_________________________________________________________

A&G Coal Night at the Races

by: Shawn Peters, 84expo.com

Coeburn, Virginia (August 5, 2008) - Saturday night short track action returned to ASA Sanctioned Lonesome Pine Raceway to kick off the month of August in style. A large crowd of 2000 plus witnessed a great show. The night's racing action was sponsored by the A& G Coal Corporation and featured the familiar Pure-4, Mod-4, Charger, Street Stock, and Late Model Divisions. Also on schedule for the evening was the touring Super Cup Stock Car Series events.

The LPR debut of the Super Cup Stock Car Series was a thriller! Jimmie Crabtree Jr. (63) had won the A&G Pole Award earlier in the evening by .005 seconds. However, he would start third on the grid after a series rule mandating that the top 6 qualifiers "draw straws". The beneficiary of the random drawing was the 3rd fastest qualifier Mike Kurkowski (67). The top 7 qaulifiers were within .2 seconds.

Kurkowski would lead the first lap of the event. On lap 2, he was overtaken by Wally Schweitzer (44). Schweitzer would lead until lap 11 when Crabtree moved his way back into the lead. He was followed by Wally Schwiezer (44), Ryan Miller (71), and new crowd favorite Megan Reitenour (92). On lap 12, Mike Williams (24) lost a tire, sending him into a spin and bringing out the first caution of the race. Shortly after the ensuing restart, Joe Harrison III (75) quietly worked his way into the top 5 on the leader board. Throughout the mid portion of the event, Ryan Miller challenged Crabtree for the lead but was unable to take the position. On lap 53, Reitenour made a move on Miller to take the 2nd position and quickly set her eyes on the leader. By lap 62, Reitenour was on the rear bumper of Crabtree, leading to a 10-lap battle for the top position with Crabtree on the high line and Reitenour on the low line. The battle culminated with contact by Reitenour, sending the two leaders spinning through turns 3 and 4 on lap 72. When the green flag was shown to the field, Ryan Miller found himself in the lead, followed by Harrison, Schwiezer, Crabtree, and Reitenour. On lap 77, Reitenour made a pass on Crabtree to take the 3rd position; however, Crabtree dumped the #92 in the next turn leading to a yellow flag and a rough driving penalty for the driver of the #63. Harrison calmly stalked the leader for a couple of laps before making the pass for the lead on lap 82 of the race. With 14 laps remaining, the #71 of Ryan Miller and Schwiezer made contact exiting turn 4, which sent Schwiezer into a spin bringing out the final caution of the night.

Harrison would hold off Ryan Miller and Megan Reitenour to claim his first career victory in the Super Cup series in only his 5th career stock car race after a long career in go-karts. "This is awesome! I just saved my tires early on and in the end, we got the lead and had good tires to make the run to the Checkered Flag! The best part was doing the burnouts aftewards, replied Harrison in victory lane. Rounding out the top five were Jimmie Crabtree Jr. and Wally Schwiezer. Crabtree also lead the halfway and most laps in the event.

_________________________________________________________