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THE COMMERCE (GA) NEWS - JULY 30, 2008 - PAGE 3B
Auto Racing
Braselton’s Shane Sawyer came home in fourth place in Pro
Late Model action at Lanier National Speedway Saturday.
Photo by Brandon Reed
Benefield Picks Up First
Late Model Win At Lanier
Saturday was a big day for Flowery Branch driver Rodney Benefield.
Benefield picked up the first Pro Late Model victory of his career at
Lanier National Speedway Saturday night, holding off veteran racer
Kevin Barrett for the win.
Benefield competed last year in the truck series for ten years before
moving up this year to the late model division.
Tyler Millwood finished third, with Braselton’s Shane Sawyer fourth
and Fredrick Moore rounding out the top five.
With 12-time winner Joey Love absent from the track Saturday, that
opened the door for Darian Cronan of Cumming to pick up the win in
the Open Wheel Modified division, his second of the season. Cronan
held off Charlie Barrett and Mike Davidson for the win.
Sixteen-year old D.J. Vanderly made the trip to Lanier from Mobile,
Ala. to fill in for driver Paul Antley in the Truck division race, and it
proved to be a good move. Vanderley picked up the win over Mark
Wilbanks and Cohen Motes.
Other winners on the night included Jackie Daniel in the Sportsman
division, Mike Childers in Street Stocks, Mike Brooks in Master
Legends, Parker Hammonds in Pro Legends, Trey Ridley in Semi-Pro
Legends, Kason Plott in Bandolero Bandits, and Cody Garland in
Bandolero Young Guns.
EJCHS Cross Country
Eagle C.C. Practice Starts Aug. 4
Monday marks the first official day of practice for the East
Jackson Cross Country team.
Both the boys’ and girls’ teams are coming off a strong first year,
with the boys entering 2008 as the defending region 8-AA champs,
winning 12 meets overall. They finished 10th at state.
The boys are slated to finish fourth in pre-season polling.
That same polling shows the girls expected to finish in fifth place
— the same spot that they finished in last year. Despite battling
numerous injuries all season, they won two meets and finished
third in the NEGA championships.
The Eagles have also participated in voluntary workouts during
the summer.
Practice will be held at the EJCHS gym.
CHS Football
Super Tiger Drive Underway
With the start of the Commerce
High School football season
a month away, the Commerce
Booster Club’s annual Super
Tiger drive is under way.
Super Tigers may purchase
their tickets at the Commerce
High School gym on Aug. 4-6
from 5:30 to 7 p.m. and Aug. 8
(Picture Day) on the field at 3:00
p.m.
New Super Tigers and those
wishing to change their seats
may choose their seats on the
chart on Aug. 12, from 5:30 to
7:00 p.m. at the gym.
Super Tiger members will not
be contacted.
“You will be responsible for
purchasing your tickets on the
above dates,’’ notes Rodney
Gary, Super Tiger chairman.
The booster club has a $40,000
goal for the year.
Super Tiger packages come in
six levels, from season football
tickets at $75 (includes a ticket
to each regular-season football
games, Booster Club member
ship, reserved seat and reserved
parking) to the Super Cats cat
egory at $1,000 (includes 14 tick
ets for all home athletic con
tests, 14 reserved seats, seven
game programs, a full-page ad
in the football program, special
recognition in the program and
reserved parking).
All Super Tiger seats and ads
must be paid for at the time of
purchase.
For information, contact Gary
(706-335-2194), Athletic Director
Steve Savage (706-335-2194),
Mark Fitzpatrick (706-335-5466)
or Jeff Streetman, booster club
president (706-335-4815).
The first home game will be
Friday, Aug. 29.
The Commerce Booster Club
meets Tuesday nights at 7:00 in
the field house.
— Coach Ready For 2009
Cont. from Page IB
“It’s going to be a tough road,’’
he said. “The boys are just now
getting to know me and what I
expect. Hopefully, it will be a very
smooth transition and we can win
a few games.’’
One thing that will help, he
says, is having a core group of
players from last year. Towards
the end of their first season, the
Eagles strung together several
wins, including three in region
play. One came against a strong
Fannin County team that placed
second in the region.
“You can definitely take that
and build on it,’’ Gandy said.
“Probably the best asset these
kids have is just how hard they will
work. They will work on their own
and if I ask them to do something,
they do it. Their work ethic is
unbelievable here. That, and them
having gelled together towards
the end of last year are two things
that we can take into this coming
season and work with.’’
Gandy has a lot of experience
to pull from as he moves forward
with the Eagles. After serving as
a pitcher for the Ringgold Tigers,
Gandy went to UGA, where he
played for three years before
moving to the minor leagues,
where he played for the Twins
and the Indians organizations for
four years.
“I think what I learned the most
is that there is really no secret to
the game,’’ he said. “Going into
spring training at Georgia, you
spend hours and hours just work
ing on fundamentals. There’s no
big secret that they try to teach
you. It’s catching the ball, throw
ing the ball, making sure you get
it right and you’re in the right
spot to do that. In high school, I
think that’s how you get to that
next level, by getting good at the
fundamentals.’’
And Gandy hopes those funda
mentals will bring more success
to the East Jackson baseball pro
gram in 2009.
Lowe Wins At Hartwell,, Phelps Strong At Berlin
4A**-
Bobby Hill, of Jefferson, finished in the runner up spot at
Toccoa Speedway Saturday night. Photo by Joe Cline
By Brandon Reed
Several local drivers found success on racetracks around the
country over the weekend.
Commerce’s Ty Lowe grabbed the Crate Late Model win at
Hartwell Speedway Saturday night. It was a good weekend
for Lowe, as he also picked up a third-place finish at Lavonia
Speedway Friday night.
Suwanee’s Michael Phelps had another solid run in ARCA com
petition this weekend, as he finished 15th in the ARCA 200 at
Berlin Raceway in Michigan Saturday. Phelps currently sits 15th
in points in the ARCA series.
Lilburn driver Ken Butler started seventh in the event, but engine
trouble relegated him to a 25th place finish. John Wes Townley of
Athens finished eighth. Former Formula One driver Scott Speed
picked up the win.
Jefferson’s Bobby Hill picked up a second-place finish Saturday
night at Toccoa Speedway in the Hobby class. Nicholas “Worm
Dog’’ Baxter, of Jefferson, finished fourth in the Stock Four
Cylinder class.
It was a rough weekend for the drag racing Johnson family out
of Sugar Hill at the NHRA Fram Nationals at Sonoma, CA. After
recording the top speed of the weekend in the Pro-Stock category
with a pass of 209.33 earlier in the weekend, Warren Johnson went
out in the first round when his car broke at the starting line.
For son Kurt Johnson, his weekend ended one race later, as he
fell to V. Gaines in round one.
Dave Connolly went on to take the Pro Stock win.
Runoff Election THIS TUESDAY. August 5
HUNTER BICKNELL
Native Georgian • Family Values • Honesty & Integrity • Fiscal Conservative
Dear Friends,
Chairman. County Commission
e^L 9 o o :^r5 rehurd,eaheadof --^
As you prepare to return to the oolls fnr thio
swssirircs ~
Jackson County during an important time
Since moving to Jackson County in the iqcin» r
service. I've served on the boart of the lve devoted myself to public
Authority; I’m a member of the Economic nJ!, i Coun,y Water and Sewer
Transportation Planning Committee and^he TT"* CommiHee . the County
Committee, to name a few. I've lived herelm e J k !° n C ° Unty Jail Advisory
-tal to our people and I understand how our countyfove^nmemworkf ' SSUeS
about two and a
his county for a short period of time and has no ~ a " d osln 9' He has lived in
the people of Sugar Hill wanted his services he'd«-i?L PU k' CService here ' "
no experience, he wants to be in charge o) our Comy^ZTnmenC^’
ind 9 TantTo d uX b onAugtT5lXn C ca S n 0n ^ the ,ast decade '
to you is honesty, integrity and true leadershin ? 3n, ! nu ® se ™ng you. My pledge
to vote on Tuesday, and I look forward t wol ^ County Do "'t forget
solid future for Jackson County. In ^ Wlt ^ eac * 1 ^ 0LJ t0 create a
Sincerely,
Hunter Bicknell
Candidate, Jackson County Commission Chairman
v„.« F.r Hunter
Bicknell
THE BEST CHOICE FOR CHAIRMAN
Jackson County Board of Commissioners • Runoff: This Tues., Aug. 5
www.Hunter Bicknell. com
Paid for by Friends for Hunter Bicknell Committee: Keith Ariail, Chairman; Jim Shaw, Treasurer