Carolina Clash Super Late Model Series
Fayetteville Motor Speedway
June 11, 2013
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Dennis Franklin Is The Winner Of Al Lucas Memorial Race

by Mark Huey
FAYETTEVILLE, NC (June 8) - On June 8, the Carolina Clash returned to action with a 40-lap event at Fayetteville Motor Speedway. The race was titled the 2nd Annual Al Lucas Memorial Race. Mr. Al Lucas was a major supporter of dirt track racing in the C...ape Fear/Southeastern NC region, as he supported several drivers and tracks as a regional Coca-Cola soft drink representative. He passed away in March 2012 and was memorialized in this event. His family and friends were on hand to participate in the tribute.

A capacity crowd of fans was on hand for this event, which was the first since May 11 for the Clash faithful. Ricky Weeks entered the event seeking his 38th career victory with the series and his 9th all-time at Fayetteville Motor Speedway. Weeks entered the event as the point leader in the Carolina Clash point-standings and he hope for his second win in a row in this event and his first of the year.

Tim Allen captured the pole position during the Roush Yates Performance Products qualifying with a fast time of 17.639 on the 4/10 mile raceway. He would start the event alongside Autryville, NC competitor Scott Autry, who crashed out of the event last year in a wild flip out of the turn two area of the track.

27 cars were registered to enter the event and series officials and track management decided to run heat races to determine the starting lineup, after the top 10 qualifiers were locked into the feature. Chip Brindle of Chatsworth, GA was the winner of the first R2C Performance Filters heat race and Dustin Mitchell took the second heat race win.

2013 Rookie of the Year contender Damon Kotke had a tough night early on as his #02 machine had mechanical problems during the preliminaries and had to negotiate the use of Roger Lucas’ #79 to start the heat race. Kotke proved his driving talent and worked his way into the main event by racing into the third place position in the heat race. He was running in the top ten near the end of the event before more mechanical problems sidelined him near the end of the race.

On the opening lap of the 40 lap feature, Tim Allen and Scott Autry brought the field to green and the race was on to turn one. Scott Autry grabbed the early lead and held it for the first half of the race. Dennis Franklin would battle with Ross Bailes and Luke Roffers as the top ten was in a major shuffle. Several cars, including Johnny Pursley, would go on a backward slide, as everyone battled with themselves and a very wet and racey track. It was a wild and action-filled first segment of the race, which has brought to caution for several single car spins. However, one multiple-car incident occurred in turn four when Ricky Weeks and Chip Brindle connected and snagged several machines, resulting in a four-car pileup. Weeks sustained major damage to the front of his #1 Parton Lumber entry and would struggle to return to the event several laps down. He would finish 20th in the feature.

On the restarts, the action continued as Dennis Franklin began to stalk the leader Autry past the halfway point. Franklin made several attempts to pass to the inside of the A1 machine, but began looking to the top side. Several drivers had already attempted the outside, only to find there was not much of a cushion to grip upon and would lose several spots.

During the first half of the event, several cars pitted with mechanical problems, including Timmy Carroll, John Pursley, and Dustin Mitchell.
Ross Bailes returned to action in the Wilson Motorsports #B4 car and battled tough with Chris Blackwell, Luke Roffers and Johnny Pursley over most of the race. At one point, Justin Labonte was running in the top five, going for third, before fading late in the event.

Autry led the first 28 laps until Dennis Franklin figured out that the high-side would be the way to get around Autry and on lap 29, Franklin completed the pass in turns one and two and pulled away. A late race caution on lap 33 slowed the field as Tim Allen lost control of the #17 car, which had faded late in the race. It was a scary moment as Justin Labonte nearly ran up and over the top of the front end of Allen’s car. Then, on the restart, Franklin checked out and never looked back en route to his fourth Fayetteville win and 25th all-time with the Carolina Clash.

Scott Neighbors was the Safety-Kleen Hard Charger of the Race as he went on to finish 10th in the feature after starting 19th. Three cars advanced nine positions, but Neighbors was the highest finishing car of those three.

The next event for the Carolina Clash will be this coming Tuesday night as the series will return to South Carolina for the second stop in an eight day stretch, when the competitors head to Laurens County Speedway for the 33rd Annual Laurens County Shrine Benefit Race. After that, the series goes to I-77 Speedway in Richburg, SC. Casey Roberts of Toccoa, GA was the winner of the 2012 Shrine Race at Laurens, when the series competed under the BEAST sanction, before merging with Carolina Clash before the season began. Luke Roffers of Concord, NC was the winner last year at I-77 Speedway of Richburg, SC, in the series’ first race there.

RESULTS FROM JUNE 8, 2013
FAYETTEVILLE MOTOR SPEEDWAY
Finish – Car # - Driver Name –Hometown
1. 2 – Dennis Franklin Gaffney, SC
2. A1 – Scott Autry Autryville, NC
3. B4 – Ross Bailes Clover, SC
4. 6 – Chris Blackwell Fayetteville, NC
5. 09 – Johnny Pursley Clover, SC
6. 21 – Luke Roffers Concord, NC
7. 44 – Justin Labonte Trinity, NC
8. 17 – Mike Gault Gaffney, SC
9. 08 – Michael Marlowe Nichols, SC
10. 0 – Scott Neighbors Fayetteville, NC
11. 9 – Dale Hammond Nichols, SC
12. 12 – Zach Cox Lumberton, NC
13. 17 – Tim Allen Kannapolis, NC
14. 79 – Damon Kotke (R) Louisburg, NC
15. 42 – Doug Sanders Springwood, NC
16. 5 – Chip Brindle Chatsworth, GA
17. 33 – Chuck Smith Sanford, NC
18. 3 – Shaun Harrell Raeford, NC
19. 10 – Scott Shirey Swansea, SC
20. 1 – Ricky Weeks Rutherfordton, NC
21. 9 – John Pursley Clover, SC
22. 51 – Dustin Mitchell Princeton, NC
23. 1 – Timmy Carroll Tar Heel, NC

Did not make the race – Ronnie Hoover, Kyle Pierce, Craig Shuffield, & Roger Lucas (Damon Kotke was driving the #79 car as an alternate starter).
Cars Entered: 27