Kelly Renner, Robbie Dean's son, John Vallo, and Donnie Renner
Jerry Wahl:
Vallo Captures Robbie Dean "Big Bird 94" at Kil-Kare by Jerry Wahl Xenia, OH. - Formerly known as the Dayton 100 Kil-Kare Speedway officials renamed the event the Robbie Dean "Big Bird 94" in honor and memory of long time competitor Dean who passed away recently as a result of cancer. The event was sponsored by USG building materials with fine trophies supplied by Renner Racing, Don and Kelly Renner. John Vallo of Fairborn of captured the event in the Gary Estes owned Weiler Welding machine. In tribute to Robbie Dean his former mount, the #77 late model driven tonight by Mike Stacy and Donnie Renner who replaced his 7 with a 94, Robbie's long time number paced the field for the 94 lap feature for a couple of laps as the fans stood and waved to the field. Mike Stacy and Chad Poole made up the front row for the start with Stacy in Dean's old car taking the lead with John Vallo in second but Charlie Davis spun on turn two making for a complete restart. Again Stacy took the lead with Vallo second and Poole third but Poole slip on turn one dropping back to fifth. Vallo stole the lead on lap four as Donnie Renner was running third being challenged by Justin Alsip. Vallo continued to pull away from the field but the real battle was for third on back. Alsip took over third with Tim Allensworth fourth and Renner fifth. Allensworth took third from Alsip on lap sixteen as Vallo was busy lapping traffic. Vallo had a half lap lead by lap twenty five. Scott Drake moved into fifth on lap twenty six as Vallo was flat flying around the track. Alsip spun on the frontstretch on lap thirty five to bring out the second caution erasing Vallo's large lead with Stacy, Allensworth, Drake and Joe Hill the top five. Vallo set sail as Allensworth challenged Stacy for second but Stacy kept shaking him off as Allensworth looked at Stacy's yellow rear bumper. Allensworth tried the outside lap after lap as the third caution came out when fourth place running Scott Drake spun on the frontstretch. At the halfway it was Vallo, Stacy, Allensworth, Drake and Hill as the fourth caution came out when four cars were involved in a mix-up on turn four. After the restart Allensworth slipped by Stacy on the frontstretch to take second as he set his sights on Vallo. Joe Hill challenged Drake for fourth making his pass good on lap fifty eight only to spin on the backstretch as Hill headed to the pits which put Drake back in fourth and Heckman into fifth. The top five continued to run that way with Justin Alsip trying to pass Renner for seventh. The yellow flew again on lap sixty-five when Heckman and Virgil Powell bumped with Powell spinning on turn two. Vallo continued to set sail but Stacy put the pressure on Allensworth for second. Powell again was the victim when Justin Alsip tapped him and again Powell spun on turn two for another caution. Vallo appeared to be slowing as Allensworth moved up on his rear bumper as the laps were winding down. Lap eighty two saw the yellow fly again as Powell spun by himself on the backstretch. Donnie Renner was up to fourth on the restart but this time Vallo took off again to pull away but Stacy was right behind Allensworth and with five to go it was Vallo, Allensworth, Stacy, Renner, and Hill and that is the way they crossed the line at the finish. For Vallo it was his sixth win of the year and his third in a row. The first heat of the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series late models saw Sam Heckman and Scott Drake in the front row with Heckman in front as Justin Alsip slipped up to second followed by fast timer John Vallo with Tim Allensworth right behind making it a four car battle for the lead with Heckman taking the win with Alsip just nipping Vallo for second with Alsip third and Allenswoth fourth. Ricky Bates and Russ Bobb started in the front row in the second heat with Bates jumping out front followed by Virgil Powell and Joe Hill with Hill dogging Powell. Bates claimed his third heat win of the season with Powell second with Hill right on his bumper for third and fourth was Bobb.