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Oh What a Night!

Bubba Winslow, winless this season in the Super Stocks at Five Flags Speedway, needed every point he could get to stay close to leader Todd Jones.

With a unique double-feature night Friday at the track, a possible 215 points were available and Winslow grabbed all 215 with the fastest time and both feature wins.

That allowed him to close to within five  points — unofficially — of Jones going into the division’s season finale in two weeks.

“We did all we could do,� Winslow said. “It was interesting to run two features and I just needed to make the best of the opportunity.�

The format called for a 12-lap feature, followed by a 15-lap feature with an inverted start based on the finish of the first race. Winslow led all 12 laps to easily take the first feature. That put him last in the six-car field for the second race.

On Lap 3, Winslow went from fourth to second with a nifty inside pass, then went low in turn 3 on lap 6 to wrest the lead from Joe Mahuron. Winslow cruised from there, while Jones took second.

“It’s been a struggle from the beginning of the year, but I think we are finally back,� Winslow said.

Jones unofficially maintains a slim lead going into the final race in two weeks.

“We needed a little better car,� he said. “I was held up by a slower car so I didn’t have a chance to catch him.�

Pro Trucks

Jay Jay Day went from the best feeling to the worst feeling in two races on the same night.

After easily winning the first feature, his drive shaft broke during the second race, giving him perhaps the shortest points lead of about an hour.

After setting the fastest time and winning from the pole in the first race, Day had turned a 12-point deficit to Okie Mason to a four-point lead entering the second race.

“They had this thing on a rail,� Day said of his pit crew after the first race. “It’s the best truck I’ve had. It was so smooth. We’re going to try to come from the rear and win.�

He started the second race last in 12^th, but roared to fifth place after one lap. But on Lap 12, his drive shaft broke, ending his night and his short-lived points lead.

Mason, who started ninth in the second feature, finished third in the second race and resumed the points lead. Taras Hodivsky, who entered the night 27 points behind Mason, was running second in the second feature when he was spun out and hit the wall hard.

Andy Wojaszczyk of Weatherford, Texas, won the second feature in his first visit to Five Flags this season, while Jessie Reid was second.

Sportsman

Points leader Shanna Ard overcame engine problems in the first feature to win the second feature Friday night.

He started 11^th in the 15-car field in the second feature and took the win.

“That first race we were on seven ^ cylinders,� he said after a fourth-place finish in the second race. “The car was hooked up the second race. It took off and we never looked back.�

Jonathan Langham was leading the second race through eight laps when his car stopped during a caution and he had to be pushed to the pits.

That put Shawn Laws in the lead with Ard in second, Johnny Greene third and Steve Buttrick fourth. Ard quickly took the lead on the restart.

It was Ard’s third win of the season as he extended his points lead over Fowler. Johnny Greene finished second, while Buttrick was third and Brannon Fowler fourth.

Buttrick won the first feature, leading all 12 laps, with Greene second and Fowler third.

Bombers

Michael Nelson won the second feature for his third win in four tries and closed to within six points of Robert Balkum, who finished second.

Both started near the back on the inverted start, but zoomed quickly to the front. Nelson got the lead on lap 6, passing John Merritt.

“We have to do everything we can to gain every point,� Nelson said. “We did all right.�

In the first feature of 10 laps, fast qualifier B.J. Leytham led every lap. Nelson started third and passed Balkum with an inside move on the second lap to take second and close to within nine points of Balkum entering the second feature Back to News