Troy Taylor and Kevin Ramey waged titanic battles as the top late model drivers at Devil’s Bowl in the late 80's and early 90's. Battles that occasionally erupting in physical confrontations. Saturday night they both were celebrating again at Devil’s Bowl. Taylor captured the $5,000 prize for winning the 8^th Annual O’Reilly World Cup for USA modifieds while Ramey claimed the companion USA sprint car feature win.

Since moving to the USA modified class Taylor has not been a regular at Devil’s Bowl; however, his intimate knowledge of the track helps him win a couple special event features each season. Saturday Taylor captured his biggest prize at Devil’s Bowl. A strong run and victory Friday night earned Taylor the pole position for Saturday’s 25-lap main event. Lining up beside him was former Devil’s Bowl USA modified champion Billy Carroll, with Rowdy Starnes who has won the championship the last two years right behind. Richard Griffin was on the outside of the front row as the fourth and final qualifier from Friday’s preliminary.

The rest of the 61 car field lined up in five B main qualifying races based upon their performance on Friday night. The top four cars from each B main would transfer to the feature. The yellow flag flew at the start of the first B main when Doug Smith got together with Bryan Vollmer, and collected most of the other cars in the race. Rusty Trevathan led the early laps until he got sideways after contact with Sean Jones on the fifth lap. Smith hopped Trevathan’s left front tire, spinning both cars. Mike Goodson had no place to go and plowed into Trevathan. After being checked out by the paramedics, Trevathan was transported to a local hospital with back pain. The caution flew a lap later when Smith got into the back of Clyde Dunn, Jr. Jones took the win in a close battle with Mark Moseley, who was trying to unlap himself. C.A. Nix was second, with Sloppy Hog third and Moseley fourth.

The second B main had trouble getting started with Steve Miller and Brandon Houk on the front row. Two caution flags flew during the race as drivers fought for the top positions. Either finish in the top four or go home. Kevin Rowland came from fifth to win, with Kevin Hazelip, Miller and Richard McGibboney taking second through fourth.

Steve Sickles fought past Ronnie Carty on the opening lap of the first lap of the third B to take the lead. Without a caution flag, Sickles had no trouble leading from start to finish. Brothers Jeff Welborn and Ronnie Welborn were second and third, with Randy Kirkland claiming the fourth spot on the last lap.

Jerry Cowart held off John Ewell to win the fourth B main, followed by Joe Butler and Kelly King. King started last in the sixth row and had to pass seven cars to earn the final transfer spot. Craig Petty led the early laps of the fifth B main in a tight battle with Dale Wester. The restart after a seventh lap caution shuffled the field and set up Tom Lorenz to take the lead on the eighth lap. Chris Huckeba also got past Petty for second. Fourth behind Petty at the checkered flag was David Booze after contact between Wester and Jody Mayne on the last lap allowed Booze to slip past.

Taylor led the field to the green flag for the 25-lap feature. He battled side by side with Carroll down the front straight and through the first two turns. Taylor took the lead on the back straight, with Carroll inches behind. The battle of the early part of the race was for second place. Carroll got a little high in turn two, allowing four cars to slip past him. Starnes and Griffin moved into second and third. They set out to catch Taylor.

Catching the back of the field on the sixth lap, Taylor soon lost his 15 car length advantage over Starnes. Though the worked past some slower cars, Starnes and Griffin were unable to get into a position to pass Taylor. They were close together when the first yellow flag of the race flew on the 11^th lap when Steve Miller and C.A. Nix were collected in a spin in turn three. Under caution track officials noticed that Taylor’s left front tire was almost completely flat. Since that is the least used tire on the car, he was allowed to continue as long as the tire did not shred.

The cars were three wide going into turn one on the restart, with Taylor pulling away in turn two as he had done hundreds of times at Devil’s Bowl. The former late model champion perfected the move of squaring turn one and shooting straight from the bottom of turn two to the middle of the back straight on the D shaped section of the oval. Jerry Cowart slipped past Griffin for third. Taylor was able to build a five car length lead over Starnes. That was erased with a spin in turn three. On the restart Cowart got past Starnes for second. Taylor got away from the pack that was racing three wide for second place. Sean Jones was up to fourth, in the battle for second when he got sideways in turn three to bring out the third caution.

Starnes reclaimed second and charged after Taylor as the race resumed. The final nine laps were caution free, and Starnes soon found himself in a battle for second with Tom Lorenz. The pair had battled from June through September for the 2001 USA modified championship at Devil’s Bowl, finishing just 50 points apart. They raced side by side through the turns in the final five laps, but Starnes held the advantage at the line, finishing the race 15 car lengths behind Taylor. Lorenz was third with Griffin climbing back to fourth at the checkered flag. Moseley claimed fifth after starting outside the tenth row.

Ramey moved from late models to sprint cars in 1992. In the past nine years, he has earned three straight championships at Devil’s Bowl. Much of this year he ran the ASCS tour, but had time to race eleven times at Devil’s Bowl this year, winning six features. After finishing third in Friday’s preliminary, Ramey lined up on the inside of the second row for the 25-lap feature. Skip Wilson and Bob Ewell won the two sprint heats, earning enough passing points to start on the third and fourth rows respectively.

Up on the front row was Friday winner Keith Walker and Paul White on the outside. As the green flag fell, White went around the outside to take the early lead. Ramey was on the move, coming up the inside of turn two just like he used to in a late model, and challenging Walker for second. Walker and Ramey ran side by side for three laps before Ramey finally took the runner-up spot. Behind the leaders there was a bit of tight racing in the pack. Ricky Summers soon dropped out with a damaged top wing, and Brandon Erwin also had damage to his top wing.

The leaders caught lapped traffic by the eighth lap. Working past slower cars, Ramey almost took the lead on the ninth lap, but settled back into second. Everyone was having trouble passing first time driver Robert Morrow, and the eventual wreck occurred on the 12^th lap when fifth place Rowdy Hull got tangled with another car when he had to slow suddenly to avoid Morrow. Hull flipped a couple times, and also collected the car of Mark Huddleston. Both drivers were able to walk away from the crash, but the cars were done for the night. The red flag gave Ramey a chance to make adjustments, along with the other drivers.

Back when he raced late models, Ramey learned the same lesson as Taylor. While horsepower is important at Devil’s Bowl, ten times more races are won by the best handling car on the fast oval. Ramey has become a master at adjusting his sprint car for changing track conditions during red flags. It was obvious when the cars restarted, he had made the better changes.

With a clear track, White was unable to pull away from Ramey as the race resumed. The pair were inches apart for two laps before the caution flew for a flat on Bob Ewell’s car. On the restart, Ramey was able to stay side by side and take the low line into turn three. He pulled ahead coming out of turn four to take the lead. A caution on lap 19 and another on lap 23 kept the field close. Ramey got a good jump on the final restart to pull ahead of White, taking the victory by five car lengths. Skip Wilson took third place when Walker got wide in turn two on the 20^th lap. Walker was able to gain a couple positions in the final laps to finish fourth with Glen Stubblefield, Jr. taking fifth.

Devil’s Bowl Speedway closes its 2001 season next weekend with the 28^th Annual WinterNationals featuring the only appearance in the region by the Pennzoil World of Outlaws this fall. The two day program begins Friday evening and concludes Saturday. Reserved seat tickets are on sale at the speedway office - 972-222-2421.

Second B Main: 1. #41, Kevin Rowland, Midlothian, TX; 2. #44X, Kevin Hazelip, Kemp, TX; 3. #3, Steve Miller, Pflugerville, TX; 4. #19, Richard McGibboney, Dallas, TX; 5. #216, Eddie Martin, Stillwell, OK; 6. #82, Brandon Houk, The Colony, TX; 7. #87, Gene Boyter, Bossier City, LA; 8. #25X, Buck Spears, Bells, TX; 9. #12, Jason Hughes, Colcord, OK; 10. #128, Donald Wren, Spring, TX; Did not start - #56X, Greg Killingsworth, Pflugerville, TX; Did not start - #12C, Jabo Cooper, Mabank, TX

Third B Main: 1. #50, Steve Sickels, Rowlett, TX; 2. #19J, Jeff Welborn, Princeton, TX; 3. #20, Ronnie Welborn, Princeton, TX; 4. #77, Randy Kirkland, Mesquite, TX; 5. #141, Ronnie Carty, DeSoto, TX; 6. #33, Carl Large, Ovilla, TX; 7. #39, Rick McCommas, Balch Springs, TX; 8. #189, Bobby Simpson, Conroe, TX; 9. #17, Charles Lasater, Garland, TX; 10. #40, Jody Holley, Tyler, TX; Did not start - #011, Chris Glick, Buffalo, TX

Fourth B Main: 1. #6P, Jerry Cowart, Mesquite, TX; 2. #10, John Ewell, Forney, TX; 3. #45, Joe Butler, Cleveland, TX; 4. #57K, Kelly King, Iowa Park, TX; 5. #13, Chuck Beusch, Red Oak, TX; 6. #44, David Grigg, Springdale, AR; 7. #K2, Kevin DeLashaw, Hendrix, OK; 8. #79R, Darrell Hathcock, Dallas, TX; 9. #84C, Fran Collins, Cleveland, TX; 10. #T2, Brian Short, Denison, TX; Did not start - #69, Bobby Freeman, Ovilla, TX

Fifth B Main: 1. #84, Tom Lorenz, Balch Springs, TX; 2. #21C, Christopher Huckeba, Mesquite, TX; 3. #5P, Craig Petty, Waxahachie, TX; 4. #22B, David Booze, Mesquite, TX; 5. #6L, Jody Mayne, Grand Saline, TX; 6. #2, Boomer Nix, Lawton, OK; 7. #12W, Dale Wester, Red Oak, TX; 8. #015, Thomas Blackwell, Crandall, TX; Did not start - #02, Chase Glick, Buffalo, TX; Did not start - #25, Phillip Farrell, Jr., Grandview, TX; Did not start - #57, Brian Killingsworth, Pflugerville, TX

A FEATURE: 1. #56, Troy Taylor, Dallas, TX; 2. #50X, Rowdy Starnes, McKinney, TX; 3. #84, Tom Lorenz, Balch Springs, TX; 4. #135, Richard Griffin, Anna, TX; 5. #94, Mark Moseley, Carrollton, TX; 6. #6P, Jerry Cowart, Mesquite, TX; 7. #45, Joe Butler, Cleveland, TX; 8. #4, Billy Carroll, McKinney, TX; 9. #21C, Christopher Huckeba, Mesquite, TX; 10. #19, Richard McGibboney, Dallas, TX; 11. #10, John Ewell, Forney, TX; 12. #57K, Kelly King, Iowa Park, TX; 13. #5, Sean Jones, Mansfield, TX; 14. #50, Steve Sickels, Rowlett, TX; 15. #20, Ronnie Welborn, Princeton, TX; 16. #41, Kevin Rowland, Midlothian, TX; 17. #77, Randy Kirkland, Mesquite, TX; 18. #20C, C.A. Nix, Lawton, OK; 19. #19J, Jeff Welborn, Princeton, TX; 20. #ZZ, Sloppy Hog, Arlington, TX; 21. #4S, Doug Smith, Mesquite, TX; 22. #44X, Kevin Hazelip, Kemp, TX; 23. #3, Steve Miller, Pflugerville, TX; 24. #22B, David Booze, Mesquite, TX; 25. #5P, Craig Petty, Waxahachie, TX

USA SPRINT CARS - First Heat Race: 1. #65, Skip Wilson, Garland, TX; 2. #90, Eric Payne, Garland, TX; 3. #1M, Larry Long, Dallas, TX; 4. #33, Mark Huddleston, Genoa, AR; 5. #15, Wayne Brown, Formey, TX; 6. #8, Wayne McNally, Dallas, TX; 7. #3, Jimmy Goodwin, Garland, TX; 8. #3X, Bobby Elliott, Carrollton, TX; 9. #5, Jerry Pinckard, Coppell, TX; Did not start - #1R, Robert Morrow, Arlington, TX

Second Heat Race: 1. #85, Bob Ewell, Forney, TX; 2. #8H, Rawdy Hull, Kennedale, TX; 3. #5E, Brandon Erwin, Denton, TX; 4. #99, Rick Summers, Mesquite, TX; 5. #31B, Brian Harvill, Irving, TX; 6. #21, Jeff Liles, Mesquite, TX; 7. #85B, Jerry Bell, Rowlett, TX; 8. #7S, Edd French, Keller, TX; 9. #74E, Claud Estes, Godley, TX; 10. #49, Dan Burk, Highland Village, TX

A FEATURE: 1. #7M, Kevin Ramey, Fort Worth, TX; 2. #1W, Paul White, Temple, TX; 3. #65, Skip Wilson, Garland, TX; 4. #52W, Keith Walker, Irving, TX; 5. #44, Glen Stubblefield, Jr., Seagoville, TX; 6. #1M, Larry Long, Dallas, TX; 7. #31B, Brian Harvill, Irving, TX; 8. #21, Jeff Liles, Mesquite, TX; 9. #5E, Brandon Erwin, Denton, TX; 10. #8, Wayne McNally, Dallas, TX; 11. #3X, Bobby Elliott, Carrollton, TX; 12. #74E, Claud Estes, Godley, TX; 13. #85, Bob Ewell, Forney, TX; 14. #5, Jerry Pinckard, Coppell, TX; 15. #8H, Rawdy Hull, Kennedale, TX; 16. #33, Mark Huddleston, Genoa, AR; 17. #3, Jimmy Goodwin, Garland, TX; 18. #15, Wayne Brown, Formey, TX; 19. #1R, Robert Morrow, Arlington, TX; 20. #99, Rick Summers, Mesquite, TX; Did not start - #90, Eric Payne, Garland, TX; Did not start - #85B, Jerry Bell, Rowlett, TX; Did not start - #7S, Edd French, Keller, TX; Did not start - #49, Dan Burk, Highland Village, TX