FULTONVILLE - On a night when fireworks filled the skies over The Ridge, the action on the track sparkled equally
Craig Hanson broke through for his first feature win of the season in the first of two 25-lap $1,250-to-win modified features, while Matt Sheppard collected his fourth feature win of the year in the nightcap.
Joining Hanson and Sheppard with feature wins Sunday night were Rocky Warner (sportsman), Mike Jackson (rookie sportsman), Rob VanAernam (street stock) and Peter Vila (cruisers)
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JaMike Sowle (711) and Matt Sheppard (9s) power their modifieds through turns three and four Sunday night at The Ridge.
The Leader-Herald/James A. Ellis
Bob Vedder and Floyd Billington brought the field of 18 modifieds to the green for the first feature with Billington grabbing the early lead.
Hanson wasted little time getting to the front, moving past Billington for the lead on lap three.
Bobby Varin, who started sixth, settled into second behind Hanson a lap later. Meanwhile, Sheppard was making his way to the front after starting 10th on the grid. He pulled into third with a dozen laps remaining.
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With the race running caution free, Hanson built a comfortable lead over Varin, allowing him to pick his spots in traffic to register his 13th career victory at The Ridge.
Varin was second followed by Sheppard, Dave Constantino and Jeremy Wilder. Billington, Marc Johnson, Vedder, Justin Boehler and Jimmy Becker rounded out the top five.
The top six drivers were inverted in the starting grid for the second 25-lap feature, putting Billington and Wilder on the front row.
Billington again took the early lead, this time over Wilder and Constantino, with Sheppard and Varin close behind.
The lone caution of the modified features came on lap three when Dave Rose spun in turn one, collecting JaMike Sowle, Becker and Joe Ketchum. All drivers were able to resume racing at the back of the pack.
Billington kept the lead on the restart but Sheppard found some extra bite on the low side and took the lead on lap five.
With Sheppard pulling away from the pack, side-by-side battles were being waged behind him.
Billilngton and Johnson hit the finish line together on lap 15, while Wilder and Varin also were side-by-side as they completed lap 15.
Johnson gained control of the runner-up spot on lap 17, while Wilder broke away from Varin and got around Billington for third with six laps remaining.
Sheppard was a straightaway ahead of Johnson when the checkers flew. Wilder finished a close third, while Varin nipped Billington at the line for fourth. Constantino, Danny Varin, Hanson, Rocky Warner and Justin Boehler completed the top 10.
A couple of bad finishes paid off for Warner as he started on the front row of the companion 25-lap sportsman feature and was never headed as the race went green-to-checkers uninterrupted. Korey Wilder was second, with Chad Edwards third, Fred Muhlberger fourth and Greg Pessolano fifth.
VanAernam posted his fifth street stock win of the season over Jason Samrov, Brian Cosselman and Mike Martindale.
Jason Playford set the early pace in the 15-lap cruiser feature before being sidelined with mechanical trouble. Vila withstood late-race pressure from Chuck Wainwright Jr. to break Wainwright's two race win streak with his first career feature win.
Wainwright was second followed by Keith Tesiero Sr., Jay Resch and Keith Tesiero Jr.