Mid-season champions crowned at Southern
Mid-season champions crowned at Southern
Southern Raceway crowned its mid-season champions on June 18, but while some drivers enjoyed their conquest others were conquered by the three-eighths mile dirt.
The NeSmith Panhandle Challenge Series visited Milton and they offered plenty of excitement as Taylor Jarvis and Joseph Joiner both posted qualifying laps in the 15-second range.
Jarvis took the pole with a lap of 15.68 seconds, while Joiner was just eight hundredths of a second slower.
But the excitement between the two drivers occurred even before the race started.
Todd Jones spun his crate late model in turn one at the drop of the green flag. Due to the spin, track officials elected to do a complete restart.
During the caution, Joiner, who had gone high in turn two, was driving back to his position and drove over the front of Jarvis’ racecar. This let to Joiner being black flagged for the incident, which caused Jarvis to spin on the front stretch.
When the field was reset, Jarvis took the lead and never looked behind him for the entire 25 lap run.
The only time the event was slowed was for a caution on lap seven that involved four cars – Brandon Hood, Cody Smith, James Ward, and James Gilmore.
Kyle Bryant managed to get close on a couple of occasions late in the race, but he settled in for second.
Rounding out the top five were Kevin Maher, Jones, and Ward.
In the Open Wheeled Modified Division it was a bad night for series point’s leader Ryan Fowler.
Fowler was involved in two separate incidents before the cars even completed a single lap.
The first incident to bring out the caution involved Fowler and Todd Neiheiser.
After the cars were reset for a second start, Fowler once again had issues coming off turn four and was hit by teammate Mike Lane before his disabled race car collected the cars of Tyler Allen and Nick Poole.
When the race finally got underway it was Lane and Lucas Morris battling out front, with Morris taking the lead on lap four.
A spin by Jason Lockwood on lap six brought out the caution and suddenly Morris had issues with his car and left the track.
Todd Neiheiser took the lead and managed to hold off Lane, who tried a bonsai move in turn three and slid up the dirt.
Rounding out the top five behind Neiheiser were Doug Rogers in second, Poole, Fowler, and Brian McArdle.
Kevin Mitchell showed a strong car in the NeSmith Street Stock heat race and it was even better in the 25 lap feature.
Mitchell needed 10 laps to negotiate the field and take the lead from Bo Bailey. After he made the pass, Mitchell never looked back as he crossed the finish line with almost a half-lap lead.
Bailey, who entered the race as the points leader finished second followed by Jim Jarvis, J.C. Wilson, and Brandon Kilpatrick to round out the top five.
The Pure Stock Division offered a lot of strong racing action as the top 10 in points battled to the checkered flag.
Jessica Donaldson started the race on the pole and held the lead until lap nine when Mike Emmons took the lead and never looked back.
Emmons was challenged by late in the race by Bubba Fletcher, but a caution on lap 24 set up a one lap winner take all dash for the checkered flag.
Fletcher finished second behind Emmons followed by Donaldson, Carl Dodson, and Jesse James to round out the top five.
In the Vintage Division is seemed like a night of déjà vu as Blake Martin, John Cody, and James Ward were battling up front for the lead.
With Martin leading everything went haywire on lap eight. Ward’s car broke and while Ward was slowing, Cody made contact with a slower car driven by Donald Hall.
With Martin leading the only car that seemed to have a chance of catching him was being driven by Levi Donaldson, but he came up just short and finished second.
Rounding out the top five were Craig Crossley, Brandon Kilpatrick, and Cody who recovered from his earlier mishap and a lap 22 spin to finish fifth.
This Saturday the Pure Stock Six Shooter Series will be making its second appearance at Southern Raceway.
This race should bring another huge field and big night of racing action.
For more information about Southern Raceway you can check the track out on Facebook or look them up online at www.southernraceway.com.
Heat Races
NeSmith Street Stock Heat 1 – Kevin Mitchell, 2. Layne Jones, 3. Alan Flanagan, 4. Steven Jernigan, and 5. Billy Arnett.
Open Wheeled Modified Heat 1 – 1. Brian McArdle, 2. Dan Neisius, and 3. Shawn Pitts.
Open Wheeled Modified Heat 2 – 1. Nick Poole, 2. Doug Rogers, 3. John Joiner, and 4. Jason Lockwood.
Vintage Heat 1 – 1. Levi Donaldson, 2. Kylan Nathey, 3. David Spears, and 4. James Calhoun.
Pure Stock Heat 1 – 1. David Holland, 2. Troy Williams, 3. Raymond Alford, and 4. Dylan Merritt.
Pure Stock Heat 2 – 1. Terry Mayhair, 2. Kurt Horne, 3. Keith Bonga, 4. Roy Brook, and 5. Gueston Rogers.
Pure Stock Heat 3 – 1. Lane Heaton, 2. Jacob Myers, 3. Bennie Kimmons, 4. Larry Day, and 5. Jack Rodrigues.
NeSmith Crate Late Model Qualifying – 1. Taylor Jarvis 15.68, 2. Joseph Joiner 15.76, 3. Joshua Huss 16.16, 4. Kevin Maher 16.21, and 5. James Gilmore 16.28
