PRP Press Release

   Late Model driver R.J. Conley returned to winner’s circle Saturday night at Portsmouth Raceway Park and in doing so claimed the Buckeye Dirt Week Championship, guaranteeing the Wheelersburg racer a provisional starting spot in this October’s Dirt Track World Championship.

   It was Conley’s first win of the year at PRP, and it came with high stakes.  The win itself earned him $5,000, but the DTWC provisional he captured by claiming the Buckeye Dirt Week Championship will ensure that he’ll at least have a shot to race for $100,000 at PRP on October 20th.

   Joining Conley as feature winners Saturday were Ervin Vance in the Modifieds, John Melvin in the Limited Lates, and Brian Sammons, Sr. in the Sport Mods.

   The evening saw over 90 race teams flood the PRP pits, 29 of which were Late Models representing the states of Ohio, Kentucky, West Virginia, Indiana, and Pennsylvania.  The racing was intense all night, and as a whole, the evening brought tremendous speeds as the top nine Late Model competitors all qualified with times south of 15 seconds.

   Fairmont, WV’s Jared Hawkins set fast time in the Impact Race Gear Late Model Time Trials.  He would lead the first four circuits of the 40-lap Late Model A-Main before Conley took the lead with a bold pass entering turn three on lap five.

   Once out front, no one would have anything for the four-time PRP champ, as he kept the 71C Conley Trucking, Conley River Terminal, Rocket Chassis out front for the duration of the race.

   By winning the finale of Buckeye Dirt Week, Conley finished what was actually a five-race stretch over a nine-day period winning three of the five races which made up the event.

   Saturday marked the first time PRP had ever hosted a Buckeye Dirt Week race.  The event was co-sanctioned by the Mid-Ohio Valley Ultimate Super Late Model Series and the Battle of The Bluegrass Ultimate Super Late Model Series.

   Finishing behind Conley was Eddie Carrier Jr., who charged up through the field from eighth.  After fading back to seventh following his early-race battle for the lead with Conley, Jared Hawkins would climb back to third.

   Rod Conley, who ran second for most of the race would finish fourth and would earn runner-up honors to his younger brother in the Buckeye Dirt Week points.  As a result, Rod Conley will be awarded a provisional starting spot in The Jim Dunn Memorial later this year at Midway.

   Ryan Montgomery would round out the top five in Saturday’s Late Model A-Main with Duane Chamberlain, Michael Maresca, Jared Miley, Cody Mahoney, and Kenny Christy closing out the top 10.

 

Ervin Vance of Beaver, KY would claim the R.W. Rental and Supply Modified Feature.  The win marked the second of the season for the 2016 PRP track champ.  Tony DeHart, Adam Jordan, Justin Jacobs, Brayden Berry, Anthony Slusher, Matt Holcomb, Josh Thomas, Tyler Smith, and Matthew Edmisten rounded out the top 10.

 

The top 10 in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Limited Late Model A-Main were  John Melvin, Matt Melvin, Vincent Bender, Shane Bailey, Randy Ross, Jacob Curnutte, Billy Staker, Kevin Mullett, Cameron Logan, and Alan Salisbury.  The win was the second of the year for nine-time track champ John Melvin from Coal Grove.

 

Olive Hill, KY’s Brian Sammons, Sr. picked up his first win of the season in the EMC2 Party Rentals and Inflatables Sport Mods.  Derek Richmond, Luke Jordan, Brandon Walker, Brandon Colley, Rick Neace, Derek Spencer, Jeremy Brady, Brennan Bobst, and Tony Whitt made up the rest of the top 10.

 

PRP will be off this coming Saturday before returning to action on August 18th for the 24th annual running of The Fred Dillow Memorial.  On the card will be Late Models, Modifieds, Limited Lates, and Sport Mods.  The annual Dillow race will have increased payouts in all divisions as well as bonus money and prizes that will be sprinkled the fields of all classes.

 

For more details log on to www.freddillowmemorial.com.

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Late Model A-Main

1. 71C-RJ Conley [3]; 2. 10C-Eddie Carrier Jr [8]; 3. 11-Jared Hawkins [2]; 4. 71R-Rod Conley [7]; 5. 12-Ryan Montgomery [6]; 6. 20C-Duane Chamberlain [9]; 7. 7MM-Michael Maresca [1]; 8. 10M-Jared Miley [10]; 9. 23C-Cody Mahoney [17]; 10. C7-Kenny Christy [20]; 11. 6T-Tim Dohm [4]; 12. 71-Delmas Conley [12]; 13. 22-Austin Burns [24]; 14. B1-Josh Bocook [13]; 15. 21-Kenneth Howell [18]; 16. 33-Kevin Wagner [15]; 17. 23W-Walter Arthur [14]; 18. 1-Audie Swartz [19]; 19. 44-Mark Frazier [16]; 20. 10-Mike Meyers [22]; 21. 48L-Robbie Lewis [11]; 22. 32S-Chad Stapleton [21]; 23. 39-Zach Dohm [5]; 24. 42-Chris Garnes [23]

 

Modified A-Main

1. P20-Ervin Vance [5]; 2. 35-Tony DeHart [3]; 3. 13-Adam Jordan [9]; 4. 20J-Justin Jacobs [6]; 5. B75-Brayden Berry [8]; 6. 2-Anthony Slusher [1]; 7. 23H-Matt Holcomb [13]; 8. 96-Josh Thomas [15]; 9. 11S-Tyler Smith [10]; 10. 610-Matthew Edmisten [17]; 11. 66-Austin Linville [18]; 12. 73-Terrance Lemaster [20]; 13. 1J-John Brady Jr [14]; 14. 5-Tim Tribby [11]; 15. 20S-Brian Skaggs [2]; 16. 55-Kasey Black [16]; 17. 75-Eric Berry [4]; 18. 9F-Brian Sammons [12]; 19. X7-Jeremy Lewis [7]

 

Limited Late Model A-Main

1. 81-John Melvin [1]; 2. 81M-Matt Melvin [2]; 3. 29B-Vincent Bender [8]; 4. 1-Shane Bailey [10]; 5. 94-Randy Ross [6]; 6. 5C-Jacob Curnutte [3]; 7. 7S-Billy Staker [7]; 8. K73-Kevin Mullett [9]; 9. 68-Cameron Logan [5]; 10. 75-Alan Salisbury [12]; 11. 97C-Kevin Terry [13]; 12. 48-Boone Salmons [11]; 13. M-1-Harold Terry [14]; 14. 58-Evyian Terry [4]

 

Sport Mod A-Main

1. B5-Brian Sammons [1]; 2. 34-Derek Richmond [3]; 3. 13J-Luke Jordan [2]; 4. 19W-Brandon Walker [7]; 5. 11B-Brandon Colley [8]; 6. 12N-Rick Neace [12]; 7. 25S-Derek Spencer [10]; 8. B9-Jeremy Brady [14]; 9. 24B-Brennan Bobst [15]; 10. 7WB-Tony Whitt Sr [17]; 11. 24M-Bo McCarty [16]; 12. 14-Joe McClain [13]; 13. 8D-Stevie Thornsberry [19]; 14. 7J-Casey Jones [18]; 15. 24Z-Zack Pendleton [4]; 16. 16-Mikey Howard [9]; 17. 32-Greg Bentley [20]; 18. 13E-Emily Jordan [11]; 19. 88G-Cody Gifford [6]; 20. B75-Brayden Berry [5]