COLUMBUS, MS - Saturday night March 12th marked the second night of the Brown Engineering Rebel Challenge double-header. Paying $8,000-to-win, Saturday night's 50-lap event followed Friday night's $2,000-to-win Mississippi State Championship Challenge Series 40-lapper, won by Shannon Babb. 56 Super Late Models returned on Saturday to help make up a 140-car field in 4 divisions of prime racing action at "The Bullring". Again, all proceeds from the event would go to the Bobby Brown Scholarship Fund, named in honor of legendary engine builder Bobby Brown.
Columbus' group qualifying format was in effect, with the Super Late Model competitors divided into 6 groups for qualifying and heat races. Matt Miller would take the fastest time of the night with a 14.58 on a wind and race-battered track that was considerably slower than Friday night. Other group leaders in qualifying were Dan Schlieper (14:64), Winter Classic winner David Earl Gentry (14.64), Don O'Neal (14.76), Wendell Wallace (14.78), and Mike Boland (14.81).
Six heat races would feature some spectacular racing action, with three drivers transferring from each to the main event. Miller, Schlieper, Gentry, O'Neal, Clint Smith, and Shannon Babb would take heat victories, with Babb beating Mike Boland across the line in the final heat by mere inches. There would be only one caution between all six heats. Jason Cliburn and Anthony Rushing would take B-Main wins in the two last-chance races, which transferred three drivers each to the 50-lap main.
Polesitter Matt Miller would take the initial lead of the $8,000-to-win feature on an unusually bottom-line predominant Columbus track, with Gentry diving in under Schlieper to challenge for second place, taking the spot away one lap later. Gentry would then move in under Miller, the two running side by side for the lead as Chris Wall moved into 4th place on lap 4. Gentry would take over the point on lap 6, holding off a return challenge by Miller before the leaders began to reach lapped traffic.
Clint Smith would begin to make moves as he began to race with Shannon Babb for 5th, while Wall and Schlieper began to duel door-to-door behind Miller. With the field navigating heavy traffic, Miller would once again challenge Gentry for the lead, and then find himself challenged for second place by Schlieper. Schlieper would take over the position on lap 13, and Wall would follow suit, racing hard and close with Miller until grabbing third place on lap 16.
Schlieper would catch Gentry just before the first caution of the event fell on lap 19. Matt Miller would leave the track under caution and return to the rear of the field. Gentry, Schlieper, Wall, Smith, Earl Pearson, Jr., Darren Miller, Don' O'Neal, Shannon Babb, Dale McDowell, and Marlon Wild would make up the top ten for the double-file restart.
Wall would go outside Schlieper, then dive inside Gentry to muscle his way into the lead in turn 3 on the first lap after the restart. Schlieper and Gentry would engage for second place before a second caution fell on lap 21 that saw Pearson, who had just taken 4th place and was racing for third after starting 15th, placed on the rear of the field. Wall, Schlieper, Gentry, Smith, and Darren Miller would be the top five as the field readied for another green flag stretch.
Wall, Gentry, and Schlieper would go 3-wide for the lead, with Gentry taking back over on lap 22 and Clint Smith charging in to join the mix. Schlieper would come out in second place, Don O'Neal would move up to 5th, and Darren Miller would challenge O'Neal as Gentry began to stretch out a comfortable lead. As Mike Boland pulled Miller away from his battle with O'Neal, caution would fall on lap 26 with Gentry, Schlieper, Wall, Smith, and O'Neal running in the top five.
Gentry, appearing to be the strongest car on the track, would continue to lead as the race resumed as Schlieper and Wall began to battle once again. As the two swapped lines, Wall would claim second place. A major battle began to rage for 4th place, as Don O'Neal - one of the few drivers to try the rim of the track, Clint Smith, and Mike Boland fanned out three-wide for several laps. Smith would finally take over on lap 35, and O'Neal would run into trouble as contact with John Vandenberg resulted into "The Real Deal" taking a spin. O'Neal would recover without bringing out a caution, but would lose several positions as the race raged on.
Gentry again began to take on lapped traffic on lap 38, and would start stretching out a considerable lead over Wall, who also had built a large gap over third-place Schlieper. Smith would move in on Schlieper, taking 3rd place on lap 41, as Wall began to reel in Gentry. On lap 42, the last caution of the event fell, with Gentry, Wall, Smith, Schlieper, and Mike Boland making up the top five for the final dash.
Smith took over second place from Wall, and then drove outside Gentry to lock horns in a battle for the lead. Side by side the two would go as the final laps ticked away, Smith running just outside of Gentry, as Mike Boland got the best of Wall in the race for third. Each lap, the lead would fluctuate slightly as the two racers ran inches apart, door-to-door, promising a thrilling finish.
Smith would appear to close the deal on lap 46, but Gentry wasted little time in moving right back in on "The Cat Daddy". One last time the two went double-wide, but it would be Smith charging on to take the checkered flag. Smith, winner of night 2 of the Possum Town Grand Prix in November at Columbus, would take the exciting $8,000 victory in his Hoosier-shod JP Drilling GRT machine. Gentry, Boland, and Wall followed Smith across the line, and Earl Pearson Jr. - who had been placed on the rear of the field after coming from 15th to 4th - made it all the way back up through the pack to round out the top five. McDowell, Schlieper, Babb, Darren Miller, and Matt Miller would complete the top ten.
Pearson, who made up ten positions overall (not including the charge to 5th after going to the rear) would be awarded the Hard Charger Award by Cooley Transportation. Of the 24-car field, 22 would finish the event.
"The Knight Rider" Shay Knight would show his strength early on in the $2,000-to-win Rebel Championship for open-Wheel Modifieds, but Jeremy Shaw would soon work his way up to challenge for the crown. The two would engage in a side-by-side, fluctuating battle that lasted for half the race, with Knight finally getting back out front just before the checkered flag fell to take his biggest career win. Shaw, Todd Gray, Eric Hickerson, and Kyle Pleasant would be the top five finishers.
Johnny Smith would move to the front and take over from early leader Judson Littlejohn in Late Model stock action. Danny Christian would follow Smith as Smith went on to take the win. Christian would fail technical inspection, leaving Littlejohn, Billy Franklin, Jeremy Glasgow, and Chris Ragan to round out the top five.
David Honeycutt, as usual, would find his way into the lead in Street Stock action, and would ride on to victory lane. Marvin Beard, Danny Gable (back to racing after a year off), Benji Jones, and Brent Burns would complete the top five for the division.
Columbus Speedway returns to regular season racing action next Saturday night, March 19th, featuring all regular divisions. Visit the Columbus Speedway Official Website located at www.ColumbusSpeedway.net for schedule and details.
REBEL CHALLENGE NIGHT 2
Super Late Models
50 Laps - $8,000-to-win
Final Results
Pos. Car# Driver (Started)
1ST 44 CLINT SMITH (5)
2ND 56 DAVID GENTRY (3)
3RD 222 MIKE BOLAND (12)
4TH 71 CHRIS WALL (7)
5TH 1 EARL PEARSON, JR. (15)
6TH 17M DALE MCDOWELL (16)
7TH S9 DAN SCHLIEPER (2)
8TH 18 SHANNON BABB (6)
9TH 32D DARREN MILLER (9)
10TH 48 MARLON WILD (11)
11TH 7 MATT MILLER (1)
12TH 70 1/2 ANTHONY RUSHING (20)
13TH 71 DON O'NEAL (4)
14TH 54 DAVID BREAZEALE (18)
15TH 5 MICHAEL ENGLAND (14)
16TH 888 JASON CLIBURN (19)
17TH 00 FREDDY SMITH (13)
18TH 2X JAY BLAIR (21)
19TH 18 RONNY LEE HOLLINGSWORTH (23)
20TH 291 KEITH MILLER (22)
21ST 5M JOHN VANDENBERG (10)
22ND 20 STEVE BOLEY (24)
23RD 4 WENDELL WALLACE (17)
24TH C28 KENNY MERCHANT (8)
Open-Wheel Modifieds
$2,000-to-win
1ST 3 SHAY KNIGHT
2ND 1S JEREMY SHAW
3RD 7 TODD GRAY
4TH 98 ERIC HICKERSON
5TH 6X KYLE PLEASANT
6TH 31 BLAKE KOENIGSBERGER
7TH 99 BRANDON POPPENHEIMER
8TH 91 BILLY TEDFORD
9TH 4 JASON BROCK
10TH 8 BRYAN BROCK
11TH 59 DAVID GRIFFIN, JR.
12TH 7 JEROD ROLLER
13TH 41 BILL SUDDUTH
14TH 15 DAVID HONEYCUTT
15TH 09 TIMMY THRASH
16TH 99 RON TUBBS
17TH 4 HOWARD KIMBROUGH
18TH V8 DUKE PALASINI
19TH 25 JAY BURCHFIELD
20TH 17 MATT PRICE
21ST 12 CHAD WINKLES
22ND 4J SCOTT WEBER
23RD 5 JASON HOLLIS
24TH 2 LEE RAY
Late Model Stock
$1,000-to-win
1ST 39 JOHNNY SMITH
2ND 3 JUDSON LITTLEJOHN
3RD 65 BILLY FRANKLIN
4TH 7 JEREMY GLASGOW
5TH 56 CHRIS RAGAN
6TH 911 CHRIS REED
7TH 75M RUBLE MAXEY
8TH 76 DAVID MCGARY
9TH 17 DONAVAN HENRY
10TH 22 MIKE LANGFORD
11TH 11 CHAD NICKOLES
12TH 60 ALAN JAYNES
13TH 31 DAVID YOUNG
14TH 24 JODY GUEST
15TH 7 MIKE SHIRLEY
16TH H1 JERRY LUCAS
17TH 21 JOEY MCKINNEY
18TH 82 JASON SANDERFORD
19TH X15 ROMAN PONDS
20TH 51 JOSH REESE
21ST 4 DOUG TODD
22ND 25 BILLY PATE
23RD 727 TOMMY REED
24TH 77T MARK TICE
25TH 5 DANNY CHRISTIAN
Street Stock
$800-to-win
1ST 15 DAVID HONEYCUTT
2ND 15 MARVIN BEARD
3RD 47 DANNY GABLE
4TH 11 BENJI JONES
5TH 8 BRENT BURNS
6TH 7 ASHLEY HERRON
7TH 11 WAYNE SUDDUTH
8TH 74 NICK STOOP
9TH Q32 QUITERIO AREVALOS
10TH 5 SCOTT FULGHAM
11TH 6 T.K. KING
12TH 7 MARK WEST
13TH 16 TERRELL HARRIS
14TH 45 TONY SILVESTRI
15TH 1 PIP & EUGENE BARTON
16TH 28 STAN LEE
17TH 83 KEVIN MONAHAN
18TH 02 TERRY FOWLER
19TH 20 MICHAEL PRESTRIDGE
20TH K9 SCOTT THRASH
21ST 53 PAUL WARE
22ND 5 JASON SANDERS
23RD 82 TREY BRIGHT
