Philip Morris left South Boston Speedway $5,000 richer Saturday night as the winner of the Italian Delight Family Restaurant Presents Frutopia Not Just Frozen Yogurt NASCAR Late Model 100.
Saturday night’s win was the ninth of the season for Morris in the season’s 15 NASCAR Whelen All American Series Late Model Stock Car Division races at South Boston Speedway. It made for a good points night for Morris as he closed the gap in the track championship chase with one night of racing and two races remaining on the South Boston Speedway schedule.
Morris entered the race trailing defending track champion Peyton Sellers of Danville, Virginia by 63 points in the chase for the track championship. He elected to start at the rear of the 18-car field in an attempt to gain extra points toward both the track and NASCAR national points championships.
Sellers, bidding for bonus passing points toward the track championship, did likewise, but ran into misfortune when his car was damaged in a mishap on the second lap while trying to navigate slower traffic. The mishap put Sellers out of contention, leaving him to settle for a 13th-place finish
Morris pitted two laps later to change a cut tire and was at the rear of the field for the restart on the eighth lap. He got up to fourth place when race frontrunners Mike Looney and Danny Willis Jr. tangled while battling for the lead.
By lap 41, Morris was closing fast on race leader Mike Jones, and passed Jones for the lead on lap 44. Once in front, Morris never relinquished the lead.
A late-race caution created a restart with 19 laps to go. Morris quickly gained a big cushion as Jones, Blake Stallings and Thomas Scott engaged in a heated battle for second place.
With the trio battling for second place, Morris opened up a lead of over a quarter of a lap with 10 laps to go, and held that margin to the end. Scott, of Efland, North Carolina, rallied to finish second with Jones of South Boston, Virginia taking third place. Stallings, of Danville, Virginia, finished fourth and Looney, of Catawba, Virginia, rallied to finish fifth.
The lead swapped hands twice among three drivers. Looney led the first 30 laps, Jones led the next 13 circuits and Morris led the final 57 laps.
CREWS SWEEPS LIMITED SPORTSMAN DIVISION TWINBILL
Trey Crews of Halifax, Virginia took another step toward winning the South Boston Speedway Limited Sportsman Division championship Saturday night with a sweep of the night’s pair of 25-lap Limited Sportsman Division races.
The pair of wins gives Crews seven victories in the 11 races run in the division this season. He entered the race with a 25-point lead over Ross “Boo Boo” Dalton of Greensboro, North Carolina and padded his points lead as Dalton finished second and third respectively in the two races.
In the first race, Crews edged Dalton by 1.519-second in a five-lap sprint to the finish that followed the last of the race’s three caution periods. Dalton had to survive a close battle with Jessica Dana of Mooresville, North Carolina in the closing laps to earn the runner-up spot.
Dana was forced to pit with a lap to go as the result of a flat tire that was cut by contact with Dalton’s car during their battle and finished 10th. Jacob Borst finished third, with Billy Myers of Hurt, Virginia and Bob Davis of Thaxton, Virginia rounding out the top five finishers in the opener.
Crews started sixth in the nightcap as there was an inverted start among the top finishers of the first race and, having won two races in a row, was mandated to start at mid-pack.
He quickly picked his way to the front, passing Borst to take the lead on the 10th lap. Once in front, Crews never lost the lead.
Crews finished 1.128-second ahead of Dana, who edged out Dalton for second place in a heated battle over the last five laps. Borst finished fourth and Daniel Moss of Danville, Virginia completed the top five finishers.
AUTRY WINS PURE STOCk DIVISION RACE
Greg Autry of Alton, Virginia earned his second victory of the season Saturday night, topping a 10-car field to win the 30-lap Budweiser Pure Stock Division race.
Autry started on the pole and scored a flag-to-flag win, edging division points leader Daniel Shelton of Hurt, Virginia by 1.128-second. Jarrett Milam, defending division champion Johnny Layne Jr. of Nathalie, Virginia and Jordan Pickrel of Keeling, Virginia rounded out the top five finishers.
JARRELL WINS HORNETS DIVISION RACE
Cameron Jarrell of Amelia, Virginia continued his domination of the Budweiser Hornets Division Saturday night, edging Kenny Mills Jr. of Alton, Virginia to earn his seventh win of the season.
Jarrell, who has now has won seven of the right races run in the division this season, took the lead from Mills on the seventh laps led the rest of the way.
Kevin Currin of Chase City, Virginia, Steven Layne of Nathalie, Virginia and Jesse Jones rounded out the top five finishers.
There were four lead changes among three drivers in the race.
YOPP SWEEPS MOD-4 DIVISION TWINBILL
Jesse Yopp of Moneta, Virginia had a big night Saturday night, sweeping the twin 15-lap races for the Mod-4 Division.
The sweep by Yopps broke a string of three straight wins by division points leader Dennis Holdren of Roanoke, Virginia. Holdren’s car broke during practice, and he drove the car normally driven by Drew Holdren of Hardy, Virginia in the two races.
Cory Dunn of Salem, Virginia finished second, .850-second behind Yopp in the opening race, with Dennis Holdren, Josh Phillips of Roanoke, Virginia and Chad Burnopp of Glade Hill, Virginia rounding out the top five finishers.
Dennis Holdren finished second in the nightcap, .351-second behind Yopp, with Dunn, Phillips and Burnopp rounding out the top five finishers.
NEXT RACE AT SOUTH BOSTON SPEEDWAY
It will be championship night when NASCAR racing action returns to South Boston Speedway on Saturday night, Sept. 8, with the GCR Presents Spaulding Equipment Company NASCAR Late Model Twin 75s racing program.
The action starts at 7 p.m. with the six-race program being headlined by twin 75-lap races for the NASCAR Whelen All American Series Late Model Stock Cars.
A 50-lap Limited Sportsman Division race, a 30-lap race for the Budweiser Pure Stock Division, a 15-lap race for the Budweiser Hornets Division and a 30-lap race for the Mod-4 Division will round out the night’s five-race card.
Registration and pit gates open at 2 p.m., practice runs from 4 p.m. until 5 p.m. Grandstand gates will open at 5:30 p.m. and qualifying starts at 6 p.m. The first race gets the green flag at 7 p.m.
Admission is $10 for adults. Kids ages 12 and under are admitted free when accompanied by a paying adult.
For additional information about the GCR Presents Spaulding Equipment Company NASCAR Late Model Twin 75s racing program or any other events at South Boston Speedway, please visit the speedway’s website at www.southbostonspeedway.com or telephone the speedway at 434-572-4947 or 1-877-440-1540.
SBS PR
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