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Justin Rickett
PHENIX CITY, Ala. (April 25) - Saturday night was Kissin' 99.3 FM Continuous Country night at East Alabama Motor Speedway, and after the dust had settled it was Larry Eldridge in his Kissin' 99.3 FM late model playing a victory tune. Eldridge, no stranger to victory lane at East Alabama Motor Speedway, flexed his muscles early by winning the Extreme Power Sports of Columbus pole award with a blistering lap of 15.60 seconds beating out Scott Knowles by just three one thousandths of a second. Seventeen of the best late model drivers in the south were on hand for the 20 lap Alabama Rock Late Model main event, and the action had fans on the edge of their seats until the very end. Larry Eldridge rolled out first with Knowles second, Bobby Eiland third, Larry Harrod forth and Richie Stephens rounding out the top five starting line up. The green flag was out and Eldridge quickly jumped to the high side with Knowles following close in second and Eiland third. With a clean start the race would remain green until lap four when Josh Noles made contact with Pat Wall resulting in Wall's right front fender coming off in turn 4. After the debris were picked up the green flag waved once again and much like the start, the front duo of Eldridge and Knowles started to pull away. Meanwhile, Bobby Eiland found himself in a three-way battle for third with Larry Harrod and Richie Stephens trying to take that spot away. Eventually Harrod was able to overtake Eiland for the third spot, but Eiland would keep Stephens at bay. Then on lap 11, a scary moment for the leader, Eldridge made contact with the slowing lap car of Adam Brown on the back straight resulting in Eldridge spinning in turn 4. Fortunately for Eldridge his car was not damaged and Brown was faulted with causing the accident. Eldridge, allowed to return to his spot as the leader, was determined to fight until the very end and he would have to do just that. With 9 laps left and the green in the air Eldridge found himself having to hold off a hard charging Knowles. Running the low line around the track Eldridge was able to gain some distance on Knowles but not for long as Knowles found his stride running the high line. Then on lap 16 Knowles caught Eldridge. With Eldridge down low and Knowles up high they battled side by side lap after lap both swapping the lead by a nose for the next four laps. Then with the white in the air Knowles made one last attempt by going low in turns 1 and 2. Eldridge went low in 3 and 4. Contact was made coming out of 4 and it was Larry Eldridge holding on by a nose over Scott Knowles. Larry Harrod finished third with Bobby Eiland forth and the defending track champion Richie Stephens rounding out the top five.
Late Model
99.3 - Larry Eldridge
66 - Scott Knowles
107.3 - Larry Harrod
08 - Bobby Eiland
50 - Richie Stephens
30T - Bert Tompkins
91 - Tod Darda
5 - Rodgerick Dykes
2 - Randy Hester
52 - Marc Gooden
88 - Matt Woodson
15 - Ryan Evans
14 - Pat Wall
34 - Lee Mason
25 - JW Noles
16 - Josh Noles
9 - Adam Brown
Limited Sportsman
7 - Chris Arnett
29 - Joey Eiland
19 - Paul Walters
72 - Chad Scrimpshire
50jr - Steven Gaines, Jr
7 - Jeff Elliott
5 - Thomas Lewis
50v - Montie Vaughn
115 - Dustin Elliott
4 - Mike Parker
Hobby
24 - Allen McConnell
294 - John Michael
3 - Jonathon Dozier
17 - Frankie Roberts
0 - Jason Craft
99 - Randy Renfroe
12 - Robert Jackson
29 - Randy Allen
61 - Curtis Haney
Bomber
90 - Joey Thomas
721 - Billy Duell, Jr
22 - Jimmy Thomas
83 - Cody Scrimpshire
89 - Robbie Luke
1 - Matt Marchant
52 - Shelby Amos
9 - Chris Storey
21 - Justin Masters
Modified
B55 - Nick Biddle
5 - Wesley DuBoise
10 - Jeff Culpepper
29 - Randy Register
M33 - Stacy Mashburn
T5 - Terry Braswell
44 - Scott Prins
25 - Herbie Donath
55 - Duane Treadwell
11 - JC DuBoise
Pony Stock
55 - Bill Taylor
01 - Larry Hodnett
99 - Jana Renfroe
27 - Tim Goins
34 - Jay Mason
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