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Jay Vaquer
PHENIX CITY, Ala. (May 24) - Memorial Day celebration at East Alabama Motor Speedway was nothing short of spectacular. The gigantic fireworks display paid tribute to our valiant soldiers who gave their lives for our great country and our freedom to enjoy dirt track racing. Richie " The Rocketman" Stephens showed up for the party in a brand new space ship, a Ben Thomas Racing Scorpion Late Model. He wasted no time showing how fast it was when he posted a 15.47 fast time to earn the pole for the feature. When the green flag dropped the Rocketman blasted out to the lead with outside pole sitter Anthony Meadows in his shadow. Terrance "The Phenix City Assassin" Nowell began his run from sixth and passed track champion Larry Harrod on lap 8 to move into fourth place behind Larry Eldridge. Rookie Montana Dudley lost the handle in turn three and spun for the lap 9 caution. When the green came back Meadows moved to the inside of Rocketman's # 00 looking for the lead then Harrod shot past to take second place. Coming down the backstretch Meadows got into Harrod and sent him flying off the track. Harrod was given back his spot and on the restart Harrod took the lead from the Rocketman and Meadows, Nowell, and Eldridge followed. On lap 14 the Assassin went off turn four to bring out another caution. Harrod pulled down to have the track stewards check his right front wheel which was noticeably bent. They sent him back to the battle and just as the green came out, the Rocketman entered the pits. Then Harrod literally drove the wheels off his # 27 as the bent right front wheel came off and passed him down the front straight. You could hear Harrod singing, " you picked a fine time to leave me loose wheel" as he got towed to the pits. During this caution the Rocketman returned to the fight and Kelly Leonard entered the pits. Lights out, action, and Eldridge was on the inside of Meadows and about to pass when Ricky Culpepper spun in turn three for a caution. The running order was Meadows, Eldridge, Josh N oles, Jimmy Evilsizer, Chase Edge, and Matt Woodson running sixth when bad luck struck Woodson. Just as Eldridge took the lead from Meadows, Dudley went off the track and several cars checked up. Gooden and Woodson were side by side and spun together to a stop in turn four to avoid colliding with the cars ahead of them. After the cars got rolling again Woodson was sent to the rear, sort of like the guy who throws the second punch gets the blame. The green came back out and this time Meadows hammered down, throwing caution to the wind to escape Eldridge and built an insurmountable lead. Josh Noles moved into third as the Assassin took over Evilsizer's fifth spot. Woodson was trying hard to make up the ground he lost going from sixth to last when he spun off turn three for the lap 20 caution. Leonard entered the pits again as the green came out. The Rocketman entered the top ten and rookie Chase Edge, who was driving a very mature race, moved into third. Meadows was clearly the class of the field as he sprinted to the checkers for his second win of the season. Larry Eldridge finished second, Chase Edge third, Terrance Nowell fourth, Josh Noles fifth, Larry Harrod sixth, Jimmy Evilsizer seventh, Marc Gooden eighth, Richie Stephens ninth, and Ricky Culpepper rounded out the top ten in tenth.
In the Limited Sportsman division Rodgerick Dykes was eligible to win the Alabama Rock 3 wins for $300. Dykes took the green on the feature from the pole and gained distance from the pack on each lap. Thomas Lewis gave the fans a scare as he flipped upside down on the front straight but he was OK. Dykes took the checkers with no challenges. Paul Walters finished second, Mikey Mount third, Dustin Elliot fourth, and Steven Gaines JR finished fifth.
The Bomber division began with Billy Duell JR leading until lap 10 when Shelby Amos took the lead. Amos drove another perfect race to the checkers for his second win of the season. Jeff Elliot finished second, Christy Noles third, John Dozier fourth, and Chris Storey fifth.
The Hobby race began with an exciting battle between Allen Flournoy in the lead and Jeremy Nevels in second. Nevels took the lead on lap five and drove to the checkers for the win. Allen Flournoy finished second, Allen McConnell third, John Michael fourth, and Robert Jackson fifth.
In the Modified division Stacy Mashburn seemed to have the race as he ran way out front. Then he spun unassisted in turn four and gave the lead and the win to Ricky White. Andy Smith finished second, Ricky Culpepper third, Herbie Donath fourth, and Stacy Mashburn came in fifth.
In the Pony division Bryan Price and Adam Rodriguez fought over the lead. Price had the lead then spun out and Rodriguez took the lead. Chance Renfroe came up and passed Rodriguez for the lead. Price recaptured the lead as Rodriguez entered the pits for a DNF. Price took the checkers and was later found illegal in a post race teardown giving the win to Chance Renfroe, Bobby Duell was second, Kenneth Catrett was third, Adam Rodriguez was fourth and Cheryl Diana was fifth.
Late Model
31 - Anthony Meadows
18 - Larry Eldridge
18 - Chase Edge
7 - Terrance Nowell
16 - Josh Noles
27 - Larry Harrod
15 - Jimmy Evilsizer
52 - Marc Gooden
00 - Richie Stephens
110 - Ricky Culpepper
14 - Pat Wall
55 - Montana Dudley
7 - Roger Arnett
88 - Matt Woodson
613 - Marty Beckwith
13K - Kelly Leonard
40 - Marvin Cook
Limited Sportsman
5 - Rodgerick Dykes
19 - Paul Walters
31 - Mikey Mount
115 - Dustin Elliott
50jr - Steven Gaines, Jr
62 - JW Noles
RC3 - Russ Ogletree
75 - Brand Lewis
5L - Thomas Lewis
2jr - Chris Everidge
Hobby
44 - Jeremy Nevels
39 - Allen Flournoy
24 - Allen McConnell
294 - John Michael
12 - Robert Jackson
7 - Chris Arnett
23 - David Dark
18 - Ricky Headley
1D - Don Otto
81 - Jamie Land
Bomber
52 - Shelby Amos
7 - Jeff Elliott
16 - Christy Noles
75 - John Dozier
38 - Chris Storey
3 - Steven Bryan
16 - Drew Roberts
721 Billy Duell, Jr
22 - James Gates
7 - Trevor Elliott
90 - James Ward
48 - Brandon Freeman
Pony Stock
99 - Chance Renfroe
7 - Bobby Duell
91 - Kenneth Catrett
20 - Adam Rodriguez
88 - Cheryl Diana
11 - Brandie Gatlin
Modified
25 - Ricky White
5 - Andy Smith
7 - Ricky Culpepper
25 - Herbie Donath
M33 - Stacy Mashburn
29 - Randy Register
2 - Johnny Greene
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