In the season opener, Lee Pulliam won by coming from the back of the field, passing 20 cars on the way to victory. Saturday night he made it look much easier, winning from the pole in the first 75 lap NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Late Model Stock event. In a race that saw only one caution on Lap 50 for debris, Pulliam masterfully weaved his way through slower traffic, outpacing track champion Deac McCaskill. Payton Ryan made a late run on McCaskill, but couldn’t catch the Raleigh driver, instead having to settle for third. Connecticut’s David Garbo finished fourth, while season opener co-winner Tommy Lemons Jr. finished fifth.
After a six-car invert, Garrett Bunch started on the front row of the 23 car Late Model Stock field for the second half of the twin 75 lap event, with Lemons Jr. to his outside. On the opening flag, a Turn 1 incident book out Lemons Jr., Bunch and others. Once involved cars were removed from the front of the field, David Garbo took to the point. Garbo pulled away early, with McCaskill once again giving chase.
A spark plug wire problem put Pulliam to the rear of the field early, but the Semora, NC driver slowly worked his way through the field, passing McCaskill and Ryan late. Pulliam didn’t have enough time to catch Garbo, and at the end of 75 laps, David Garbo had won his first race of 2014. Pulliam would settle for second, while Ryan and McCaskill would finish third and fourth. Justin Snow finished fifth.
The 50 lap Limited Late Model event promised to be exciting, with Haley Moody snatching the pole from Andrew Grady by .007. At the onset of the race, though, Grady took the lead and didn’t look back. He’d have to fend off challenges from Moody, Rusty Daniels and Michael Fose, all of whom took a shot at Grady across one of the five restarts in the event. At the end, Grady found victory lane, while Rusty Daniels used the “cone restart” to slip into second place. Louis White took third.
It appeared as though Robert Arch was going to once again take a victory in the Charger class, but fate was not on his side Saturday evening. Arch would come from the back to take the lead from Gerald Benton. Arch got caught up in a Joshua Bryant wreck, coming onto pit road and relinquishing his lead back to Benton. Benton held off Arch late, taking is first win of 2014, with Arch settling for second. Newcomer to Charger racing, Jeremy Bohne, finshed third.
Greg Barnette dominated the Street Stock division, leading every lap from the pole, holding off Mack Parker and Mike Jones. In Legends, the lead was swapped four times, with polesitter Mike Alcaro using lapped traffic to get around Austin Osborne and Billy Hall to take the win. In Ultimate Body Shop UCARs, Tyler Horne and Travis Miller swapped the lead, with Horne taking the win. Blaise Brinkley took the win in Bandoleros.
Racing returns to SNMP in two weeks with the return of the United Sprint Car Series making their only appearance in eastern North Carolina. With speeds of over 130 mph, the USCS brings some of the fastest racing seen on a 4/10 mile track! Also in action will be all of the SNMP support divisions, including a Twin-35 event for the Limited Late Models. Tickets for this special event are $15 for adults (16+), $12 for kids 13-15, $6 for kids 6-12, while children 5 and under are free. Active military and senior citizens are just $12 with valid ID. For more information, contact the track office at (919) 284-1114 or surf to www.snmpark.com.
Results:
Late Model Stock (Race 1) – 75 laps
- 5 – Lee Pulliam
- 08 – Deac McCaskill
- 23 – Payton Ryan
- 8 – David Garbo
- 27 – Tommy Lemons Jr.
- 50 – Garrett Bunch
- 12 – Ryan Wilson
- 2 – Myatt Snider
- 31 – Kaz Grala
- 68 – Brandon Brown
- 14 – Mike Darne
- 0 – Justin Snow
- 03 – Brenden Queen
- 06 – Terry Dease
- 42 – Craig Stallard
- 14 – Trey Jarrell
- 01 – GR Waldrop
- 7 – Bradley McCaskill
- 7 – Michael Hardin
- 23 – Jonathan Findley
- 29 – Melvin Langley
- 38 – Ricky Jones
- 11 – Paul Green
Late Model Stock (Race 2) – 75 laps
- 8 – David Garbo
- 5 – Lee Pulliam
- 23 – Payton Ryan
- 08 – Deac McCaskill
- 0 – Justin Snow
- 7 – Michael Hardin
- 7 – Bradley McCaskill
- 27 – Tommy Lemons Jr.
- 2 – Myatt Snider
- 12 – Ryan Wilson
- 50 – Garrett Bunch
- 11 – Paul Green
- 23 – Jonathan Findley
- 31 – Kaz Grala
- 14 – Trey Jarrell
- 06 – Terry Dease
- 29 – Melvin Langley
- 01 – GR Waldrop
- 42 – Craig Stallard
- 03 – Brenden Queen
- 68 – Brandon Brown
- 14 – Mike Darne
Limited Late Model – 50 laps
- 1 – Andrew Grady
- 16 – Rusty Daniels
- 7 – Louis White
- 05 – Alex Fleming
- 4 – Ronnie Jones
- 7 – Dillon Spain
- 07 – Ronald Renfrow
- 52 – Travis Greene
- 77 – Trevor Collins
- 50 – Haley Moody
- 10 – Michael Fose
- 24 – Ronald Brown
Chargers – 30 laps
- 55 – Gerald Benton
- 16 – Robert Arch
- 72 – Jeremy Bohne
- 11 – Bruce Bizzel
- 45 – Tom Sauls
- 29 – Paul Williamson
- 74 – Jeff Rogers
- 06 – Al Coombs
- 99 – Zack Henshaw
- 24 – Joshua Bryant
- 31 – Wayne Goss
- DNS. 57 – Eddie Mooring
Street Stocks – 25 laps
- 8 – Greg Barnette
- 75 – Mack Parker
- 6 – Mike Jones
- 8 – Brandon Maready
- 39 – Marc Jones
- 25 – Tyler Matthews
- 51 – James North
- 17 – Brian Mattice
Ultimate Body Shop UCARs – 25 laps
- 28 – Tyler Horne
- 99 – Travis Miller
- 4 – James Stroud
- 8 – Aaron Miller
- 48 – Duane Walker
- 60 –Lee Horner
- 99 – Mickey Conner
- 89 – John Ordiway
- 14 – David Wiggins
- 90 – Brandon MacDonald
- 86 – Brandon Allen
- 6 – Brian Obiedzenski
- 24 – Thomas Brandnon
- 69 – Ryan Smith
- 12 – Savannah Beasley
- 03 – Greg Wood
- 01 – Chad Scott
- 31 – Roger Peeden
INEX Legends – 25 laps
- 8 – Mike Alcaro
- 33 – Austin Osborne
- 30 – Billy Hall
- 10 – Justin Mitchell
- 91 – Wil Bristle
- 88 – Zack Brown
- 14 – Jeff Lefcourt
- 83 – Caleb Day
- 12 – Eric Courtney
Bandoleros – 15 laps
- 24 – Blaise Brinkley
- 110 – Kade Lambert
- 74 – Henry Bradner jr.
- 51 – Ethan Johnson
- 47 – Xander Broadben
- 93 – Brasen Deem
