By Chuck Greenslate

   Nearly 100 race teams were at Portsmouth Raceway Park Saturday evening for the track’s season opener kicking off PRP’s 32nd year of operation.  Kirk Phillips, Anthony Slusher, and Zach Milbee all picked up wins in their respective divisions.

   The Giovanni’s Pizza Late Model Division presented by Impact Race Gear brought plenty of surprises.  Wheelersburg’s Nick Bocook clocked fast time and won his heat, while Wheelersburg’s RJ Conley prevailed in his heat race.  Both, however, would wind up falling out of the feature.

   Conley would tag the wall on the first lap and Bocook would drop out on lap 8.  Phillips wound up leading every lap en route to his first-ever PRP A-Main win.  The 25-year-old from Ashland hit all of his marks on course to the checkers and managed to fend off former track champions Brandon Fouts, Josh Bocook, and Rod Conley.  Charlie Jude climbed from ninth to fifth.  Shawn Martin moved up five spots to finish sixth, and Chuck Simons advanced five positions to finish seventh.  Lucas Crooks, Ronnie Whitt, and Nick Bocook rounded out the top 10.

   Twenty-eight O’Reilly Auto Parts Limited Late Model entries were on hand for the highlighted event of the evening, which was The Huntington Drum Company 25-lap race sanctioned by The Steel Block Late Model Series presented by Impact Race Gear.

   Poca, WV’s Zach Milbee started on the outside pole and would ride second the first six laps before passing Corey DeLancey.  Milbee, who posted quick time earlier in the evening, would hold off DeLancey to the finish.  Mike Sprouse charged from ninth to third.  Seventy-year-old Russ Frohnapfel placed fourth, and former track champion Matt Melvin rounded out the top five.  The rest of the top 10 consisted of Billy Staker, Dakota Pennington, Mike Meyers, Chris Williams, and Pete Crum.

   Melvin, Jacob Curnutte, and Mike Sprouse were the heat race winners.  Thomas Baker won the B-Main.

   Lucasville’s Anthony Slusher was credited the win in the Local Happenings App Modified Division.  The 2018 PRP Track Champion started fourth and ran in the top five the entire feature, however he didn’t actually cross the stripe first.  Beaver, KY’s Ervin Vance did, but Vance didn’t pass postrace inspection and was disqualified.

   Slusher’s win Saturday marked his sixth career victory and came the same week of his 36th birthday.  Two-time track champ Jeremy Rayburn placed second.  Cole Cooper charged from 14th to third.  Robert Garnes finished ninth, and Minford’s Adam Colley blasted up through the field 15 spots from 20th to fifth.  Danny Hamilton Jr, Levi Ellswick, Joe Hamon, Brian Wilburn, and B75-Brayden Berry rounded out the top 10.

   Ervin Vance and Brian Skaggs were Saturday’s Heat Race winners.  Vance was also the Dynamic Shock Service Fast Qualifier.

   There were 34 Express Oil & Tire Engineers Sport Mods in attendance, the most of any division.  Unfortunately, a thick fogged which rolled in toward the end of the night prevented their feature from being ran.

   Portsmouth Raceway Park will be back in action next Saturday hosting the Eighth Annual Cletus Classic paying Modified $1,231 to win.  Also on the card will be Late Models, Limited Lates, and Sport Mods.  Gates will open at 4pm with racing at approximately 7:30.

Late Models 16 Entries

A Feature 1 25 Laps | 00:21:03.949

1. 21K-Kirk Phillips[4]; 2. 81-Brandon Fouts[3]; 3. B1-Josh Bocook[5]; 4. 71R-Rod Conley[8]; 5. CJ1-Charlie Jude[9]; 6. 27-Shawn Martin[11]; 7. 24S-Chuck Simons[12]; 8. W4-Lucas Crooks[14]; 9. W1-Ronnie Whitt[15]; 10. 1B-Nick Bocook[1]; 11. C7-Kenny Christy[10]; 12. 24-Jimmy Johnson[13]; 13. 6-Roger Gancs[7]; 14. 71C-RJ Conley[2]; 15. (DNS) 1AM-Austyn Mills

Heat 1 8 Laps | 00:02:36.729

1. 1B-Nick Bocook[1]; 2. 81-Brandon Fouts[3]; 3. B1-Josh Bocook[2]; 4. 6-Roger Gancs[4]; 5. CJ1-Charlie Jude[6]; 6. 27-Shawn Martin[5]; 7. 24-Jimmy Johnson[7]

Heat 2 8 Laps

1. 71C-RJ Conley[1]; 2. 21K-Kirk Phillips[3]; 3. 1AM-Austyn Mills[2]; 4. 71R-Rod Conley[4]; 5. C7-Kenny Christy[5]; 6. 24S-Chuck Simons[7]; 7. W4-Lucas Crooks[6]

Qualifying 1 | 00:06:04.068

1. 1B-Nick Bocook, 00:15.028[3]; 2. 71C-RJ Conley, 00:15.352[8]; 3. B1-Josh Bocook, 00:15.387[12]; 4. 1AM-Austyn Mills, 00:15.414[10]; 5. 81-Brandon Fouts, 00:15.630[1]; 6. 21K-Kirk Phillips, 00:15.676[2]; 7. 6-Roger Gancs, 00:15.773[15]; 8. 71R-Rod Conley, 00:15.814[13]; 9. 27-Shawn Martin, 00:15.984[7]; 10. C7-Kenny Christy, 00:16.082[14]; 11. CJ1-Charlie Jude, 00:16.111[16]; 12. W4-Lucas Crooks, 00:16.565[4]; 13. 24-Jimmy Johnson, 00:16.705[9]; 14. 24S-Chuck Simons, 00:17.016[5]; 15. (DNS) W1-Ronnie Whitt, 00:17.016; 16. (DNS) 145-Chase Frohnapfel, 00:17.016

Modifieds 21 Entries

A Feature 1 20 Laps | 00:19:28.200

1. 2-Anthony Slusher[4]; 2. 11-Jeremy Rayburn[3]; 3. 51-Cole Cooper[14]; 4. 000-Robert Garnes[9]; 5. 11C-Adam Colley[20]; 6. 99-Danny Hamilton Jr[18]; 7. 21-Levi Ellswick[19]; 8. 44-Joe Hamon[12]; 9. 1W-Brian Wilburn[7]; 10. B75-Brayden Berry[6]; 11. 26-Jason Bilyeu[5]; 12. J3-Jody Puckett[10]; 13. 96-Josh Thomas[13]; 14. 55-Aaron Lucas[16]; 15. 18C-Miles Cook Jr[8]; 16. 88-Rusty Hawes[11]; 17. 20S-Brian Skaggs[2]; 18. 12B-Joseph Buskirk[15]; 19. 4B-Mitchell Berry[17]; 20. (DQ) P20-Ervin Vance[1]

Heat 1 8 Laps | 00:06:14.000

1. P20-Ervin Vance[1]; 2. 11-Jeremy Rayburn[3]; 3. 26-Jason Bilyeu[4]; 4. 1W-Brian Wilburn[2]; 5. 000-Robert Garnes[5]; 6. 88-Rusty Hawes[7]; 7. 96-Josh Thomas[6]; 8. 12B-Joseph Buskirk[8]; 9. 4B-Mitchell Berry[9]; 10. 21-Levi Ellswick[10]

Heat 2 8 Laps | 00:03:04.000

1. 20S-Brian Skaggs[1]; 2. 2-Anthony Slusher[3]; 3. B75-Brayden Berry[2]; 4. 18C-Miles Cook Jr[4]; 5. J3-Jody Puckett[5]; 6. 44-Joe Hamon[6]; 7. 51-Cole Cooper[10]; 8. 55-Aaron Lucas[8]; 9. 99-Danny Hamilton Jr[9]; 10. 11C-Adam Colley[7]

Qualifying 1 | 00:01:02.000

1. P20-Ervin Vance, 00:16.487[1]; 2. 20S-Brian Skaggs, 00:16.569[3]; 3. 1W-Brian Wilburn, 00:16.720[18]; 4. B75-Brayden Berry, 00:16.783[17]; 5. 11-Jeremy Rayburn, 00:16.907[16]; 6. 2-Anthony Slusher, 00:16.953[7]; 7. 26-Jason Bilyeu, 00:17.007[14]; 8. 18C-Miles Cook Jr, 00:17.109[5]; 9. 000-Robert Garnes, 00:17.277[10]; 10. J3-Jody Puckett, 00:17.320[13]; 11. 96-Josh Thomas, 00:17.384[9]; 12. 44-Joe Hamon, 00:17.460[4]; 13. 88-Rusty Hawes, 00:17.528[8]; 14. 11C-Adam Colley, 00:17.701[11]; 15. 12B-Joseph Buskirk, 00:18.009[2]; 16. 55-Aaron Lucas, 00:18.699[21]; 17. 4B-Mitchell Berry, 00:18.749[12]; 18. 99-Danny Hamilton Jr, 00:18.940[15]; 19. 21-Levi Ellswick, 00:20.326[6]; 20. (DNS) 51-Cole Cooper, 00:20.326; 21. (DNS) 5V-Clark VanHouten, 00:20.326

Limited Late Models 28 Entries

A Feature 1 25 Laps | 00:36:52.553

1. 5M-Zach Milbee[2]; 2. C2-Corey DeLancey[1]; 3. 43M-Mike Sprouse[9]; 4. 45-Russ Frohnapfel[4]; 5. 81M-Matt Melvin[7]; 6. 7S-Billy Staker[15]; 7. 68-Dakota Pennington[19]; 8. 10M-Mike Meyers[3]; 9. 46-Chris Williams[20]; 10. 34C-Pete Crum[13]; 11. CJ7-CJ Branham[17]; 12. 14R-Raymond Alley[11]; 13. 5C-Jacob Curnutte[8]; 14. 41-Jody Adkins[6]; 15. 95-Nicky Pennington[10]; 16. 4B-Cale Boggs[18]; 17. 17R-Jesse Lyons Jr[12]; 18. 43-Dustin Sprouse[5]; 19. 97C-Kevin Terry[14]; 20. 3-Thomas Baker[16]

B Feature 1 10 Laps

1. 3-Thomas Baker[2]; 2. CJ7-CJ Branham[4]; 3. 4B-Cale Boggs[5]; 4. 68-Dakota Pennington[1]; 5. 58-Evyian Terry[7]; 6. 702-Kent Keyser[6]; 7. 46-Chris Williams[9]; 8. 72-Joe Harper[3]; 9. 37F-Wayne Francis[10]; 10. 22A-Corey Noel[12]; 11. (DNS) 24-Jimmy Morey; 12. (DNS) 01-Collin Holmes; 13. (DNS) 25J-Ted Johnson Jr

Heat 1 8 Laps | 00:02:07.000

1. 81M-Matt Melvin[1]; 2. 95-Nicky Pennington[2]; 3. 34C-Pete Crum[4]; 4. 68-Dakota Pennington[6]; 5. CJ7-CJ Branham[3]; 6. 58-Evyian Terry[5]; 7. 37F-Wayne Francis[7]; 8. 22A-Corey Noel[8]

Heat 2 8 Laps | 00:11:22.000

1. 5C-Jacob Curnutte[3]; 2. 14R-Raymond Alley[1]; 3. 97C-Kevin Terry[6]; 4. 3-Thomas Baker[7]; 5. 4B-Cale Boggs[5]; 6. 24-Jimmy Morey[2]; 7. 01-Collin Holmes[4]

Heat 3 8 Laps | 00:04:20.000

1. 43M-Mike Sprouse[1]; 2. 17R-Jesse Lyons Jr[3]; 3. 7S-Billy Staker[2]; 4. 72-Joe Harper[4]; 5. 702-Kent Keyser[5]; 6. 46-Chris Williams[7]; 7. (DNS) 25J-Ted Johnson Jr

Qualifying 1 | 00:00:58.000

1. 5M-Zach Milbee, 00:15.094[1]; 2. C2-Corey DeLancey, 00:15.159[4]; 3. 10M-Mike Meyers, 00:15.279[8]; 4. 45-Russ Frohnapfel, 00:15.461[15]; 5. 43-Dustin Sprouse, 00:15.531[14]; 6. 41-Jody Adkins, 00:15.638[5]; 7. 81M-Matt Melvin, 00:15.713[28]; 8. 14R-Raymond Alley, 00:15.754[23]; 9. 43M-Mike Sprouse, 00:15.758[9]; 10. 95-Nicky Pennington, 00:15.797[24]; 11. 24-Jimmy Morey, 00:15.838[7]; 12. 7S-Billy Staker, 00:15.937[2]; 13. CJ7-CJ Branham, 00:15.939[20]; 14. 5C-Jacob Curnutte, 00:15.965[25]; 15. 17R-Jesse Lyons Jr, 00:16.032[3]; 16. 34C-Pete Crum, 00:16.110[11]; 17. 01-Collin Holmes, 00:16.165[19]; 18. 72-Joe Harper, 00:16.209[21]; 19. 58-Evyian Terry, 00:16.422[18]; 20. 4B-Cale Boggs, 00:16.429[12]; 21. 702-Kent Keyser, 00:16.581[6]; 22. 68-Dakota Pennington, 00:16.757[26]; 23. 97C-Kevin Terry, 00:17.023[27]; 24. 25J-Ted Johnson Jr, 00:17.222[10]; 25. 37F-Wayne Francis, 00:17.320[22]; 26. 3-Thomas Baker, 00:17.514[16]; 27. 46-Chris Williams, 00:17.570[13]; 28. 22A-Corey Noel, 00:19.400[17]

Special 1 6 Laps | 00:02:32.000

1. C2-Corey DeLancey[2]; 2. 5M-Zach Milbee[3]; 3. 10M-Mike Meyers[1]; 4. 45-Russ Frohnapfel[4]; 5. 43-Dustin Sprouse[5]; 6. 41-Jody Adkins[6]

Sport Mods 34 Entries

B Feature 1 | 00:15:41.000

1. 88M-Cody Gifford[3]; 2. 11B-Branden Colley[10]; 3. 55-Kasey Black[2]; 4. 8D-Stevie Thornsberry[6]; 5. 4J-James Cox[5]; 6. B9-Jeromy Brady[9]; 7. 4D-Shanon Davis[4]; 8. 30-Camden Houser[12]; 9. 51*-Jimmy Spillman[17]; 10. 44M-Ethan Fout[11]; 11. 4-James Dickess[8]; 12. 10P-Cody Price[13]; 13. 11-Jason Thayer[16]; 14. 77-Corey Payton[1]; 15. (DNS) 99-Danny Hamilton Jr; 16. (DNS) 7X-Brett Blevins; 17. (DNS) W1-William Caldwell; 18. (DNS) 3K-Kevin Spencer; 19. (DNS) 1-George Meade

Heat 1 | 00:16:19.000

1. 42A-Jamey Adams[12]; 2. 13J-Luke Jordan[3]; 3. 60G-Jeffrey Gillman[11]; 4. 36-chris matheny[1]; 5. M17-Matt Stewart[5]; 6. 77-Corey Payton[2]; 7. 4D-Shanon Davis[7]; 8. 99-Danny Hamilton Jr[6]; 9. 11B-Branden Colley[9]; 10. 10P-Cody Price[4]; 11. (DNS) 11-Jason Thayer; 12. (DNS) 1-George Meade

Heat 2 | 00:14:48.000

1. 7-Zach Carr[4]; 2. 601-Joshua Harrington[2]; 3. 14-Joe McClain[7]; 4. 26-Gary Griffith[9]; 5. 25J-David Landman[11]; 6. 55-Kasey Black[1]; 7. 4J-James Cox[5]; 8. 4-James Dickess[3]; 9. 44M-Ethan Fout[6]; 10. 7X-Brett Blevins[8]; 11. 51*-Jimmy Spillman[10]

Heat 3 | 00:05:39.000

1. 13-Adam Jordan[1]; 2. 34-Derek Richmond[5]; 3. 3KP-Kyle Payne[6]; 4. 711-Adam Jones[7]; 5. 51A-Davey Akers[10]; 6. 88M-Cody Gifford[11]; 7. 8D-Stevie Thornsberry[8]; 8. B9-Jeromy Brady[9]; 9. 30-Camden Houser[4]; 10. W1-William Caldwell[3]; 11. 3K-Kevin Spencer[2]