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Joshua Joiner
TOCCOA, Ga. (June 19) - Dennis "Rambo" Franklin put his veteran driving experience to good use Saturday night in the inaugural Georgia Late Model Shootout at Toccoa Speedway. The Gaffney, S.C., resident led every lap of the Old Man's Garage FASTRAK Southeast Late Model Series race to take home the $3,000 winner's check and become the seventh different winner in seven series races this season.
Franklin set fast time during qualifying to earn the pole starting position for the 40-lap feature. He then pulled ahead of fellow front-row starter Dan Breuer on the start of the race, as Doug Sanders also moved passed Breuer for second.
Sanders of Spartanburg, S.C., gave chase to Franklin the entire distance, but never mounted a series challenge for the lead as Franklin cruised to the victory. Sanders settled for second with David McCoy of Franklin, N.C., third. Series point leader Royce Bray of Hull, Ga., finished fourth while Parker Herring of Hartwell, Ga., moved up from the 11th-starting position to finish fifth.
With the top-five finish, Bray extended his lead in the point standings to 17 points over David Smith of Inman, S.C. Smith finished 18th Saturday night after dropping out of the race on lap 15 with mechanical problems. Chris Steele of York, S.C., moved up to third in the standings, ahead of Blake Bentley of Duncan, S.C., and Ron Parker of Lawndale, N.C., who are fourth and fifth respectively.
The FASTRAK Racing Series has two national events coming up, including the $6,000-to-win Summer Nationals on July 3 at Mercer Raceway Park in Pulaski, Pa., and the $10,000-to-win West Virginia State Championship on July 10 at West Virginia Motor Speedway in Mineral Wells, W. Va. FASTRAK National events offer drivers from any FASTRAK regional touring series a chance to replace their worst finish on their respective regional tours with the finish in that event.
The Old Man's Garage FASTRAK Southeast Late Model Series will return to action with a doubleheader weekend July 23 and 24 when the series visits Rolling Thunder Raceway in Ararat, Va., and Wythe Raceway in Rural Retreat, Va. The Friday night race at Rolling Thunder will pay $2,000 to the winner, while Saturday night's race at Wythe will pay $3,000.
Georgia Late Model Shootout official results:
1. Dennis Franklin, 2. Doug Sanders, 3. David McCoy, 4. Royce Bray, 5. Parker Herring, 6. Steve Cooke, 7. Frankie Beard, 8. Nick Sellers, 9. Ryan Bryson, 10. Ron Parker, 11. Steven Segers, 12. Jonathan Taylor, 13. Chris Chandler, 14. Brandon Overton, 15. Brian Connor, 16. Derrick Harvey, 17. Albert Cosnahan, 18. David Smith, 19. Dan Breuer, 20. Ty Lowe, 21. Brian Ligon, 22. Chris Steele, 23. Vic Chandler, 24. Lee Callenback.
DNS - Joey McCoy, John Bedingfield, Anthony Sanders, Marc Richards.
Current Old Man's Garage FASTRAK Southeast Series point standings (top five)
1. Royce Bray 212
2. David Smith 195
3. Chris Steele 174
4. Blake Bentley 163
5. Ron Parker 157
For more information about the Old Man's Garage FASTRAK Southeast Late Model Series, visit the series website at www.fastrakracing.com.
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