Speedweeks kicked off in earnest Thursday night with a pair of events in southern Georgia that saw plenty of action and even a bit of drama before the winners were determined. At the Screven Motor Speedway where the World of Outlaws were tuning up before their first points-paying race of the season on Friday, three-time series champion Josh Richards scored the victory but he likely earned a "payback" from another driver down the road.
Returning from nearly a full season on the sidelines recovering from numbness in his hands, Richards would take the lead at the onset before being challenged late in the race by Georgia driver Casey Roberts. One of the top regional drivers over the past several seasons, Roberts broke through with a World of Outlaws win last season and he raced Richards clean for several laps before finally taking the lead exiting turn two on lap 29. Richards stormed back though and dove to the inside of Roberts in turn three going so low that his car appeared to be thrown back up the track when he hit the berm causing contact with Roberts. As Roberts washed up the track not only did Richards return to the lead, but Frankie Heckenast was also able to take away the second spot and that would be the way that they finished.
Roberts was not a happy driver after the event, but he found light in the fact that he had raced his way from seventh to the lead and a third-place finish was still a pretty decent payday. He also noted that the next time that he and Richards find themselves in a battle for position that he will likely return the lack of respect that he was given on this night. Stay tuned.
Watching the Golden Isles Speedway on video it is absolutely nothing like how I remembered it to be when I went to the track in Brunswick back in the early '90's. At that time it was incredibly fast but also incredibly one-grooved. For Thursday night's Lucas Oil Late Model Series non-points opener it was still very fast, but incredibly wide as well producing some very exciting action. Third-starting Eddie Carrier Jr. forged to the lead on the opening lap when front row starters Earl Pearson Jr. and Jonathan Davenport tangled momentarily in turn two and it was the fifth-starting Brandon Sheppard who took the lead from Carrier on lap two.
Davenport came storming back though to take the lead from Sheppard, but when his car overheated during a caution, perhaps a result from the contact on the opening lap, "Superman" removed his helmet and was pushed back to the pit area. Sheppard appeared to be in control from there, however when he jumped the cushion entering turn one on the final lap his nose piece folded under on the right side so as he entered turn three the car was nearly impossible to steer and Carrier drove by to take the unlikely victory. Stormy Scott, who was an absolute madman in his heat race, also passed Sheppard in turn four to finish in the second spot while the youngster from Illinois salvaged third.
The Renegades of Dirt Modified feature at Screven was also a thriller Thursday night as Minnesota Dale Mathison edged out sometimes NASCAR Cup driver David Stremme by less than a tenth of a second at the finish line.
There were no flag-to-flag winners on Friday night either. Brandon Overton of Appling, Georgia, made his first trips to the Midwest last season last season and impressed fans at both the Lucas Oil Speedway and the Knoxville Raceway behind the wheel of the Troy Baird owned black car number five. The two parted ways late in 2014 though so Overton was back in his familiar Budweiser sponsored #76 and he would race to the lead at the drop of the green at Screven. Overton was stretching it out early until Rodney Sanders got upside down in turn four on the fifth lap.
Once back to racing Overton would again open a lead until he got into traffic allowing Steve Casebolt to close the gap. With only six laps remaining Overton made contact with the lapped car of Chase Junghans entering turn one and as he paused to gather the car back in, Casebolt charged to the lead around the outside. Overton made one last run on the leader as Casebolt dealt with the lapped car of Eric Wells on the final lap, but he could not return the favor as Casebolt would take the win. For the Richmond, Indiana, driver it would be his first career World of Outlaws victory after running a limted regional schedule in the southeast last season. Overton was impressive in second while Billy Moyer passed Josh Richards in the closing laps to take third. Another local driver, Jordy Nipper had an impressive run in seventh.
At Golden Isles the new driver of the Baird #5, Ross Bailes from south Carolina earned to pole position for the 50-lap main event but it was fellow front row starter Johnathan Davenport who would take control at the drop of the green. Bailes would driver under Davenport in turn two to lead down the back stretch on lap 23 only to have Davenport return the favor in turn four to maintain the lead in the score book. Bailes would again take the lead a few laps later as Davenport began to fade and he then later retired from the event with a broken suspension on the right front.
As Bailes continued to lead the battle for second waged on between Jared Landers and Earl Pearson Jr. and when the left rear tire went flat on the leader's car late in the race, that Landers/Pearson battle was now for the lead. Back behind the wheel of the Dunn Benson Ford #1 again this season, Pearson would take the team right back to victory lane as he held off Landers over the closing laps to secure the win. Scott Bloomquist raced from thirteenth to finish third, another regional racer to keep your eye on this year Donald McIntosh finished in the fourth spot while Stormy Scott completed the top-five.
Five of the nine starters in heat race number three at Golden Isles had the suffix "Jr." in their name with Earl Pearson, Billy Moyer, Dennis Erb, Ivedent Lloyd and Eddie Carrier.
The car counts between the two competing events could not be much more even with 32 at Screven and 33 at Golden Isles.
Kerry Madsen ushered in the new era of the All Star Sprint Car Series by being joined in victory lane by new series owner Tony Stewart after his win at Ocala Friday night. Aaron Reutzel, Tim Shaffer, Steve Kinser and Chad Kemenah completed the top five.
Speedweeks is just getting started and following is the up-to-date standings for the "Back Stretch" National Dirt Late Model points.
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