8/24/2022
Five Flags Speedway
Racing for Points Brings Track Champions.
Points at a Premium for Drivers Looking to Protect Leads, Make Moves in Stretch Run
By Chuck Corder
5flagsspeedway.com reporter
Pensacola’s Hunter Robbins is enjoying banner Late Models campaigns driving for Ronnie Sanders after a seven-year winless drought.
The pair have teamed up for several wins, six top-fives and 12 top-10s in 14 Super and Pro Late Model races this year. Robbins currently leads the Southern Super Series standings for SLMs. One of those wins came at the Allen Turner Pro Late Model 100 season opener back in May at Five Flags Speedway, dominating a stacked field.
On the strength of that victory, Robbins heads into the third Allen Turner PLM 100 of the season Friday night tied for the overall points lead with Tennessee driver Dylan Fetcho. The tight PLM battle is one of several close points races to keep an eye on come Friday, as the regular season winds down at the famed half-mile asphalt oval and teams begin their preparations for the 55th annual Snowball Derby in December.
The local divisions’ Night of Champions is Sept. 10 while the Late Model Night of Champions is Sept. 24.
The PLMs will share the stage Friday night with the Dock on Pensacola Beach Sportsmen, who will compete for 30 laps in their annual Sportsmen Spectacular, the Zoom Equipment Pro Trucks (25) and the Lloyd’s Glass Pure Stocks (20). Gates open at 5 p.m. Friday with racing set for 8. Admission is $15 for adults; $12 for seniors, military and students; and free for children ages 11 and under.
Robbins hopes he can separate himself from Fetcho and a group of other talented drivers. Fetcho climbed even with Robbins last month after a runner-up finish to William Sawalich during the Late Model Doubleheader weekend. The pair are tied with 94 points apiece going into Friday and with just one more race after.
Hoping Robbins and Fetcho slip up is Jake Garcia. The 17-year-old Georgia driver sits just eight points behind currently. Garcia has proven he knows how to get it done at Five Flags with a PLM title in 2019 and serving as the defending track champion in the Deep south Cranes Blizzard Series for SLMs.
Two-time reigning PLM champ Chris Davidson and Justin Bonnett are just 18 points shy of Robbins and Fetcho. Sawalich, arguably the hottest Late Model driver in short-track racing, is lurking in the shadows and trails the pair by 20 points.
In the Zoom Equipment Pro Trucks, Pensacola’s Logan Boyett leads the way thanks to his three victories in five races this season. Despite his success, Boyett knows he needs to remain consistent if he wants another Pro Trucks track championship to go with the one he won in 2018. His lead his only 21 points against Caleb Sanford, who has been a model of consistency with four top-five finishes this year. Young Maddox Langham is third, trailing Boyett by 30 points. Georgia teenager Seth Christensen, who has a win and four top-fives under his belt, is 46 points back and that is in spite of not competing in all five features this year.
Brannon Fowler hopes to take another step closer to his fourth track championship Friday when the Dock on Pensacola Beach Sportsmen compete in their 30-lap Spectacular. Fowler, who hasn’t had a win since April, still remains atop the standings. He captured Sportsmen titles in back-to-back seasons in 2011 and 2012 and then captured his third in 2017. The Molino driver leads Langham by 18 points. The Mobile teenager has performed well doing double-duty behind the wheel of both a Sportsmen and Pro Truck this season. He has two Sportsmen wins, four top-fives and has been surging during the second half of the season. Daryl McDonald III, known as “D3,” is just 23 points behind Fowler and is on a heater after scoring his first career Sportsmen win earlier this month. D3 was the Lloyd’s Glass Pure Stocks track champion in 2020.
Speaking of the Pure Stocks, Robert Loper has not taken his foot off the pedal since the first green flag dropped in March. The Theodore, Ala., driver has dealt with some off-the-track adversity by becoming a big, Alabama winning machine on the track. He has won six times in seven races this year and finished second when Cameron Leytham knocked him off in May. Loper leads Pensacola’s Caleb Burkett by 65 points.
Article Credit: Chuck Corder
