LENDERMAN SAILS TO OPENING NIGHT VICTORY

&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; LENDERMAN SAILS TO OPENING NIGHT VICT= ORY

An ultra smooth and fast track at Cowtown Speedway was a dream for the Lonestar Dwarf Car Club as they opened their 3^rd season Saturday night. T= he excellent racing surface was perfect for the LDCC as they ran the entire program caution free. A total of 25 drivers where on ha= nd to give chase to this years championship.

The 1^=
st heat saw front row starter Buddy Tufts beat pole sitter James Rossi into th= e 1^st turn and was never headed as he lead it wire to wire with Troop Miller comi= ng on strong for 2^nd; Dick Brooker came= from his 4^th row starting spot to grab the show spot with Rossi takin= g 4^th. LDCC Rookie driver Bo Puckett made his 1^st race exciting with a = 5^th place finish followed by Louie Yount, Bill Pickett, rookie Jason Walters and Jason Bellows finishing 9^th.

The 2^=
nd heat had defending LDCC champion Gene Lenderman on the pole and that’s all he needed as he set his sights on backing up last years honors. Benny T= ufts gave chase but was no match as he crossed the line in 2^nd, follo= wed by JW Woodson, Adam Segurra and Maryland driver Bert Booth in 5^th. Positions 6, 7 and 8^th were= a battle of rookies, as Kenton Kinney driving the beautiful 99 Pro beat out J= ames Lewis III and Bubba Reagan. This was James Lewis III’s first race back with the LDCC after breaking his arm in a hard crash with the outside wall early last year.

Heat 3 had= a couple of heavy hitters in it as ’07 Rookie of The Year Donnie Reagan lead them to the green flag, but Scott Lindquist and Dominick Palanza had ideas of their own as th= ey split the pole sitter down the back stretch and = never looked back. 2^nd row starter Palanza held on for the win followe= d by Lindquist, Reagan and Dan Noble coming home in 4^th= despite a flat left front ti= re. ‘07’s Most Improved dr= iver Max Miller came home in 5^th followed by Jason Byers and Jim Lewis II.

With a cool bree= ze blowing at the start of the feature, Gene Lenderman used his outside front row starting spot to gun into the lead with the drop= of the green with pole sitter Buddy Tufts and Dominick Palanza giving chase. T= he smooth and fast racing surface made for great racing throughout the field, = but after a few laps it was clear that this race belonged to either Palanza or Lenderman as they put half a straight away between themselves and the rest = of the field. The battle for 3^rd was getting hot with Dick Brooker, Troop Miller, and Buddy Tufts swapping positions every lap. As the laps wore down the crowd was on their feet cheering all the drivers on, as they were racing sometimes 3 wide looking to gain a position. Lap 6 brought some excitement to the track as Benny Tufts went in high on turn 4 almost hitting the wall, but coming back onto the track right in front of Max Miller, caus= ing Miller to test his driving skills as he was missing Tufts. Tufts lost sever= al positions, but continued on, as Miller never lost a beat or position. Hard = luck hit Jim Lewis II on lap 8 as he made contact with Bert Booth causing Lewis = to retire to the pits with a broken front end. Lewis made up 7 spots in those = few laps, and looked to be on his way to a nice finish. The balance of the race= was nip and tuck throughout with Lenderman taking the checker for the 2^{nd<=
/sup>
straight year on opening night. Palanza was 2^nd followed by Broo=
ker,
Buddy Tufts, and T. Miller taking 5^th. JW Woodson had a nice rac=
e to
finish in 6^th with Benny Tufts, Lindquist, D. Reagan and Booth
rounding out the top 10. 11thru 15th were Puckett, M. Miller,
Noble, Yount and Lewis III. Finishing in the top 20 was B. Reagan, Walters,
Pickett, Byers and Kinney. Segurra, Bellows, and Lewis II retired early, but
where credited with 21^st, 22^nd and 23^rd. J=
ames
Rossi, after a nice 4^th place finish in his heat, had engine
problems and DNS the feature, while Wayne Hearne broke a driveline in hot l=
aps
and never returned to action.}