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Elliott Withstands Day of Unexpecteds, Makes Late Push to Capture Pepsi Next 100

 

 

 

By Chuck Corder

Beads of sweat trickling off his chin, Chase Elliott was out of breath.

“That’s about as hard as I’ve worked to catch somebody,� the 16-year-old defending Snowball Derby champion said Sunday. “I’m glad it paid off.�

The 16 year old etched another unthinkable victory into the asphalt at Five Flags Speedway, running down Jeff Choquette in the final 15 laps to win the Pepsi Next 100.

The season opener was postponed to Sunday because of rain Friday.

The change in schedule didn’t dampen another memorable performance from Elliott, who passed Choquette on Lap 97 to take his Super Late Model to Victory Lane for the second time in as many races.

Choquette had a comfortable lead for the last third of the race until lapped traffic cost him.

Pensacola’s Jeremy Pate was force to check up on the back stretch with 10 laps remaining, allowing Elliott to close the gap.

“I thought I had burned my stuff up. I gave it all I had,� Elliott said. “I still didn’t think I had time to catch (Choquette). I got to him and it worked out.�

Choquette, for his part, gave credit to where it was due. He freely admitted Elliott had the better car Sunday and the kid perfectly utilized the same strategy that brought him victory Saturday in Mobile.

Choquette was a bit frustrated with cars preventing him from building on the lead.

“The lapped cars, it was a joke,� the West Palm Beach resident said. “I disagree with the lapped cars making it three-wide in turns. They gotta get out of the way.�

Elliott’s last Super Late Model win, of course, came in December when Elliott held off a charging D.J. VanderLey to win the 44th running of short-track’s summit.

The condition of the famed, half-mile asphalt oval was much different Sunday with cars slipping all over the track when tires began to wear thin around Lap 60.

“We race all year long at night,� Elliott said, “and in December at the Snowball when it’s cold. So you relatively have nothing to go on. It’s completely different than anything we’ve raced before.�

Something that was far from different was a Grand American Race Car being in Victory Lane.

Elliott’s win marked the 13th consecutive Blizzard Series race a GARC-manufactured car took the checkered.

The last time a different manufacturer won was more than two years ago when hometown girl Johanna Long was on her way to a Blizzard season championship.

Augie Grill, the owner and builder of GARCs, led for much of the race Sunday before giving away to Choquette around Lap 66. Grill finished third while fast-qualifier Bubba Pollard (16.732 seconds) was fourth.

Elliott battled Grill for second for a handful of laps as the field approached 75 laps. The hot track put a wrench in any ideas to pass, even on the inside.

Pensacola’s high banks in the March sun were certainly different than most racing drivers, teams and fans could have expected.

D.J. VanderLey, Snowball runner-up to Elliott, went up in smoke on the back stretch when a seal broke on the oil cooler just one lap in.

Josh Hamner, running fourth a little while later, got sideways between turn Nos. 3 and 4. He somehow managed to save it and avoid causing a massive crash with most of the field, including Elliott.

The field wasn’t as lucky on Lap 11. Grant Enfinger checked up on the back stretch with fuel troubles, igniting a 10-car crash that ended the days for a handful of drivers.

“It was so hard to pass,� Elliott said. “I wouldn’t have gotten past Augie if I hadn’t touched him a little. Fortunately, I was able to squeeze by.�

The rest was Chase Elliott history.

Pepsi Next 100 Results — 1. Chase Elliott, 2. Jeff Choquette, 3. Augie Grill, 4. Bubba Pollard, 5. Kyle Benjamin, 6. Grant Enfinger, 7. Donnie Wilson, 8. Benjamin Kennedy, 9. Clay Alexander, 10. Casey Smith, 11. Ryan Crane, 12. Anthony Sergi, 13. Dwayne Buggay, 14. Jimmy Garmon, 15. Chris Serio, 16. Allen Karnes, 17. Jerry Artuso, 18. Jeremy Pate, 19. Junior Niedecken, 20. Kurt Jett, 21. Mike Garvey, 22. Cale Gale, 23. Dennis Schoenfeld, 24. Logan Boyett, 25. David Rogers, 26. Danny Bagwell, 27. Tony Clark, 28. Josh Hamner, 29. Tyler Miles, 30. D.J. VanderLey, 31. Chris Davidson

 

Super Stocks

Bubba Winslow gift-wrapped the perfect birthday present for his grandfather Sunday.

James Winslow has contributed a lot of help to his grandson’s passion of driving stock cars. Bubba Winslow repaid him with a pair of victories Sunday.

The first came in the Super Stocks feature, as the defending track champion took to lead on Lap 19 of from Okie Mason and never looked back.

“That’s a blast racing Okie like that,� said Winslow, who started fifth.

The caution came out twice in the 25-lap feature, none scarier than when Greg Young smashed into the outside wall of Turn 1 after getting hooked up with Brandon Harris down the front stretch.

Young was pinned against the wall and there was a long delay as emergency medical personnel attended to him, but he was able to walk away virtually unharmed.

Super Stocks Feature Results — 1. Bubba Winslow, 2. Scott Anderson, 3. Okie Mason, 4. Darrin Matthews, 5. John Shuffler, 6. Randy Thompson, 7. Charlie Skipper, 8. Brandon Harris, 9. Mike Moore, 10. Jeremy Tassin, 11. Randy Herrick, 12. Greg Young, 13. Joe Mahuron

 

Sportsmen

A hometown boy got 2012 off to a great start.

Bubba Winslow, who won the Super Stocks feature just 30 minutes earlier, made it a clean sweep in winning the West Florida Coatings Sportsmen feature.

A scary collision occurred in the middle of the race between Marty White and Jim Pokrant, but both drivers were OK after the wreck down the front stretch.

Sportsmen Feature Results — 1. Bubba Winslow, 2. Calvin Cook, 3. Shanna Ard, 4. Brannon Fowler, 5. Steve Buttrick, 6. Michael Couture, 7. Billy Hoover, 8. Charles English, 9. Marty White, 10. Paul Mathis, 11. Ethan Hardin, 12. Jim Pokrant, 13. Thomas Faddis, 14. Dayton Sidner, 15. Chris Nielsen

 

Bombers

Apparently little has changed in the Butler U-Pull-It Bombers division.

When the 2011 regular season ended at Five Flags, the two cars battling it out were Gary Goodwin and Brandon Burks.

Goodwin held off Burks to win the track title last year, but Burks got the better of Goodwin on Sunday.

The Milton youngster took to the front when Goodwin had car troubles in the middle of the race and never looked back.

Bombers Feature Results — 1. Brandon Burks, 2. Kenneth Bullard, 3. Kenny Williams, 4. Leonard Craig Jr., 5. Gary Goodwin, 6. Robert Balkum, 7. Michael Nelson, 8. Tim Norman, 9. Hunter Ward, 10. James Beal III, 11. Tommy Lowery, 12. Courtney Rodrigues, 13. William Davis, 14. Brandon Nettles, 15. Gary Burkett Sr., 16. Brandin Sidner, 17. John Kevin Merritt

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