Richmond, KY(April 16, 2016) Battle of the Bluegrass series racing returned for the first time since 2009 on Saturday evening at Richmond Raceway as the Ultimate Battle of the Bluegrass Series would sanction the 2nd Annual Spring Shootout and Justin Rattliff of Campbellsville, KY would lead all 40 laps en route to a $4,000 payday.  Other feature event winners included in Keith Smith of Stanton, KY in Phantom Racing Gear Modifieds, Brandon Hutchinson of Hi Hat, KY in AR Bodies KDRA Super Stocks, and Dave McCarty of Owingsville, KY in Stock Four Cylinders.

Justin Rattliff would jump to the early race lead, as three cautions in the first three laps of the event would slow the pace.  Scott James would take second from 7th place starting Jason Jameson on lap 5 and 8th place starting Jeremy Hines would work past Dustin Linville for fourth on lap 9.  Rattliff would pull away from the field a bit, but by lap 17, the driver better known as “The Rattler” would have to contend with slower traffic and this would allow James to close in a bit, but Rattliff would work the traffic perfectly until caution waved again on lap 21 when the duo of James and Jameson were battling for second in traffic and contact was made with a lapped car, causing James to do a 360 degree spin and never stop on the track, but Jameson would spin, along Dennis Barton and Donnie Everman also being involved.  One more lap would be made before the final caution of the event would wave and would also see a delay as one car put oil down on the racing surface from turn four all the way to turn two.  Once action resumed, Rattliff would pull away slightly from the pack and eventually score the victory in the James Rattliff owned MGL Auto Sales/JRR Auto Sales/On Time Courier/Pro-Tech Metal Fabrication/Rodgers Construction/Wave Length Hair Salon/B&B Motorsports/Budda Bert Transmissions/Xtreme Graphics/PPM/Hoosier Tire/Joe Gibbs Driven Oil/Wiles Driveshafts/Butlerbuilt/Team Petersen/Arizona Sport Shorts/GottaRace.com/Team AFCO/QuarterMaster/Wayne Bowen Racing Supply/Simpson sponsored #16 Club 29, Cornett Race Engines powered mount.  Hines would finish second, with James completing the podium finishers in third.  Greg Johnson and 15th starting Todd Coffman would complete the top five.  The remainder of the top ten would be Derek Fisher, Jameson, Josh Hall, Mikah Reams, and Chris Ruble.  Twenty-three entries saw Rattliff also be the top qualifier at 14.426 seconds and win a heat, while Linville and James would also be heat winners.

Keith Smith would be the dominant driver and car combination in the 20 lap Phantom Racing Gear Modified main event and would see the checkered flag first aboard the Jim and Lisa Smith owned Superior Building Concepts/Red River Ranch/Lake Cumberland Marine/Valvoline/Landrum Performance/Slicker Graphics sponsored #1s Bandit Race Car mount sporting a Mullins Race Engine.  Defending track champion Jeff Watson would take runner-up honors, with Jim Robinson taking third, Cody Smith surviving a flat left-rear tire on the final lap to claim fourth, and Aaron Branham would finish fifth.  Rounding out the top ten finishers would be Wade Rookard, Blake Brown, Mike Pratt, Korey Cochran, and Brent Estes.  Twenty-six entries would see Keith Smith as top qualifier at 15.742 and win a heat, while Cody Smith and Robinson were also heat winners, with John Jackson credited with the B-Main win.

Fifth place starting Brandon Hutchinson would use a turn two, last lap pass of veteran Robby Perkins to score the victory in the 15 lap AR Bodies KDRA Super Stock main event.  The win for Hutchinson came behind the wheel of the Billy Hutchinson owned Hutchinson Muffler and Brake sponsored #A85 Chevy Monte Carlo.  Perkins would finish in the second, while Eddie Stewart, Jeremie Bretz, and Allen Hackworth, Jr. would round out the top five finishers.  Completing the remainder of the top ten at the checkered flag would be Terry Cheeks, Trae Soper, Jeremy Howard, Logan Preston, and Travis Preston.  Eighteen entries would see Perkins as top qualifier at 16.348 seconds and win a heat, while Bretz was also a heat victor.

Dave McCarthy would visit victory lane in the 12 lap Four Cylinder main event as he would lead the entire distance in the seat of the Mark Swartz owned Swartz Enterprises sponsored #AR-15 Ford Mustang mount.  Bill Taulbee would take the second position, while positions three through five would go to Freddy Breeden, Jeff Taulbee, and Clint Cox.  Jamison Gipson, Keith Gipson, Travis Dickerson, Sean Jones, and Greg Hensley completed the top ten.  Dylan Stevens was the top qualifier among 17 entries at 19.135 seconds and would also win his heat, while Jones would be the other heat winner.

SUMMARY- Richmond Raceway- Richmond, KY- April 16, 2016

Ultimate Battle of the Bluegrass Series Late Models  (23 entries) Top Qualifier- Justin Rattliff 14.426 1st Heat- Justin Rattliff, Greg Johnson, Jason Jameson, Michael Chilton, Jason Barrett, Dennis Barton, Mikah Reams, Jim Robinson 2nd Heat- Dustin Linville, Derek Fisher, Jeremy Hines, Johnny Wheeler, Jake Henry, Donnie Everman, Rick Epley 3rd Heat- Scott James, Brian Smith, Josh Hall, Jeff Rawlings, Todd Coffman, Jonathan Couch, Chris Ruble (DNS- Gary Yeager) 2nd Annual Spring Shootout- Justin Rattliff, Jeremy Hines, Scott James, Greg Johnson, Todd Coffman, Derek Fisher, Jason Jameson, Josh Hall, Mikah Reams, Chris Ruble, Jeff Rawlings, Jason Barrett, Jake Henry, Dustin Linville, Dennis Barton, Donnie Everman, Rick Epley, Jonathan Couch, Johnny Wheeler, Brian Smith, Jim Robinson, Michael Chilton

Phantom Racing Gear Modifieds  (26 entries) Top Qualifier- Keith Smith 15.742 1st Heat (top five transfer)- Keith Smith, Wade Rookard, Jared Reams, Brent Estes, Kevin Harkins, John Jackson, Tim Potts, Aaron Cox (DNS- Jimmy Crabtree) 2nd Heat (top five transfer)- Cody Smith, Jeff Watson, Mike Pratt, Blake Brown, Korey Cochran, Clay Reece, Virgil Parriman, Mike Simpson, Brian Ramsey 3rd Heat (top five transfer)- Jim Robinson, Aaron Branham, Zach Powers, Eulis Combs, Jim Lemaster, Brian Pennington, Russ Perry, Tyler Collis B-Main (top five transfer)- John Jackson, Clay Reece, Virgil Parriman, Russ Perry, Tyler Collis (DNS- Brian Pennington, Tim Potts, Aaron Cox, Mike Simpson, Jimmy Crabree, Brian Ramsey)
Feature- Keith Smith, Jeff Watson, Jim Robinson, Cody Smith, Aaron Branham, Wade Rookard, Blake Brown, Mike Pratt, Korey Cochran, Brent Estes, Clay Reece, Zach Powers, Jim Lemaster, Eulis Combs, Tyler Collis, Kevin Harkins, Russ Perry, Virgil Parriman, John Jackson, Jared Reams

AR Bodies KDRA Super Stocks  (18 entries) Top Qualifier- Robbie Perkins 16.348 1st Heat- Robbie Perkins, Eddie Stewart, Brandon Hutchinson, Greg Hensley, Darrell Cain, Bill Robinson, David Mansfield, Jeremy Howard, Jimmy Bailey 2nd Heat- Jeremie Bretz, Allen Hackworth, Jr., Logan Preston, Terry Cheeks, Jim Ison, Trae Soper, Anthony Wiseman, Travis Preston (DNS- James Crowe)
Feature- Brandon Hutchinson, Robby Perkins, Eddie Stewart, Jeremie Bretz, Allen Hackworth, Jr., Terry Cheeks, Trae Soper, Jeremy Howard, Logan Preston, Travis Preston, Greg Hensley, Jim Ison, Bill Robinson, Jimmy Bailey, David Mansfield, Anthony Wiseman, Darrell Cain (DNS- James Crowe)

Stock Four Cylinders (entries)
Top Qualifier- Dylan Stevens 19.135
1st Heat- Dylan Stevens, Dave McCarty, Tyler Hayes, Greg Hensley, Dalton Cox, William Cole, Jamison Gipson, Clint Cox, Brandon Creech 2nd Heat- Sean Jones, Freddy Breeden, Thomas Scenters, Bill Taulbee, Jeff Taulbee, Travis Dickerson, Daniel Jackson, Keith Gipson