By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
Randy Weaver is headed in the right direction, but the same could not be said for one of his competitors at Beebe Speedway on Friday night.
Weaver, the modified points leader, won his seventh feature race of the year while Jeff Porterfield picked up his eighth victory in hobby stocks.
The most bizarre moment of the night came on lap eight of the feature when Ricky Anderson and Cabot’s Kip Glaze spun in turn one while fighting for the ninth spot. Anderson had just surrendered eighth to Jody Jackson when contact with Glaze sent him spinning up into the pit entrance while Glaze’s No. 46 car came to a rest in the middle of the corner.
The accident happened behind the leader Weaver, but as Anderson re-fired his car, he drove down the front stretch the wrong way and approached Weaver’s F1 car, which was idling beneath the flag stand as track officials cleared the Glaze car in turn one.
Anderson pulled alongside Weaver and had words before storming off the track still in the wrong direction and entered the pits through the pit exit at a dangerously high rate of speed.
Anderson was disqualified from the event and given a two-week suspension.
But Weaver did not let the incident affect his control up front, as he led the remaining 12 laps in front of Cooper and Findley. He hit lap traffic by lap 17 and ended up with a straightaway advantage by race’s end.
Friday’s card featured a mix of continued dominant performances in some classes and resurgent front-runners in others.
Cabot drivers came up big as Todd Joslin took his second victory in the E-mod division and Mike Millwood won his fourth triumph of the year in mini stocks.
The factory feature came down to a duel between hometown drivers as Ricky Wilhite passed veteran Larry Wise on lap seven for his fourth victory.
The modified feature was a mix of track regulars and out-of-town drivers who showed up to shake down their machines for this week’s Scrapp Fox Memorial.
One of those non-regulars, Jacob Cooper, won his heat race and took fast qualifier for the 20-lap feature alongside northeast Arkansas driver Tony Anglin, with locals Weaver and Todd Greer in row two.
The early fast mover was Robert Baker, who quickly made his way from the fifth starting spot to challenge Cooper for the lead on lap one. But Baker’s was one of six cars involved in a lap-five pileup in the exit of turn four that also involved Mikey Bolding, Donnie Stringfellow, Tony Anglin and local drivers Jason Flory and Jody Jackson.
Bolding and Baker were done for the night. Anglin pitted and eventually returned while the other three cars were also able to continue.
Weaver worked the high side once he got up to Cooper’s rear bumper and assumed the point on lap six when he got the better run out of turn two.
Bryant driver Casey Findley fought his way from an eighth-place start into the top five by lap four and battled with Greer for the third spot for most of the remaining race. He eventually took the spot on lap 12 for his best finish at Beebe in a limited number of appearances this season.
Greer held on for fourth while Beebe’s Jackson was the hard charger with a fifth-place finish after starting 11th.
Mt. Vernon driver Ben Waggoner finished sixth and Chuck McGinty took seventh place. Stringfellow was eighth while Micah Gavin and Glaze rounded out the top 10.
Joslin’s victory in the E-mod feature was flag-to-flag in the caution-shortened event.
Flagman William Essex waved the yellow five times, which set up a green-white-checker finish on lap 12.
Joslin won the second heat and lined up on the outside pole alongside Lane Cullum for the feature. Joslin took the hole shot entering turn one on the initial start and never looked back while Cullum battled with Robert Woodard most of the way for second after an early challenge from Searcy driver Joey Gee.
Cullum held on for second in front of Woodard while Gee claimed fourth and McRae driver Blake Jones finished fifth.
Millwood also started from the outside pole in his dominant mini-stock victory. Millwood took the top spot over Shack Shackleford on the first lap and led the entire 15-lap distance. Shackleford finished second in front of Cabot’s Doyle Blankenship and Johnny Brown while Jim Atcheson completed the top five.
