COLUMBUS, MISSISSIPPI-The 2nd Annual Lawson Construction Possum Town Grand Prix saw a record 216 cars compete in the weekend’s activities braving frigid temperatures Saturday evening along with a good crowd of Columbus Speedway faithful on hand to witness the action. Drivers from across the South including Winston Cup driver Kenny Schrader were on hand in the event that highlighted all divisions including the Cruiser World Championship and the season finale’ for the Mississippi Modified State Championship Series.
The Super Late Model main event saw 47 entries on hand and Anthony Rushing set fast time with a 14.02-second elapsed time on the 3/10’s high banked clay oval during midsouthracing.com Possum Town Pole Qualifying. Rushing rolled to the front stretch with his right rear spoiler and quarter panel damaged after grazing the wall with his signature testosterone laden Columbus qualifying efforts and drew a field inversion of “6” putting Tombo Callahan on Robbie Harvey on the front row along with Kenny Schrader starting third flanked by Bill Frye. Rushing would start sixth sharing the third row with Missouri’s Ed Dixon. The fifteen fastest qualifiers were locked in the field with the remainder filled through three B-Main events which were won by Louisville’s Shawn Edwards, Iowa’s Gary Webb, and Northport’s Ronny Lee Hollingsworth.
Main event action began as "The Weir Wolf" Tombo Callahan and the #28 of Robby Harvey brought the field to the green flag, and the field fanned out 4-wide behind them. Fast qualifier "The Kosciusko Kamikaze" Anthony Rushing wasted little time getting to the front as it took only three laps to charge from 6th place, grabbing 3rd on the first lap and taking over the point on the third lap. The first caution flew on lap 5 with Keith Hays pulling out of the race.
After the restart, Rushing began to check out on Harvey in the middle groove, while "Frye Daddy" Bill Frye, NASCAR Winston Cup driver Ken Schrader, and "The Wild Child" James Dean began to do battle for the third spot in the middle and on the hub. Dean would leave the race on lap 10, followed shortly by "The Ragin' Rebel" David Breazeale. As the battle evolved Schrader and Frye caught Harvey, and the three-way war picked back up, this time for second place. Harvey was reluctant to give up the runner-up spot though, and impressed fans by holding off two of the best in the business with lap after lap of spectacular racing, Schrader repeatedly using the hub to go door-to-door with middle-runner Harvey, with Frye in tow.
Action would get even hotter as 2-time UMP National champ Ed Dixon worked his way into the fray, but he and Bill Frye collided as Dixon tried to pass on the rim coming out of turn 2, putting Dixon into the wall and ending his night while damaging Frye's right rear spoiler and quarter panel. Frye lost a few positions but continued to assault the top of the track while Rushing continued to run far out in front of the pack, unchallenged and untouchable. On lap 30, Schrader changed tactics in his battle with Harvey, moving from the hub to the rim of the high-banked speedway, and after three laps, moved around Harvey to grab second place.
Corinth’s Chris Tays took Schrader's place in attacking the hub under Harvey, and on lap 40, moved his #818 into third, but was pulled back to 4th as the caution flag flew. Tays would grab the third position from Harvey again on lap 44, with Frye following suit on lap 45 to grab fourth place. Tombo Callahan battled "The Prowler" Shawn Edwards for 6th place right behind them.
As the laps wound down, Tays started working on Schrader for the second spot. Tays moved to the hub with Schrader in the middle, and as the checkered flag fell, Schrader used momentum to barely stay ahead of Tays at the line. Rushing took the dominating victory, with Schrader, Tays from tenth starting position, Frye, and Harvey rounding out the top five. Edwards was the man on the move picking up ten positions to finish sixth while Callahan ended the evening in seventh with Gary Webb taking eighth. Randy Little of Satsuma finished off the 2002 season with strong efforts and finished ninth as Memphis area driver Jessie Bailey made his first Columbus Speedway special event and completed the top ten.
Rushing claimed his second Columbus Speedway win of the year in his Mid-South Truck and Trailer/Joe Salers Fertilizer sponsored Jay Dickens powered Rocket Monte Carlo in spectacular fashion. The popular Rushing’s comments in post race activities when asked about drawing an inversion of “6” and having to start behind and pass some of the best drivers in the business summed up the 50 lap event, “Johnny said he would give us a good racetrack…he did his job and I did mine.”
2nd Annual PTGP Super Late Model Official finish:
1-Anthony Rushing 2-Kenny Schrader 3-Chris Tays 4-Bill Frye 5-Robbie Harvey 6-Shawn Edwards 7-Tombo Callahan 8-Gary Webb 9-Randy Little 10-Jessie Bailey 11-Ronny Lee Hollingsworth 12-Greg Skinner 13-Wesley Greene 14-Eddie Holder 15-James Cline 16-Ed Dixon 17-Marcus Minga 18-Dewayne Oakley 19-Jerry Inmon 20-Steve Russell 21-Rick Rickman 22-David Breazeale 23-James Dean 24-Keith Hayes
The Mississippi Modified State Championship Series would roll into Columbus with a strong field of 45 entrants on hand and the title on the line as the top four drivers were separated by a mere 28 points in the event sponsored by Wells Auto, Tire, and Roadside Service. A total of five passing points heat race qualifiers plus two B-Mains were needed to set the 24-car field as all events provided stellar racing as the modified pilots brought their “A Game” to take on the high banks providing superlative competition.
The twenty lap A-Main would have Baton Rouge area racer Jerry Cassano would grab the early lead with "Flying” Brian Rickman pulling beside him on the hub. As laps clicked off, Cassano began to pull away as Kent Hollingsworth moved up from his 8th place starting spot to battle Rickman for second. "The Wild Child" James Dean was also on the move, running the rim of the track after staring 14th.
Hollingsworth and Rickman would battle relentlessly until lap 16, when Hollingsworth grabbed the second spot outright. Rickman slowed coming out of turn two on the final lap of the race. Cassano went on to take the win and $2,000 first place prize in his Hot Chassis open wheel modified with Monroe, Louisiana’s Hollingsworth taking runner up honors and Brant Tirello taking third and also the Goddard Performance Mississippi Modified Series title by a razor thin margin. Scooter Scruggs made the trip from Arkansas pay off with a fine fourth place finish and James Dean rounding out the top five.
Goddard Performance Mississippi Modified Series Official Finish:
1-Jerry Cassano 2-Kent Hollingsworth 3-Brant Tirello 4-Scooter Scruggs 5-James Dean 6-Mark Herbert 7-Michael Blount 8-Blake Koenigsburger 9-Greg Hollingsworth 10-Tony Henry 11-Steve Snow 12-Jamie Elam 13-Jimmy Hiett 14-Greg Fanning 15-Bill Sudduth 16-Tim White 17-Ross Camponova 18-Brian Rickman 19-Toby Hodge 20-Glendale Shoemake 21-Ben Stephens 22-Doyle Hibbard 23-Chad Winkles 24-Paul Ware
The 2nd Annual Cruiser World Championship was every bit as wild and crazy as billed. Mark Tolar and Andy Greeson from the north Georgia region grabbed the lead at the green and promptly lost a wheel, giving the point over to the team of Troy Blankenship and Jerry Morgan. Big wrecks unfolded in short succession, one in turn 3, and one in turn 4 shortly thereafter.
The #1.5 of TST Cruiser champs Jeremy Goble and Jeff Greenwood was spun on lap 13, and the monstrous Cadillac of Jimmy Brasfield and Joe Fondren moved up to battle for the lead, grabbing the point but losing it to another wild crash causing a rare caution. Action continued as the mayhem unfolded, with Jeremy Glasgow and Buddy Glover taking the lead on lap 17 as the Blankenship and Morgan machine began to go slow.
The race was later red flagged when the machine of Joe Trantham and Rush Childs flipped wildly in turns 3 and 4 after breaking a wheel in heavy traffic. Action resumed after, with Glasgow and Glover remaining on the point. Brasfield and Fondren worked hard to get around the #24 car, but were unable to pull off a move, and eventually gave up the second spot to Jeremy Robertson and Allen Hall who had charged from dead last 24th starting position to the front in the 25-lap event. Glasgow and Glover would take the checkered flag for the tentative win, with Robertson/Hall in second and Brasfield/Fondren in third.
Or so it seemed. Robertson and Hall opted to put up $500 and claim the winning #24 car per Columbus Speedway Cruiser rules. Glasgow and Glover refused the claim, giving up the win in the process. Jeremy Robertson and Allen Hall inherited the $2000 check, World Championship trophies, and the Millport, Alabama tandem will go down as 2002 Cruiser World Champions.
Cruiser World Championship Official Finish:
1-Robertson/Hall 2-Brasfield/Fondren 3-Murray/Roach 4-Glasgow/Edwards 5-Weeks/Weeks 6-Jones/? 7-McAvoy/McAvoy 8-Higgonbotham/Higgonbotham 9-Shelton/Shelton 10-Trantham/Childs 11-Blankenship/Morgan 12-Murphy/Murphy 13-Milliken/Milliken 14-Goble/Greenwood 15-Rushing/? 16-McDaniel/Brown 17-Floyd/Sissom 18-Herron/Burns 19-Johnson/Allen 20-Fortner/Sudduth 21-Hood/? 22-Barton/Barton 23-Tolar/Greeson 24-Glasgow/Glover
The Columbus Speedway local divisions competed in the Fall Hardcore Championships as 2002 Pro Street champ Jeremy Shaw never got a chance to duplicate his dominant Friday heat race effort as he was sidelined with a flat on the first lap. Frank Cox grabbed the top spot and took off, followed by Ricky Russell and Mike Shaw. Russell was waylaid and forced to retire before mid-race, and Tommy Gore took a wild ride down the backstretch wall right into the pits on lap 11. Frank Cox of Detroit took the event win for the second consecutive year, followed by Mike Shaw and hard-charger Bobby Nickoles who started on the last row. Steven Putney and Greg Harris completed the top five in the hard fought event.
The Street Stock Championship action was wild from the start, with the field forced to start the race single file after several cars were retired before a full lap was in the books. Top contenders Terry King, David Honeycutt and TK King were forced to pull off early in the race. Scott Stripling of Ethelsville held off 2002 track champ "The Wanted Man" Lee Ray who charged from eighth position, with Stripling taking the win, with Richard West in third. Larry Hugley finished fourth with Tony James rounding out the top five.
The Mini Stock feature was possibly the best race of the evening. Michael Pendley took the lead from the pole and showed the way for quite some time after fending off a nagging Buddy Glover. Mike Minor crept into the picture late in the race, and after a lead swapping duel ensued with the two drivers trading spots with Minor taking the lead on lap 14. Minor of Jenna, Alabama and his Toyota edged Pendley at the line to take the victory worth $800. 2002 Track Champion Scott Gable hauled in third place with Buddy Glover fourth and Robert Sanders completing the top five in the action packed event.
As expected after Friday night's absolutely dominant display, Billy Pate annihilated the Pro 4 field. Tommy Brasher followed Pate to the checkers (albeit at quite a distance), with Steve Lowe coming home in third.
Columbus Speedway will hold its annual Awards Banquet and Holiday Party on December 14th. For ticket information please call Barbara Stokes at 662-327-3047. The next racing event at Columbus Speedway is the 3rd Annual Mississippi Winter Classic on Saturday January 25th at 1:30pm. Additional Columbus Speedway information can be found on the Columbus Speedway Internet home at www.midsouthracing.com or by calling the Columbus Speedway event hotline at 662-241-5004.
The Super Late Model main event saw 47 entries on hand and Anthony Rushing set fast time with a 14.02-second elapsed time on the 3/10’s high banked clay oval during midsouthracing.com Possum Town Pole Qualifying. Rushing rolled to the front stretch with his right rear spoiler and quarter panel damaged after grazing the wall with his signature testosterone laden Columbus qualifying efforts and drew a field inversion of “6” putting Tombo Callahan on Robbie Harvey on the front row along with Kenny Schrader starting third flanked by Bill Frye. Rushing would start sixth sharing the third row with Missouri’s Ed Dixon. The fifteen fastest qualifiers were locked in the field with the remainder filled through three B-Main events which were won by Louisville’s Shawn Edwards, Iowa’s Gary Webb, and Northport’s Ronny Lee Hollingsworth.
Main event action began as "The Weir Wolf" Tombo Callahan and the #28 of Robby Harvey brought the field to the green flag, and the field fanned out 4-wide behind them. Fast qualifier "The Kosciusko Kamikaze" Anthony Rushing wasted little time getting to the front as it took only three laps to charge from 6th place, grabbing 3rd on the first lap and taking over the point on the third lap. The first caution flew on lap 5 with Keith Hays pulling out of the race.
After the restart, Rushing began to check out on Harvey in the middle groove, while "Frye Daddy" Bill Frye, NASCAR Winston Cup driver Ken Schrader, and "The Wild Child" James Dean began to do battle for the third spot in the middle and on the hub. Dean would leave the race on lap 10, followed shortly by "The Ragin' Rebel" David Breazeale. As the battle evolved Schrader and Frye caught Harvey, and the three-way war picked back up, this time for second place. Harvey was reluctant to give up the runner-up spot though, and impressed fans by holding off two of the best in the business with lap after lap of spectacular racing, Schrader repeatedly using the hub to go door-to-door with middle-runner Harvey, with Frye in tow.
Action would get even hotter as 2-time UMP National champ Ed Dixon worked his way into the fray, but he and Bill Frye collided as Dixon tried to pass on the rim coming out of turn 2, putting Dixon into the wall and ending his night while damaging Frye's right rear spoiler and quarter panel. Frye lost a few positions but continued to assault the top of the track while Rushing continued to run far out in front of the pack, unchallenged and untouchable. On lap 30, Schrader changed tactics in his battle with Harvey, moving from the hub to the rim of the high-banked speedway, and after three laps, moved around Harvey to grab second place.
Corinth’s Chris Tays took Schrader's place in attacking the hub under Harvey, and on lap 40, moved his #818 into third, but was pulled back to 4th as the caution flag flew. Tays would grab the third position from Harvey again on lap 44, with Frye following suit on lap 45 to grab fourth place. Tombo Callahan battled "The Prowler" Shawn Edwards for 6th place right behind them.
As the laps wound down, Tays started working on Schrader for the second spot. Tays moved to the hub with Schrader in the middle, and as the checkered flag fell, Schrader used momentum to barely stay ahead of Tays at the line. Rushing took the dominating victory, with Schrader, Tays from tenth starting position, Frye, and Harvey rounding out the top five. Edwards was the man on the move picking up ten positions to finish sixth while Callahan ended the evening in seventh with Gary Webb taking eighth. Randy Little of Satsuma finished off the 2002 season with strong efforts and finished ninth as Memphis area driver Jessie Bailey made his first Columbus Speedway special event and completed the top ten.
Rushing claimed his second Columbus Speedway win of the year in his Mid-South Truck and Trailer/Joe Salers Fertilizer sponsored Jay Dickens powered Rocket Monte Carlo in spectacular fashion. The popular Rushing’s comments in post race activities when asked about drawing an inversion of “6” and having to start behind and pass some of the best drivers in the business summed up the 50 lap event, “Johnny said he would give us a good racetrack…he did his job and I did mine.”
2nd Annual PTGP Super Late Model Official finish:
1-Anthony Rushing 2-Kenny Schrader 3-Chris Tays 4-Bill Frye 5-Robbie Harvey 6-Shawn Edwards 7-Tombo Callahan 8-Gary Webb 9-Randy Little 10-Jessie Bailey 11-Ronny Lee Hollingsworth 12-Greg Skinner 13-Wesley Greene 14-Eddie Holder 15-James Cline 16-Ed Dixon 17-Marcus Minga 18-Dewayne Oakley 19-Jerry Inmon 20-Steve Russell 21-Rick Rickman 22-David Breazeale 23-James Dean 24-Keith Hayes
The Mississippi Modified State Championship Series would roll into Columbus with a strong field of 45 entrants on hand and the title on the line as the top four drivers were separated by a mere 28 points in the event sponsored by Wells Auto, Tire, and Roadside Service. A total of five passing points heat race qualifiers plus two B-Mains were needed to set the 24-car field as all events provided stellar racing as the modified pilots brought their “A Game” to take on the high banks providing superlative competition.
The twenty lap A-Main would have Baton Rouge area racer Jerry Cassano would grab the early lead with "Flying” Brian Rickman pulling beside him on the hub. As laps clicked off, Cassano began to pull away as Kent Hollingsworth moved up from his 8th place starting spot to battle Rickman for second. "The Wild Child" James Dean was also on the move, running the rim of the track after staring 14th.
Hollingsworth and Rickman would battle relentlessly until lap 16, when Hollingsworth grabbed the second spot outright. Rickman slowed coming out of turn two on the final lap of the race. Cassano went on to take the win and $2,000 first place prize in his Hot Chassis open wheel modified with Monroe, Louisiana’s Hollingsworth taking runner up honors and Brant Tirello taking third and also the Goddard Performance Mississippi Modified Series title by a razor thin margin. Scooter Scruggs made the trip from Arkansas pay off with a fine fourth place finish and James Dean rounding out the top five.
Goddard Performance Mississippi Modified Series Official Finish:
1-Jerry Cassano 2-Kent Hollingsworth 3-Brant Tirello 4-Scooter Scruggs 5-James Dean 6-Mark Herbert 7-Michael Blount 8-Blake Koenigsburger 9-Greg Hollingsworth 10-Tony Henry 11-Steve Snow 12-Jamie Elam 13-Jimmy Hiett 14-Greg Fanning 15-Bill Sudduth 16-Tim White 17-Ross Camponova 18-Brian Rickman 19-Toby Hodge 20-Glendale Shoemake 21-Ben Stephens 22-Doyle Hibbard 23-Chad Winkles 24-Paul Ware
The 2nd Annual Cruiser World Championship was every bit as wild and crazy as billed. Mark Tolar and Andy Greeson from the north Georgia region grabbed the lead at the green and promptly lost a wheel, giving the point over to the team of Troy Blankenship and Jerry Morgan. Big wrecks unfolded in short succession, one in turn 3, and one in turn 4 shortly thereafter.
The #1.5 of TST Cruiser champs Jeremy Goble and Jeff Greenwood was spun on lap 13, and the monstrous Cadillac of Jimmy Brasfield and Joe Fondren moved up to battle for the lead, grabbing the point but losing it to another wild crash causing a rare caution. Action continued as the mayhem unfolded, with Jeremy Glasgow and Buddy Glover taking the lead on lap 17 as the Blankenship and Morgan machine began to go slow.
The race was later red flagged when the machine of Joe Trantham and Rush Childs flipped wildly in turns 3 and 4 after breaking a wheel in heavy traffic. Action resumed after, with Glasgow and Glover remaining on the point. Brasfield and Fondren worked hard to get around the #24 car, but were unable to pull off a move, and eventually gave up the second spot to Jeremy Robertson and Allen Hall who had charged from dead last 24th starting position to the front in the 25-lap event. Glasgow and Glover would take the checkered flag for the tentative win, with Robertson/Hall in second and Brasfield/Fondren in third.
Or so it seemed. Robertson and Hall opted to put up $500 and claim the winning #24 car per Columbus Speedway Cruiser rules. Glasgow and Glover refused the claim, giving up the win in the process. Jeremy Robertson and Allen Hall inherited the $2000 check, World Championship trophies, and the Millport, Alabama tandem will go down as 2002 Cruiser World Champions.
Cruiser World Championship Official Finish:
1-Robertson/Hall 2-Brasfield/Fondren 3-Murray/Roach 4-Glasgow/Edwards 5-Weeks/Weeks 6-Jones/? 7-McAvoy/McAvoy 8-Higgonbotham/Higgonbotham 9-Shelton/Shelton 10-Trantham/Childs 11-Blankenship/Morgan 12-Murphy/Murphy 13-Milliken/Milliken 14-Goble/Greenwood 15-Rushing/? 16-McDaniel/Brown 17-Floyd/Sissom 18-Herron/Burns 19-Johnson/Allen 20-Fortner/Sudduth 21-Hood/? 22-Barton/Barton 23-Tolar/Greeson 24-Glasgow/Glover
The Columbus Speedway local divisions competed in the Fall Hardcore Championships as 2002 Pro Street champ Jeremy Shaw never got a chance to duplicate his dominant Friday heat race effort as he was sidelined with a flat on the first lap. Frank Cox grabbed the top spot and took off, followed by Ricky Russell and Mike Shaw. Russell was waylaid and forced to retire before mid-race, and Tommy Gore took a wild ride down the backstretch wall right into the pits on lap 11. Frank Cox of Detroit took the event win for the second consecutive year, followed by Mike Shaw and hard-charger Bobby Nickoles who started on the last row. Steven Putney and Greg Harris completed the top five in the hard fought event.
The Street Stock Championship action was wild from the start, with the field forced to start the race single file after several cars were retired before a full lap was in the books. Top contenders Terry King, David Honeycutt and TK King were forced to pull off early in the race. Scott Stripling of Ethelsville held off 2002 track champ "The Wanted Man" Lee Ray who charged from eighth position, with Stripling taking the win, with Richard West in third. Larry Hugley finished fourth with Tony James rounding out the top five.
The Mini Stock feature was possibly the best race of the evening. Michael Pendley took the lead from the pole and showed the way for quite some time after fending off a nagging Buddy Glover. Mike Minor crept into the picture late in the race, and after a lead swapping duel ensued with the two drivers trading spots with Minor taking the lead on lap 14. Minor of Jenna, Alabama and his Toyota edged Pendley at the line to take the victory worth $800. 2002 Track Champion Scott Gable hauled in third place with Buddy Glover fourth and Robert Sanders completing the top five in the action packed event.
As expected after Friday night's absolutely dominant display, Billy Pate annihilated the Pro 4 field. Tommy Brasher followed Pate to the checkers (albeit at quite a distance), with Steve Lowe coming home in third.
Columbus Speedway will hold its annual Awards Banquet and Holiday Party on December 14th. For ticket information please call Barbara Stokes at 662-327-3047. The next racing event at Columbus Speedway is the 3rd Annual Mississippi Winter Classic on Saturday January 25th at 1:30pm. Additional Columbus Speedway information can be found on the Columbus Speedway Internet home at www.midsouthracing.com or by calling the Columbus Speedway event hotline at 662-241-5004.
