Carolina Clash Series
311 Motor Speedway
September 8, 2012
________________________________________

Franklin Paces to Flag-to-Flag Carolina Clash Victory at 311 Motor Speedway

by Mark Huey
PINE HALL, NC (September 8) - Two-time defending Carolina Clash champion Gaffney, SC Dennis Franklin led flag-to-flag in the first round of the Chase for the Championship by Roush Yates Performance Products and JE Pistons at 311 Motor Speedway in Pine Hall, NC. From the pole position with a fast qualifying time of 15.948, the only driver to crack into the 15 second range, he never looked back after an early challenge from Chris Ferguson, who took outside pole honors. On lap #1, Ferguson had rear end issues on his #D1 Carver & Sons Roofing machine from Mt. Holly, NC. Ferguson fell out on the opening lap and finished 26th.

There were several cautions during the event's first 15 laps, which featured chase contenders Ross Bailes, Wayne Hughes, Michael Marlowe, and Doug Sanders each experienced mechanical problems and pitted. Marlowe and Hughes were involved in a very tight point battle for Rookie-of-the-Year and stayed on the track for the event in damaged cars. Marlowe finished one spot ahead of Hughes in the final rundown and stretches his point lead to 7 over Hughes.

Luke Roffers had problems on the #21 car on lap 20 of the event on the left rear and pitted. He was the point leader entering the event. He battled back to seventh to salvage what would have been a disastrous night.

Tim Allen returned to Clash racing with a very impressive run and finished second. Great for the "Toolman" who has struggled all year with his #17 car, as Scott Autry held on to third position. Jeff Smith was fourth and Ricky Weeks finished fifth.

2011 Hall of Fame inductee Billy Hicks finished sixth from his 19th place starting position, earning the Safety-Kleen "Hard Charger of the Race."

The Chase for the Championship moves to Wythe Raceway for event #2 in the series.

Dennis Franklin commented on the win from victory lane.

"The track was really racey tonight. There were many grooves as I could run my car high, low or in the middle. It got a little crazy with the traffic late in the race. These chase races are so important because you can't fall out of any of them. It's gonna be a matter of who attends all of them and who finishes all of them. It is such an honor to drive this car, getting to work on it and I just can't thank Daddy, Steve Cooke and all of my crew for an awesome job!"

Dennis Franklin in the past few weeks have won three Carolina Clash races and two very high paying GM Performance Late Model races, for a total payday of $19,000 since the first of August.

Thanks to 311 Motor Speedway promoters Steve and Blake Stultz, Randy Joyce, and Ray Robertson for making this night a success.

A-Main
1 37C Rambo Franklin
2 17A Tim Allen
3 A1 Scott Autry
4 18M Jeff Smith
5 1W Ricky Weeks
6 79 Billy Hicks
7 98 Travis Yow
8 23 Steve Blackburn
9 15X Jimmy McCormick
10 17 Mike Gault
11 15 Gary Mabe
12 31M Bubba McGee
13 93 Raymond Brown
14 0 Jay Sessom
15 8 Michael Marlowe
16 51 Randy Harmon
17 1H Wayne Hughes
18 9 Johnny Pursley
19 21 Luke Roffers
20 33H Chuck Smith
21 42 Doug Sanders
22 281 Kyle Pierce
23 618 Kevin Wilson
24 D8 Dustin Mitchell
25 87 Ross Bailes
26 D1 Chris Ferguson