HARWARD NABS FIRST CAREER STOCK CAR WIN AT ELDON
By Scott Watson

ELDON, Ia (May 20, 2006) – Mike Harward of Floris made his way to victory lane for the first time in the Stock Car division this past Saturday night at The Eldon Raceway which was sponsored by Oskaloosa Gas and Oil, Sunoco Race Fuels, Wayne's Tire and RJ Performance. Also making the trip to victory lane was Mark Williams of Fairfield in the 4-Bangers, Dustin Griffiths of Ottumwa in the Hobby Stocks and Jerry Pilcher of Bloomfield in the Modifieds.

Harward inherited the lead of the Stock Car feature on the thirteenth lap when Shane Weller of Agency pulled into the infield with mechanical problems after leading the first twelve laps. Harward held off the field the last lap for his first trip to victory lane in the division. Pat Rachels of Knoxville made an impressive charge through the field from his outside fifth row starting position to finish in second. Weller had built a straightaway lead on second place by the time Rachels got into the runner-up spot with six laps remaining. Rachels slowly reeled in Weller the next four laps and had cut the lead in half when a yellow flag was displayed. Weller slowed in the third corner after the green flag was displayed to restart and Harward was in the right place to take the race lead. Rachels finished in second with Jim Redmann of Lockridge finishing in third and Randy McClure of Eldon in fourth.

Williams became the third different winner in the 4-Banger division in three nights of racing action at Eldon. Williams went to the lead of the eight-lap race at the drop of the green and led the entire race for the win. His brother, Steve Williams, also of Fairfield, finished in second with Dale Porter of Floris in third and Jim Garrett of Bloomfield in fourth.

Griffiths passed Jamie Orwig of Chariton for the Hobby Stock feature lead on the second lap and led the final ten laps for his first trip to the winners circle in 2006 at Eldon. Orwig came across the stripe in second while Terry Doud of Batavia was the third place finisher and Mark Wirth of Chariton tallied a fourth place finish after starting in eleventh.

In the most exciting race of the night Pilcher passed Brandon Banks of Washington for the Modified main event lead on the eleventh circuit for his firct victory at Eldon in over five years. Banks and Ken Bryant of Ottumwa, who was the Modified winner two weeks ago, dueled it out for the lead for six laps before Bryant fell back four positions after coming in contact with Banks.

The crowd came to their feet several times during the 16-lap race. Banks finished in second to Pilcher while Bryant was impressive in working his way back into third place with Jim Redmann of Lockridge in fourth. Racing action continues this Saturday night with hot laps at 7 p.m. And racing action at 7:30.

4 - BANGERS
Heat – 1, Mark Williams, Fairfield; 2, Travis Tedrow, Batavia; 3, Jim Garrett, Bloomfield;
Feature – 1, Williams; 2, Steve Williams, Fairfield; 3, Dale Porter, Floris; 4, Garrett; 5, Codey Phillips, Rhodes; 6, Tedrow;

HOBBY STOCKS
Heat #1 – 1, Dennis Greenfield, Ottumwa; 2, Jimmy Hayes, Moravia; 3, Kevin Cook, Ottumwa;
Heat #2 – 1, Dustin Griffiths, Ottumwa; 2, Rocky Fosdyck, Selma; 3, Terry Doud, Batavia;
Heat #3 – 1, Steve Adams, Chariton; 2, Todd Reitzler, Grinnell; 3, Danny Thrasher, Agency;
Feature – 1, Griffiths; 2, Jamie Orwig, Chariton; 3, Doud; 4, Mark Wirth, Chariton; 5, Fosdyck; 6, Hayes; 7, Jason McDaniel, Eldon; 8, Adams; 9, Gary Harward, Floris; 10, Thrasher; 11, Lance Meyer, Ottumwa; 12, Paul Thomas, Ottumwa; 13, Jared Curry, Fremont; 14, Shawn Coleman, Packwood; 15, Cook; 16, Reitzler; 17, Paul Underwood, Ottumwa; 18, Greenfield; 19, Brad Prado, Ottumwa;

STOCK CARS
Heat #1 – 1, Shane Weller, Agency; 2, Steve Landgrebe, Oskaloosa; 3, Jim Brown, Fremont;
Heat #2 – 1, Randy McClure, Eldon; 2, Tyler McClure, Floris; 3, Mike Harward, Floris;
Feature – 1, Harward; 2, Pat Rachels, Knoxville; 3, Jim Redmann, Lockridge; 4, R. McClure; 5, Bert McDaniel, Eldon; 6, Terry Clayton, Brooklyn; 7, Leon McCombs, Knoxville; 8, Les Blakely, Fairfield; 9, Weller; 10, T. McClure; 11, Brown; 12, Dave Bennett, Bloomfield; 13, Landgrebe;

MODIFIEDS
Heat #1 – 1, Brandon Banks, Washington; 2, Jim Redmann, Lockridge; 3, Jim Brown, Altoona;
Heat #2 – 1, Ken Bryant, Ottumwa; 2, Todd Holman, Ottumwa; 3, Jon Orwig, Ottumwa;
Feature – 1, Jerry Pilcher, Bloomfield; 2, Banks; 3, Bryant; 4, Redmann; 5, Mark Widmar, Ottumwa; 6, Orwig; 7, Brown; 8, Mike Kaller, Highland Center; 9, Holman; 10, Toby Vandekamp, St. Louis, MO; 11, Tommy Lathrop, Ottumwa;