Reeves Takes Final Southern Raceway Point Battle With Season Championship Green
by Bob Smith
Tonight was the final point racing of the 2009 season at Southern Raceway in Milton, Florida. With feature races lined up by points it was the point leaders who showed the way to the green flag in each division. With the exception of the Bomber Season Championship Race all winners came from the front row, with the Point Champions claiming just three wins off of the Pole. The only contested division entering tonight was in the Hobby class where Dean Shaw trailed Howie Reeves by a scant 20 points. Mathematically the odds were against Shaw. With an eleven car field a win by Shaw would have earned 26 points, while a last place run by Reeves would have earned 6 points, locking the two hotshoes in a tie. Reeves would have to not start or get DQ’d (receive no points), with Shaw finishing no further back then third. If the two had tied then the deciding factor would have been wins. Reeves would have received the title if it had come to wins with nine to Shaw’s six for the season. With Reeves taking the green his championship bid was sealed.
Season Champions include: Late Model – Randy Polk 2r, Hobby – Howie Reeves 68. Open-Wheel Modified – Nick Poole 37, Street Stock – Brandon Kilpatrick 41, Vintage – Jerry Venable 5, Bomber – Greg Burton 2 and Stinger- David Simpson 154.
Jerry Venable led the Vintage field to the green flag with William Nelson on his outside. Venable took the lead into one with Nelson at second. John Cody challenged down the back straight to pull to second while Chris Bayhi moved into third in turn four. At lap five the battle was for fourth with Randy Morris defending the spot from Stuart Wilson. Wilson moved to fourth at lap seven. Lap nine saw Wilson overtake Bayhi for third as Venable continued to lead. Caution flew on lap eleven when Nelson turned it around on the back straight. Venable led Wilson to the yellow with Cody third, Bayhi fourth, and Morris fifth. Back under green it was Venable still out front. Caution flew again on lap fourteen when contact between Gary Hirman and Morris ended with Morris going around in two. Venable again led to green with Cody and Wilson door to door for second as Stuart took the spot and moved to Venable’s bumper to challenge for the lead. Caution flew on lap seventeen when Bayhi got into Cody in four with Cody going around and Bayhi losing his front bumper. Bayhi was black flagged for not having a front bumper. Venable led back to green with Wilson second and Chris Carnley at third. Venable held the lead back under green, leading to the checkers with Wilson second and Carnley taking third.
Finish: 1. Jerry Venable 5, 2. Stuart Wilson 72, 3. Chris Carnley 16, 4. Gary Hirman 37, 5. Randy Morris 77, 6. Tommy Smith 47, 7. Jerry Bohlman 42, 8. William Nelson 10, 9. Lee McManus 61, 10. Chris Bayhi 12, 11. John Cody 98, 12. Aaron Buscavage 17
Nick Poole brought the Modified field to their season championship green with Cole Griffith on his outside. With the drop of the green flag it was Poole into the lead until Pop Booker went around in turn one to bring out caution and a complete restart. Poole again led to the start, Poole took out in the lead once again, but a challenge by Griffith saw Griffith take the lead over Poole with Jesse Barnhill third before caution flew when JD Rutherford came to a stop on the back straight. Griffith led back to green with Poole second and Barnhill third. Caution flew on lap five when Rutherford went around again in two, taking the black flag for two unassisted cautions. Back under green Griffith went around out of two passing the point back to Poole with Barnhill second and Chris Rutherford third. Lap ten saw Barnhill digging inside Poole for the lead through three and four. Contact Between the two saw Barnhill lose a large piece of sheet metal in four and caution fly for debris. Poole led back to green, holding the lead as Barnhill maintained second. Lap thirteen saw Griffith run high in three as C. Rutherford moved to the position. Poole led to take the victory with Barnhill second and Rutherford third.
Finish: 1. Nick Poole 37, 2. Jesse Barnhill 98, 3. Chris Rutherford 18, 4. Cole Griffith 29, 5. Pop Booker 4, 6. Shawn Pitts 65, 7. J D Rutherford 28
Brandon Kilpatrick showed the way to the Street Stock feature green flag with David Windham on the outside of the front row. With green in the air it was Windham into the lead with Kilpatrick second and Preston Porter taking up the third spot before caution flew on lap one when Bradey Reeves, Aaron Perritt and Ricky Haugen got together in four. Windham led to the yellow with Kilpatrick second and Porter third. Back under green it was Windham still at the point with Porter second, Kilpatrick third and Damon Frady moving into the mix at fourth. Caution waved on lap eight when Frady dove hard into three, making contact with Porter and going around. Windham led the the caution with Kilpatrick second and Porter at third. Cory Butler runs fourth with Bo Bailey fifth. Back under green Kilpatrick ran inside Porter, drifting up into Porter in two and going around bringing out caution on lap nine. Windham led back to green with Porter second and Bailey at third. Back under green the front three remained unchanged as the race proceeded through halfway. Bailey came to a stop high in four as the white flag flew. Windham took the win over Porter. Dakota Gregory claimed third with Bailey dropping out.
Finish: 1. David Windham 7, 2. Preston Porter 35, 3. Dakota Gregory 6, 4. Brandon Kilpatrick 41, 5. Cory Butler 2b, 6. Aaron Perritt 79, 7. Mike Lane 81L, 8. John Jackson 07, 9. Bradey Reeves 3, 10. Ricky Haugen 22g, 11. Justin Hamilton 47, 12. Bo Bailey 81, 13. Chandler Burgess 27, 14. Damon Frady 9, 15. Alan Jenkins 5r, 16. Bryan Hardy 1, 17. Larry Faulk 75, 18. Trey Cawthon 1
Greg Burton brought the Bomber field to green with Troy Williams on his outside. As green waved it was Burton out front with Williams second. Steven Fretwell powered inside to third. Caution flew on lap two with Fretwell taking the lead over Burton. Terry Mayhair runs at third with William Arnett fourth and Williams fifth. Fretwell led the field back to green, holding the lead as Arnett challenges Mayhair for third. Caution waved on lap six when Terrel Hayes went around out of two. Fretwell led Burton back to green with Mayhair at third. Matt Chavers runs fourth with Arnett at fifth. Back under green it was Fretwell out front Caution flew on lap eight when Cameron Adams turned Christy Disher around in three. Fretwell again brought the field back to green again holding the lead over Burton. At lap eleven Arnett pulled to third, closing to Burton’s bumper. Caution flew on lap twelve when Hayes turned it around in two. Fretwell brought the field back to green again with Burton second and Arnett at third. Fretwell continues to hold the lead as Arnett pulls to second. Burton vacates the front runners with a flat as Mayhair moves to third. Lap seventeen saw the race up front as Arnett challenged for the lead, running door to door with Fretwell. Lap nineteen saw caution fly when Billy Fletcher came to a stop low on the frontstright. Arnett pulled to the lead over Fretwell under the yellow flag. Fretwell headed to the pits under caution moving Mayhair to second with Jason Barnes third. The single lap run to the checkers saw Arnett hold the lead for the win with Mayhair second and Barnes third.
Finish: 1. William Arnett 27, 2. Terry mayhair 94t, 3. Jason Barnes 58, 4. Steven fretwell 24, 5. Troy Williams 01, 6. Christy Disher 11, 7. Ricky balkum Jr 52, 8. Jason Cooper 71, 9. Terrel Hayes 6, 10. Robbie Brown 1, 11. Heather Pecjak 5, 12. Billy Fletcher 00, 13. Greg Burton 2, 14. Cameron Adams 44, 15. Matt Chavers 11, 16. Joe Pecjak 41, 17. Justin Adams 0, 18. Jonathan Cotton 52c, 19. Kevin Fletcher 0, 20. Kenton Harrington 12h, DNS Mark Bauldree 44, DNS Jesse Smith 19, DNS Richard Stucky 85
Randy Polk led the Late Model field to green with Joseph Joiner on the outside. With green flying it was Polk and Joiner with Joiner running outside to rocket into the lead and immediately open a gap before caution flew on lap one when Kevin Maher went around out of four. Joiner led the field back to green with Polk second and Steven Jernigan third. Back under green Joiner again shot to the lead as Jernigan and Polk battled for second with Jernigan taking the position. Caution flew on lap three when David Seffens Jr went around. Again Joiner led the way back to the green with Jernigan second and Polk at third. Polk dove inside Joiner into turn one and two, getting caught up low and turning around out of two. Caution waved again with Joiner leading to the caution followed by Jernigan and Roger Pack. Under green again it was a charge into one until Jonathan Joiner went around, stacking up Ricky Haugen, Polk and Kenny Townson. Jo. Joiner again led Jernigan to the green with Pack outside. The attempt for the restart ended with Jarred Watson getting crossed up on the front straight and making contact with Polk before spinning low. Joiner again brought the field back to the restart, which went yellow when Polk went around in two. Joiner again led to the lap three restart, taking the lead with Pack at second and Jernigan third. Lap five saw Jernigan challenge for second, taking over the position. By lap eight Skeeter Redmon moved into third after contact between Pack and Jernigan. Pack slowed, waiting on Jernigan then drove into him in turn one, collecting Townson in the process. Caution flew for the episode in one with Joiner leading Redmon and Jason Phillips at third. Caution again flew on the lap nine restart when Maher and Adam Ellison tangled in turn one. Joiner again led the way, taking the lead as Phillips pulls to second over Redmon. Jon. Joiner moved to third as lap ten was completed. Lap fourteen saw Jon. Joiner pull past Phillips to second as Jo. Joiner was checking out on the field. Jo. Joiner led to the checkers with Jon. Joiner second and Phillips third.
Finish: 1. Joseph Joiner 10, 2. Jonathan Joiner 99, 3. Jason Phillips 327, 4. Ricky Haugen 22g, 5. Steven Jernigan 24, 6. Randy Polk 2r, 7. Skeeter Redmon 99w, 8. Kevin Maher 1, 9. Martin Lilland Jr. 7, 10. Sean Hickerson 23, 11. Kenny Townsend 51, 12. David Seffens 7s, 13. Adam Ellison 95, 14. Jared Watson 42, Roger Pack 88 DQ/SP
The only point race still to be decided was the Hobby race between Dean Shaw and Howie Reeves with only 20 points separating Point leader Reeves from Shaw. Reeves brought the field to green with Shaw outside. Reeves held the lead until slowing and running high in two as Shaw pulled to the lead. Kevin Jernigan challenged, taking the lead before caution flew on lap one when Martin Tucker went around in four. Jernigan led the way back to green with Shaw second and Dale Bush at third. Jernigan held the lead on the restart until caution slowed the field when Tim Fowler went around in two, stacking up several cars. Jernigan led back to the green with Shaw second and Bush third. Reeves runs fourth with Frank Wilson at fifth. Lap seven saw Jernigan begin smoking badly before caution flew when Fowler and Tucker got together in two. Shaw leads as Jernigan drops out under caution with Reeves second and Bush third. Caution flew again on lap nine when Fowler went around in two. Shaw led Reeves to the yellow. Caution flew again on lap eleven when Jay Jones and Rob Calley got together on the front straight. Coming to the caution Reeves got into Shaw, as they came up on the two stopped cars on the front straight, turning Shaw around and resulting in both restarting at the tail end of the field. Bush led to the yellow with Wilson second and Albert Beltz third. Back under green it was Bush leading. Caution flew again on lap twelve when Wilson went around in turn four. Bush led back to green with Beltz second and Fowler at third. Fowler took the lead before caution flew for Beltz going around in three. Fowler brought the field back to green with Bush second and Wilson third. Wilson challenged outside to take the lead down the back straight, but ran high in four to slid back to second behind Fowler and ahead of Reeves. Caution flew on lap sixteen when Wilson went around in three, collecting Shaw and Fowler. Reeves holds the led to the caution with Bush second and Beltz at third. Reeves keeps the lead under green with Bush second and Shaw at third. Caution flew at lap nineteen when Bush went around into one. Reeves led Fowler to the caution with Shaw at third. Reeves led the single lap to the victory and secured the Hobby championship. Fowler took second with Shaw third.
Finish: 1. Howie Reeves 68, 2. Tim Fowler 15, 3. Dean Shaw 29, 4. Frank Wilson 71 ½, 5. Dale Bush 55, 6. Albert Beltz 27, 7. Martin tucker 37, 8. Rob Calley 17, 9. Jay Jones 7j, 10. Kevin Jernigan 42, 11. Ronnie Harris 2
The Stinger championship saw season point champion Dave Simpson on the pole with John Upshaw on the outside of the front row. Under green it was Simpson and Upshaw side by side to the back straight when Upshaw edged to the lead. Simpson ran a little high in three, allowing Dylan Kersey to move to second. Simpson took back up in third. At halfway it was still Upshaw leading Kersey with Simpson at third. April Ray runs fourth with Joe Pursley fifth. Caution flew on lap sixteen when Bob Tarrant and Pursley got into the front straight wall, with both continuing on. Upshaw leads Kersey back to green with Simpson still at third. Simpson looks outside Kersey for second without success and files back into third with Ray close behind at fourth. Upshaw claimed the win over Kersey with Simpson holding off Ray to take third.
Finish: 1. John Upshaw 22, 2. Dylan Kersey 8, 3. David Simpson 154, 4. April Ray 92, 5. Bob Tarrant 77, 6. Joe Pursley 8up, 7. Jeff Ladue 41, 8. Terry Merritt 5, 9. Danny Shell 6, 10. Josh Fenlon 93, 11. Bruce Parks Sr. 51, 12. James Willis 54, 13. Mattaya Holcomb 93, 14. Russell Estain III 3r, 15. Mike Roland 27, 16. Bruce parks 49, 17. Logan Lindsey 88, 18. Colton Leyendecker 20L, 19. Kenneth Clemmons 7z, 20. Charlie Simmons 95, 21. Candy Brouwer 5, 22. Dusty Jernigan 23
The final race event at Southern Raceway will be the 1st Annual Topless 50 for Late Models on Nov 12-14. A $5000 top prize awaits the winner beyond the lap 50 checkered flag! Also on the weekends schedule will be $1000 to win races for each of the regular divisions excluding the late models. Thursday, Nov 12 will be open practice from 5pm until 8:30pm.
Friday night’s program includes Late Model qualifying to lock in the top two, and heat races to fill the remainder of the 22 car field. Hobby, Modified, Street Stock, Vintage, Bomber and Stinger will run heat races with features for the Bomber and Stinger classes.
Saturday Nov 14th will be last chance racing for Late Models, $1000 to win features for Hobby, Modified, Street Stock, Vintage, heat races and features for Bomber and Stinger, and the 1st Annual Southern Raceway Topless 50!
This will be the biggest event at Southern Raceway for the 2009 season and you certainly won’t want to miss it! All the details can be found here on the tracks website at www.southernraceway.com.
Southern Raceway is a fast three-eighth mile dirt oval speedway located on Nichols Lake Rd in Milton, Florida approximately 3 miles south of I-10 off of Highway 87. For the most up to date information from Southern Raceway you can point your web browser to www.southernraceway.com or call the speedway at 850-623-2333.
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