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Jay Vaquer
PHENIX CITY, Ala. (May 17) - Since the grandstands at East Alabama Motor Speedway were packed in lieu of Military Appreciation night, Late Model driver Terrance "The Phenix City Assassin" Nowell demonstrated to our soldiers how you decimate the enemy. The Assassin's all out assault began with fast time qualifying where he won the pole for the feature with a super fast 15.87, nobody else was even close. When the green flag dropped on the main event the Assassin sped out to a comfortable lead while the rest of the pack scrambled furiously to keep pace. Marvin Cook started from the outside pole and was in second when Brandon Register brought his questionable # 68 Bloomquist car into the picture. Even though Register's car said it was a Bloomquist chassis, and he did have the right fuel cell, other drivers said it was most likely a Mastersbilt knock-off. Either way, it was fast and he moved into second place. Bobby Eiland was also on a mission as he began his run to the front passing his way into seventh. Richie " Rocketman" Stephens was also in the game as he moved into fourth on lap 2. Bad luck bit Matt Woodson as he got forced into the front wall to bring out the lap 3 caution. When the green came back Eiland got side ways in turn two and slowed down everybody behind him except Ricky Culpepper who shot by several cars from the very top of the track. Register got inside the Assassin, who was flying around the top of the track, and we had some thrilling laps until the Assassin hammered down, with killer bite off the corners, and left Register and the field in his wake. Register must have felt vulnerable for a second, which was all it took for Eiland to come up and take over the second place position. Suddenly Josh Noles went off the back and a caution was called. The front five at lap 8 were, Nowell, Eiland, Register, Stephens, and Culpepper. Rocketman, who emulates his dirt track idol Scott Bloomquist, probably felt that # 68 was blasphemous, and put him down as he made a clean and powerful pass in turn two to take over the third place position. Bert Tomkins got on the inside of Culpepper and tried to take his position but Culpepper was not having anybody pass him and successfully held back all attempts to pass. Another exciting battle was Jeff Mills and Marc Gooden. Mills was too savvy for Gooden and came out on top of that battle over seventh. Unlucky lap thirteen caught up with Gordy Scarborough as he went off the back for a yellow flag. When this green flag came back out, the Assassin had the checkers in his sights and really poured it on. He led second place Eiland by a straightaway, who led Rocketman by nearly the same distance and Rocketman was about that distance ahead of Register. The white flag was out and everyone held their positions to the checkers. Terrance Nowell put another notch on his big gun as he dominated this race. Bobby Eiland came across the line in second but was found light at the scales and disqualified. Richie Stephens moved into second place, Brandon Register third, Jeff Mills fourth, Ricky Culpepper fifth, Chad Carden sixth, Bert Tomkins seventh, Montana Dudley eighth, Josh Noles ninth, and Chase Edge rounded out the top ten in tenth.
In the Pony division Adam Rodriguez started from the pole. Bryan Price moved up to challenge on lap five then spun out for a caution. On the restart Chance Renfroe jumped the start to take the lead. At the next caution Renfroe was penalized and moved back a spot where he had to spar with Rodriguez. Rodriguez held him back and was going door to door with Price who took the lead on lap 13. Price crossed the finish line less than a second ahead of Rodriguez. Renfroe came in third, Terry McCraine came in fourth, and Bryan Prins finished fifth.
The Limited Sportsman division saw Danny Stroud take the early lead. Rodgerick Dykes came from the middle to pass Russ Ogletree and Mikey Mount to move into second. Steven Gaines JR powered around Ogletree to move into fourth. Dykes slipped under Stroud in turn three for the lead. Then Mount passed Stroud for second. Rodgerick Dykes took the checkers with Mount second, Stroud third, Gaines fourth, and Ogletree fifth.
In the Bomber division Billy Duell JR put his Diversified Mechanical Chevy in first place on the first lap and never looked back, taking the checkers. Trevor Elliot finished second, Jeff Elliot third, Shelby Amos fourth, and John Dozier finished fifth.
The Modified Division began with former Late Model Champion Jeff Culpepper taking the lead from the outside pole. Rickey White came flying past Culpepper but had so much speed he could not hang on to turn one and went over the top. Johnny Green tried to take the lead but Culpepper's experience on the high banked clay oval prevented that from happening until lap 7. White wasted no time getting back to the front and battled with Culpepper until Greene spun in turn one and got t-boned by Duane Treadwell. White took the lead on the restart and Stacy Mashburn put a swift pass on Culpepper. White won, again, with Mashburn second, Culpepper third, Scott Prins fourth and Johnny Green finished fifth.
Late Model
7 - Terrance Nowell
00 - Richie Stephens
68R - Brandon Register
15 - Jeff Mills
110 - Ricky Culpepper
22 - Chad Carden
30T - Bert Tompkins
55 - Montana Dudley
16 - Josh Noles
18 - Chase Edge
87 - Charlie Gushue
111 - Richard Mills
14 - Pat Wall
08 - Bobby Eiland
52 - Marc Gooden
7 - Roger Arnett
27 - Gordy Scarbrough
88 - Matt Woodson
613 - Marty Beckwith
40 - Marvin Cook
27 - Larry Harrod
18 - Larry Eldridge
11 - Lavon Sparks
Limited Sportsman
5 - Rodgerick Dykes
31 - Mikey Mount
22 - Danny Stroud
50jr - Steven Gaines, Jr
RC3 - Russ Ogletree
115 - Dustin Elliott
76 - Efrem Holbrook
8 - Paul Still
2jr - Chris Everidge
Hobby
8 - Jeremy Nelson
294 - John Michael
24 - Allen McConnell
44 - Jeremy Nevels
5 - Paul Goins
22 - Scotty Prins
30 - Steven Counts
88 - John Jacobs
Bomber
721 Billy Duell, Jr
7 - Trevor Elliott
7 - Jeff Elliott
52 - Shelby Amos
75 - John Dozier
T3 - Turkey Leg
3 - Steven Bryan
56 - Josh Thigpen
Pony Stock
17 - Bryan Price
20 - Adam Rodriguez
99 - Chance Renfroe
28 - Terry McCraine
5 - Bryan Prins
88 - Sara Evanrose
Modified
25 - Ricky White
M33 - Stacy Mashburn
7 - Jeff Culpepper
44 - Scott Prins
2 - Johnny Greene
5 - Andy Smith
55 - Duane Treadwell
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