Branishing a bullseye decal on the back end of his Commonwealth Enviormental Associates/Richmond Music Center sponsored car, AJ Winstead held off a determined Thomas Stinson for his fourth win of the season last night at Orange County Speedway.
Once the green flag dropped, the #22 car of Rodney Brooks quickly worked his way into the lead and was able to lead for several laps. Bad luck would hit Brooks however, while leading the race by a comfortable margin his black and yellow mod began smoking intensely from the right rear, after which he retired for the night.
With Brooks’ night finished, Thomas Stinson inherited the lead and managed to hold onto it for the majority of the first half of the 50-lap feature. AJ Winstead, who started 6th, quickly made it through the field and began to put pressure on the red 4 car of Stinson ultimately successfully passing him.
However, the reigning series champion didn’t let Winstead pass without a fight, Stinson held his line and raced the #99 side-by-side for several laps, and even managing to get the lead back before AJ was able to pass and close the door behind him.
The race was all #99 and #4 as both cars managed to keep several car lengths between them and the 3rd and 4th place cars of Doug Paasch and Irvin Bell.
When the checkered flag was shown, the familiar site of #99, #4, and #2 on the podium was again repeated. The $100 bounty on Winstead’s head was not collected and has been increased to $125 for the next race.
The tour now turns it’s attention to Shenandoah Speedway in Shenandoah, Virginia as they race this weekend, Saturday, August 4th.
Finishing Order:
1. 99 A.J. Winstead
2. 4 Thomas Stinson
3. 2 Doug Paasch
4. 11 Irvin Bell
5. 42 Rusty Wood
6. 91 Dean Slappey
7. 72 Robert Conner
8. 38 Michael Johnson
9. 9 Tony Ingram
10. 3 David Kendall
11. 27 Andy Kemp
12. 04 Larry Penny
13. 46 TJ Guthrie
14. 71 Steve Denning
15. 43 Warren Lipford
16. 22 Rodney Brooks
17. 34 Ted Montague
*Courtsey of The Rolling Thunder Modifieds website
