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Skaggs Claims Cletus Classic; Brady Scores Career First Sport Mod Main Event and Conley and Curnutte Repeat

Pedro's Brian Skaggs got past Kenny Johnson with two laps remaining en route to capturing The 9th Annual Cletus Classic Saturday at Portsmouth Raceway Park in the Modified Division. RJ Conley dominated the Late Models. Jacob Curnutte picked up the win in the Limited Lates, and Jeromy Brady scored his first-ever feature win in the Sport Mods.

PRP's second night of the 2023 season was highlighted by The 9th Annual Cletus Classic presented by Whitley, Gahm, and Rayburn CPA's as well as Crabtree's Carpet and Grooms Trucking. This event paid The Gampp's Power Equipment Modified Feature winner $1,231.

The night was clicking along smoothly until the heats concluded shortly after 9pm. Not long after the final heat race left the track, the wind kicked up, the skies opened, the rain fell, and the lightning struck! A heavy storm rolled through Portsmouth and right over top of the track.

In total, the rain delay spanned three hours, but shortly after midnight thanks to an incredible amount of diligence and dedication from the track crew along with the aid of drivers running in the racing surface, action resumed.

Three former two-time winners of The Cletus Classis were in attendance Saturday - Ervin Vance, Jeremy Rayburn, and Skaggs. Vance posted quick time during The Modified Time Trials in honor of Rodney and Melissa Harmon. He went on to win the first heat and sit on the pole for the 25-lap feature.

On the first lap, he got through the first two turns cleanly but drifted high and got into the wall off of turn 4 before sliding to a stop. Vance would continue from the tail but would never be able to contend for the win.

His misfortunes turned the lead over to Washington, WV's Kenny Johnson who would lead the first 23 laps of the A-Main holding off multiple challenges from Skaggs. However, Johnson would eventually bobble in lap traffic giving Skaggs the opportunity he needed to make the pass in turn 1. Skaggs, the 2021 PRP Champion, would lead the final two laps and would become the first driver to ever win The Cletus Classic three times.

Johnson would come home with a solid second-place finish. Defending track champion Anthony Slusher posted his second-straight podium finish placing third. Derek Richmond finished fourth. Austin Linville was fifth. Rounding out the top 10 were Adam Colley, Tommy McClain, Ervin Vance, Brian Akers, and Byron Mays.

For the second time in as many weeks, Wheelersburg's RJ Conley was the class of The Giovanni's Pizza Wholesale Late Models. Conley was more dominant this past weekend than the week before. He set quick time, led every lap of the first heat, and paced the field for all 25 laps of the feature.

Second-place finisher Robby Hensley from Walton, KY got within striking distance on the final lap as lap traffic had Conley blocked, but Conley was not to be denied. Minford's Audie Swartz had a good night finishing third. Wheelersburg's Kevin Wagner was fourth. Josh Bocook placed fifth. Making up the rest of the top 10 were Kirk Phillips, Nick Bocook, Justin Cooper, Charlie Jude, and Austin Mullett.

Lavalette, WV's Jacob Curnutte picked up the victory in The O'Reilly Auto Parts Limited Lates. For Curnutte, it was his third career win at PRP. Defending track champ Evyian Terry was the runner-up. Rounding out the field were Jody Adkins, Mike Meyers, Tyler Smith, Xzavier McClaskey, Casey Rhodes, Kevin Terry, and Joe Brewer.

The BluePrint Event Tent & Inflatables Rentals Sport Mod Feature was one of the most exciting races of the weekend as the event witnessed three different leaders in the first 11 laps. West Portsmouth's Jeromy Brady came from fourth to pick up the victory. For Brady, it was his first career win in 21 years of trying! Stevie D. Thornsberry finished second. Outside polesitter Adam Jordan, who led the first lap, would place third. Joe McClain finished fourth, and Andrew Bender rounded out the top 5. Luke Jordan led nine of the first 10 laps but had to pull off with five laps to go and wound up finished ninth.

For more details regarding PRP, log on to www.portsraceway.com.

Media Results for 6/3/2023 at Portsmouth Raceway Park - Portsmouth, OH

Late Models 17 Entries
A Feature 1 25 Laps | 00:12:03.552

71C-RJ Conley[1]; 2. 21R-Robby Hensley[3]; 3. 7-Audie Swartz[2]; 4. 33-Kevin Wagner[4]; 5. B1-Josh Bocook[7]; 6. 21K-Kirk Phillips[6]; 7. 1B-Nick Bocook[9]; 8. 00-Justin Cooper[5]; 9. CJ1-Charlie Jude[11]; 10. 73B-Austin Mullett[8]; 11. 22R-Jason Ruby[14]; 12. 73T-Russel Throckmorton[16]; 13. K73-Kevin Mullett[12]; 14. (DNS) 6-Roger Gancs; 15. (DNS) 93-Mike Sark; 16. (DNS) C7-Kenny Christy; 17. (DNS) 81-Brandon Fouts

Heat 1 8 Laps | 00:04:28.245

71C-RJ Conley[1]; 2. 21R-Robby Hensley[2]; 3. 00-Justin Cooper[3]; 4. B1-Josh Bocook[4]; 5. 1B-Nick Bocook[5]; 6. CJ1-Charlie Jude[6]; 7. 93-Mike Sark[7]; 8. (DNS) C7-Kenny Christy; 9. (DNS) 81-Brandon Fouts

Heat 2 8 Laps | 00:02:46.299

7-Audie Swartz[1]; 2. 33-Kevin Wagner[3]; 3. 21K-Kirk Phillips[2]; 4. 73B-Austin Mullett[4]; 5. 6-Roger Gancs[5]; 6. K73-Kevin Mullett[6]; 7. 22R-Jason Ruby[7]; 8. 73T-Russel Throckmorton[8]

Qualifying 1 | 00:00:31.481

71C-RJ Conley, 00:14.679[5]; 2. 7-Audie Swartz, 00:14.834[13]; 3. 21R-Robby Hensley, 00:14.984[17]; 4. 21K-Kirk Phillips, 00:15.162[4]; 5. 00-Justin Cooper, 00:15.259[10]; 6. 33-Kevin Wagner, 00:15.518[12]; 7. B1-Josh Bocook, 00:15.595[6]; 8. 73B-Austin Mullett, 00:15.715[2]; 9. 1B-Nick Bocook, 00:15.777[11]; 10. 6-Roger Gancs, 00:15.819[15]; 11. CJ1-Charlie Jude, 00:16.095[8]; 12. K73-Kevin Mullett, 00:16.225[7]; 13. 93-Mike Sark, 00:17.374[16]; 14. 22R-Jason Ruby, 00:17.879[3]; 15. C7-Kenny Christy, 00:17.879[9]; 16. 73T-Russel Throckmorton, 00:17.879[14]; 17. 81-Brandon Fouts, 00:17.879[1]

Modifieds 19 Entries
A Feature 1 25 Laps | 00:24:09.153

20S-Brian Skaggs[4]; 2. 1-Kenny Johnson[3]; 3. 2-Anthony Slusher[8]; 4. 34-Derek Richmond[7]; 5. 66-Austin Linvile[9]; 6. 11C-Adam Colley[5]; 7. 7T-Tommy McClain[13]; 8. J3-Ervin Vance[1]; 9. 82A-Brian Akers[14]; 10. 1M-Byron Mays[16]; 11. (DNS) 24H-Michael Howard; 12. (DNS) 17JR-Chris Wilson; 13. (DNS) 35-Tony DeHart; 14. (DNS) 35C-Craig Christian; 15. (DNS) 11-Jeremy Rayburn; 16. (DNS) 28B-Jason Brookover; 17. (DNS) 57C-Dakota Cox; 18. (DNS) B32-Brandon Russell; 19. (DNS) 1W-Brian Wilburn

Heat 1 8 Laps | 00:03:58.796

J3-Ervin Vance[1]; 2. 20S-Brian Skaggs[2]; 3. 34-Derek Richmond[3]; 4. 35-Tony DeHart[4]; 5. 7T-Tommy McClain[5]; 6. 1M-Byron Mays[7]; 7. 57C-Dakota Cox[6]

Heat 2 8 Laps | 00:02:56.108

24H-Michael Howard[1]; 2. 11C-Adam Colley[3]; 3. 2-Anthony Slusher[4]; 4. 35C-Craig Christian[2]; 5. 82A-Brian Akers[6]; 6. (DNS) B32-Brandon Russell
Heat 3 8 Laps | 00:03:05.211
1-Kenny Johnson[3]; 2. 17JR-Chris Wilson[6]; 3. 66-Austin Linvile[5]; 4. (DQ) 11-Jeremy Rayburn[2]; 5. (DQ) 28B-Jason Brookover[1]

Qualifying 1 | 00:00:42.203

J3-Ervin Vance, 00:16.493[6]; 2. 24H-Michael Howard, 00:16.544[11]; 3. 28B-Jason Brookover, 00:16.667[1]; 4. 20S-Brian Skaggs, 00:16.712[13]; 5. 35C-Craig Christian, 00:16.849[2]; 6. 11-Jeremy Rayburn, 00:16.965[5]; 7. 34-Derek Richmond, 00:17.075[15]; 8. 11C-Adam Colley, 00:17.081[18]; 9. 1-Kenny Johnson, 00:17.124[14]; 10. 35-Tony DeHart, 00:17.145[3]; 11. 2-Anthony Slusher, 00:17.254[17]; 12. 1W-Brian Wilburn, 00:17.282[10]; 13. 7T-Tommy McClain, 00:17.422[7]; 14. B32-Brandon Russell, 00:17.469[8]; 15. 66-Austin Linvile, 00:17.575[9]; 16. 57C-Dakota Cox, 00:18.550[19]; 17. 82A-Brian Akers, 00:18.742[4]; 18. 17JR-Chris Wilson, 00:19.329[16]; 19. 1M-Byron Mays, 00:19.329[12]

Limited Late Models 9 Entries
A Feature 1 15 Laps | 00:05:28.245

5C-Jacob Curnutte[2]; 2. 58-Evyian Terry[1]; 3. 41-Jody Adkins[4]; 4. 10M-Mike Meyers[6]; 5. 11S-Tyler Smith[3]; 6. 11-Xzavier McClaskey[9]; 7. 81R-Casey Rhodes[7]; 8. 97C-Kevin Terry[8]; 9. (DNS) 316-Joe Brewer

Heat 1 8 Laps | 00:03:41.812

58-Evyian Terry[2]; 2. 11S-Tyler Smith[1]; 3. 316-Joe Brewer[3]; 4. 11-Xzavier McClaskey[5]; 5. 97C-Kevin Terry[4]

Heat 2 8 Laps | 00:02:49.126

5C-Jacob Curnutte[1]; 2. 41-Jody Adkins[4]; 3. 10M-Mike Meyers[3]; 4. 81R-Casey Rhodes[2]

Sport Mods 13 Entries
A Feature 1 15 Laps | 00:09:10.935

B9-Jeromy Brady[4]; 2. 8D-Stevie Thornsberry[7]; 3. 7J-Adam Jordan[2]; 4. 14-Joe McClain[3]; 5. 19-Andrew Bender[6]; 6. 25-Blake Butcher[12]; 7. 5J-Jonathon Henline[8]; 8. 39-Ryan McGraw[10]; 9. 13J-Luke Jordan[1]; 10. (DNS) 11B-Branden Colley; 11. (DNS) 25R-Evan Robertson; 12. (DNS) 5-Mike Drake; 13. (DNS) 1-Terrance Lemaster

Heat 1 8 Laps | 00:03:08.907

13J-Luke Jordan[3]; 2. 14-Joe McClain[4]; 3. 11B-Branden Colley[1]; 4. 8D-Stevie Thornsberry[7]; 5. 25R-Evan Robertson[2]; 6. 5-Mike Drake[5]; 7. (DNS) 1-Terrance Lemaster

Heat 2 8 Laps | 00:07:00.092