Results of Bentonville 200 and Race of Champions

The car count was down due to the start of the local dirt track racing season but the enthusiasm and excitement level was still high at "The Cave" Friday night as eight drivers qualified. Matt was once again the quickest qualifier with a lap time of 2.506 seconds which earned him the coveted starting pole position in Heat #1. Matt and JP raced each other hard all night and it began in Heat #1 where Matt held on for the win. The second quickest qualifier, Dwain, started on the pole in Heat #2. Rick was the winner of Heat #2. The B-Main was run next after giving late arrival Tim S., who tacked onto the rear of the field, a few practice laps. The top four would transfer to the feature. The finishing order was: JP, Tyler, Mikey, and Tim S., filling out the field for the Bentonville 200, and then Mike P., Dwain, and Mike F. (motor problems). The Race of Champions was next up on the schedule. This race involved six past winners at "The Cave" and they were: Tim S., JP, Jeremy, Tyler, Mike F. and Mikey. Jeremy was a "no show" as he was busy putting the final touches on his 4-cylinder. Great looking car by the way, Jeremy. Good luck this season! Tim S. had been away from "The Cave" for a few months but was able to come back for the Race of Champions. As the race started Tim S. didn't show any signs of being rusty as he held his own along side JP. But as the laps wore down, JP held on to the lead and took the title adding his name to the "Masters" list (previous Race of Champion winner) for the second time. The final run down of the Race of Champions was: 1st - JP; 2nd - Tim S.; 3rd - Mikey; 4th - Mike F. and 5th - Tyler. It was now time for the inaugural running of the "Bentonville 200", consisting of six 35-lap segments. Having won Heat #1, Matt found himself sitting on the pole. The cars started out at a furious pace with the laps clicking off quickly as there were few "cautions". Matt and JP seemed to be tied together as they raced each other and battled for the early lead. One lap separated them at the halfway mark as they swapped the lead back and forth several times. During the 5th 35-lap segment JP opened up a slight lead of 2 laps. This gap widened by 4 laps starting the last segment but Matt wasn't giving up. As the last laps wound down, Matt had come back to within two laps. Unfortunately, he ran out of laps before he ran out of determination. JP wins the first running of the "Bentonville 200". It was a close race after running 210 laps. The final finishing order was: 1st - JP; 2nd - Matt; 3rd - Tyler; 4th - Rick; 5th - Mikey; and 6th - Tim S. Since it was St. Patrick's Day and JP took home all the trophys of the night by winning the Race of Champions and the Bentonville 200, maybe we should start calling him "J.P. "Patty" O'Welsh" since he apparently had the luck of the Irish on his side Friday night! Well, on second thought.....maybe we won't!