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Clash PR
LAWNDALE, N.C. (May 7) - Johnny Pursley was able to motor past the field with his Clements power plant at Cleveland County Speedway and brought home the $4,000 Carolina Clash main event check. The win came in-front of a full field of cars with 31 drivers in attendance and a packed house in the grandstands with standing room only. The win is the second of his career and his first win of the 2010 season.
When the green flag was thrown over the 24 car starting field, it was a mad dash to turn one to see who could come out of turn 2 with the lead. The first few laps of the race saw nearly the entire field running side by side from 1st to 24th position. The first caution flag was thrown on lap 8 with a 4 car incident taking place in turn 2 which collected the car #15 of Dean Bowen, the #360 of Craig Shuffield, the #84 of Jay Sessoms, and the #07 of Brian Ledbetter. Under caution, the pole sitter #6 of Chris Blackwell while running in the 6th position received a flat right rear tire. Then on lap 12, the A1 of Randle Chupp made hard contact with the outside wall while heading into turn one. Chupp was able to walk away from the wreck but his car had to be escorted off the track on the business end of the wrecker. On lap 15, the 09 of Johnny Pursley was able to take over the lead coming out of turn 4 making a power move to the inside of #22 Chris Ferguson. Pursley was able to pull away from the field after this and he was able to fend off the hard charges of Chris Ferguson and Jarrett Landers as the race came to a close.
The rest of the race saw a few other cautions come out due to flat tires and mechanical failures. The final caution was thrown on lap 37 which set up a 3 lap, dash for cash with 18 cars left in the race when the 54 of Ricky Weeks blew a right rear tire on the backstretch. On the restart, Pursley was able to pull away by 5 car lengths and cruise to the victory followed by the 777 of Jarrett Landers, the 22 of Chris Ferguson, the 421 of Anthony Sanders, and the 99 of Jeff Cooke.
During the race, the 18m of Jeff Smith was able to motor his way past 13 cars in route to the hard charger award. The 777 of Jarrett Landers was able to muscle his way past 12 cars and the 99 of Jeff Cooke was also able to pass 12 cars. "The racing surface tonight was remarkable with three grooves around the entire track and passing all over the place. Every lap a position was changing somewhere on the track" said Carolina Clash Event Coordinator Marion Limbaugh.
The #6 of Chris Blackwell set fast time during qualifying with a time of 17.844 which is a new track record at Cleveland County Speedway. The pole was the first ever for Blackwell who was thrilled about capturing the fast qualifier award. The #21 of Luke Roffers was second fastest with a time of 17.850 which is the best ever starting position for Roffers with the Carolina Clash Series. The hard luck award went to the #6 of Chris Blackwell as he started on the pole and ended up finishing in the 20th position due to tire and mechanical issues.
Finish Starting Position
1. Johnny Pursley (3)
2. Jarrett Landers (14)
3. Chris Ferguson (4)
4 Anthony Sanders (7)
5. Jeff Cooke (17)
6. Luke Roffers (2)
7. GR Smith (8)
8. Dennis Franklin (11)
9. Jim Rasey (9)
10. Jeff Smith (23)
11. Donald Bradsher (6)
12. Austin Dillon (13)
13. David Taylor (22)
14. Shawn Beasley (5)
15. Dean Bowen (12)
16. Ricky Weeks (15)
17. Robbie Bailey (21)
18 Brian Ledbetter (24)
19 Jay Sessoms (18)
20. Tim Allen (19)
21. Chris Blackwell (1)
22. Justin Labonte (16)
23. Randle Chupp (10)
24. Craig Shuffield (20)
Fastest Qualifier : Car #6 Chris Blackwell
Heat Race #1 Results: (Top 6 transfer) Dennis Franklin, Austin Dillon, Ricky Weeks, Jeff Cooke, Tim Allen, Robbie Bailey, Mike Gault, Randy Harmon, Jeff Smith, Rodney Kiker, Furman Parton.
Heat Race #2 Results: (Top 6 transfer) Dean Bowen, Jarrett Landers, Justin Labonte, Jay Sessoms, Craig Shuffield, David Taylor, Timmy Blackwell, Michael Marlowe, Brian Ledbetter, DNS Dan Breuer.
Race Winners starting position - 3rd
Hard Charger Award - Car # 18m Jeff Smith
Hard Luck Award - Car # 6 Chris Blackwell
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