Submitted Photo

Drivers race three-wide during this weekend’s late model dash at Portsmouth Raceway Park in West Portsmouth.

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PRP Release

WEST PORTSMOUTH — Fans at Portsmouth Raceway Park Saturday night witnessed three racers keep their streaks in tact and one young driver’s luck finally change.

Late Model driver Jackie Boggs, Limited Late Model competitor Robbie Lewis, and Bomber racer Jeremie Bretz all remained unbeaten in their respective divisions. In the Modifieds, 18-year-old Luke Jordan recorded his first-ever PRP feature win.

In the Late Model A-Main, Boggs arguably turned in his most dominant performance. Boggs has won all four Late Model features ran at Portsmouth Raceway Park thus far in 2012. When the checkered flag flew Saturday night, the 42-year-old Grayson, KY veteran was a full straightaway ahead of the nearest car.

Boggs started the A-Main in fourth and made it up to second by the end of the first lap. He then managed to get by Wheelersburg’s R.J. Conley for the lead on lap 7. Boggs would never be challenged from there on out. However, the racing behind him was intense.

Conley and Josh McGuire raced hard for second place up until lap 13. McGuire wound up having problems in turn two and had to be pushed into the pit area. Conley would later retire from the race. He had a tire blow out on lap 15.

The Bocook brothers from Wheelersburg both had solid outings. Nick wound up finishing second. His younger sibling, Josh, was running in the top five when he retired into the infield four laps shy of the finish. Martin, KY’s Shannon Thornsberry ran in the top 10 throughout the entire race and wound up placing third. Seventy-year-old Delmas Conley raced his way from 11th up to fourth, and Paul Harris rounded out the top five.

The Modified racing was exciting throughout the entire evening. The three heats and the feature were all action packed with two, three, and occasionally even four-wide racing.

Oak Hill’s Rick Hensley led the first 16 circuits of the 20-lap Modified A-main before South Webster’s Luke Jordan got by him on lap 17. Jordan held on to claim his very first PRP victory.

For Jordan, the last two weeks have been full of ups and downs. Two weekends ago he crashed two cars, one on a Friday another Saturday, and then graduated from South Webster High School on Sunday.

While Jordan has driven three different vehicles this season, the engine and the driver have remained a constant. Jordan, who is bound for The University of Northern Ohio this fall (a highly-touted auto racing school), put in a lot of time into switching his engine from car to car, and his perseverance and hard work finally paid off at PRP Saturday.

Doug Adkins drove from seventh to second making a last-lap pass on Hensley to finish as the race’s runner-up. Todd Robinson came from ninth to finish fourth, and Jim Barnett came all the way from 15th to finish fifth.

Robbie Lewis recorded yet another victory in the Limited Late Model A-main giving him three wins in as many tries. Matt Melvin led the first four laps but spun on lap five which handed the lead over to Lewis.

Melvin rebounded to finish third passing his father, nine-time track champ John Melvin, on the final lap. Jesse Lyons, Jr. placed second, the highest finish ever for the 21-year-old from West Portsmouth.

Jeremie Bretz captured his third win of the season in the Bomber feature. Bretz took over the lead from Conard Newman on lap nine and held on to take the checkers.

PRP will be back in action this Saturday once again running Late Models, Modifieds, Limited Lates, and Bombers. Gates open at 4 pm. Racing begins at 7:30. For more details, visit www.portsraceway.com.