Story by Bruce C. Walls
Photos by Bruce C. Walls
And Susan Taylor-Walls
MARGARETTSVILLE, VA-Racers in the AKRA American Speedway Championship Dirt Series concluded their 2008 season at Margarettsville Speedway in Margarettsville, N.C. Saturday September 27th as part of a double show that included the 7th Annual Maxxis Moore Money Pro Series Big Kahuna. Two AKRA racers were double winners that Saturday. Josh Haire won Super Heavy and Stock Heavy and Chase Rawlings topped both Junior 1 Purple Plate offerings.
Piloting a Mishue Motorsports powered Galaxy kart; Haire earned both poles with times of 15.937 and 15.524-seconds on the ¼-mile clay track. Super Heavy was a two-racer battle between Haire and Brandon Watson. Watson’s machine gave up on lap nine of 15 leaving Haire the sole competitor. Two laps later Haire took his first checkered flag of the day.
Stock Heavy was more competitive with six vying for the win. David Meade was second fastest qualifier turning a 15.710-seconds lap. Walt Barnes, of Monroe, N.C. and Nick Scott, of Myrtle Beach, S.C. shared row two. Flagman Lee Bob Waltrip showed them the green flag. Haire and Barnes pulled ahead of the field battling for the lead. Haire held on as Barnes challenged him at every corner. With just three laps left a lapped kart got sideways in the middle of the track. Haire spotted the lapped kart and maneuvered past him. Barnes didn’t see the lapped kart as fast and spun out to avoid hitting him. Barnes gathered his kart back and ran down Haire in time to trail him by just 0.319-seconds.
“We had a good kart all night,” said Haire, of Erwin, N.C. “We ended up with two wins in two classes. I saw the lapped kart pull across the racetrack. I lifted a little bit, but I don’t think Walt (Barnes) caught it in time and he slid up the racetrack a little bit. Me and him were about tit for tat. I want to thank the Lord, my dad and mom, my girlfriend and everybody here helping me today. Walt and I had some good runs this year in the AKRA series. This is a great series to run with.”
Meade followed Barnes across the stripe four seconds later in third. Scott scored a fourth place finish followed by Paul Whaley who rounded out the top five.
Barnes blasted around the tack in 15.438-seconds for Stock Medium’s pole. Scott started next to him and hustled into the early lead. He quickly pulled away from Barnes on his way to a 4.793-seconds advantage over Barnes at the stripe. Meade made third, Cain crossed fourth and Forsyth followed in fifth.
“We got the kart hooked up pretty good that time,” said the winning Schu Powered Phantom Icon pilot. “It was a little bit loose, but we’ll see if we can pick it up a little bit in the next race.”
Rawlings, of Emporia, VA ruled the first Junior 1 Purple Plate class from start to finish with Millsboro, DE driver Zach Bullis behind him the whole ride. Bullis threatened in the early laps then fell back a little in the final laps. “I was nervous because I felt him (Zach Bullis) behind me and then I couldn’t feel him anymore,” described 10-year-old Rawlings. Bullis trailed Rawlings by 1.024-seconds. Trailing in the top five behind B
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