Winning team is George Darden, Robert Lyle, The fee for the session is at the Recreation Department Gene Hinson, Score 65, Under -7 $120, payable to the Towns located on Hwy. 76 west of Men’s Doubles Horeshoes 14 & under Homerun Derby 7-9-09 Winning team is Bill Kiser, Tom Moyher, Rob- County Recreation Department Hiawassee. For more info, Ricky Moss & Dennis Moss Jordan Denton ert Lyle, Score 67, Under -5 the first Monday of each session. call 706-896-2600.

July 16 2009 sports.p65 2 7/13/2009, 8:42 AM