By Chuck Corder

Tempers flared. Attitudes boiled over. It was a bizarre night.

In a cramped 35-car Pro Late Model field, the largest race waged all season at Five Flags Speedway, cautions were aplenty and nerves were frayed for the Allen Turner Tune-Up 100 on Saturday night.

At one point early in the race, nine yellows had waved in the first third of the race. A mind-boggling 50 caution laps have been logged to just 32 official laps.

California driver Derek Thorn, he of the barrel roll at the Snowball Derby several years ago, outlasted a deep lineup and an aggressive night of racing to win for the second time at the famed half-mile asphalt oval in 2015.

“The most important part of coming to Pensacola is the fans are the best,� said Thorn who started third. “I’m excited as heck. By God, the car was perfect. I love driving it.�

Texas youngster Derek Scott finished second and Mobile teenager Dustin Smith rounded out the podium.

Ryan Luza, the 19-year-old Texan who carried a three-race winning streak into Saturday night, ran in the top-two for most of the night before rear-end problems relegated him to 13th.

Still, by virtue of huge points lead he carried into Saturday, Luza was crown the Allen Turner PLM track champion by the end of the night.

“We had a blazing fast racecar tonight,� Luza said.

As the final PLM race of the season before the Snowflake 100 at the Snowball Derby, the night featured plenty of new faces who were either racing at Five Flags for the first time in their careers or for the first time all season.

But in every driver’s quest to gain knowledge for December, it all led to some novice racing. More than half of the field was decimated in the first quarter of the race. Among the many drivers that bore the brunt of the car carnage were Johanna Long, Pensacola’s NASCAR connection, and former two-time Daytona 500 champion Sterling Marlin.

“They’re just junking racecars,� said a visibly frustrated Long, whose night ended just 23 laps in. “I hate it for all these cars that came 10 hours to race here tonight. I don’t understand why we’re passing cars when we haven’t got to the line.�

Drivers were understandably frustrated. The disastrous wrecks reduced these well-tuned machines worth tens of thousands of dollars to virtual scrap metal.

Thorn, though, wasn’t among the group of disgruntled drivers. He looked antsy early and used that to his advantage. Perhaps, expecting a lot of paint to be swapped throughout the night, Thorn made it a point to reach clean air.

“I know it was painful to watch,� Thorn bemused. “There was a lotta cautions, a lotta carnage, but when everybody wants to compete well for the Snowflake, races like that happen. Hopefully, we can come back with a little speed.�

Luza briefly held the lead early in the race following a restart. He cut under Thorn along the apron in Turn 2, as he found an extra gear.

But after losing his advantage, Thorn surged back in front on the outside on Lap 29 and never surrendered it again.

Luza came to the pits moments later under caution. While he did eventually return any hopes Luza had of finishing the season in stylwith a win went up any one of the many clouds of smoke that enveloped Five Flags on Saturday.

Faith Chapel Super Stocks

Gary Sutton did his part.

Unfortunately for him, though, Randy Thompson was on his bumper all night long during the 25-lap season finale for the Faith Chapel Super Stocks.

Sutton won the battle Saturday night at Five Flags Speedway.

“We won the race and that’s all we could do,� Sutton said. We wanted to win the points, but we won the race and that’s all we could do.�

But Thompson, who finished as the race runner-up, won the war and captured his seventh career track championship at Five Flags. It is his third Super Stocks track title, his first since 2012.  Thompson also boasts four Sportsman titles.

“I thought we had decent chance to win the race,� he said, “but I’m glad we stayed right behind (Sutton) and were able to pull it off. Seven championships!�

Bill Cooley finished third.

Beef “O� Brady’s Sportsman

No matter where he’s at on the racetrack, Steve Buttrick has a nose for the lead.

The Cantonment driver didn’t deviate from his familiar script during a 25-lap feature victory Saturday at Five Flags Speedway.

Buttrick, who started ninth out of 13 cars, took the lead three laps in and never looked back for his sixth Beef “O� Brady’s Sportsman win of 2015 matching the six races he captured last season.

Shanna Ard collected his fifth runner-up finish and Jimmy Goodwin was third, for his second podium result of the season.

Buttrick will have a shot to get victory No. 7 at the Night of Champions next Saturday at Pensacola’s high banks.

“We’ve got one more,� Buttrick said. “It’s a good thing I had a little bit of a lead because Shanna was coming at me at the end.�

By virtue of his second and his closest rival in the points race struggling Saturday with handling issues, Ard closed in on his second consecutive Sportsman track championship at Five Flags.

“I’m tired of finishing second,� an exasperated Ard said. “Congrats to Buttrick. It’s just once he gets out front, it’s hard to catch him no matter how fast you are.�

 

Butler U-Pull-It Bombers

Geno Denmark’s coronation will wait one more week.

The Dauphin Island, Ala., driver has a hefty points lead in the Butler U-Pull-It Bombers division going into the Night of Champions next Saturday night.

Denmark padded his advantage with a second-place finish this Saturday night, as fellow Alabama driver David Johnson wouldn’t be denied his first 20-lap feature win of the season at Five Flags Speedway. Carl Dotson of Milton finished third for his first career podium result.

Pensacola drivers Robert Balkum and John Kevin Merritt struggled mightily all night.

“I’m happy to come away with the win tonight,� Johnson said.�We worked our butts off to get the car ready.�

Johnson took the lead with three laps complete and fought to maintain that lead against Denmark the rest of the way.

Denmark briefly pulled ahead in the final laps when Johnson and his No. 83 were blocked by lapped car Preston Prevatte. But Johnson fought back on the final lap to reclaim the lead from Denmark coming out of Turn No. 2.

“David drove a great race,� said Denmark, who boasts six feature wins this season at Five Flags. “I kept it on the bottom, but I couldn’t get underneath him. Then, I tried the outside and I cleared him once, but I couldn’t pull all the way past him. This thing’s a rocket ship, though, I tell you that.�