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The Commerce News
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CONTACT US: Brandon Reed / brandon@mainstreetnews.com / (706) 367-5233 or (706) 335-2927
IB
THE COMMERCE (GA.) NEWS
WEDNESDAY,
JULY 2, 2008
Auto Racing
Commerce vs. Banks Co. at Dragway's 'Night Of Fire'
Elaine Larson piloted the Embry-Riddle jet Saturday, making 280+ mph passes on the
dragster at Atlanta Dragway’s “Night of Fire” quarter mile. Photo by Amy Glover
By Amy Glover
Mother Nature waited until
after the fans were satisfied
with a classic Commerce vs.
Banks County show on the
quarter-mile before she rained
on Atlanta Dragway’s parade,
at the 2008 Night of Fire event
Saturday.
The ever-changing weather
precipitated a challenge for all
racers, dial adjustment being
the main issue, when predicting
elapsed times throughout unpre
dictable conditions.
In the 13-17 Junior Dragster
Category, both 16-year old Brett
Bowman of Homer and 15-year
old Taylor Ramsey of Commerce
struggled with matching their
dial-ins, Bowman running an
8.05 on an 8.00, and Ramsey an
8.02 on a 7.99.
The race became all about
reaction time, with Bowman
ending the race at the starting
line with a .059 light against
Ramsey’s .092, claiming the win
with a .008 margin of victory.
Bowman met the victory cool-
iy-
“It’s a big race, but just like
any other win,’’ he said. “A
lot more people watching, you
know.’’
Seventeen-year-old Amber
Stroud of Douglasville took the
number three position.
Eight-12 Junior Dragster win
ner 10-year old MacKenzie
Butler of Jackson met the weath
er challenge with determina
tion, cutting a perfect .000 light
against 10-year old Cole Wood
of Jefferson, who broke out by
.05 seconds, running an 8.85
against an 8.90.
MacKenzie was bursting with
pride at winning the big event,
telling Embry-Riddle jet car
driver Elaine Larsen, “I’m very
excited. I cut a .000!!’’
Ten-year old Alex Krause of
Peachtree City placed third.
In addition to the Summit ET
Series bracket-racing program,
the Night of Fire event features
exhibition runs, from wheel-
standers to jet cars, and the
grand finale of a huge fireworks
show.
Corvettes dominated the visit
ing Pro-Mod category, namely
the ’63 model, with Salem, AL,
racer Dan Parker at the head
of the pack. Parker ran 180.28
MPH in 4.06 seconds against
the non-conformist ’04 model
driver James Hancock III, of
Opelika, AL, whose car gave out
mid-race, running 48.82 MPH in
8.93 seconds. Keith Baker from
Dothan, AL, and Steve Kirk,
Jr. from Monroe, placed in the
semi-final round.
The Pro Mod show was topped
off with a face-off between Scott
Kennedy’s “Controlled Insanity’’
Funny Car and Ken Nelson’s
“Cool Bus,’’ racing to the finish
line on just two wheels each.
To complete the set, Elaine
Larsen rolled up in the Embry-
Riddle jet dragster, with three
successful runs, the final pass
offered a unique insight into
the process, as an in-car radio
amplified the conversations of
the Embry-Riddle jet dragster
crew, including Elaine’s excla
mation of “Woohoo’’ following
each 280-plus mph run.
The culmination of the event
was the annual fireworks dis
continued on Page 2B
Commerce Park and Rec
Commerce 10il All-Stars Take Third
The Commerce 10U All-Star team placed third in the district tournament in Jackson County recently.
The tournament consisted of 12 teams, with Commerce beating teams from Lumpkin, Winder Barrow,
Hall, and Union.The team will be advancing to the state tournament held in Murray County this week
end. Team members include, kneeling, left to right, J’varius Wood, Ryan Andrews, Matthew Flint, Cole
Chancey,Trevor Johnson, Alec Aguilar, standing, left to right, Cole Stancil, Parker Moon, Drew O’Dell,
Tyler Rylee,Trey Parr, and Caleb Brooks. The team is coached by Scott Andrews, Barry Brooks, Steve
Rylee, and Philip Seabolt (not pictured).
Auto Racing
Peach State Set For Independence 125
By Brandon Reed
Peach State Speedway is gear
ing up for one of its biggest
shows of the year, as the Georgia
Asphalt Series returns to the high
banked Jefferson track Thursday
for the longest event of its season,
the Toyota Tundra Independence
125.
With the race being held on
a Thursday night, odds are that
many Pro Late Model pilots from
around the region will travel to
Jefferson to kick off the holi
day racing weekend. 2007 GAS
Series champ Russell Fleeman
is expected to race. After a
rough outing a few weeks ago at
Kyle Fowler
Watermelon Capital Speedway in
Cordele, Fleeman has found his
points lead shaved to nine points
over Ryan Seig. Sieg, of Decatur,
picked up his first career GAS
win on June 14 at Senoia.
Taylor Satterfield, of Commerce,
is also expected to race Thursday,
along with Jefferson’s Joey Senter
and Braselton’s Jimmy Garmon.
Also expected in the field
Thursday night will be two young
drivers who are learning the ropes
on the GAS series.
Sixteen-year old Kyle Fowler
hails from Smyrna. He started his
career at the age of 4 behind the
wheel of a Quarter Midget, even
tually moving up to Bandoleros
and Legends cars throughout the
south. After a successful Legends
Continued on Page 3B
CHS Wrestling
CHS Wrestlers Wrap Up Summer Practice
By Brandon Reed
The Commerce Tigers wrapped
up summer wrestling practice
last week, as they traveled to
North Oconee on Tuesday and
to Clarke Central on Thursday.
On Tuesday, the Tigers faced
North Oconee and Madison
County. On Thursday, the team
faced several area foes, including
Clarke Central, Banks County,
Madison County, Athens
Christian and Winder Barrow.
“The guys wrestled hard, and
I saw a lot of good things,’’ said
coach Kendall Love. “We had
a great summer. We had good
numbers at each event and the
guys worked very hard. I could
not ask for a better effort.’’
With eight returning state plac
ers this year, the Tigers have
plenty of experience returning
to the mat when the season gets
under way in the fall. Along with
that experience comes a mix
ture of youth that Love said has
shown him some things that he
liked.
Swimming
Tigersharks Perform Well At Dacula
Owensby, McKenzie McRee,
Kaylee Vandiver, Alex Morgan,
Anna Caroline Hardy, Emily
Hill, Jake Schramm, Joshua
Hansard, Jonathan Book, Clay
Pritchett and Kayla Wade.
The Tigersharks have this
week off for the Independence
Day holiday. They’ll return to
action on Tuesday, July 10,
as they host Jefferson at the
Commerce Aquatic Center.
The Tigersharks will follow
that meet with another home
meet, as they’ll host the Winder
Barracudas on July 15, then
take part in the league cham
pionship meet at Habersham
County on July 19. That will be
followed by the district swim
meet in Tifton on July 25 and
26.
The Commerce Tigersharks
had a successful outing on
Saturday, as 21 swimmers trav
eled to Gwinnett County for
the Dacula Invitational.
mu
The Tigersharks racked up
25 top ten finishes in various
events.
Among those top ten finish
ers were Marissa Fullard, Bryce
\JL d y* 1 **
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A -
Commerce swimmer Adia Burley competes in the 8 and under
backstroke at the Dacula invitational on Saturday.
Commerce wrestlers Terrance Martin (left) and Tyler Austin (right)
prepare to show an example of a move during the Tigers final prac
tice sesson of the summer. Photo by Brandon Reed
“If we can stay healthy next
year, we have a chance to be in
the mix of things, along with other
teams like Wesleyan, Bremen and
Gordon Lee to name a few, at the
State Tournament,’’ he said.
Love said recently that upwards
of 20 wrestlers had been attend
ing practice throughout June,
with the team facing between
25 and 30 teams in practice
matches, including AAA state
champ Gilmer County. The team
faced roughly the equivalent of
30 matches over the summer
schedule, he said.
Love said he expects to have
about 30 athletes take part when
the season kicks off in the late
fall.
pp
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