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Justin Rickett
PHENIX CITY, Ala. (March 19) - Saturday night the local stars of East Alabama Motor Speedway were back in action for the second racing program of the season. After some great racing action last week the fans were ready for more and the drivers didn't disappoint. As the sun started to go down the action started to heat up. After a few laps of practice and heat races in most divisions it was time for the Alabama Rock Late Models to take to the track for Extreme Power Sports qualifying. Last week it was Chase Edge on the pole but this time it was Scott Knowles with a lap of 15.22 seconds winning qualifying. With the starting line up set it was time for the Alabama Rock Late Models to battle it out for 25 action packed laps. Knowles was on the pole with Terrance Nowell starting to his outside in second. William Thomas was back in town to give the fans something to cheer about and had qualified in the third spot but decided to start at the rear of the field setting up for an interesting race for sure. When the green waved Knowles and Nowell went side by side into turn one and stayed that way until turn three when Nowell with little room on the top side slid off the track causing a quick caution. Without a lap in the books a total restart was ordered from the tower giving Nowell a second chance. When the field went green Nowell wasted no time in taking advantage of his second chance and quickly took the lead from Knowles at the exit of turn two. Pat Wall was running in the third spot until a slip off turn two caused him to lose momentum and slip back a few positions. Moving into the third spot was last week's hard charger Montana Dudley looking for redemption from last week's mishap. Joey Thomas occupied the fourth spot with Rodgerick Dykes holding on to fifth. By lap six William Thomas had worked his way into the sixth position and was putting heavy pressure on Dykes for fifth. The caution was displayed on lap 12 as Paul Walters and Oliver Gentry both went for a ride off the track. When the field went green William Thomas made an impressive move passing Dykes and Joey Thomas in turn one and moving into the fourth spot. Two laps later William Thomas was all over Dudley for the third position and would get it as Dudley's car began to slow on the back straight. At the same time Randy Allen spun in turn four bringing out the caution. It was reported that Dudley was having some overheating issues and after a quick cool down was back on the track in time for the restart. When the field went green it was Nowell leading Knowles with William Thomas in third. A lap later Thomas was able to make it past Knowles at the exit of turn 2 and set his sites on Nowell who had a nice lead. As the laps started to tick away, Thomas was tracking down Nowell for the top spot. With two laps to go Thomas was there and giving Nowell all he could handle. When the white flag was displayed Nowell and Thomas were nose to tail. At the exit of turn two Thomas tried to make the move but he couldn't get the run he needed. Going into turn three Thomas gave it one more try this time he was able to get the grip he needed and was able to pull along side of Nowell coming to the line. With the checkers waving it was a drag race to the finish and Terrance Nowell with a little extra momentum was able to hold off William Thomas for the win. Terrance Nowell made it two in a row with William Thomas coming from the back to finish second. Rodgerick Dykes crossed the line in third with Scott Knowles fourth, and Joey Thomas coming home in fifth.
The Limited Sportsman division was back in action Saturday night with Steven Gaines looking to make it two in a row to start off the season. Jimmy Evilsizer started the feature from the pole with Gaines to his outside in second. When the green waved Gaines quickly took the lead going into the first turn with Evilsizer dropping to second. The caution would wave a lap later as contact was made back in the pack resulting in some heavy right side damage for Marty Beckwith. When the field went back green Gaines again started to pull away from the field as Evilsizer ran second. Jason Craft was running third followed by Joey Eiland in fourth. The top four would remain the same until lap 13 when Craft, charging hard, made a pass on Evilsizer for second. Craft however would not have enough time to catch Gaines and he would hold on to take home win number two for the season. Jason Craft finished second with Jimmy Evilsizer third, Joey Eiland fourth, and Chris Arnett coming home fifth.
In the Hobby division last weeks winner Kevin Bennett was looking to pick up his second win in a row but first he would have to battle Chris Storey every lap to do it. Bennett led the field to the green with Storey in second. Allen McConnell followed close behind in third with Nick Marsolf in fourth. The front four would stay the same till lap 6 when Ronnie Hudson was able to make it past Marsolf as he slowed on the track and pulled into the pits with problems. The new top four would stay the same till the checkered flag with a tight battle every lap between the top three cars. Once again Kevin Bennett with a strong performance held off a hard charging field of cars to pick up the win. Chris Storey was second with Allen McConnell third, Ronnie Hudson fourth, and Alan Franks, Jr. coming home fifth.
The Bomber division was back in action with David Osbahr leading the field to the green. Cameron Metts started the feature in second and going into turn one took the lead from Osbahr. Dylan Knowles followed the front two a close third with Larry Hodnett in fourth. A caution would wave early as Wiley McDaniel Jr. and Joey Keyser made contact in turn three resulting in both cars spinning leaving Katie Smith with no time to hit the brakes and making contact with Keyser. When the field went back green it was again Osbhar at the point. The top four would run the same until lap 8 when Knowles slowed at the exit of turn two allowing Hodnett to take over the third spot. With just one lap to go the caution would wave again as Ricky Henderson went for a spin while trying to stay on the lead lap. With a one lap dash for the checkers Metts was able to hold off Osbahr for the win. Larry Hodnett finished third with Wiley McDaniel Jr. fourth, and Ricky Henderson coming home fifth.
In the Modified division it was Richie Stephens looking to continue in his winning ways, but Jeff Culpepper had plans of winning of his own. Jeff Culpepper led the field to the green with Dustin Elliott starting second. When the green waved it was Culpepper leading lap one with Elliott in second as Richie Stephens followed a close third. A few laps later Stephens was all over Elliott for second with Stephens running into the back of Elliott and pushing him down the front stretch. The following lap Stephens was able to pass Elliott to take over the second spot. A brief caution would slow the field as Elliott, trying to catch Stephens, went for a spin in turn four. When the field went back green Stephens was all over Culpepper for the lead. When the white flag waved Stephens was trying to pass Culpepper on the low side in turns one and two but couldn't make it stick. However going into turn three Stephens would try it again and with a little help from some contact was able to pull even with Culpepper coming to the line. Even with the contact from Stephens Culpepper was able to carry momentum to the line a pick up the win. Richie Stephens crossed the line second with Dustin Elliott coming back to finish third as Scott Pines crossed the line in fourth.
East Alabama Motor Speedways newest classes, Road Warriors, were in action Saturday with the 10 lap feature being a re-match between Dylan Holmes and Kody Smith. At the start last weeks winner Holmes took the lead with Smith right on his bumper. Half way through the feature Smith passes Holmes for the lead and started to pull away. With the checkered flag waving this time it was Kody Smith picking up his first win of the season with Dylan Holmes coming home second. Kody Smith did not make weight at the scales after the race and the win was given to last week's winner Dylan Holmes.
Be sure to come out this Saturday March 26th for a full racing program and driver autograph night. We hope to see you here!
Late Model
55 - Terrance Nowell
22 - William Thomas
5 - Rodgerick Dykes
66 - Scott Knowles
90 - Joey Thomas
14 - Pat Wall
18 - Chase Edge
88 - Russ Ogletree
55 - Montana Dudley
29 - Randy Allen
03 - Oliver Gentry
P19 - Paul Walters
DNS 08 - Bobby Eiland
DNS K9 - Dana Eiland
Limited Sportsman
50jr - Steven Gaines, Jr
92 - Jason Craft
15 - Jimmy Evilsizer
29 - Joey Eiland
7 - Chris Arnett
7 - Roger Arnett
13 - Marty Beckwith
Hobby
17 - Kevin Bennett
9 - Chris Storey
24 - Allen McConnell
53 - Ronnie Hudson
39 - Alan Franks
294 - John Michael
29 - Nick Marsolf
DNS D2 - John Dozier
Bomber
37 Cameron Metts
00 - David Osbahr
01 - Larry Hodnett
5 - Wiley McDaniel, Jr
17 - Ricky Henderson
66K - Dylan Knowles
47 - Lucas Flaitz
12 - Joey Keyser
96S - Katie Smith
Modified
10 - Jeff Culpepper
00 - Richie Stephens
115 - Dustin Elliott
44 - Scott Prins
Road Warrior
11 - Dylan Holmes
23 - Kody Smith
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