Drama aplenty at Speedway

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buy this photo Cars from top to bottom, Nick Leiker, Kevin Bowman, and Ryan Rosser, come up the straightaway at Black Hills Speedway on Friday night. (Kristina Barker/Journal staff)

RAPID CITY - Angelo Anziano and Danielle Ossenfort both had one of those hero-to-zero nights, while Tim Starkey and Jacob Ossenfort celebrated unlikely victories Friday night at Black Hills Speedway.

Anziano, of Rapid City, led most of the way in a dogged bid for his first Super Stock feature win, but suffered a spectacular exit when his Jimmie Funell-owned No. 77a caromed off an infield barrier tire and rolled two-and-a-half times in turn two.

The battered machine came to rest on its roof, but Anziano emerged uninjured in spite of being drenched in gasoline from a punctured fuel tank.

Shawn Pudwill, of Piedmont, had just snatched the lead when Anziano's car slid high in turn four.

Anziano clipped the barrier tire when he countered to the low side in turn one.

"I seen he (Pudwill) went high in turn one, and I thought I could get under him. I never even seen the tire. I don't remember much. It happened so fast. I just know the seat belts worked really good," said Anziano.

Pudwill's No. 85jr faltered with ignition problems on the restart, allowing Starkey, last week's feature winner, to assume the lead after working his way from the rear of the starting grid.

"I saw his (Anziano's) car flipping over mine," said Starkey.

"My car kept wanting to die on me. It finally quit. It burned up something in the ignition when I pulled in," he said.

The sprint car division may have been lacking in numbers, but the Ossenfort family saga didn't lack for a bittersweet ending.

Danielle Ossenfort seemed well on her way to becoming the first-ever female sprint car feature winner at BHS, but it was little brother that took one for the books.

Danielle, a 19-year-old gymnastics and track standout at Rapid City Stevens and now a sophomore at Colorado State University, won her heat and had pulled out a convincing lead over the rest of the five-car field in the feature.

But Danielle's No. 10 jettisoned its right-side exhaust header in turn three, and she struck her own debris the next time around.

The impact blew out the right-front tire, sending her car out of control and into the concrete retaining wall in turn four. Danielle was uninjured but done for the night.

Adam Speckman assumed the point on the restart, but Jacob Ossenfort found a way around on the high side coming out of turn four with four laps remaining.

The 16-year-old from Rapid City kept the lead to become the youngest-ever sprint car feature winner at BHS.

"She was going good until she hit the wall," Ossenfort said of his sister. "When I saw her, I said 'Aw, Dani, you should've had that one. I was disappointed for her.

"It was a good track. We could set up our car for any lane," he said.

Speckman was second and Mike Pennel third, with veteran Danny Mansfield, subbing for Jess Beckett in Bruce Hildebrand's 0x machine, fourth.

Mark Brave used lapped traffic to snooker last week's winner Andy Fitzgerald en route to claiming the Midwest Modified feature.

"You kind of go one way and he goes the other way, and hopefully it works," said Brave. "It was fun."

Mike Kress was the first to chase down Fitzgerald, but had no sooner taken the lead when he was forced out with broken steering on his No. 95.

Troy Murner jumped to a big lead in the Stock Car class finale, then withstood a late challenge from Alan "Chico" McNeil and Kenny Clements of Philip for his fourth feature win of the year.

"I was worried about them coming on the restart, but I didn't see them, so I was okay," Murner said.

Deadwood's John Bey overtook Tom Sires on his second try for the lead in the Late Model division feature, then held off a fast-closing Eric Mass for the win.

Troy Leiker, of Gillette, dueled briefly with his brother Nick for the lead in the Wissota A-Modified feature, then steadily pulled away for his third main event win of the year.

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