Outlaw Jesse James edges Dodson for Pure Stock win

 Some games come down to mere inches as well as some races.

Saturday at Southern Raceway Carl Dodson found out just how valuable a few inches could be.

Dodson tried everything he could in the final laps of the Pure Stock feature to get around Jesse James and felt like he might get a better chance as debris brought out a caution on lap 17.

James was on the point due of the Delaware Restart with Carl Dodson and Jessica Donaldson making up row two.

When the green flag waived, James took off and Dodson was right on his back bumper.

Both drivers stayed that way until the white flag lap when James took a high line off of turn four while Dodson yanked his steering wheel hard to the left and tried the more direct route to the checkered flag.

When both drivers got to the start finish line side by side it James’ car was ahead of Dodson’s by about three inches.

Rounding out the top five were Jessica Donaldson, Mike Emmons, and Lane Heaton, who battled his way back from a spin on lap three in turn four.

The Bay Area Modified drivers proved you cannot win a race going into turn one, but you can tear up or bend a lot of race cars.

Jason Barnhill won the Bay Area Modified feature Saturday night as all of the action happened behind him, and most of it occurring trying to restart lap nine on five different occasions.

The first major pile up occurred in turn two and involved several strong cars.

As Russell Welch led the field to the restart, a couple of drivers made contact and ended up with a spin that collected six different drivers. When the dust settled six drivers – Jesse Barnhill, Josh Goodwin, Jamie Brooks, Pebo Rogers, Dale Peaden, and Thumper Grice – were collected in the melee.

As they attempted to restart the race, yet again, cars were scrambling once again and four cars ended up spinning in the aftermath with Peaden, Jason Lockwood, Jamie Brooks, and Jesse Barnhill once again being collected.

While track officials were busy working on the second pile-up, Welch’s car broke and had to be taken to the pits giving the lead to Jason Barnhill, which he held on to the end.

Rounding out the top five behind Jason Barnhill were Kyle Rutowski, Jason Messick, Peaden and Brooks.

Rutowski would get a little redemption in a special six-pack shootout for the Bay Area Modifieds as he finished ahead of Jason Barnhill followed by Russ Harris, Peaden and Brooks.

Kevin Mitchell dominated the NeSmith Street Stock feature as he held off a field of stiff challengers.

At one point Sean Goodwin, Larry Faulk, Steven Jernigan, and Stuart Wilson all made their presence felt, but they could not get past Goodwin’s car.

Rounding out the top five at the end of the feature were Goodwin, Faulk, Jernigan, and Wilson.

The Vintage race seemed more like an episode of survivor as breakdowns in the heat race eliminated two of the six car field.

Blake Martin was on his game and drove away from the field to claim the win.

Wesley Riddles worked his way up to second followed by Jamie Mozingo and Aleck Alford, who brought out the only caution of the night with a spin on lap three.

Racing action will return to Southern Raceway on June 18th with the Mid-Season Championships as well as action in the NeSmith Panhandle Crate Late Models series.

Heat Races

NeSmith Street Stock Heat 1 – 1. Kevin Mitchell, 2. Sean Goodwin, 3. Larry Faulk, 4. J.C. Wilson, and 5. Brandon Kilpatrick.

NeSmith Street Stock Heat 2 – 1. Steven Jernigan, 2. Stuart Wilson, 3. Bo Bailey, 4. Kyle Kichler, and 5. Branden Harris.

Vintage Heat – 1. Blake Martin, 2. Jamie Mozingo, #. Aleck Alford, 4. Robin Christensen, and 5. Donald Hall.

Bay Area Modified Heat 1 – 1. Russell Welch, 2. Kyle Rutowski, 3. Josh Goodwin, 4. Russ Harris, and 5. Dale Peaden.

Bay Area Modified Heat 2 – 1. Jesse Barnhill, 2. Jamie Brooks, 3. Jimmy McDaniel, 4. Thumper Grice, and 5. Michael Rogers.

Bay Area Modified Heat 3 – 1. Jason Barnhill, 2. Jason Lockwood, 3. Jason Messick, 4. Pebo Rogers, and 5. Duanne Lewis.

Pure Stock Heat 1 – 1. Jesse James, 2. Bubba Fletcher, 3. Carl Dodson, 4. Henry Bailey, and 5. Mike Emmons.

Pure Stock Heat 2 – 1. Lane Heaton, 2. Jessica Donaldson, 3. Ronnie Hardy, 4. Troy Williams, and 5. Jonathon Carpenter.

Reported by Bill Gamlin