Rod Phipps Wins 58th Annual Best Way Disposal National Crown; Lemmer and Moyes Also Earn Saturday Night Victories

By Cassie Marcum

Rod Phipps Wins 58th Best Way Disposal National Crown; Lemmer and Moyes Also Earn Saturday Night Victories

Anderson’s Rod Phipps scored the biggest victory of his season after visiting the O’Reilly Auto Parts Winner’s Circle in the 58th Annual Best Way Disposal National Crown. Saturday night also showcased the Ed Martin Auto Group SuperTrucks and the KOIL Legend Series.

Phipps took home his second National Crown Champion title Saturday night after winning the 75-lap feature. The race started with Ranny Hinton and Phipps battling side-by-side for the lead for the first circuit. Hinton was able to get the lead, but Phipps was right on his tail. By lap 22 of the race the front two cars had a 5-car length lead on the rest of the field. Phipps was able to get to the lead around Hinton on lap 24 in the cross over and he never looked back.

The third place car of Ronnie Rose spun in the corner on lap 31 but was able to recover and maintain in that position because he got saved by the yellow coming out for debris. On the restart, Rod Phipps jumps to big lead over the rest of the field. However, his lead was cut short when the caution was thrown for Ronnie Phipps sliding into the wall coming out of the cross over.

Rod Phipps didn’t have to worry about a battle for the lead, all he had to do was to make sure to keep his car out of trouble in the cross over. By lap 66, Phipps was meeting the third place car of Rose in the cross over and at times it was close. Phipps was able to lead the last fifty-one laps of the feature before claiming the win. Hinton was able to score a second place finish. Rose was able to hold off Josh Tharp to take home the third spot. Tharp and Dustin Burge rounded out the top five.

Rod Phipps also was the fastest qualifier with a time of 20.147 seconds.

In the Ed Martin SuperTrucks 40 lap feature, the race started with a caution at the green with the cars of Ric Phiefer and Larry Greene spinning in turn one. Josh Timmerman had no where to go and ran into the ride of Greene’s truck. Brian Lemmer was able to get a lead of almost 10 truck lengths by the halfway mark of the race. On lap 29, however, Lemmer’s lead was put on hault when the caution came out for Mark Soots spinning after battling with Ronnie Rose for the second position. On the restart, the front four cars are able to pull out with a big lead over the rest of the field. At the checker, it was Fairland’s Brian Lemmer who scored the victory. Rose was second, with Brandon Phillips finishing third. Bob Lemen and Scott Brooks finished fourth and fifth.

In preliminary racing, Brooks and Mark Soots won the two heat races. Josh Poore was the fastest qualifier with a time of 13.915 seconds.

The KOIL Legend Series made their final appearance at Anderson Speedway with a 25-lap feature. 22 cars started the feature Saturday night. James Edsal got the lead at the green, but wasn’t able to hold on to the top spot for long as Rodney Smith drove to the outside and took over the lead on lap 3. Edsal got out of line and ended up falling back to fourth before being able to get back in line. A good battle for the lead developed with Smith and David Moyes for a few laps until Moyes got the lead on the backstretch. Moyes was able to hold off a challenging drive by Bryan Knuckles to score the win, Knuckles was second, and Smith was third. John Robbins and Jeremie Johnson finished out the top five.

Edsal, Eric Black, and Billy Smith won the three heat races. Knuckles was the top qualifier with the time of 14.016 seconds.

Racing continues at Anderson Speedway on Friday, July 27th, with the WLBC/MAX Friday Night Summer Series showcasing Newco Metal Legends, ThunderCars, and Chappy’s Rent to Own Front Wheel Drives in Oval and Figure 8 action.

Friday Night, spectator gates open at 5 p.m. with the racing program beginning at 8. Admission is $7 for adults and $4 for kids ages 6-12. Children five and under get in free.

On Saturday, July 28th, the ThunderCar Enduro 200 will be showcased along with the Lampco Federal Credit Union Street Stocks.

Saturday Night, spectator gates open at 5 p.m. with racing beginning at 8. Admission is $10 for adults and $4 for kids ages 6-12. Children five and under get in free.

For additional information contact Anderson Speedway at (765) 642-0206.