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Coca-Cola Bonus goes to Ashley
By James Carver
May 3, 2008
Mother Nature cut race fans some slack as “The Darlington of Dirt Tracks” was able to resume action Saturday night. Plenty of super late models were on hand and were thirsty for the $500 bonus put up by Coca-Cola. Billy Rushton and Mike Ashley sat on the front row as the heat winners and led the field to the green flag. Rushton was the trigger man and made good use of it as he jumped into the lead with Mike Ashley right behind him. Tony Quarles and Colby Cannon battled it out for third while the two leaders pulled away from the field. The two leaders went door-to-door as Mike Ashley was able to pull up along side Billy Rushton, only for Rushton to power his GRT ahead on the straights. Former champion Mike Measamer had the fans on their feet as he started dead last and took it to the outside passing cars left and right working his way up to fifth. Last year’s champ Frankie Coates was finally able to get his 2008 campagin off to a start as he also worked his way up to the front. Suddenly, past half way Billy Rushton suffered a mechanical problem as he slowed off the pace allowing Mike Ashley to take the lead and go on to the checkered flag as he collected the $2000 to win pay day in his Southern Wheels, Greenwood Auto Salvage, Georges Construction, Kerr Builders, Advance Auto Parts, Mastersbuilt Chevrolet. The top five was Mike Ashley (Greenwood), second Frankie Coates (Hodges), third Colby Cannon (Hodges), fourth Chris Lyons (Laurens), and fifth Mike Measamer (Clinton).
Super Late Models
1) #71 Mike Ashley
2) #21 Frankie Coates
3) #16 Colby Cannon
4) #4 Chris Lyons
5) #06 Mike Measamer
6) #4 David Todd
7) #Q7 Tony Quarles
8) #22 Billy Rushton
9) #12 Bruce Bullard
10) #07 Larry Timms
#14 Brett Williamson (DQ)
#01 Travis Pennington (DNS)
The lighting quick limited late models were led by heat winners William Morgan and Nolan Nabors down to the flag. Morgan jumped out into the lead with Nabors close behind in second with Brett Hamm, Mac Owens, and Brad Rachels in tow. Morgan stretched out his lead while Nabors, trying his hardest to keep up, spun out of control coming out of turn 4. William Morgan had to fight off challenges from a fast Brett Ham who was able to pull up along Morgan on the starts only to fall back after a few laps. William Morgan (Fountain Inn) was able to capture his second limited feature of 2008 with second going to Brett Ham (Newberry), third Mac Owens (Woodruff), fourth Michael Smith (Hickory Tavern), fifth Travis Leak (Woodruff).
Limited Late Models
1) #m2 William Morgan
2) #18 Brett Ham
3) #21 Mac Owens
4) #12 Michael Smith
5) #44 Travis Leak
6) #1 Brad Rachels
7) #6 Nolan Nabors
8) #12 John McAbee
The Hobby feature was full of action with Ronnie Johnson and Mart Patterson leading the field as the heat winners. Johnson made good use of his pole position as he got the jump on Patterson and took the lead. Third place Bobby Tucker was able to get under Mart Patterson and power his way into second going down the back stretch. This caution filled event kept the field closed up with Johnson able to maintain his lead. Suddenly, in turns one and two, Johnson’s car jerked right and sent him straight into the wall. This allowed Bobby Tucker to take the lead with a closing Mart Patterson in second. The feature was put under red flag conditions after an accident following the white flag had been shown. By the rules the race was stopped and Bobby Tucker (Laurens) was able to capture his first win of year. The win gave Tucker 87 career feature wins at Laurens County Speedway. Second was Mart Patterson (Clinton), third Bo Baker ( Clinton ), fourth J.R. Baker ( Clinton ), and fifth Kris Norwood (Laurens).
Hobby
1) #88 Bobby Tucker
2) #p2 Mart Patterson
3) #B11 Bo Baker
4) #12 J.R. Baker
5) #2 Kris Norwood
6) #9 Tim Tollison
7) #K9 KC Caldwell
8) #5 Alan Eubanks
9) #J11 Ronnie Johnson
10) #27 Richard Tucker
11) #55 Gene Tucker
12) #19 Clark Smith
13) #3 Tinker Roberts
There was a full field of 4 Cylinders on hand with sixteen taking the start. Phillip Wilson and Mike Harris were the heat winners and led the field to the green. Wilson got the jump and led the start with Mike Harris a close second. Michael Simmons followed in third with Tim Collins in fourth and a charging Cindy Goforth moving up to fifth. Mike Harris would spin out and drop to the rear moving everyone else up. Cindy Goforth and Tim Collins battled side-by-side for most of the race with Goforth finally able to edge her way in front. Phillip Wilson pulled away to cross the finish line first with Simmons in second. Simmons would later protest Wilson after the race. Wilson was found illegal during inspection giving Michael Simmons (Joanna) his second win of the year. Second was Cindy Goforth ( Clinton ), third Tim Collins ( Gray Court ), fourth Larry Bunnell (Irmo), and fifth Ray Ham ( Clinton ).
4 Cylinders
1) #101 Michael Simmons
2) #09 Cindy Goforth
3) #15 Tim Collins
4) #7 Larry Bunnell
5) #32 Ray Ham
6) #27 Brian Nelson
7) #00 Chris Vickery
8) #21x Zach Weathers
9) #1 Lamar Smith
10) #77 Jerry Dickson
11) #7 Mike Harris
12) #15 Jennifer Knight
13) #10 Jason Collins
14) #7 Todd Winger
15) #25 Lilman Tramell
#04 Phillip Wilson (DQ)
Justin Wrenn and B.J. Eubanks led the dwarf main to the green flag. Justin Wrenn was able to power into the lead on the outside with B.J. following. Issac Lothridge worked his way up to third. Justin Wrenn ( Waterloo ) remained unchallenged as he coasted to his first dwarf win of the season. Second was B.J. Eubanks (Laurens), third Issac Lothridge ( Waterloo ), fourth Danny Morgan (Laurens), and fifth Ralph Wrenn ( Waterloo )
Dwarf
1) #11 Justin Wrenn
2) #98 B.J. Eubanks
3) #01 Issac Lothridge
4) #9 Danny Morgan
5) #2 Ralph Wrenn
6) #8 Mike Gaddis
7) #33 Tony Maddalena
#00 Robert Osborne (DNS)
#51 Chris Bragg (DNS)
#K8 Randall Klepper (DNS)
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