Author Archive for: MrAddicted2Dirt

Feathers headed north on Friday for the $8,333-to-win Butch Renninger Memorial at Port Royal Speedway in Pennsylvania which had been rescheduled from the previous Saturday due to heavy rains.

In recent years, Feathers had finished second in the event on two occasions and was looking to finally better that and finally break into victory lane at ‘The Speed Palace’ in 2024.

A qualifying lap of 18.282 was good enough to rank Feathers 2nd in group one and give him the pole of his heat race.  He went on to lead every lap of the heat race, winning by 2.087 seconds over Mason Zeigler.

Friday’s feature lineup used a handicapping format for the top two finishers of each heat race.  Despite his qualifying effort and heat race win,  because he had missed the most recent point race at the speedway, Feathers had to line up 7th for the 33-lap main event.

“Our car was really good but during the caution my left rear tire sealed over and I started dropping like a rock.  Before that, I felt like I had a top-five car, maybe a podium if everything went our way.”, Feathers said.  “It got to a point where it made more sense just to drop out rather than waste more fuel and tires.”

Feathers didn’t waste any time showing he was ready to go after the trophy Saturday night.  He set quick time in his group with a 15.164-second trip around the 3/8-oval.  

He kept the momentum rolling in his heat race.  Starting from the pole, he took command from the drop of the green and never looked back, building a 5.5-second advantage by the end of the 10-lap qualifying event.

A “Climb to the Pole” event for the super late models pitted the top six qualifiers against each other, two at a time for two laps.  If a driver could continue to advance and win the final segment, they would earn the pole for the main event.  Feathers came away with the 3rd starting spot for the 40-lap finale.

Feathers claimed 2nd by lap two and went to work on cutting into the one-second lead Keith Jackson had quickly established.  By lap six he had reeled in the leader and was all over his rear bumper.

On lap nine the Winchester, VA native powered his way into the lead.  Feathers probably has more career laps at Winchester Speedway than anywhere, so he knew he couldn’t let up.  Things can change quickly.  When the checkered flag waived on the race, he crossed the line with a 3.425-second advantage.

“It’s good to finally get to victory lane this year, especially in a Team Zero Race Car the day after we lost Scott.”, Feathers commented, referring to the death of dirt late model hall of fame driver and legend in the sport, Scott Bloomquist, who died the day before in a plane crash on the Bloomquist family farm in Tennessee.

For those unfamiliar, Team Zero Race Cars is a Dirt Late Model chassis manufacturer owned by Bloomquist.

“Scott was a great racer but an even better person.  We were lucky enough to spend some time with him.  I wish everyone would have had the opportunity we did.  You come away with a different perspective on life.  We will miss him greatly.  The sport will miss him greatly.”

Feathers said he knew he had a really good car by lap three.  His No.27 would turn left off the cushion extremely well, giving him a good run off the corners.

“It means a lot to be the first four-time winner of this event.  I’ve known David Stultz my whole life.  My dad’s uncle raced one of his cars a while back.”

Feather’s father, Bo, has also won the event twice, which has been around since the 1980s.

“It’s been a tough year for us.  We have run well, led several races, but seem to have something happen that keeps us from finishing up front in the money.  I kept wondering what was going to happen this time.  Last week we finished second but then found oil pump issues after we got home, so it’s been an expensive year.  We’ve been running American Racer tires all year and that has helped save us enough money to be able to be here tonight.”

Feathers got the night started by spinning off the 6th quickest lap in qualifying to earn a front-row starting spot in his heat race.

By bringing home a runner-up finish in the heat race, Feathers earned a spot in the Dash.  He moved forward once again in that event, advancing from 6th to 4th in the six-lap race.

Feathers started 4th in the  41-lap finale and quickly grabbed the 3rd spot on the opening lap, trailing only leader Gregg Satterlee and polesitter Justin Weaver.  On lap 25, he finally worked his way around Weaver to claim the runner-up spot and set his sights on Satterlee who had built a substantial lead.

Although he was able to cut about 1.5 seconds off Satterlee’s cushion, it was too much to overcome in the non-stop race.  Virginia’s Feathers took the 2nd place finish 8 seconds behind Pennsylvania’s Satterlee at the well-known Maryland oval.

The solid run came just ten days after he logged a top-five finish at Georgetown Speedway’s Camp Barnes Benefit Race in Delaware.  Feathers has three top-five finishes in his last four races, with the lone exception being the night he dominated Hagerstown, leading until the driveshaft failure occurred.  He now owns five podium and nine top-five finishes in his 19 super late model races this season.

“Gregg (Satterlee) put an old-fashioned ass whooping on us tonight.”, Feathers said.  

“We needed a caution to help us close the gap to have a shot.  He (Satterlee) was better than us tonight though, so I don’t know that it would have made a difference.  I was decent throughout the race and when my tires came in I got a little better but I never felt great.  I’m happy to get 2nd because I didn’t feel like we were that good.”

“I wasn’t leading tonight, so of course, there were no cautions”, Feathers laughed, referring to having to endure a series of cautions every time he led a race this year.  

“Last year after we got back in our car it seemed like we could do no wrong; everything fell our way.  This year that hasn’t been the case.  The breaks have worked against us.  I have led three races but couldn’t close the deal.  Started on the front row of another and blew up coming to the green.  That’s how our year has gone.”

“That’s racing though.  We know that.  We’re going to keep showing up, keep working hard, and the wins will come again.”