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Roderick Makes Triumph Return to Pensacola, Outduels Smith for Universal Fabricators 125 Win

By Chuck Corder

Nothing like a trip to Victory Lane to unmuddle any lingering uncertainty.

Earlier this month, Casey Roderick didn’t know what the future looked like for his Super Late Model program.

The defending Deep South Crane Blizzard Series champion knew he’d be racing the Graham Motorsports No. 7, but how much remained a mystery.

Roderick made an emphatic statement Friday night in the Universal Fabricators 125, the Blizzard Series season opener run in conjunction with the Southern Super Series, and erased all doubt concerning his track title defense at Five Flags Speedway.

“We’re gonna run all of ’em again,� Roderick proudly announced with the checkered flag and winner’s trophy resting next to him. “This gives us a good baseline and it’s looking real good.�

With the formidable Ricky Turner calling the shots on his SLM program and the indomitable Ronnie Sanders guiding Roderick in Pro Late Models, the Lawrenceville, Ga., native has two of short-track racing’s most accomplished minds.

The 23-year-old driver made it a clean sweep Friday. Roderick out-qualified the 27-car field (16.490 seconds), then outraced runner-up Casey Smith over the final 50 laps to score the win in his Southern Super Series season debut. California teen Zane Smith rounded out the podium in third.

“We’ve struggled a little bit this season, so I’m stoked to be back to normal,� said Zane Smith, who finished second at last year’s Snowball Derby. “I’d be insanely happy if we were where (Roderick) is, but it is what it is. Hats off to my guys for working their butts off in this insane heat.�

Kyle Busch Motorsports wunderkind William Byron ran in the top-five for much of the race, but finished a disappointing seventh. Bubba Pollard had to fight and feather hard to come home fourth.

It marked the third race overall for the four-year-old Southern Super Series, which makes stops at some of the southeast’s most iconic tracks. Young gun Ty Majeski and veteran Donnie Wilson took home checkereds in the first two events at South Alabama Speedway and Fairgrounds Speedway Nashville, respectively.

The Universal Fabricators 125 quickly became a two-horse race between Roderick and Casey Smith. After Kyle Grissom, a winner at Pensacola’s high banks last season, started from the pole, Casey Smith took over P1 just four laps in.

The lead changed hands three times between Roderick and Casey Smith with the eventual winner taking control for good with less than 50 laps remaining.

As the pair approached lapped traffic on Lap 77, Casey Smith backed off his lead coming out of Turn No. 2 and Roderick seized the opportunity.

“Me and Casey (Roderick) were just riding around out there, running our own pace,� Casey Smith explained, “and I let him go, thinking we’d be able to run him down. We had a good car, but not that good, I guess. Man, we were slick there at the end.�

The race stayed green for the first century, safe for one caution. But, it took three restarts to get the scoreboard to flip from 100, as the home stretch made the field a bit more anxious to crack the top-10.

On the last restart with 100 completed laps, Roderick had Smith on his outside. The pair made one full revolution door-to-door before Roderick finally cleared Casey Smith at the flags stand.

Roderick quickly drove away from Casey Smith and the rest of the bewildered field.

“I tell you what, we had a really good car,� Roderick reflected. “This is the best car I’ve ever had here. We’ve been working hard to get this thing better.�

 

Beef “O� Brady’s Pro Trucks

Taylor Jorgensen hasn’t wasted any time in making a first impression.

Jorgensen has made two trips this season to Five Flags Speedway and the famed half-mile asphalt oval’s fans are quickly falling head over heels for the 19-year-old driver.

The feeling seems to be mutual.

Each time Jorgensen has come to Pensacola, the Pro Trucks division rookie has celebrated by taking a checkered flag back home to Stockbridge, Ga.

Jorgensen took the lead on Lap 21 on Friday and withstood a feisty finish to claim the 40-lap feature. More improbably, Friday also marked just the second time Jorgensen, a Legends car champion, has been in a full-bodied car.

“I’m so appreciative to be in Victory Lane for the second time in my second race,� an elated Jorgensen said. “I have the best team behind me. I’m so thankful to everybody that helps out on this truck.�

Howard Langahm and Eric Wallace rounded out the podium, respectively, but that was only after Okie Mason and Brian Weimer caused a major mess on the final turn of the white-flag lap.

Mason and Weimer, who each held the lead before Jorgensen wrestled away control Friday, were in a white-knuckle battle for second in the closing laps.

Their beating and banging finally came to a head when the pair exited Turn No. 3 and headed for Turn No. 4. Less than a quarter-mile from the checkered flag, Weimer made a last-ditch effort to claim second.

Instead, his nose caught Mason’s bumper and Weimer sent the longtime Five Flags champion into the outside wall. Mason was in no-man’s land and took a hard hit from a charging truck that failed to react fast enough.

Weimer wasn’t spared either, as the defending Beef “O� Brady’s Pro Trucks track champion ended up facing the wrong way and was at the mercy of oncoming trucks to avoid him, which most could not.

The fireworks didn’t end there for Mason and Weimer. In the pits, near the tech shed, their crews had to be separated by track and law enforcement officials after punches flew.

It was an aggressive second race of the season for the Pro Trucks, quickly rising as one of the more popular fields at Pensacola’s high banks.

The 19-car field mixed it up from the opening green flag with trucks in the top six see-sawing positions in the first dozen laps.

Mason took the lead on Lap 11, but Weimer overtook him two laps later with Jorgensen right on his tail.

The fearless teenager made her move on the back stretch, making it three-wide with Mason and Weimer, as she was bound and determined to get to clean air.

Jorgensen cleared them just past the halfway point and never looked back.

“I knew we needed to get out front,� she said. “I had to make it three-wide because it was time to get to the lead.�

 

The Dock on Pensacola Beach Sportsmen

Steve Buttrick rarely needs directions to Victory Lane.

He often is the class of The Dock on Pensacola Beach Sportsmen field without any help from the competition.

But Buttrick’s night got a whole lot easier Friday when Brannon Fowler, his chief rival in the division, was involved in a three-car pileup on the opening lap.

That accident decimated a third of the field and opened the door for Buttrick, who passed close friend Johnny Greene Jr. on Lap 11, to claim his second 25-lap feature victory in as many outings.

“When half the field is wadded up on the first lap, there’s not much out there,� Buttrick said. “I made some changes to car tonight, but I didn’t like them very much. I’ll have to go back and work the other way. It was good racing tonight. I had fun.�

The crash ended not only Fowler’s evening, but the nights of a very perturbed Billy Hoover and Hunter Lambert.

The trio was essentially three-wide from the drop of the opening green flag. They stayed congested around the speedway until they entered Turn No. 3 where all hell broke loose and the three cars careened into the outside wall.

 

Butler U-Pull-It Bombers

Robert Balkum’s valiant effort nearly paid off.

Trying to end the stranglehold Mobile-area drivers have on the Butler U-Pull-It Bombers series, Balkum couldn’t quite time his move before running out of time in the 20-lap feature.

Instead, David Johnson continued the Alabama winning streak and scored his first trip to Victory Lane at Five Flags Speedway since his win last season.

“I have to thank Robert Balkum because he didn’t turn us around, and he could’ve several times,� Johnson said.

Johnson did a tremendous job to block each one of Balkum’s advances to the front. Balkum’s runner-up finish was his best result this season and Robert Loper came home third.

“I guess I’m a second kinda guy,� a frustrated Balkum said. “David had a fast hotrod, but I know I had a fast car, too.�

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