By: Alex Sullivan

(Hartford, OH) Thunderstorms were brewing around the area but that didn’t stop the fans from storming into Sharon Speedway on Wednesday night for the Lou Blaney Memorial. A great turnout of 31 modifieds showed up for the $2000 to win BRP Modified Tour event, and as always put on a great show.

Mercer Raceway Park winner Lonnie Riggs would start beside BRP point leader Rex King Jr on the front row to lead the field to the green flag. King Jr would jump out to the early lead out powering Riggs into turn one.. That would leave Riggs to fend off Raceway 7 winner, Dave Murdick and Sharon Speedway regular, Jimmy Weller III. Murdick would complete the pass for second on lap five, as Weller would follow Murdick and overtake Riggs for the third spot.

King Jr would catch lapped traffic at lap twelve which allowed Murdick and Weller to gain some ground but a caution on lap fourteen would regroup the field as Jeremiah Shingledecker would spin on the backstretch collecting a yuke tire.

On lap twenty-two, King Jr. was back in traffic and this time struggled to clear some of the slower cars as Murdick closed in on lap twenty-three. The father-son Weller duo battled for third with Weller Jr. getting the spot on lap twenty-five; meanwhile, back up front the race was on for the lead as Murdick pulled even for two laps before a caution for Shayne Pierce.

The final restart showed the same result, King Jr assumed the lead and never looked back and would collect his first Modified Tour win of the season. Although King Jr did not extend his points lead too much because Murdick, who was second in points, finished second in the race. Jim Weller Jr, Jimmy Weller III, and Brian Swartzlander would round out your top five. Your heat race winners were Murdick, Weller Jr, and Swartzlander. Your B-Main winner was Kyle Fink.

Feature Finish: (35 laps, $2,000 to-win): 1. REX KING, JR. (165) 2. Dave Murdick (61) 3. Jim Weller, Jr. (31) 4. Jimmy Weller III (23) 5. Brian Swartzlander (83) 6. Brad Rapp (11R) 7. Rex King (65) 8. Ricky Richner (26) 9. Jim Rasey (32) 10. Kevin Hoffman (00) 11. Lonny Riggs (58) 12. Justin Wright (19W) 13. Bob Warren (96B) 14. Rick Regalski, Jr. (13) 15. Tom Mattocks (69) 16. Rodney Beltz (64) 17. Chris Haines (35H) 18. Eric Gabany (3E) 19. Tom Glenn (83T) 20. Kyle Fink (Hinkle 77) 21. Kevin Green (74) 22. Carl Murdick (6) 23. Randy Chronister (71) 24. Shayne Pierce (88) 25. Steve Barr (25B) 26. Jeremiah Shingledecker (37MD). DNQ: Justin Rasey, Eric Beggs, Mark Frankhouser, Shayne Izzo, Shawn Kozar.