RACE REPORTS FOR ROUND 5: MAY 18, 2019

A bright, sunny day, gorgeous if a bit breezy weather greeted drivers and fans alike last weekend at Veterans Motorplex. Seven divisions packed the pits. There was plenty of action to see, and when the last checkered flag of the night flew everyone was just a little bit breathless…

LEGENDS
It was a wild twenty five lap feature race for the Legends. Fast qualifier Hunter Wright looked like he had the race well in hand, even though Justin Maxwell was staying close enough to keep Wright honest. Then, with just two laps to go, the unthinkable happened…the leaders came up on the twice-lapped 21 of David N0ble, who did his part by moving to the inside to get out of the way. Problem was, Wright had already committed to the inside line, and in an instant Maxwell made his move, darting past on the outside to grab the lead. Worse still, Adam Roberson and Bryson Shaffer also went by, dropping Wright to fourth, with Travis Oliver ending up fifth. Wright did take the trophy dash over Maxwell and Roberson. 

Feature Race Finish
1. Justin Maxwell (20) 25 laps
2. Adam Roberson (28) 25 laps
3. Bryson Shaffer (12) 25 laps
4. Hunter Wright (29) 25 laps
5. Travis Oliver (07) 25 laps
Other finishers: 6. Paul Jones (36) 7. David Noble (21) 8. Tad Barker (3c) 9. Rod Nelson (35) 

Legends Trophy Dash Top Five
1. Hunter Wright (29) 10 laps
2. Juston Maxwell (20) 10 laps
3. Adam Roberson (28) 10 laps
4. Bryson Shaffer (12) 10 laps
5. Travis Oliver (07) 10 laps

BABY GRANDS
Baby Grands put in their usual superb show, with Ronnie Binkley taking home the win in honor of his uncle Ken Binkley, who passed away a week or so ago. He had to fight to do it, after a late caution that put trophy dash winner Joe McCloud and his flying 15 into play. Binkley’s stout restarts made the difference though, and while McCloud managed to get past Trent Key for the runner up spot, he ran out of time to challenge for the win. Key was a competitive third, with Tim Vinsant a fighting fourth, and Mark Cole fifth. Points leader Justin Shanes had a early out after a good run in the trophy dash.

Baby Grand Feature Race Finish
1. Ronnie Binkley (25) 25 laps
2. Joe McCloud (15) 25 laps
3. Trent Key (18) 25 laps
4. Tim Vinsant (14) 25 laps
5. Mark Cole (50) 25 laps
Other finishers: 6. Randy Roper (3) 25 laps 7. Justin Shanes (24) 14 laps

Baby Grand Trophy Dash Top Five
1. Joe McCloud (15) 10 laps
2. Justin Shanes (24) 10 laps
3. Trent Key (18) 10 laps
4. Ronnie Binkley (25) 10 laps
5. Mark Cole (50) 10 laps

PULL-A-PART PRO 8 LATE MODELS
For a while in the feature for the Pull-A-Part Pro 8 Late Models, it looked like Jonathan Wilhite was going to make his 2019 break through, holding onto the lead confidently for the first ten laps. Then Mark Day asserted himself, coming through to take the point… till Hunter Wright eased past. They ran that way for some time, Wright managing to move away slightly till Day got the bit between his teeth and finally grabbed the lead back. By this time we’d lost Garrett Dies, Walt Garrison, and Jamie Holmes to mechanical difficulties. Wilhite had managed to hang onto third throughout, but things went wrong for him in turn two and he looped himself out of contention. Mike Barrett got another solid finish with a third, trophy dash winner Bobby Terry took fourth, and Larry Speakman was a solid fifth.

Pull-A-Part Pro 8 Late Model Feature Race Finish 
1. Mark Day (8) 50 laps
2. Hunter Wright (29) 50 laps
3. Mike Barrett (98) 50 laps
4. Bobby Terry (5) 50 laps 71 05 4 152. 
5. Larry Speakman (8S) 50 laps 
Other finishers: 6. Jonathan Wilhite (71) 50 laps 7. Dylan Jones (05) 50 laps 8.Dustin Arms (4) 50 laps 9. Jake Scogin (15) 50 laps 10. Walt Garrison (5.3) 32 laps 11. Garrett Dies (27) 12. Jamie Holmes (51)

Pull-A-Part Pro 8 Late Model Trophy Dash Top Five
1. Bobby Terry (5) 10 laps
2. Mark Day (8) 10 laps
3. Jonathan Wilhite (71) 10 laps
4. Garrett Dies (27) 10 laps
5. Dylan Jones (05) 10 laps

ROAD WARRIORS
In a race that—as ever!—featured three and four abreast racing, Ray Gann snagged his first Road Warriors feature by outrunning Justin Dickens to the line. Point leader David Lassiter ended up third, Mark Appleby was fourth, with Kasey Williams fifth. Trophy dash winner Derrick Bissinger cut a tire and had to retire. Literally!

Road Warrior Feature Race Finish
1. Ray Gann (31) 20 laps
2. Justin Dickens 20 laps
3. David Lassiter (6) 20 laps
4. Mark Appleby (91) 20 laps
5. Kasey Williams (K3) 20 laps
Other finishers: 6. Tony Chambers (43) 10 laps 7. Dustin Goodwin (95) 20 laps 8. Jason Jarvis (11) 20 laps 9. Ricky Gammons (413) 20 laps 10. Nate Allen (01) 20 laps 11. Gerald Jackson (19) 20 laps 12. Jerry Langston (3) 20 laps 13. Derrick Bissinger (469) 15 laps 14. Lynne Newcomb (55) 14 laps

Road Warriors Trophy Dash Top Five
1. Derrick Bissinger (469) 10 laps
2. David Lassiter (6) 10 laps
3. Mark Appleby (91) 10 laps
4. Dustin Goodwin (95) 10 laps
5. Tony Chambers (43) 10 laps

PEST DOCTOR RIDGE RUNNERS
In the Pest Doctor Ridge Runners, it didn’t appear that anyone had anything for the 411 of Josh Harrell. The race was originally scheduled to go thirty laps, but was cut due to the dearth of entries. Still, things got really, really, REALLY interesting when stand-in flagman David Brown (also known as the Race Director) decided he would throw a caution flag with five laps to go and offer Harrell an additional $25 if he’d take the restart last and still win. “Red Beard” was equal to the challenge, started last, and passed Michael Pannell with one lap to go. It made for a wildly entertaining finish!

Pest Doctor Ridge Runners Feature Race Finish
1. Josh Harrell (411) 15 laps
2. Michael Pannell (8) 15 laps
3. Josh Dufresne (63) 15 laps
4. Tony Chambers (43) 15 laps

TUNERS
The Tuners were back, and they had a hard-fought twenty five laps, with Donald Ayers, Justin Martin, and Chris Brown running in formation the Blue Angels would’ve been proud of for pretty much the entire distance. Ayers managed to maintain the even strain and snagged the win, with Martin and Brown just avoiding a major wreck off the last turn. Chris Carter retired early, and pity David Gilliland, who didn’t even make it past the pace laps when he broke an axle.

Tuners Feature Race Finish
1. Donald Ayers (99) 25 laps 
2. Justin Martin (711) 25 laps
3. Chris Brown (25A) 25 laps
4. Chris Carter (7) 21 laps
5. David Gilliland (21) 0 laps

PURE STOCKS
Pure Stocks started with a bang…a couple of them, actually, with Willie Coats and Ronnie Upchurch tangling in turn 4, collecting Charlie Briley. Amazingly, Briley got less damage that the backside of Upchurch, who retired on the spot. Briley kept going for a while but eventually took it in to the pits as well. On the restart “Sally Mae” resumed the lead with Cody Jackson pursuing and Josh Hood seemingly headed for third, but on the last lap Jackson made a wild attempt to grab the win in the last turn, looped his number 11 and dropped to the end of cars on the track. That left Hood second, Coats third and Carl Porter Sr, who endured a difficult race, collected fourth as his reward. Spin or no spin, Cody Jackson ended up fifth. 

Pure Stock Feature Race Finish
1. Michael Williams (91) 30 laps
2. Josh Hood (08) 30 laps
3. Willie Coats (71) 30 laps
4. Carl Porter Sr (98) 30 laps
5. Cody Jackson (11) 30 laps
Other finishers: 6. Jackson McLerran (29 laps) 7. Charley Briley (19) 17 laps 8. Ricky Bobby Groves (125) 13 laps 9. Brandon Ladd (40) 12 laps 10. Ronnie Upchurch (08) 4 laps 11. Donold Webb Jr (27) 0 laps 12. Derrick Harrington (12) 0 laps

TOMORROW! TOMORROW! It’s School’s Out/Veterans Race Night, featuring 50 laps for the Super Stocks, 30 for the Pure Stocks and the Pest Doctor Ridge Runners, 20 for the always wild Road Warriors, and a special Memorial Day Salute to the Troops…and a race for Veterans as well! All this and more at Veterans Motorplex at the Rim, where Family Action is the Attraction!