Sunday, May 18, 2008
Morris triumphs in Late Models
Related
Auto Racing stories
- Odd finish gives Busch 6th victory
- France frowns on franchising
- Petty still 'The King'
- Local tracks ride out high fuel costs
Dustin Long's blog
NASCAR multimedia
Weekly Racing challenge
RADFORD -- The Pine Ridge 150 at Motor Mile Speedway on Saturday exhibited a sight fans have gotten used to.
Philip Morris was ahead of the pack in the Late Model race and there wasn't much for anyone else to do but watch.
That was especially true for the area drivers because three of them got knocked out of the race, and a fourth came very close.
Tink Reedy went out early after hitting the wall coming out of turn 2.
Forrest Reynolds got loose on the same turn on lap 120 and took out Jason Mitcham, who also found the wall, and almost took out Kelly Kingery.
Kingery would finish the race near the end of the field, which was a drastic difference from before the wreck, when Reynolds, Mitcham and Kingery were jockeying for position in the top 10.
"Forrest just lost it man, I don't know," Kingery said. "It's not a bummer. It's part of it. It's no big deal."
Reedy seemed to take his unfortunate finish in stride as well.
"That's the reason they call it racing," he said.
Davin Scites finished in second place and Brandon Dean followed in third.
The Limited Sportsman race provided two brutal wrecks and Anthony Barnes taking the checkered flag with a load of destruction in his rearview mirror.
On lap 19, Cory Donley spun out of turn 4, causing a four-car wreck between himself, Roger Parrish Jr., Adam Long and John Griffin on the frontstretch.
"I feel bad for all these guys because something broke," said Donley, who just got his car back on the track after a tough wreck two weeks ago.
Donley's accident may have cost him a shot at second place, but it was a bit far-fetched to believe anyone would catch Barnes.
On every restart Barnes shot well ahead of the field, at times building a lead of at least 10 car-lengths.
"That thing is a rocket ship," Barnes said of his car.
That rocket ship carried Barnes far past the carnage behind him on the track, where after two wrecks, five cars were pretty much see-through.
The second wreck happened on lap 43 when Danielle McDermott refused to give up third place to Aaron DePlazes, and he ended up driving right over her and having to pull out.
But Barnes was so far ahead of the field, he might not have even seen the accidents.
"The car was that good," he said.
"[It] looks like it's got nitrous on it."
As a result of the accidents, Scott Lancaster finished in second place and Dusty Mullins in third.
In Street Stock, Eric Long held off Gary Davis to take home a win.
Davis worked all the way to a second-place finish from last in the field after getting tied up with Brent Bell on lap 1, and Sheryl Carls followed in third place.
Motor Mile also held the first Mini Cup action of the year Saturday with Steven Hershey taking the win after passing Sammy Brooks on lap 32.
Hershey was in second most of the race while Brooks held the lead for 31 of the 35 laps.
Brooks would hang on to second place, fending off Damian Inge, who made a huge push from the back of the field after spinning out on turn 1 of lap 5.





