"AND THE RED CAR WINS!" By David McKenney... Aka "VeeHive SATURDAY: Ed Womer overcame a cracked front spindle during Friday's practice to capture the pole for the 52nd Cumberland Classic National at BeaveRun Motorsports Complex. His time of 1:06.884 was achieved through use of traffic, he said, but several solo laps at 1:07.1 helped boost his confidence that he'll be competitive in tomorrow's race. Ray Carmody, gridded next to Ed, mused that with Ed on the pole, there would be a little Blue&Yellow added to the "Black Pack" of himself, 3rd-gridded Justin Barker, and 4th-gridded Gary Kittell. Rick Shields, Dean Curtis, and Charlie Rogers (gridded 5th through 7th) willl look to add a splash of Red to that as well, I'm sure. FINAL QUALIFYING: 1 Ed WOMER 1:06.884 2 Raymond CARMODY 1:07.16 3 Justin BARKER 1:07.220 4 Gary KITTELL 1:07.378 5 Rick SHIELDS 1:07.463 6 Dean CURTIS 1:07.699 7 Charlie ROGERS 1:07.746 8 Jim KEARNEY 1:07.853 9 Dave SCALER 1:08.059 10 Glenn TUPPER 1:08.119 11 Timothy REMMERS 1:08.16 12 Dan GRACE 1:08.626 13 Dan GRACE, Jr. 1:08.844 14 William ROCHE 1:08.946 15 Mike LANDON 1:09.711 16 Dale RADER 1:10.529 17 Jay SMITH 1:14.201 SUNDAY: "...AND THE RED CAR WINS!..." Dean Curtis got his first national win today at the 52nd Cumberland Classic National at BeaveRun Motorsports Complex. A Vee competitor since 1984, Dean's victory today was made all the sweeter by the fight it took to earn it. The green flag had polesitter Ed Womer leading the pack, with Justin Barker slipping by Ray Carmody for 2nd, Rick Shields besting Gary Kittell for 4th, and Dean Curtis holding off Jim Kearney for 6th. Dean moved up to 4th on the 3rd lap. The front four of Womer, Barker, Carmody, and Curtis began inching away, but this was no ordinary drafting pack as they continued to change positions amongst themselves. Barker, Womer, and Curtis would each lead a lap or two. Ray Carmody stayed with them and would've led his share, but engine gremlins sidelined him mid-race. Kittell and Kearney made up the gap between themselves and the front pack, making it a five-some. A couple laps later, Justin Barker was beset with his own engine gremlins and he retired. The front four continued fighting all the way to the checkered flag, and it was Dean Curtis first, Ed Womer second, Gary Kittell third, and Jim Kearney fourth. Rick Shields, who had run as high as fourth and was involved in a dogfight with Kittell and Kearney until dropping back several spots on lap 11, fought back to claim fifth. FINAL RESULTS 1 Dean CURTIS 1 Ed WOMER 3 Gary KITTELL 4 Jim KEARNEY 5 Rick SHIELDS 6 Glenn TUPPER 7 Dan GRACE 8 William ROCHE 9 Timothy REMMERS 10 Gary BLANARIK 11 Dan GRACE, Jr. 12 Dave SCALER 13 Justin BARKER 14 Raymond CARMODY 15 Dale RADER dnf Charlie ROGERS