June 9, 2012 - After the running of the annual Toyota Knoxville 50 featuring the yearly visit from the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series, Tazewell Speedway returned for another edition of the speedway's full weekly racing program, featuring the regular five divisions. Track official Brad Hall, son of track owner Gary Hall, worked hard all day long on the track surface. Hall declared that he, "…hopped in the water truck at high noon…" in order to prepare the track for the evening's events. The hard work paid off as the surface proved to be fast and very racy.

The 4 Cylinders took to the track 1st as usual for their 15 lap feature. Bubby Braden and Jeromy Collins shared the 1st row for the start. Braden pulled ahead to take the lead on the start, while Chuck McMahan made quick work of Collins taking over 2nd. McMahan then took at try for the lead over Braden, in which the duo ran side-by-side for the first 2 laps, before McMahan made the successful pass on the bottom groove. The event ran caution free, with McMahan taking the win over Braden and James Hopson.

Four Cylinder Results:
1. 99 - Chuck McMahan
2. B7 - Bubby Braden
3. H2 - James Hopson
4. 72 - Rufus Collett
5. 44J - Jeromy Collins

Modified Street cars rolled out next for their 20 lap feature. Jordan Horton set the pace in qualifying with a lap of 13.611 seconds. On the start, Horton pulled out to the lead with Jason Sizemore settling into 2nd. Horton ran the 56H to the victory in the caution free event, over Sizemore and his father Tony Horton. Clyde Overholt finished 4th, while Warren McMahan rallied from the back of the pack to claim a top 5 finish. Horton dedicated the win to his grandmother, who recently lost her home due to a fire. The Horton's celebrated in style in victory lane, before Horton entered the stands to give away some driver apparel to fans and take a few photos.

Modified Street Results:
1. 56H - Jordan Horton
2. 44C - Jason Sizemore
3.56 - Tony Horton
4. 4 - Clyde Overholt
5. 33 - Warren McMahan
6. 1 - Scott Johnson
7. 54 - Larry Burke
8. P21 - Robbie Buchanan
9. 14 - Wayne Overholt

The Tazewell Late Model feature took to the grid next. Steve Smith, who has been very fast and somewhat dominate in the season, set fast time in qualifying yet again, turning a lap of 11.804 seconds. He and Jason Trammell shared the front row to bring the 15 car field to the green flag. Smith pulled out to the lead, but the start was waved off after Michael Rutherford spun his #18 in turn 3, collecting Matthew Holt. On the complete restart, Smith pulled ahead of Trammell to take the lead. Smith looked to be dominating, before losing power under the hood on lap 7, bring out the caution again. As the old saying in racing goes, "Cautions bring cautions…" which proved itself true. Lap 14 quickly became the lap of destruction, with two separate incidents occurring on opposite ends of the track. Matthew Holt's #22 lost an engine in turn 3, collecting several cars, including the leader, Jason Trammell. Chris Long's #75 machine also ended up on top of the front stretch pit wall. Meanwhile, J. Allan and Josh Chesney made contact at the end of the front stretch blocking turn 1. Track officials were forced to red flag the event in order to clean up the carnage on both ends of the speedway.

Things began to get very exciting up front at this point. During the caution for the crashes on lap 14, Travis Fultz began to overheat and was forced to relinquish the 2nd spot to add water to the car. Trammell's damaged front end also required work during the caution. The field restarted, with Fultz barely making it back out on the track to stay on the lead lap. He caught a break 2 laps later when the 90J of Trammell suffered a flat tire, costing him the lead and bringing out a yellow. The lead was then turned over to the #77 of Steve Carr, making his first appearance of the season in a strong fashion. However, tragedy would strike him 1 lap after the restart as a broken right front suspension ended his night. With 13 laps to go, Jody Horton, looking for his 1st TLM win, found himself sitting in the lead, with Matt Tharp sitting in 2nd. Fultz, who restarted 5th, began to work towards the front. On lap 24, Fultz challenged Horton on the low side, capturing the lead. He led the remaining 6 laps to capture a very dramatic victory over Horton and Tharp who had very stellar runs. Trammell recuperated to finish 4th, while Allen Holt captured a top 5 finish.

Tazewell Late Model Results:
1. T0 - Travis Fultz
2. 56J - Jody Horton
3. 35 - Matt Tharp
4. 90J - Jason Trammell
5. 24 - Allen Holt
6. 18 - Michael Rutherford
7. 24 - Andy Wilder
8. 75 - Chris Long
9. 77 - Steve Carr
10. 111 - J. Allan
11. XXX - Josh Chesney
12. 22 - Matthew Holt
13. 3 - Steve Smith
14. 21 - Bryan Howerton
15. 33 - Phillip Nichols

DNS
11 - Anthony Arnwine

Classics rolled to the speedway next for their feature. On the initial start, something broke on the pole sitter, Robbie Sands, #17 machine as he crashed to the bottom of turn 4, hitting the fence and ending his night early. This turn of events moved Joe Keck to the front row with Charlie Tharp. After several failed attempts, and flagman Bruce Caylor giving strong warnings, Joe Keck was replaced on the front row with his son, Eli. The event finally got underway; with Tharp claiming his 1st ever win in Classic car action. Eli Keck claimed a best 2nd place finish, with Joe Keck 3rd.

Classic Car Results:
1. 20 - Charlie Tharp
2. 18 - Eli Keck
3. 8 - Joe Keck
4. 1 - Shane Lockhart
5. 3 - Jason Beeler
6. 17 - Robbie Sands

Pure Street took to the speedway as the final event of the night, sporting its largest showing of the 2012 season with a 12 car field. Luke Sharp topped the other 11 competitors in qualifying with a lap of 15.477 seconds. Guinn, who qualified 2nd, took the lead over Sharp on the start. The #01 of Sharp began to fade, as Buster Cupp made his way to 2nd, while Steve Smith worked his way up to 3rd. However, no one proved to be a match for Guinn as he claimed his 1st victory of 2012.\

Pure Street Results
1. 97 - Aaron Guinn
2. 28 - Buster Cupp
3. C5 - Steve Smith
4. 41 - Jonathan Miracle
5. 01 - Luke Sharp
6. 15 - Jason Long
7. 18 - Junior Cody
8. 94 - Dustin Eldridge
9. 66 - Daniel Reece
10. 12 - J.J. Green
11. 7 - Larry Moore
12. 1 - Josh Chesney

Once again, Gary and Shirlene would like to thank all the drivers and fans for making Tazewell Speedway the best place in East Tennessee for dirt track racing, and for your continued support. Please join us next Saturday night, June 16th, as we continue the 2012 season with another edition of the weekly racing program, featuring the Tazewell Late Models, Modified Street, Pure Street, Classics, and 4 Cylinders. Grandstand admission will be $10 per person, with children ages 9 and under admitted free with a paying adult. Pit admission will be $25. Pit gates will open at 4PM, while grandstand gates will open at 5PM.