Conley, Jordan, Skaggs, Milbee win features at PRP

PORTSMOUTH — A trio of familiar feature winners and a West Virginia native took home feature wins at Portsmouth Raceway Park on Saturday evening, with Wheelersburg's R.J. Conley winning the super late model feature, South Webster's Adam Jordan claiming the sport mod feature, Pedro's Brian Skaggs laying stake to the modified main and Poca, W. Va.'s Zach Milbee winning the Ohio Valley Dirt Late Model Series feature on Aug. 15 at the three-eighths mile oval. Super Late Model The Conley Motorsports duo of RJ Conley and Justin Cooper proved to be dominant again out front, with Cooper and Conley setting the quickest laps with times of 15.135 and 15.598, respectively in qualifying and both drivers winning their respective heat races. Cooper led the field to the green flag and proceeded to lead the race's opening two laps, but going into the third turn on Lap 3, Cooper jumped the cushion and hit the outside wall. From there, the race proved to be all RJ Conley, who led each of the final 17 circuits en route to a super late model feature win. Behind RJ Conley, Ashland, Ky.'s Kirk Phillips finished second, while Wheelersburg's Rod Conley, Loveland, Ohio's Mike Hildebrand and Wheelersburg's Josh Bocook rounded out the top five finishers. Modifieds In a dominating display, Pedro's Brian Skaggs not only set the fastest time in qualifying with a 16.595 in the modified division, but led all eight laps in his heat race as well as each of the 15 circuits from the pole position en route to scoring a convincing win in the mods. Parkersburg, W. Va.'s Colten Burdette challenged Skaggs but ultimately was kept at bay in what was another strong run for the Burdette family at PRP, while Louisa, Ky.'s Mikey Wilson and two PRP regulars who made their season debuts at the track — West Portsmouth's Brayden Berry and Beaver, Ky.'s 'Swervin' Ervin Vance — finished fourth and fifth. Ohio Valley Late Model Dirt Series In the Ohio Valley Late Model Dirt Series, the series point leader, Zach Milbee, showed the way throughout just as Skaggs did in the modified division. Milbee set the quickest time in qualifying with a 15.453, led all eight laps of his heat to start on the pole, and won the 20-lap Premier Precast Products feature to extend his series points lead. The Poca native was followed by Parkersburg, W. Va. talents Corey DeLancey and K.C. Burdette in second and third place, while Coal Grove's Matt Melvin and Wheelersburg's Miles Cook finished fourth and fifth. "It was great to get back to PRP," Todd Frohnapfel, owner of the Ohio Valley Late Model Dirt Series, said. "We had a great field of cars and the racing was awesome. It felt good to get the steel blocks back to PRP, where they were a weekly class for so many years. We had an awesome time and hope to be back in the future." Sport Mods In what has proven to be the most entertaining feature on a weekly basis at PRP, the sport mods didn't disappoint in a rather entertaining set of events on Saturday. At the beginning of the night, it appeared that no one was going to touch Jamey Adams. The Laurelville, Ohio product set the quickest time in qualifying with a lap of 18.072 and also led each of the eight laps in the opening heat race. That same heat race also had the most eventful action of the night. On two separate occasions following restarts after caution flags, the 804 of Williamsport, Ohio's Ridge Colwell intentionally wrecked Vanceburg, Ky.'s Teddy Thayer coming off of Turn 2, then spun the G2 of Charleston, W. Va.'s Josh Gibson going into Turn 3, the latter of which caused a three-car pileup. Colwell was parked for the rest of the evening for rough driving. After the dust settled from the three heat races, it appeared that Adams would check out with the lead. But with five laps remaining, Jordan found a rhythm on the high side of Turns 1 and 2 as well as Turns 3 and 4, and made the pass coming to the line right before a caution flag came out for a stalled car on the track. On the restart, Jordan stayed in a groove, and ultimately checked out from Adams and the rest of the field to win the sport mod feature. Following Jordan and Adams, Salyersville, Ky.'s Scott LeMaster finished third, Waverly's Blake Sheets claimed fourth and St. Albans, W. Va.'s Nick Parsons nabbed fifth. NEXT UP Portsmouth Raceway Park will be back in action on Saturday, Aug. 22 when the Valvoline American Late Model Iron-Man Series visits PRP for a $7,500-to-win purse. The KDRA Super Stock Series will also be visiting in a $1,500-to-win feature, while UMP Modifieds and Sport Mods will also be on the racing card. General admission opens at 3 p.m. with hot laps and qualifying scheduled to begin at 6:45 p.m. Admission is $20 for individuals ages 12 and older and free for kids 11 and younger.