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Justin Rickett
PHENIX CITY, Ala. (April 18) - Saturday night the stars and cars of the United Dirt Late Model series rolled in to East Alabama Motor Speedway for the 2nd Annual Alabama clash 50 lap $4000 to win event. Picking up where he left off last year Mark Whitener of Middleburg, FL successfully defended his title, leading flag to flag in dominating fashion. Thirty cars were on hand to qualify for 24 spots. With a blistering lap of 14.79 seconds it was Travis Pennington picking up the Extreme Power Sports/Zeigler Racing Engines fast time qualifying award. Allowing only the top seven to be locked into the show, the stage was set for some exciting and action packed B mains. The first B main provided lots of excitement with the caution waving on lap one when East Alabama's very own Bobby Thomas made contact on the front stretch with the defending series champion Russell Brown Jr. Thomas' car received minimal damage and was able to continue but Browns car wouldn't be so lucky as he would have to take a provisional to start the feature. With the green flag back out it was Richie Stephens jumping out to the lead and holding on to win a wild first of three B main. The other two B mains saw similar action with the eventual winners being Larry Harrod and Terrance Nowell. An inversion of the top four saw Darrell Padgett and Mark Whitener on the front row and Jordy Nipper and pole sitter Travis Pennington on row number two. The green flag was out on the feature and Whitener lost no time jumping out to an early lead with Pennington hot on his trail. On lap seven the caution would wave for an incident involving Darrell Padgett and the lap car of Ricky Culpepper. When racing resumed, Whitener once again started to pull away as there was a three car battle for second with Pennington successfully holding off the advances of Padgett and Keith Nosbisch. The caution would again wave on lap 16 as Dillon Wood took a wild ride off the track in turn 2 when contact was made with Larry Harrod and Russell Brown Jr. all would be unable to continue. After just two circuits of green flag action another scary moment happened as Clay Bedenbaugh's car lost a right rear tire in turn 4 and went bouncing to the infield and struck an official. Fortunately the official was not hurt and was able to continue on. However, the car of Clay Bedenbaugh was not so lucky. With the green flag back out Whitener once again went to work building a commanding lead. The battle for second on back was a tough one. Keith Nosbisch started working the low line in one and 2 and was gaining ground on Pennington with Salem Alabama's Dana Eiland working his way into the forth position. Finally Nosbisch was able to overtake Pennington for second and set his sights on the car of Whitener. Then on lap 43 Nosbisch went for a spin in turn 4 to bring out the caution. Nosbisch's spin was caused by a suspension failure in the left rear and he was forced to pull it behind the wall. With Nosbisch now out of the race Pennington could set his sights on the 5w of Whitener. When racing resumed Whitener didn't get away from Pennington. Following right in the tire tracks of Whitener, Pennington was gaining ground and closing in. On lap 47 the caution came out again to set up a three lap thriller between Whitener and Pennington. The green flag was out once again as Pennington was right on the tail of Whitener trying the low line in 1 and 2 and the high line in 3 and 4 but it just wasn't enough and the checkered flag waved on Mark Whitener. Pennington would finish second with Dewayne Johnson, Dana Eiland and Johnny Collins, who had to take a provisional and start in a backup car due to an incident in the second B main, rounding out the top five.
The Limited Sportsman Division started with Joey Eiland on the pole and Dustin Elliott in second. Joey Eiland would jump out to an early lead with Elliott running the high line, trying everything to catch him. On lap 4 the caution would wave for a spin in one and two and provide Elliott with a chance at overtaking Eiland on the start. However the defenses of Eiland were too much for Elliott and he would hang on to win the Limited Sportsman feature. Chris Arnett, Steven Gains, Jr and Montie Vaughn would round out the top five.
In the Bomber division, Trevor Elliott would take the lead on lap one from Jimmy Thomas and pull away. Jimmy in the meantime was busy holding off the advance of his cousin, Joey Thomas, who was charging hard for the second position. Joey was eventually able to overtake Jimmy and set his sights on the #7 of Elliott. Slowly Joey Thomas was able to close the gap and then on the last lap he made one last effort but it wasn't enough, and Elliott would hang on to win. Rounding out the top five would be Joey Thomas, Jimmy Thomas, Cody Scrimpshire, and Chris Marchant fifth.
The Hobby Division started with the 294 orange and black car of John Michael on the pole and defending champion Allen McConnell out side row one. With the green flag in the air McConnell took command of the race. Pole sitter John Michael would have his hands full holding off the advances of Randy Allen and Chris Strength. Allen and Strength would eventually overtake Michael. With Allen now running second, he closed in on McConnell and with the white flag waving they were side by side coming out of turn four. However Allen McConnell was able to hold off Randy Allen and take the win in the Hobby division. Randy Allen was second followed by Chris Strength, John Michael and Jason Craft coming in fifth.
Be sure to come out next Saturday Night April 25 for a full racing program featuring the Late Model, Limited Sportsman, Hobby, Bomber, Modified, and Pony Stock Divisions. Pit Gates open at 4:30 and the grandstands open at 6:00 with racing action starting at 8:00 pm eastern time.
United Dirt Late Model
5W Mark Whitener
95.3 Travis Pennington
45 Dewayne Johnson
K9 Dana Eiland
27H Johnny Collins
46 Darrell Padgett
7F Jason Fitzgerald
2 Randy Hester
7N Terrance Nowell
14 Richie Stephens
56 Kevin Durden
1N Jordy Nipper
101 Keith Nosbisch
6K Kyle Bridges
99.3 Larry Eldrige
P2 JR Mosley
41 Mike Parkerson
11 Steven Roberts
6 Clay Bedenbaugh
27 Larry Harrod
26 Dillon Wood
00b Russell Brown Jr
32 Phillip Cobb
96 Tod Darda
110 Ricky Culpepper
Limited Sportsman
29 - Joey Eiland
115 - Dustin Elliott
7 - Chris Arnett
50jr - Steven Gaines, Jr
50v - Montie Vaughn
7 - Jeff Elliott
15 - Tracey Baker
5 - Thomas Lewis
93 - Dustin Newell
46 Donnie Kite, Sr
Hobby
24 - Allen McConnell
29 - Randy Allen
7 - Chris Strength
294 - John Michael
0 - Jason Craft
41 - Jason Anthony
21k - Don Kinight
81 - Jamie Land
2 - Stephen Goins
3 - Jonathon Dozier
Bomber
7 - Trevor Elliott
90 - Joey Thomas
22 - Jimmy Thomas
83 - Cody Scrimpshire
1 - Chris Marchant
721 - Billy Duell, Jr
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