Comp Cams Super Dirt Series
Riverside Int’l Speedway
October 20, 2012
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Wendell Wallace Wins CCSDS Battle at Riverside; Jon Mitchell Wins the War



by Ben Shelton
WEST MEMPHIS, AR (October 20) – Wendell Wallace from Batesville, Arkansas topped the 2012 series' finale for the COMP Cams Super Dirt Series (CCSDS) with a $3,000 triumph in the 6th Annual COMP Cams Midsouth Dirt Track Championship Presented by Driven Racing Oil at Riverside International Speedway (West Memphis, Arkansas) on Saturday night, while Jon Mitchell from Texarkana, Texas overcame adversity early in the night to win the 2012 tour championship in a tiebreaker.

Twenty-four Super Late Model pilots, representing six states, registered for battle at the 1/4 mile oval, and after winning the first heat race Jamie Dacus earned the pole for the 35 lap feature with Tanner English starting alongside.  English, who had a front row starting spot in the same event the year before nixed minutes before the feature due to mechanical woes, jumped to the lead at the drop of the green flag and would pace the first eleven laps despite several close encounters in lap traffic.  However, on lap 12 sixth starting, Wendell Wallace, completed his charge to the front of the pack by using the low line exiting turn two to race past English for the lead.

As Wallace led the way at the front of the pack for the remainder of the event, the race within the race was between Jon Mitchell and Brandon Smith, who entered the event with only eight markers separating them in the series' championship battle.  While Smith won his heat race to lock into a starting spot near the front of the pack, Mitchell would have struggles throughout the night and had to come from a b-main to qualify for the feature.  He would then be involved in a lap 11 tangle, which sent him to the tail of the field.  With Smith battling in the top five for the duration of the race, Mitchell mounted a charge through the pack, and in the final corner of the final lap would use a daring slide job to steal the seventh position from Keith Lawson.  The slide job would prove to be crucial in determining the champion as it tied Mitchell with Smith in the final points.  With the tiebreaker being number of feature wins Jon Mitchell was awarded the championship after claiming one win on the tour in 2012 to none for Smith.  Jon Kirby, Curtis Cook, and Robert Baker round out the top five in the final tour standings.  Baker claimed the Kuntz & Co. Racing Engines Rookie of the Year title.


           
While Mitchell won the war it was Wendell Wallace, who won the battle, as he claimed his second straight COMP Cams Midsouth Dirt Track Championship presented by Driven Racing Oil, and his third overall.  He is the only driver to win the event more than once.  Tanner English, Brandon. Smith, Kyle Beard, and Jon Kirby rounded out the top five in the final standings

COMP Cams Super Dirt Series – October 20th, 2012
6th Annual COMP Cams Midsouth Dirt Track Championship presented by Driven Race Oil
Riverside International Speedway (West Memphis, AR)

Feature Results
1.  Wendell Wallace (Batesville, AR)
2.  Tanner English (Benton, KY)
3.  Brandon Smith (Floral, AR)
4.  Kyle Beard (Trumann, AR)
5.  Jon Kirby (Russellville, AR)
6.  Ashley Newman (Ripley, TN)
7.  Jon Mitchell (Texarkana, TX)
8.  Keith Lawson (Houston, AR)
9.  TJ Hughes (Hernando, MS)
10.  Billy Tedford (Pontotoc, MS)
11.  Larry Potter (Alexander, AR)
12.  Kenneth Jackson (Beebe, AR)
13.  Todd Hall (Charleston, MO)
14.  Dillon Knight (Burlison, TN)
15.  Thomas Dacus (Lakeland, TN)
16.  Tommy Surrett (Little Rock, AR)
17.  Jamie Dacus (Lakeland, TN)
18.  Ricky Vandergriff (Marion, AR)
19.  Billy Moyer Jr. (Batesville, AR)
20.  Chandler Petty (Austin, AR)
DNS: Lynn Irwin, Mike McNay, Joshua Kahler, Clay Fisher

Entries: 24 from six states (Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Texas, Missouri)
Heat Race #1 Winner: Jamie Dacus
Heat Race #2 Winner: Ricky Vandergriff 
Heat Race #3 Winner: Tanner English
Heat Race #4 Winner: Brandon Smith
B-Main Winners: Ashley Newman, Billy Moyer Jr.
Pole Sitter: Jamie Dacus
Hard Luck Award:  Clay Fisher
Hard Charger:  Ashley Newman (14th-6th)
COMP Cams Top Performer: Wendell Wallace
Leaders:  Tanner English (1-11), Wendell Wallace (12-35)
Cautions:  3
Red Flags: 1

For the latest information on the COMP Cams Super Dirt Series, please visit www.COMPDirt.com .