Peter W. Moss/NSCS Media 4/12/07
Veteran racer Howard Ford took the win in the North State Challenge presented by Scottfeild Executive Hotels 100-lapper at Altamont Motorsports Park on Saturday night. Ford, in a Port City straight-rail chassis with a 9-1 engine took the lead from Craig Raudman on lap 54 and led the final 46 laps, moving into the series point lead in the process.

Local late model point leader Ryan Philpott stepped up to run with the NSCS and used his home track advantage to finish a strong second, after starting 11th. Philpott thrilled the crowd as he moved steadily through the pack, with his crate engine, and followed Ford past Raudman and into second place. He would hound Ford for the remainder of the race but was never able to mount a serious challenge for the lead. He finished second by .712 seconds. “I’m pretty wore out,” he said after running 50 WLM laps (and finishing 2nd) and then the NSCS 100 laps. “I was hoping to get maybe 3rd or 4th but I didn’t think I’d finish 2nd. I just like to race so this was a great day!”

2005 AMP late model champion and ’06 SRL campaigner Jason Gilbert finished third in his SRL ride after setting fast time at 17.912 and drawing an inversion of six. “I was pretty impressed with this series,” he said in a post race interview. “I think they’ve done a great job with the rules, leveling the playing field for the different types of cars. I had a lot of fun!”

Defending champion Mike Doss finished 4th, continuing his streak of not finishing worse than 4th over the last two seasons. “My car was junk tonight. I couldn’t get the car to turn. My stagger was way off and the car was pushing bad!”

2001 SWT champ Craig Raudman topped the speed charts all afternoon and looked to be the car to beat. “This is just practice,” he said after the second practice session. “The race is a different story.” After jumping to the early lead and leading the first half of the race, Raudman would finish 5th, the last lead lap car. “I was just way too tight! It was pushing in, and it was pushing off. It was not fun to drive!”

The first yellow flew on lap 7 when Mic Moulton and Jerry Allec Jr. made contact and Allec spun. Yellow flew again on the 16th circuit when Junior Roddy and CJ Bawden contacted and left debris on the backstretch. Brad Wasmund did a nice job spinning to avoid the mess. Under that yellow flag, Eric Graham’s rear end locked up and he retired. On lap 49, Jim Stillman Jr. took a solo spin bringing out the third caution. During that caution, Randy Houston threw an oil pump belt and retired. Shortly after the restart, Thomas Martin blew a power steering hose and Stillman Jr. and Allen Gibney Jr. spun in the fluid. Neither was damaged. The final caution period came on lap 93 when Roddy spun solo on the backstretch, bunching up the field for the dash to the finish. Ford, in his Rumiano Cheese/Taco Bravo Chevy, got a good restart and held off the charging Philpott for the win.

“We’ve been running good over the last few races so it’s nice to be able to win one,” said the happy winner. “I was hoping the race would end because my tires were gone too! Maybe we’re finally getting a little racing luck! Thanks to my old friend, Dennis Wuollet, and Taco Bravo for their sponsorship help this weekend. It’s great to be able to win one for them!”

Results

Fast Time-Jason Gilbert 17.912

Dash- Randy Houston, Howard Ford, Thomas Martin, Jason Gilbert

Main- Howard Ford, Ryan Philpott, Jason Gilbert, Mike Doss, Craig Raudman, CJ Bawden, Jerry Allec Jr, Junior Roddy, Mic Moulton, Allen Gibney Jr, Jim Stillman Jr, Brad Wasmund, Thomas Martin, Randy Houston, Alan Cress, Danny Siebert, Eric Graham

Random Notes

A big THANK YOU to Jeff Macey and his entire AMP staff! They ran a tight show, on schedule, and the race was over before 9 o’clock! Nice job folks!

Thanks to the Red Lobster Lady who posted practice times on the Brutal Groove for fans who couldn’t be there!

Allen Gibney Jr. was the Victory Circle Rookie of the Race with his 10th place finish.

Mic Moulton earns the Joiner Motorsports Hard Charger award after improving 6 positions. Ryan Philpott picked up 9 spots but was ineligible for the award.

Roseburg’s Kyle Pope wins my hard luck award. After being involved in the lap 1 melee at RAR, Kyle had his engine expire, in practice, after moving up to 5th on the speed charts. Kyle’s a heck of a nice guy and will be back for SRP. I hope your luck changes Kyle!

Luke Hall also had engine woes in practice and DNS.

Carson City’s Mike Millard backed into the turn 3 wall and DNS.

Rookie point leader, Alan Cress, suffered ignition problems and retired on lap 40.

It was nice to see Thomas Martin in the John Krebs #11 racing with us. The Martins are nice folks and they plan to run with us at SRP and perhaps the season ender at RAR.

Jeremy Hopkins did not enter due to family commitments.

Mike Lovell, we missed you and we hope to see you back at the track soon!

Congrats to Jerry Allec Jr. on his 7th place finish after an early contact spin. Jerry’s had some hard luck, running with us, and I’m glad to see him finish well!

Jenn Aiken did a nice job in the scoring tower!

My hat is off to the hard-core fans at AMP. You people rock!!!!

Please forgive my brain fade! I didn't mention my oldest friends in the series, Steve and Eric Graham! Steve came from North Carolina for the race. It was great to see the beautiful, black #57 back on track! They were near the top of the speed charts all afternoon and broke while running 2nd. I hope to do a feature soon about Steve's exploits, working for Ginn Racing, in the Nextel Cup series.

The NSCS sponsored trophies for the winners of the last race at AMP. Randy Houston received one for his dash win and Howard Ford for his feature win. They were presented at the driver's meeting at SRP. Good call Dane!

I’ll see you at the races!

Contingency Awards

Competition Carburetion -$75.00 cash
Fast time: Jason Gilbert

Eibach Spring-One free spring per event
1st Place: Howard Ford
15th Place: Alan Cress

Finishline Racing Equipment -$50.00 Gift Certificate
5th Place: Craig Raudman
10th Place: Allen Gibney

Frank’s Radio Service -$50.00 Gift Certificate
7th Place: Jerry Allec
8th Place: Junior Roddy

Joe Gibbs Driven Racing Oil-One free case of oil
9th Place: Mic Moulton

Joe’s Racing Products -$35.00 Gift Certificate
6th Place: CJ Bawden

Joiner Motorsports - Free re-valve for four shocks
Hard Charger: Mic Moulton

Mud-Racing.net -$100.00 off any web design or advertising
12th Place: Brad Wasmund

Qualifying

1.	Jason Gilbert	17.912
2.	Thomas Martin	17.914
3.	Howard Ford	17.948
4.	Randy Houston	17.986
5.	Graig Raudman	18.045
6.	Eric Graham	18.246
7.	CJ Bawden	18.251
8.	Mike Doss	18.251
9.	Jerry Allec Jr.	18.333
10.	Junior Roddy	18.408
11.	Ryan Philpott	18.452
12.	Jim Stillman Jr.	18.459
13.	Allen Gibney Jr.	18.599
14.	Alan Cress	18.603
15.	Mic Moulton	18.648
16.	Brad Wasmund	18.811
18.	Danny Siebert	19.893