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Kelly Carlton
BRUNSWICK, Ga. (September 26) - Casey Roberts of Toccoa, Georgia did exactly what he needed to do to continue his quest to defend his O'Reilly Southern All Stars East crown - win. Roberts led every lap of the $3000 to win Battle of Brunswick 30 at the Golden Isles Speedway. Roberts, who started from the outside of the front row, increased his point lead over Chris Madden headed into the Stick Elliott Memorial which will be the series finale at Cherokee Speedway on October 18th. Roberts is also the defending winner of the event.
Local favorite Jeremy Faircloth of Swainsboro, Georgia missed the track record by a mere 1/100th of second with his lap of 15.339 seconds around Frankie Lloyd's 4/10ths of a mile clay oval. Roberts laid down a 15.662 second lap which was good enough for second fast overall. Brent Dixon clocked in with a 15.736 lap while Dillon Wood went a 15.734 as the first sub-sixteen second lap of the night. Ben Faircloth rounded out the top five in qualifying with a 15.883 second lap.
With Bearden Oil Race for the Pole Time Trials locking in the top ten one heat race was staged to complete the starting grid. Shane Riner took the win in the eight lap heat ahead of Dion Deason, leading O'Reilly Southern All Stars Racing Series Rookie of the Year contender Jason Fitzgerald, Shon Flanary and 2007 OSAS-East Rookie of the Year Monk Gulledge rounding out the top five.
Roberts grabbed the lead at the outset of the event but had his progress slowed when the yellow waved on lap number one for Dillon Wood. Wood retired with ignition problems. Roberts once again took command of the event opening up a huge lead over the second place battle. Roberts set a blistering pace and reached lapped traffic by lap seven. Brent Dixon was also on the move and took over the third position early on with Madden giving chase in third.
Another yellow flag for Ben Faircloth bunched the field with only nineteen laps remaining. Roberts was out front all by himself while Madden reset to the inside of Dixon for the Dixie Double File Restart. When the green waved Madden got the jump on Dixon but Roberts set sail leaving them both in his wake. Dixon fought back to Madden's inside over the next several laps, drawing even on several occasions. However Dixon rolled up over the cushion in turn three which allowed Madden to slip away.
The final caution of the night waved with only four laps remaining when Tyler Ivey lost an engine off of turn four. By OSAS-East rule, the field remained single file for the restart, giving Madden one last clear shot at Roberts. But when the green flag waved it was readily apparent Roberts would have none of it, as he motored away by five car lengths. Jeremy Faircloth, who faded out of the top five early in the event, rallied past Dixon for third and pulled to Madden's rear deck when the white flag appeared.
Faircloth made a run but it was not enough as Madden held on for second. Roberts claimed his second OSAS-East win of the year and padded his lead over Madden in the point standings. "We had a real good car. We had carburetor problems after qualifying and we had to thrash to get it fixed. I just want to thank Cushman Paint and Body for giving us everything we need and being such great car owners. The track was really good and I hope it is this good for tomorrow night's race." Roberts said in his victory lane interview.
Roberts' drives a Victory Circle M1 by Billy Moyer Chassis that has a Randy Clary Racing Engine. Roberts' machine has sponsor support from Cushman Paint and Body, Starrette Trucking, Sid's Trim and Fit, Concept Graphics, PPM Racing Products, Simpson, Schaeffer Racing Oil and Wa-Don Bert Transmission.
Official Finish
1 - 101 Casey Roberts - Toccoa, GA
2 - 44 Chris Madden - Gray Court, SC
3 - 4 Jeremy Faircloth - Swainsboro, GA
4 - 1 Brent Dixon - Elberton, GA
5 - 3 Chesley Dixon - Swainsboro, GA
6 - 104 Monk Gulledge - Batesburg, SC
7 - 98 Shon Flanary - Church Hill, TN
8 - 10 Anthony Hill - Carrollton, GA
9 - 46 Darrell Padgett - Jacksonville, FL
10 - 6 Shane Riner - Guyton, GA
11 - 66c Brandon Cameron - Jacksonville, FL
12 - 47 Tyler Ivey - Tallahassee, FL
13 - 21 Ivedent Lloyd - Ocala, FL
14 - 7 Jason Fitzgerald - Jacksonville, FL
15 - D1 Dion Deason - Greenwood, SC
16 - L7 Lee Sutton - Taylorsville, GA
17 - 27 Ben Faircloth - Swainsboro, GA
18 - 1 Homer Leonard - Jacksonville, FL
19 - 20 Chris Taylor - Waycross, GA
20 - 26 Dillon Wood - New Smyrna Beach, FL
Up Coming OSAS-East Events:
October 18 - Cherokee Speedway - Gaffney, SC - $4000
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