Knepley wins Raintree tune up

Scott Knepley of Greensboro won the Late Model feature Saturday night making him one of the favorites to win the upcoming Raintree 100 next Saturday.

Knepley start inside row two by virtue of Jim Logan of Knightstown and Bill Pierce of New Castle electing to give up their starting position an start at the rear of the field. Joe Woodring of Muncie started on the pole and led the first lap. Knepley quickly disposed of Woodring on lap two and went on to lead the rest of the way for the win. Terry Cater of New Castle tried to get under Knepley in the short turn on lap 9 but Knepley slammed the door shut forcing Cater off the track which let Eric Evans of Greenfield take over second. Cater was able to get back around Evans on lap 25 but could not mount a serious challenge on Knepley over the final 5 laps. Cater finished second followed by Evans, William Mefford of Knightstown who was the “Tail Gunner” for the evening, Brandon Mefford of Knightstown, Woodring, Bill Clark of Rushville, Pierce, Ross Lane of Greensburg and Logan. Evans set fast time at 16.713; Brandon Mefford won the Razzles Dash for Cash with William Mefford and Woodring winning the heats.

Neil Marcum of Morristown kept his perfect record intact in the Thompson Builders Thunder Car by winning for the fourth time this year. Marcum was the beneficiary of Jason Heaston of Rushville and Cody Walker of Sulphur Springs who were unable to start the feature and Colby Lane of Knightstown and Jack Claborn electing to start at the rear of he field which allowed Marcum to start the feature in third position. Marcum took the lead on lap 2 from Jesse Bilbrey of Markleville who led the first lap. Marcum got a serious challenge from Pam Neal but Neal had to settle for second. Andrew Walker of Sulphur Springs finished third followed by Bilbrey, Jack Claborn, Lane, Chris Bolyard of Rushville, Paul Starks of Fortville, Kevin Claborn of Cambridge City and Jesse Casperson of Muncie. Kevin Claborn set a new track record in qualifications at 17.765 and had his sites set on Marcum as moved to a close second on lap ten but something broke in the motor and he was forced to retire on lap 11. Kevin did win Thompson Builder Dash for Cash and the first heat with heat number two going to Andrew Walker.

Seventeen MC Auto Repair Hornets started the feature event with Jeff Sorrell of Mooreland taking the lead on lap one and leading the first four laps. Chase Lane of Knightstown took over on lap 5 and appeared to be on his way to feature win, but fast qualifier Jared Keller of Anderson had other ideas. Keller started dead last and it took him 14 laps to get to the third spot. On lap 16 Keller moved around Doug Sorrell of New Castle and finally got around Lane on lap 19 of the 20 lap affair. Lane was second followed by Doug Sorrell, Brian Lewis of Indianapolis, Freddie Marlow of New Castle, Keith Morris of New Castle, Larry Hughes Jr who took a wild ride over the timing light hump and in the process took a portion of the infield sod home with him stuck to the underside of his car, Ryan Morefield of Cambridge City and Joyce Dyer of Greenfield to round out the top ten. Keller’s fast time was 19.559; Dyer won the MC Auto Repair Dash for Cash with Sorrell boys winning the heats.

Kenny Boykin of New Castle won the Lucas Quality Muffler Street Drags.

Next week will be the 41^st running of the Raintree 100 with Mt Lawn Late Models going 100 laps for a $2000 top prize.