WALL TOWNSHIP, N.J. — It’s understood that to win stock-car races you must be both lucky and good.
Justin Gumley was very lucky twice in the early stages and very good at the end of Saturday’s 100-lap Turkey Derby feature for the cars meeting Wall Township Speedway’s weekly modified rulebook. The result was a victory for the Colts Neck, N.J., driver in a race that appeared for many laps like nobody wanted to win.
Mike Bohn dueled side by side with Gumley in the closing laps but was forced to settle for second. Rob Schultz and Bob Boardwick were third and fourth, each registering his best finish. Ken Woolley, Jr., the late-race leader until his tires gave up, was fifth and the last car on the lead lap.
Only eight of 28 starters were around to see the checkered flag, which fell under a full moon.
Twice Gumley nearly lost a lap to the leader. Had the race rules called for caution laps to be scored, he would have been out of contention before the one-quarter mark. After pacing the first 14 laps from his outside front-row starting spot, he pitted with brake problems and barely came out on the tail of the lead lap. Ten circuits later he caused a caution by sliding to a smoky halt on the front straightaway, resulting in that lap not being scored.
The eventual winner was buried in the pack during the middle stages, which turned out to be a good place to hide. Track champion Kevin Flockhart inherited the lead on Gumley’s first stop and paced the field until lap 43 when he spun on a restart after contact with Jimmy Blewett. Pitting for fresh right-side rubber, he charged back to second place and caught Blewett going down the back straight on lap 74.
Flockhart’s left-front bumper hooked Blewett’s right rear, pitching both cars hard into the turn three guardrail. Tempers flared, but neither driver was injured.    
Woolley was next on the hot seat, but his experience could not hold off young guns Gumley and Bohn with four laps to go. Bohn led laps 97 and 98 on the low side, but Gumley got tremendous bite off the top of turn four with the white flag waving to take his first Turkey Derby win, only the fourth modified triumph of his career.
Defending race winner Steve Reed never had a chance to defend his title as he broke an axle flange during pre-race hot laps.
Reed started on the tail of the field and stayed on the track until he was lapped but soon parked for the day, finishing 26th.
Jimmy Blewett set fast time in Friday’s time trials and Bill Weichert won the consolation.
The finish:
Justin Gomley, Michael Bohn, Rob Schultz, Bob Boardwick, Ken Woolley, Jr., Jason Willett, Shaun Carrig, Rob Schwarz, Rowan Pennick, Mike Carpenter, Pete Brittian, Jimmy Blewett, Kevin Flockhart, Bill Weichert, Tom Farrell III, Adam Lacicero, Francis Cottrell, Nick Vasquez, Mike Brennan, Tim Arre, Richie Knell, Vinnie Green, Dave Cranmer, Jason Treat, Chris Hamilton, Steve Reed, Bobby Walton.