67 Speedway of Texarkana
Frye continues domination at 67 Speedway
TEXARKANA, Ark. (July 18) — Bill Frye of Greenbrier, Ark., continued his mastery of 67 Speedway with a flag-to-flag victory over Jon Mitchell to collect $2,000 on the Comp Cams Mid-South Racing Association tour.
Frye, started on the pole and led all 40 laps, notching his fourth straight series triumph at the quarter-mile oval in southwest Arkansas. The win also places Frye atop the all-time series victories list, giving him eight total and breaking a tie held with Kyle Beard.
It was the third time in four series events at his home track that Jon Mitchell of Texarkana, Texas, has finished in the runner-up position to Frye, as Frye beat him to the checkers by three lengths. Beard, the current MSRA points leader of Trumann, Ark., finished third, while rookie Brandon Smith of Floral, Ark., was fourth. Eleventh-starting Timothy Culp of West Monroe, La., rounded out the top five.
Frye missed his marks after a restart, allowing Mitchell to look under Frye on the low groove, while Smith used the cushion to gain momentum. Smith catapulted beside Mitchell to briefly take second, as Frye was able to recover to hold onto the point.
Beard suffered a right rear flat on lap 27, pitted and restarted at the rear in 14th. Beard charged back up front before race's end to post a solid third place finish and narrowly holding onto the points lead over Frye.
Notes: Frye's Kuntz & Co.-powered entry is sponsored by Petroff Towing and Vita Tub. ... Terry Henson of North Little Rock, Ark., was the hard charger, going from 17th to ninth. ... The checkered flag flew on the feature at 11 p.m. ... MSRA competitors take a weekend off before a July 30-31 doubleheader at Malden (Mo.) Speedway and Northeast Arkansas Speedway in Harrisburg.
MSRA @ 67 Speedway: (1) Bill Frye, (2) Jon Mitchell, (3) Kyle Beard, (4) Brandon Smith, (5) Timothy Culp, (6) B.J. Robinson, (7) Dustin Hyde, (8) Eddie Provence, (9) Terry Henson, (10) Wade Johnson, (11) Stormy Derryberry, (12) Jeff Floyd, (13) Shane Harris, (14) Nate Jantz, (15) Wade Douglas, (16) Jody Prince, (17) Shane Stephens, (18) Johnny Virden, (19) Wesley Crutchfield, (20) Joseph Long, (21) Chad Patterson, (22) Chad Williams. Heat race winners (among 22 cars): Mitchell, Frye, Beard.