A packed house and bulging pit area of over 140 racers brought the curtain down on a rare Friday night show, dubbed “Friday Night Lights,” at the Tyler County Speedway.

It was the Renegades of Dirt Modified Tour kicking off their Monster Modified Weekend and the FASTRAK NE Tours 2014 kickoff highlighting the evening. When the checkered flag waived it was North Carolina’s Kyle Strickler picking up the Renegades event and Shinnston’s Robbie Scott besting a fine field of FASTRAK competitors to claim the Northeast Tour’s first show of the season.

Also grabbing heralded bullring wins were Jacob Hawkins, Chad Smith, Jeff Fornash, Donnie Wamsley and Kylie Cross.

A stout field of 33 Renegades of Dirt modifieds representing six states would arrive with a $2,000 prize in their eye. After four heat races and two b-mains, the best of the best would take the speedway. Kyle Strickler would vault into an early lead and pick up the win in convincing fashion.

New York’s Rich Michael ran second, while Jacob Hawkins was third, piloting the Two Brothers Motorsports machine. Fourth place went to Travis Dickson and in fifth place was Brent Trimble.

Robbie Scott, making a return to the Peoples Bank FASTRAK Late Model division, would take the checkered flag after an intense race with perennial winner Kyle Thomas and hold off a hard charging Jared Hawkins to grab his first win of the early season.

A talented field of cars would see four heat races going to Scott, John Over, Kyle Thomas and Ricky Williams, setting the field for the first FASTRAK NE event of the season. In the end, it was Scott driving the familiar #18 Rocket sponsored by Kenny’s Machine, Slavic Decals, Rocket Chassis, Swift Springs, and Integra Shocks. Rounding out the top five was a charging Jared Hawkins, last week’s winner Kyle Thomas, TJ Salango of Beckley and John Over.

In the J&R Excavating Super Late Model division, presented by Midcap Land & Timber, the winner was Fairmont’s Jacob Hawkins, who held off a pesky Chuck Harper, Gary Dalton, Steve Weigle and Butch McGill.

A familiar face would park his ride in the Modlite Victory Lane as Salem, West Virginia’s Jeff Fornash, who would overtake race leader Mitch Ward on the last lap. Following Fornash and Ward across the line were Ryan Baker, Brandon Fluharty and Chris Logan.

Making it two for two in the early season, defending champion Chad Smith would park his familiar #10 back in victory lane once again. Smith would blast to an early lead before setting the cruise and besting Lou Ennis, Mick Baker, Brad Dickson and Brandon Weigle across the line. Smith is sponsored by Quinet’s Restaurant, Litman Excavating, Blake’s Auto Glass and Fast Eddy’s Tire & Paint.

In the Front Wheel Drive 4 Cylinders, it was once again Clarksburg’s Donnie Wamsley going two for two. Wamsley’s second victory wasn’t as easy as opening night as the early pace was set by the “Birdman” Robert Frohnapfel before losing a tire and setting up Wamsley to lead the rest across the line. Rounding out the top five included Jason Frazier, Scott Critchfield, Steve Frazier and Mike Frazier.

In the MWRA Mini Wedge division, it was young Kylie Cross piloting the #33 machine picking up her first win of the early season. She would lead Brady Reed, Caleb Nolan, Philip Bubeck and Brett Coberly across the line.

Coming this Saturday, April 26, it will be “Mystery Money Night,” where whichever division has the highest car count will race for the Late Model payoff, $1,000 to win, $200 to start. Plus it’s Kids Gold Rush at intermission and general admission is just $10 with kids 10 and under FREE.

Late Models:

1. #20H Jacob Hawkins

2. #00H Chuck Harper

3. #14 Gary Dalton

4. #75 Steve Weigle

5. #1MC Butch McGill

6. #3 Scott Irvin

7. #7M Michael Davis

8. #9R Danny Ruza

9. #21 Rick Armstrong

10. #25 Bryan Casey

Arizona Sport Shirts A-Main Finish:

1. #8 Kyle Strickler

2. #17X Rich Michael

3. #13 Jacob Hawkins

4. #16 Travis Dickson

5. #1B Brent Trimble

6. #2 Rick Aukland

7. #01 Patrick Lyon

8. #17 JE Stalder

9. #91 Derrick Ramey

10. #6 Ryan Ayers

FASTRAK Late Models:

:

1. #18 Robbie Scott

2. #RJ1 Jared Hawkins

3. #57 Kyle Thomas

4. #18S TJ Salango

5. #K2 John Over

6. #28 Aaron Barley

7. #5 George Kowatic

8. #8 Daniel Hill

9. #13 Brandon McGrady

10. #77 Joel Prosser

Mod Lites:

1. #99 Jeff Fornash

2. #862 Mitch Ward

3. #18 Ryan Baker

4. #25 Brandon Fluharty

5. #21 Chris Logan”

6. #5 AJ Spagnuolo

7. #97 Jim Ruckman

8. #15 Gabe Phillips

9. #3 Troy Collins

10. #4T Terry Williams

EDGE Hot Mods:

1. #10s Chad Smith

2. #x85 Lou Ennis

3. #47 Mick Baker

4. #30 Brad Dickson

5. #75 Brandon Weigle

6. #72 Levi Flesher

7. #18 Travis Thomas

8. #79 Cody Brightwell

9. #151 Stevi Magyar

10. #150 Steve Magyar

4 Cylinders:

:

1. #00 Donnie Wamsley

2. #2 Jason Frazier

3. #13 Scott Critchfield

4. #76 Steve Frazier

5. #11 Mike Frazier

6. #23 Shayne Brown

7. #45 Robert Frohnapfel

8. #2 Bill Tennant

9. #310 Mark Critchfield

10. #33 Randy Seckman

Mini-Wedges:

1. #33 Kylie Cross

2. #15 Brady Reed

3. #3 Caleb Nolan

4. #1J Phillip Bubeck

5. #00 Brett Cobery

6. #0 Steven Frazier

7. #17c Coleman Evans

8. #13 Dalton Anderson

9. #8 Mackenzie Perine

10. #38 Levi Nolan

The Tyler County Speedway is located four miles south of Middlebourne, on W. Va. State Rt. 18 at the Fairgrounds. It is considered by fans, drivers and industry insiders to be one of the raciest tracks in the nation, with three and four wide racing action being the norm, not the exception.

The track is online at www.tylercountyspeedwayonline.com. Call rack office at 304-771-6874 or 304-771-5661 or on raceday at 304-758-2660.