Alex Fleming has raced as Southern National Motorsports Park as long as he can remember. In UCARs, Limited Late Models and Super Late Models, Fleming had never seen a podium, let alone victory lane. That all changed in the SNMP Spring Fling.
In the first of two 35-lap races, Haley Moody set the fast time and led early, with the rest of the field giving chase. A competition caution on Lap 24 re-set the field and led to a 11 lap sprint to the finish. On the restart, Moody found herself in between Fleming and Michael Fose. Racing three-wide on the back stretch, Moody was shuffled back as Fleming took the lead. Fose and Fleming battled for the top position, with Fose passing Fleming late. Fleming and Fose made contact on Lap 34, with Fose dropping back to third. The move put Andrew Grady up to second and allowed Fleming to drive off with the victory. Grady finished second, while Fose would settle for third.
With a six-car invert for the second race, Brandon Hobbs and Haley Moody sat on the front row, and once again Moody took the early lead. Moody would also once again see a Lap 23 caution re-rack the field. Restarting on her outside, Rusty Daniels passed the Kinston driver to take the lead on the restart lap. Daniels did his best to stay out ahead, but with two laps to go Andrew Grady once again made a late pass, this time for the victory. Daniels would settle for second, while Haley Moody would take a bittersweet third place finish.
With his win and second place finishes, Andrew Grady also took over the point lead. Alex Fleming moves to second place in Limited Late Model points, while Haley Moody, Ronnie Jones and Travis Greene round out the top five.
In the United Spring Car Series 40 lap feature, Morgan Turpen led every lap on her way to her fifth USCS victory. A Lap 30 caution for a Tim Perry engine failure gave Johnny Bridges and Terry Gray a last-chance to pass Turpen, but neither driver could catch the only woman in the field. Turpen’s final margin of victory was roughly 13 car lengths over Bridges and Gray. Brandon McLain and Jake McLain finished fourth and fifth, respectively.
In a race that saw five passes for the lead over the course of 25 laps, Michael Torres battled with pole-sitter Grayson Massey. The final exchange came on Lap 24, with Massey passing Torres off Turn 2. Torres would come right back, executing a pass through Turns 3 and 4 to take the lead for good. Massey crossed the line second, but would be disqualified for a technical infraction. Scotty Edwards would be rewarded with second, while Will Bristle finishes a season-best third.
Bill Barbour started on the outside of the front row in Chargers, and led fo the first 18 laps. A broken sway bar, combined with a Lap 20 restart gave pole-sitter Gerald Benton all he needed to take the lead for the final 11 laps to win his second race of 2014. Barbour held on for second, while Wayne Goss, Robert Arch and Jonathan Langley rounded out the top five.
James Stroud led the first 24 laps in Ultimate Body Shop UCARs, but a late restart let Tyler Horne slip by to win his first race of the season, while Stroud and Aaron Miller finished second and third. Greg Barnette continued to dominate Street Stocks, winning wire to wire over Mack Parker, while Blaise Brinkley held off Kade Lambert in Bandoleros.
Racing continues at Southern National Motorsports Park on May 10 with a full night of action. The night will feature the third of six Dirty Dozen Late Model Stock events on the 2012 season, twin 75-lap Late Model races on the docket. The evening’s schedule will also see Limited Late Models, Chargers, Street Stocks, UCARs, Legends and Bandoleros. Tickets for this event are $15 for adults, $12 for kids 13-15, $6 for children 6-12, and kids 5 and under are free. Seniors and active military are just $12 with valid ID. For more information, contact the track office at 919-284-1114 or surf to www.snmpark.com
Results:
Limited Late Models (Race 1) – 35 laps
1. 05 – Alex Fleming
2. 1 – Andrew Grady
3. 10 – Michael Fose
4. 16 – Rusty Daniels
5. 50 – Haley Moody
6. 19 – Brandon Hobbs
7. 4 – Ronnie Jones
8. 52 – Travis Greene
9. 7 – Dillon Spain
10. 77 – Trevor Collins
11. 51 – Chris Chapman
12. 07 – Ronald Renfrow
13. 99 – Taylor Howard
Limited Late Models (Race 2) – 35 laps
1. 1 – Andrew Grady
2. 16 – Rusty Daniels
3. 50 – Haley Moody
4. 10 – Michael Fose
5. 05 – Alex Fleming
6. 19 – Brandon Hobbs
7. 99 – Taylor Howard
8. 52 – Travis Greene
9. 07 – Ronald Renfrow
10. 77 – Trevor Collins
11. 7 – Dillon Spain
12. 51 – Chris Chapman
13. 4 – Ronnie Jones
United Sprint Car Series – 40 laps
1. 10M – Morgan Turpen
2. 07 – Johnny Bridges
3. 10 – Terry Gray
4. 21B – Brandon McLain
5. 67 – Jake McLain
6. 100 – Tom Paterson
7. 28 – Jeff Willingham
8. 4 – Jason Troutman
9. 36 – Tim Perry
10. 22 – Tony Grams
11. 06 – Bill Moore
12. 51 – Jay Dunham
13. 07 – Doug Gold
Chargers – 30 laps
1. 55 – Gerald Benton
2. 22 – Bill Barbour
3. 31 – Wayne Goss
4. 16 – Robert Arch
5. 9 – Jonathan Langley
6. 45 – Tom Sauls
7. 06 – Alton Coombs
8. 99 – Zack Henshaw
9. 29 – Paul Williamson
10. 72 – Jeremy Bohne
11. 77 – Nicholas Fulgham
12. 11 – Bruce Bizzel
DQ. 74 – Jeff Rogers
Street Stocks – 25 laps
1. 8 – Greg Barnette
2. 75 – Mack Parker
3. 8B – Brandon Maready
4. 55 – David Foreman
5. 25 – Tyler Matthews
6. 51 – Chris Conner
Ultimate Body Shop UCARs – 25 laps
1. 28 – Tyler Horne
2. 4 – James Stroud
3. 8 – Aaron Miller
4. 14 – David Wiggins
5. 6 – Brian Obiedzenski
6. 48 – Duane Walker
7. 99 – Mickey Conner
8. 90 – Greg Walston
9. 86 – Brandon Allen
10. 00 – Aaron Crumpler
11. 24 – Thomas Brandner
12. 99 – Travis Miller
13. 03 – Greg Wood
14. 01 – Chad Scott
15. 90 – Brandon MacDonald
Legends – 25 laps
1. 15 – Michael Torres
2. 8 – Scotty Edwards
3. 91 – Will Bristle
4. B1 – Brenton Irving
5. 20 – Shane Irving
6. 10 – Justin Mitchell
7. 11 – Chris Stancil
8. 83 – Caleb Day
9. 88 – Zack Brown
10. 12 – Eric Courtney
11. 01 – Donald Frank
12. 30 – Billy Hall
DQ. 39 – Grayson Massey
Bandoleros – 15 laps
1. 24 – Blaise Brinkley
2. 110- Kade Lambert
3. 81 – Savannah Beasley
4. 81 – Lindsey Ritenburg
5. 74 – Henry Broadbent
6. 51 – Ethan Johnson
7. 47 – Xander Broadben
