In my coverage of this week’s racing at Huntsville Speedway, I mentioned the wreck during the Buzz feature involving Garrett Finley in car number 8 and John Barnett in car number 46. I stated that it appeared that Barnett came down on Finley on the back stretch. After viewing the video taken from Barnett’s number 46 car, I’ll stand by that opinion. I don’t think Barnett pinched Finley intentionally, but it does appear that he veered to the left going down the back stretch. Garrett Finley also told me after the race that there was no way anything that happened was intentional. In my opinion, this is all good hard racing. Pay close attention to this video around 3:15.

If you would like to discuss this or any other race, leave a comment or contact me.

The first race of the day was the Dwarf 600 heat race. It didn’t take long for Freddy Prosser Jr. from Shelbyville, Tennessee to find his way to the front in the red number 12 car. Prosser lead from lap three until the checkered flag waved with the only serious challenge coming from Jeff Smith in car number 11. Smith had to settle for second, followed by Mike Reed, Troy Taylor, and Michael Brown.

The next race brought the first crash of the afternoon in the Dwarf Modified Division. Michael Brown in car number 17 got together with Troy Taylor in number 97 on the very first lap of this eight-lap heat race. Taylor made significant contact with the outside retaining wall in the turn two area, sending one of his wheels flying twenty feet into the air. Taylor’s number 97 car then flipped on the back stretch and came to a rest upside down. There were no injuries. It wasn’t long until the crashing continued, again involving Michael Brown in number 17. Brown smacked the wall coming out of turn two and was then collected by the number 22 car of Jeff Smith. Brown was out for the day but Smith was able to continue the race. After all the carnage was swept away, Freddy Prosser Jr. picked up his second win of the evening with Mike Reed second in number 00. Michael Wood came home third followed by Jeff Smith and Don Walls.

One of the best races of the day was in the Baby Grand Division. The Baby Grand cars are powered by a 1300cc Yamaha engine. They have been clocked coming out of turn four at Huntsville Speedway at sixty miles per hour. Shannon Donathan started the race on the pole in car number 5 with Hendersonville, Tennessee’s Ronnie Binkley on the outside in car number 25. Binkley was fast on the outside and managed to retain enough momentum to take the lead on the first lap. Cole Williams drove the smoking number 46 car into third place in the first half of the race. Lapped traffic became a factor in the later stages of the race but the slower cars politely moved to the high side of the track and let the leaders go by. Ronnie Binkley held on to win the feature with Shannon Donathan second. Cole Williams finished third despite a lot of smoke coming from the car. Blake Isenberg was fourth and Frank Dye fifth.

The Dwarf 600 cars hit the track again next for their feature race. Freddy Prosser Jr. lead early from the pole. Jeff Smith in number 11 mounted some serious challenges in the early laps, but Prosser held him off to take a big lead. Smith’s door started flying open in the turns on lap seventeen and he began losing more ground to Prosser. Mike Reed in number 56 began closing in on Smith. Reed managed to overtake Smith for second position on lap twenty-three. Prosser cruised to victory in the number 12 car with Reed second, Jeff Smith third, Michael Brown fourth, and Hunter Sanders fifth.

The afternoon’s next race was the Super Stock feature. Bobby Varnon started on the pole in the familiar K-9 Camaro. Guile Hornbuckle was on the outside of the front row. Hornbuckle got a little squirrely coming off of turn two on the first lap, lost control, and collected the number 57 car of Billy Byrd. Byrd had a cut tire and missing right front fender and door panels. Hornbuckle was out for the day, but Byrd continued after his crew changed the tire. After the restart, Varnon took the lead with Clayton Hopkins on his bumper in car number 49. Varnon slipped around a bit coming off the turns, but worked the slower traffic like a pro and held on for the win. Clayton Hopkins ended up finishing second, Clay Joseph third, Billy Byrd fourth, and Ricky Reed fifth. Varnon said, “I want to thank Clayton Hopkins for running a clean race. This means I’ve won a race every decade for the last six.”

It was a great side-by-side start in the Super Truck Division until Shannon Berry blew an engine as he took the green flag. After all of the oil and water was mopped up, Chris Wagner took the early lead. William Weaver’s number 10 truck was smoking under acceleration. Weaver pulled into the pits with mechanical problems on lap four just as Jon Henegar got a run to the inside of leader Chris Wagner. Wagner showed some serious horsepower as he held on through turns one and two on the outside, and powered past Henegar down the back stretch. Bill Mahan in the number M1 truck slipped past Jon Henegar into second place, and Mitchell Walls followed Mahan through into third. That dropped Jon Henegar back to fourth. Parker Henegar powered past Jon Henegar for fourth; Bill Mahan slipped a little, allowing Mitchell Walls to take second, all on lap nineteen. On the next lap, Jon Henegar pulled into the pits with a mechanical problem. Parker Henegar in the number 35 truck began applying pressure to the back bumper of Mahan’s ride. After a caution for the spinning truck of Robbie Edger, Mitchell Walls and Parker Henegar chose to go to the outside for the restart. Mitchell Walls wasted no time taking the lead from the outside on the restart. Walls cruised to victory in the Super Truck feature. Despite some aggressive challenges from Parker Henegar, Chris Wagner managed to cross the line second. Wagner was later disqualified in the post-race inspection for lack of a torque converter. That moved Parker Henegar into second, Bill Mahan to third, and Robbie Edger to fourth. William Weaver was credited with a fifth place finish.

The Dwarf Modified cars were back on the track next for their feature race. Freddy Prosser Jr. started on the pole by virtue of his heat race win. Mike Reed in car number 00 and Michael Wood in number 15 put on a great show as they battled for the second position. Wood was glued to the bumper of the double-zero car of Reed, pushing him down the front stretch on at least two occasions. After several laps of bumping and side by side racing, Wood finally took second on lap eighteen. Prosser lead the entire race while Wood came home second. Third went to Mike Reed followed by Don Walls in fourth and Jeff Smith in fifth.

Rick Simmons in car number 156 started on the poll for the Pro Buzz feature race. Brandon Thornton in number 16 pulled to the inside of Simmons on lap two, but Simmons was having none of it. Simmons turned down on Thornton on the back stretch, causing a flat tire on the number 16 car of Thornton. After the restart, Jeremy Bright in the number J00 tried to pull inside of Simmons with the same results. It appeared that Rick Simmons was doing a great job of blocking anybody who attempted to pass on the inside. Price continued to try to work his way around Simmons until his engine erupted in smoke. Mark Collins eased into the top spot amid all the commotion and continued on to win the feature. David LaCourse ended up second in car number 62. Rick Simmons was third followed by Karen Edger and Jeremy Bright.

A good field of cars took the green flag for the Mini Stock feature race. Casey Clark started on the pole in car number 57 but it was Ryan Price from Dora, Alabama in car number 7 who took the early lead from the outside pole. After a caution for the spinning number 85 car of Joe Davis, Casey Clark and Bill Newland opted to restart from the outside. After a few more laps, Davis looped it again, this time in turn one. Apparently Chris Chamberlan didn’t see Davis’s car parked facing oncoming traffic. Chamberlan drove the white number 7 car head on into Davis’s car at near full race speed, causing extensive damage to both cars. After another restart and a few more laps of racing, the number 57 car of Casey Clark began applying pressure to the rear bumper of Bill Newland’s number 44 car. Clark gave Newland a nudge in turns three and four but Newland held fast and Clark lost control. Clark ended up near the outside wall on the front stretch, facing oncoming traffic. Clark was slammed head-on by Allen Robinette in the number 4 car. No drivers were injured in the crash. Ryan Price stayed out of trouble and lead the entire race to take home the trophy. Bill Newland cruised to a second place finish. Tommy Robinette ended up third with Wayne Earnest fourth and Mark Collins fifth.

The Hot Shots came out next for their feature race. This race was so full of action there really was no way to keep up with all of it. A caution on lap seven knocked out the number 6 car of Jerry Glover as well as the number 13 and 1/2 car of Allen Maxwell. After the restart Chris Cole got the meat-in-the-sandwich treatment as he got squeezed between PJ Zimmerman who was driving the Real Deal number 31 car and Ray Woods in number 94. Steve Edwards took the lead in car number 1 on lap eight and never looked back. Charlie Melvin in the number 154 car came on strong to finish second and might have won the race had he a few more laps. James Woods ended up third followed by PJ Zimmerman and Bobby Campbell. The Excedrin headache number five beatin’ and bangin’ awards for the race go to Ray Glover in car number 5x and Chris Cole in number 27. You just had to be there.

Garrett Finley started on the pole and lead the early laps in the Buzz feature race. John Barnett in car number 46 closed rapidly on Finley. Barnett gave Finley a little nudge but it did more harm than good. Barnett was able to run Finley down again in short order to take the lead on lap ten. Finley wasn’t about to give up as he worked the bumper on Barnett’s car. Finley got an inside run on Barnett on the back stretch, but Barnett decided there was no room for anybody down there. Barnett turned down into the number 8 car. Finley held his line and Barnett’s number 46 ended up hitting the inside wall. Both cars were able to continue. After all was said and done, Wes Helton ended up in victory lane in the number 15 car. Garrett Finley finished second followed by John Barnett, Jason Moore, and Justin Taylor. I had a chance to speak briefly with Garrett Finley after the race. Garrett told me that whatever happened between him and John Barnett in the number 46 car was “not intentional whatsoever.” Finley also said he had brake problems near the end of the race which caused him to fall off the pace slightly.

There is absolutely too much live racing action at Huntsville Speedway to report all of it. You need to be there, and next weekend would be a great time to get out to the track for the Pack the Track 100-lap Modified feature. This race will pay $2000 to the winner, and grandstand admission is only $5 for adults. Many support divisions will also be competing including the always exciting Sportsman division as well as the Hot Shots and Super Stocks.