Carolina Clash Super Late Model Series
March 13, 2012
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Luke Roffers Rockets to Skyler Trull Memorial Victory at Carolina Speedway

by Mark Huey
GASTONIA, NC (March 10) - It was a rather cold night in the Carolinas - well, not as cold as it is probably in, say, Green Bay, Wisconsin. Yet, it is March, and it is "supposed" to be a little chilly, right? When the first sounds of high-performance engines filled the southeastern Gaston County surroundings on Saturday afternoon, March 10, the air temperature quickly warmed up. After a capacity crowd of fans and race teams made night one of the two-day show a big success, night two was setting up to be huge. It was and the 12th Annual Skyler Trull Memorial will go down as a great success, as usual.

The checkered flag of the 2012 event was awarded to Luke Roffers of Concord, North Carolina. The win was his first at the track with Carolina Clash and his sixth feature win, moving him to a seventh-place tie on the all time win list. The win did not come without hard work though, as he thanked his crew for their involvement to get the car prepared. The soft-spoken Green Bay, Wisconsin native and employee of Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing was quick to praise all of the hard work of his team from victory lane.

"My team put together an awesome racecar," Roffers said. "I felt like we just had to begin the season this way, with a win. I mean we did everything we could to win it all last year, but it just did not work out that way. We won four races, but should have won more." Roffers indicated from victory lane that it would have been nice to race Dennis Franklin for the victory, given that both drivers had equally fast cars. Roffers won more races than any Clash competitor last season and led the point standings over much of the regular season. He began the Roush Yates Performance Products Chase for the Championship with a victory, but wound up third in the final point standings.

The #21 car, a Rocket chassis prepared by Wolfpack Rocket of Troutman, NC, was decaled in familiar red and white and is sponsored by Cal-Les II Transport, Wayne and Chad Roffers Trucking, Wisconsin Lock & Load, and Roffers Wildlife Studio of Wisconsin.

Two-time Skyler Trull Memorial winner Chris Ferguson, of Mt. Holly, NC, had hoped to become the only three time winner of the event and started the night very quickly. He was first on the scene in victory lane to congratulate the winner. In his brand new Warrior racecar, he won the pole award with a stellar lap of 15.931, the only driver to crack the 15 second domain during qualifying. Each of his two laps were in the 15.9 second range. His combined lap times it took to power the Randy Clary powered Carver & Sons, Hal's Plumbing Warrior during qualifying was just a fraction under 32 seconds. In an interview from City Chevrolet victory lane, Ferguson thanked the large crowds for making this race an annual success.

"It is a great feeling to be a part of this very special race. The Trull family means so much to all of us and I am proud to be a part of it each year." He was joined by Larry Trull, father of Skyler Trull, who presented him with a $500 bonus given to the Trull family by Steve Heintz of Heintz Brothers Performance. Ferguson, in turn, donated the $500 to the Make-A-Wish Foundation and was overheard saying "Let's do it!" as he departed victory lane. Before the start of the 40 feature, the event held the traditional release of the balloons in memory of Skyler. Ferguson's mother, Allison, worked diligently to help prepare 500 helium-filled balloons to make the memorial as good as ever. Doug Sanders and Anthony Sanders held the annual tribute pace laps as the Alabama tune "Angels Among Us" filled the air around Carolina Speedway. It was, as always, a very special moment.

After the near capacity crowd issued the command to fire the engines, the race featured the legendary "four-wide" salute to the fans. When the green flag finally dropped, it only took a few seconds to get the fans roaring. The first two laps were among the most thrilling moments in the history of the Carolina Clash as Ferguson and defending series champ Dennis "Rambo" Franklin battled side-by-side around the entire track, using both grooves to keep one another in check. Following the completion of lap two, the race would stall for two cautions involving John Pursley and then a multiple-car incident near the back of the field. The second yellow was waived after Benji Cole spun the #121 car in turn two, collecting Doug Sanders, Brian Ledbetter, Scott Shirey, and John Pursley. Pursley and Tim Allen each pitted on lap three with mechanical problems.

After two more cautions on restart attempts, Ferguson continued to lead, as Rambo would choose the inside on the row behind him. On the completion of lap three, Rambo had just enough of an edge over Ferguson at the start-finish line to be credited as the leader. The electronic-scoring confirmed what was seen at the stripe - Rambo as the leader. Franklin went on to lead the next four laps.

On lap six, during a caution period, Rambo's car seemed to have a temperature problem, as steam and water were pouring from the engine's cooling system. There was an unconfirmed report that a punctured radiator was the source of the overheating issue on the #37C entry. After retiring his car to the pit area, the lead was handed over to Luke Roffers.

The wildest crash of the night occurred on lap 13, when Benji Cole and Jay Sessoms connected at the entrance of turn three, causing a caution that slowed the event for nearly ten minutes. Both cars were hooked together and careful consideration was given by the track crew to dislodge the damaged machines. The incident also sidelined Michael Marlowe and G.R. Smith, who were tangled in the incident. After the race restarted, only a handful of cautions would bring the field under yellow, each for single-car spins on track. Roffers led the remainder of the event, nearly unchallenged to around lap 30.

Then, in the final ten laps, Ferguson was able to catch Roffers and nearly pull alongside of him as the drivers negotiated in and around slower cars. Ferguson was able to keep pace late in the race with Roffers, but had to depend on lapped traffic to close the gap between Roffers and himself.

"I mean it's a big part of it, racing the lapped cars, not knowing what they are going to do and where they are going to go. I think Rick (Ellison) did a great job on the RaceReceiver giving the lapped cars good directions when we were closing in on them."

Third-place finisher Kennie Compton, Jr. of Bland, VA started seventh in the event and made quick work with the cars of Johnny Pursley and Jeff Smith. Early in the event, Compton was able to position himself for a run at the leader, as he was able to move around Ferguson. On lap 14, Ferguson would blast back by Compton where the top five would settle in for the remainder of the race. Compton spent most of February traveling in Georgia, Florida and Alabama racing several different types of dirt cars. He is not sure of his plans for the bulk of 2012, but after a solid run, he just may decide to go after the Clash Championship also. He, along with fourth-place finisher Johnny Pursley, both said they may run all of the Clash events this year. 2009 Carolina Clash champion Jeff Smith, of Dallas, NC would finish fifth in the #18M car and then race in the NDRA GM Performance Road Show event, where he picked up the win in the $3000 race.

Ocala, Florida driver Austin Kirkpatrick and Swansea, SC driver Scott Shirey were awarded provisional starting spots as being the highest qualifiers to finish outside the top six in the heat races.

Carolina Speedway in Gastonia, NC, which will host another Carolina Clash event on August 11, the 40th annual Gaston Shrine Club Shrine 100 benefit race.

The next race for the Carolina Clash will be at Fayetteville Motor Speedway on March 24, for the $4,000 to win Ed Gibbons Memorial Race.

In other news, the Carolina Clash point standings format underwent a minor overhaul during the off season. Different point values will be used to determine the point standings. The point breakdown can be viewed at www.carolinaclash.com, under the "Rules" section.

Also, new in 2012, will be the use of electronic scoring and timing. All teams are required to use transponders on their cars during every Carolina Clash event. Live timing and scoring can be downloaded on your I-Phone or other Wi-Fi capable devices using Race Monitor. By paying a one-time fee of $4.99, fans can watch live up-to-the-minute scoring of any Carolina Clash event in 2012.Visit the Race Monitor website at www.race-monitor.com

Official Results
Finish - Driver Name -Hometown - Starting Position - Laps Completed - Status at End of Race
1 - Luke Roffers Concord, NC (3) 40 Running
2 - Chris Ferguson Mt. Holly, NC (1) 40 Running
3- Kennie Compton Bland, VA (7) 40 Running
4- Johnny Pursley Clover, SC (5) 40 Running
5 - Jeff Smith Dallas, NC (9) 40 Running
6 - Mike Gault Gaffney, SC (12) 40 Running
7 - Dustin Mitchell Princeton, NC (6) 40 Running
8 - Ricky Weeks Rutherfordton, NC (13) 40 Running
9 - Scott Autry, Autryville, NC (14) 40 Running
10 - Donald Bradsher Burlington, NC (8) 40 Running
11 - Austin Kirkpatrick Ocala, FL (23) 39 Running
12 - Brian Ledbetter Dallas, NC (20) 39 Running
13 - Travis Yow Fayetteville, NC (11) 39 Running
14 - Scott Shirey Swansea, SC (24) 39 Running
15 - Dale Hammond Nichols, SC (22) 22 Mechanical
16 - Perry Brown unknown (18) 19 Mechanical
17 - Jay Sessoms Stanley, NC (4) 13 Accident
18 - Benji Cole Canon, GA (21) 13 Accident
19 - Michael Marlowe Nichols, SC (23) 13 Accident
20 - G.R. Smith Reidsville, NC (10) 13 Accident
21 - Dennis Franklin Gaffney, SC (2) 6 Mechanical
22 - Doug Sanders Springwood, NC (15) 5 Mechanical
23 - Tim Allen Kannapolis, NC (17) 3 Mechanical
24 - John Pursley Clover, SC (16) 3 Mechanical

Heat Race #1: Travis Yow, Ricky Weeks, Tim Allen, Benji Cole, Doug Sanders, Michael Marlowe, Thomas Hedgpath
Heat Race #2: Mike Gault, Scott Autry, Perry Brown, John Pursley, Brian Ledbetter, Dale Hammond, Scott Shirey, David Yandle
Lee Furniture "Hard Travel Award": ($50 for drivers not making the feature event): Thomas Hedgpath & David Yandle

Race Statistics:
Cars Entered: 26
Fastest Qualifier: Chris Ferguson - 15.931 seconds
Time of Race: 52 minutes
Cautions: 8
Cars Running at End of Race: 14
Cars Finishing on Lead Lap: 10
Race Leaders and Laps Led: Ferguson (1-2), Franklin (3-6), Roffers (7-40)
Margin of Victory: 0.595 seconds
Fastest Lap of Race: Lap 13 (Luke Roffers) - 16.158
Safety-Kleen "Hard Charger of the Race" - #11, Austin Kirkpatrick