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O’CONNOR
WINS FLOMATON NeSMITH CHEVROLET DLMS RACE AFTER TWO CLOSE CALLS
FLOMATON, AL – Chris O’Connor of Cantonment, FL survived a
pair of close calls and led wire-to-wire to win the NeSmith Chevrolet
Dirt Late Model Series 75-lap race and the $5,000 top prize on
Saturday night in front of a packed house at Flomaton Speedway driving
the Coggin Land Services Warrior.
O’Connor had an anxious moment in heavy lapped traffic on lap
11 when he got off the inside of the track in turn four, and slid up
in front of the second-place car of Shep Lucas of McKenzie, AL.
One lap later, O’Connor made contact with the lapped car of
Bo Odom of
“Things were tight early in the race in lapped traffic, and
I’ve got to thank Shep Lucas for giving me break when I got off the
track in turn four,” O’Connor said.
“I’ve also got to apologize to the 55 car (Odom) for
getting into him, and it wasn’t intentional.
I knew the heat was on behind me, and I was trying to win the
race.”
After the early race action, O’Connor said things settled
down for him, and he enjoyed a clear race track in front of him.
“The caution flags were spread out just right during the
second half of the race, and we were able to stay out of the lapped
cars,” O’Connor said. “I
want to thank Chris Coggin for giving me a chance to drive this car
tonight.”
Lucas finished second in the Signature Construction Trak-Star.
Lucas was also the fast qualifier among the 35 entrants after
turning the ¼-mile dirt oval in 12.548 seconds during time trials on
Friday night.
Derrick Rainey of Powder Springs, GA drove the Hays Family
Racing/Barto Enterprises Warrior to a third-place finish, and Matthew
Turner of Dawsonville, GA debuted a brand new Turner Excavating DWB
with a fourth-place effort, Mark
Clifton of Brewton, AL came from the 15th starting spot to
finish fifth in the Escambia County Bank GRT.
Larry Boutwell of Baker, FL was sixth in the McLeod
Construction TNT, and Rusty Ellis took the seventh spot in the L&W
Insulation Trak-Star. Scott
Knowles of Lanett, AL was the Sunoco Race Fuels Rookie of the Race
with an eighth-place finish in the All-Star Graphics GRT.
William Thomas of Phenix City, AL was ninth in the
Chip Brindle of Chatsworth, GA rounded out the top ten in the
CSC Trailer Repair/Brindle Brothers Auto Parts GRT, but it was good
enough to give him the NeSmith Chevrolet Dirt Late Model Series
National Tour point lead by eight points over Jeff Fields of Aragon,
GA. Brindle has 314 points
and Fields, who finished 15th in the J&J Transport
Mastersbilt, has 306 points.
The first start of the race was marred by a multi-car tangle in
turn two, but everyone was able to continue for a complete restart.
On the second try, O’Connor took the lead from the pole
position followed by outside front row starter Ellis. Lucas, Frank Ingram of Woodstock, GA in
the Dixon Hauling and Grading Rocket, and Rainey battled three-wide
for the third spot. By lap
three, Lucas settled into third followed by Rainey and Ingram.
Another turn-two multi-car tangle brought out the caution flag
on lap four. Lucas got to
the inside of Ellis on the restart to take over the second spot. The field was slowed by the third caution
flag of the race on lap six when Hunter Peacock of Macon, GA spun the
Nasworthy Mechanical Bullet in turn two,
O’Connor led Lucas, Rainey, Ellis, Ingram, Turner, Boutwell,
Brindle, Knowles, and Stephen Brantley of Monroeville, AL in the
Airport Sports Center Mastersbilt down for the restart. O’Connor caught the last cars on the
lead lap by the tenth lap, and he had his two close calls on the next
two laps. After O’Connor
made contact with Odom, the later hit the wall to bring out the fourth
caution flag. When the
field went back to green, Turner got busy and passed Ingram for the
fifth spot on lap 16. The green light remained on until lap 31
when Josh Huss of The sixth caution flag came out on lap 51
when a three-car tangle in turn three involving Eric Cooley of Fulton,
MS in the Tiffin Motorhomes Mastersbilt, Peacock, and Jason Hiett of
Lincoln, AL in the N&N Motors GRT.
O’Connor brought the field down for the restart with Lucas,
Rainey, Turner, Ellis and Ingram in tow. Clifton got by Boutwell for the seventh
spot on lap 55 before the seventh caution flag came out on lap 57 when
Fields cut down a tire. Two laps later, Ingram slowed and stopped
on the race track to bring out the eighth and final caution flag of
the race. Ingram retired
from the race after running in the top six for most of the race, but
he earned the Dominator Race Products Hard Luck Award.
O’Connor used the rash of caution flags
throughout the race to keep a five car-length advantage over Lucas.
In the 12 lap run to the checkered flag, O’Connor was able to
keep a fast enough pace to keep Lucas behind him without catching the
lapped traffic. In preliminary action, O’Connor, Ellis,
Ingram, and Rainey won 12-lap heat races on Friday night, while Fields
and Peacock won the 12-lap B-main races on Saturday night. The next NeSmith Chevrolet DLMS National
Touring event will be the richest point race of the season with the
100-lap $10,000-to-win Cajun Spring Nationals on April 25-26 at Pike
County Speedway in McComb, MS. OFFICIAL
RESULTS OF ROUND 4 AT FLOMATON POS
STRT CAR
# DRIVER
HOMETOWN
LAPS $ WON ENTRIES:
35
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