Portsmouth Raceway Park hosted The 7th Annual Dean Knittel Memorial Presented by Roger Hemming Contractor LLC Saturday Night. St. Helena, CA’s Rico Abreu picked up the victory in The Kubota High Limit 410 Winged Sprint Car Series Race, which paid $25,554 to win and dished out a total purse of over $80,000.
Drivers from Ohio, West Virginia, Indiana, Pennsylvania, California, Texas, Washington, Wisconsin, Oklahoma, Illinois, Canada, and Australia were on hand to compete in The Dean Knittel Memorial.
There were a total of 42 race teams on hand with 28 Sprints and 14 Ohio Valley Roofers Legends Cars.
The 30-lap Dean Knittel Memorial didn’t lack excitement. Canton, IL’s Chris Windom started on the pole and would lead the first 20 laps until getting crossed up in the middle of turns 1 and 2. That miscue enabled Abreu to take a lead which he would not relinquish.
Canadian Skylar Gee finished second. Windom wound up third. Parker Price Miller placed fourth and Cory Eliason round out the top 5. Making up the rest of the top 10 were Justin Peck, Zeb Wise, the two-time reigning champion of The Dean Knittel Memorial Brent Marks, Brenham Crouch, and Corey Day.
The race was halted by five cautions. A yellow flag on lap 8 saw two cars roll… James McFadden and Spencer Bayston. Both drivers were fine.
PRP and Dean Knittel Memorial Promoter Jeff Knittel acquired approximately 230 sponsors to assist with this year's race, which was run in honor of Knittel’s late father, who was a very successful local driver winning 12 track championships. There were plenty of bonus opportunities for the Sprint Car drivers in attendance.
Parker Price Miller from Kokomo, IN was the fast qualifier in the Sprints turning a lap clocked at 12.732, which translates into an average speed of just over 123.704 miles per hour. For setting quick time, Miller received $454 from Rick Johnson with a $100 Bonus from Bryan Sibole.
Every Heat Race paid $354 to win. Tyler Courtney won Heat #1 Presented by The Robbie Bratchett Family. Skylar Gee captured Heat #2 Presented by Heath and Bryce Hoover. Chris Windom claimed Heat #3 Presented by All Pro Heads.
Windom received $1,254 from J.D. and Anita Knittel for leading on Lap 12 in honor of Dean Knittel’s 12 track championships. Windom also picked up $1,333.33 from Ohio Pest Control for finishing the A-Main in third. Justin Clark claimed The $754 Hard Charger Award courtesy of Gary Arnett’s Service Center as well as Shane and Amber Schrader. Cory Eliason pocketed a $100 Bonus from Craig Weber for being 5th on the 4th lap. Windom received $354 from Vallery Ford for leading the most laps of the feature.
Windom earned $1,154 for winning The Fast Dash presented by Mike and Lanita Warner of Holdren Construction.
Spencer Bayston was the winner of the B-Main Robert Presented by Robert Renfroe Attorney at Law.
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Todd King from Sheboygan Falls, WI won The Long Haul Award courtesy of The Bill Sratton Family.
Peebles’ Steven Partin picked up the win in the Ohio Valley Roofers Legends Car Series event. Partin started fourth, grabbed the lead on the first lap coming off of turn 4, and led all 20 circuits. Rounding out the top 5 were Quade Schoonover, 73-year-old Tyler Scott, Levi Morris, and Jesse Sines. Schoonover and Scott won the two heats.
Portsmouth Raceway Park will have this coming weekend off before returning to action on Saturday, July 27th. It will be Jackie Boggs Kids Night Presented by 4B Motorsports & Jamie Stith’s Pro-Paint “The Paint Ninjas”. On the card will be Late Models, Limited Lates, Sport Mods, and Crown Vics. Gates will open at 4 p.m. with racing at approximately 7:30.
For more details regarding PRP, log on to www.portsraceway.com.