Columbus, MS - In the first ever challenge race between the O'Reilly Southern All Star and O'Reilly SUPR series, the winner would be...
The MSCCS.
Defending Mississippi State Championship Challenge Series champ and current #2 points man David Breazeale earned a much-needed victory in the 59-lap 7th Annual John L. Cliett Tribute at Columbus Speedway Saturday night. The prestigious event saw 48 Super Late Model competitors pull to "The Baddest Bullring in the South" for what was billed as a shootout between the O'Reilly SAS and SUPR series.
SAS points leader and winner of last year's Columbus Speedway SAS event Chris Madden flexed his muscle early by taking fast time in qualifying with a 13.86-second lap, then went on to win his heat race in dominant fashion to earn pole position in the $5,000-to-win main event. Other heat race winners would be Ronny Lee Hollingsworth, 4-race win streak-riding Ray Cook, and Breazeale. Lee Davis and Robbie Stuart took B-Main wins.
Madden would take the lead in the feature, dogged by Hollingsworth at every turn as Breazeale and Cook raced door-to-door before a lap 3 caution for Bub McCool with Madden, Hollingsworth, Cook, and Breazeale, and Mike Boland lining up in the top five for the restart. A return to action yielded the same result, Madden holding off Hollingsworth while Cook and Breazeale raced side-by-side as the laps began to tick away. The leaders would begin to move through the backmarkers by lap 11 as Breazeale closed the door on Cook and chased down Hollingsworth.
Boland would move in on Cook, take over 4th place on lap 16, then go after Hollingsworth for third with Breazeale now in second place and running down Madden. Breazeale would begin to look under Madden on lap 18, going door-to-door briefly on lap 20 with Madden holding on. Breazeale mounted another charge on lap 23, pulling alongside Madden in turns 3/4 and taking over the point on lap 24. As MSCCS points leader Chris Wall moved into 5th place ahead of Cook, Breazeale began to pull away from the field.
Five laps later, caution would fly as Madden pulled up in turn 1 with a flat left rear tire. Breazeale would lead Hollingsworth, Boland, Wall, and Cook to the green flag as action resumed, but no lap would be completed before an incident in turn 4 claimed Boland, Wall, and Eddie Rickman. Wall and Rickman would retire due to damage, and Boland would be forced to rejoin the race at the rear of the pack, leaving Breazeale, Hollingsworth, Cook, Dean Carpenter, and 22nd-starting David Ashley, the SUPR series points leader, in the top five.
Cook reversed his early fall on the restart, going around Hollingsworth for second place then using the rim of the track to chase down Breazeale. Cook would go outside the low-running Breazeale and take over the lead on lap 33, but Breazeale made sure his stay in second was short lived as he retook the spot on the next lap, then moved to the rim to take away Cook's line. Breazeale began to move away from the field again before a lap 35 caution fell for debris, followed quickly by another yellow on lap 36 for a flat tire with Breazeale, Cook, Hollingsworth, Ashley, and B-Main transfer Davis now in the top five.
Cook, Hollingsworth, and Ashley fanned out behind Breazeale on the restart before caution fell on the next lap. Once again, Breazeale led a three-wide second place battle through turns 1 and 2, with the top four going 4-wide at the turn four exit before Breazeale shot back into position ahead of the pack. As Ashley raced Hollingsworth, Jay Blair came alive, taking over 4th on lap 39, then racing door-to-door with Hollingsworth for a few laps before settling back into position.
Boland, who had been shown to the rear early on, moved his bruised machine back into the top five by passing Davis on lap 47 as Blair resumed his race with Hollingsworth. The two would **** Cook into the battle by lap 53 before the final caution on lap 54 set up a 5-lap dash to the finish with Breazeale leading Cook, Hollingsworth, Blair, and Boland for the restart.
Breazeale shot ahead as Hollingsworth and Blair split Cook, and Ashley moved ahead of Boland in a shotgun-blast field that was nothing short of a scorer's nightmare. Boland moved back around Ashley just before the white flag fell, with Breazeale leading the way to the checkered flag at a torrid pace. Breazeale would take the win, breaking out of a slump as he piloted the brand-new Jay Dickens Racing Engines House Car on its maiden voyage. Hollingsworth would come home in second place over Blair, with Cook and Boland rounding out the top five.
Jeremy Shaw would return to form in the Open-Wheel Modified division, taking a convincing win despite a loss of brakes near the end of the main event. David Griffin, Jr. would take second place over Matt Price. Caleb Myers took the Stormpay.com Crate Late Model victory after fending off much-improved Jamie Pickard, who earned second place. Tony Shelton rounded out the top three.
Wesley Green would lead the Late Model Stock field to the checkers over Jason Poole and Jeremy Glasgow. Trey Bright took the Street Stock win, and Micheal Pendley notched another Mini Stock victory.
Columbus Speedway returns to action next Saturday night, August 12 with a full Weekly Racing Series program including the Commercial Dispatch Rebel Challenge Super Late Models and featuring the "Street Survivors" Street Stock Championship.
James Nickoles Memorial
O'Reilly Southern All Star/O'Reilly SUPR Super Late Models
48 Entries
Leaders - Madden (1-23), Breazeale (24-32, 34-59), Cook (33)
Pos. ## Driver (Started)
1ST 1 DAVID BREAZEALE (4)
2ND 18 RONNY LEE HOLLINGSWORTH (2)
3RD 2X JAY BLAIR (11)
4TH 53 RAY COOK (3)
5TH 222 MIKE BOLAND (7)
6TH 14 DAVID ASHLEY (22)
7TH 21 LEE DAVIS (17)
8TH 6R ROBBIE STUART (18)
9TH 51 DEAN CARPENTER (10)
10TH 4 MARK VINYARD (5)
11TH 81 AARON RIDLEY (21)
12TH 93 RAY MOORE (12)
13TH 12 JASON INGALLS (8)
14TH 68 EDDIE RICKMAN (14)
15TH 71 CHRIS WALL (6)
16TH 6X ROB LITTON (23)
17TH 44 CHRIS MADDEN (1)
18TH 66 JAKE KNOWLES (24)
19TH 3 JAMES CLINE (13)
20TH 89 MARSHALL GREEN (20)
21ST 5 JON MITCHELL (16)
22ND C28 KENNY MERCHANT (9)
23RD 88 JIMMY CLIBURN (19)
24TH 57J BUB MCCOOL (15)
Open Wheel Modified
Top 10
1ST 1S JEREMY SHAW
2ND 59 DAVID GRIFFIN, JR
3RD 17 MATT PRICE
4TH 25 JAY BURCHFIELD
5TH 97 JASON WILLIAMS
6TH 90 BRIAN RICKMAN
7TH CB1 ERIC HUGHES
8TH C21 COREY DOYLE
9TH 41 BILL SUDDUTH
10TH 2 LEE RAY
Stormpay.com Crate Late Model
Top 10
1ST 88 CALEB MYERS
2ND 21 JAMIE PICKARD
3RD 38 TONY SHELTON
4TH 17 DARRELL GUESS
5TH 9 THOMAS MCREYNOLDS
6TH 22 CODY SWINK
7TH 7 MIKE SHIRLEY
8TH X15 ROMAN PONDS
9TH 38 CHASE WASHINGTON
10TH 316 DONALD JOHNS
Late Model Stock
Top 10
1ST 95 WESLEY GREEN
2ND REBEL 1 JASON POOLE
3RD 7 JEREMY GLASGOW
4TH 6 T.K. KING
5TH 35 WILLIAM BELL
6TH 33C ERIC COOLEY
7TH 5 SCOTT FULGHAM
8TH 71 PHILLIP DEAN
9TH 82 JASON SANDERFORD
10TH 75M RUBLE MAXEY
Street Stock
Top 5
1ST 82 TREY BRIGHT
2ND D1 TRINITY WYERS
3RD 48 CRAIG BARHAM
4TH 83 KEVIN MONAHAN
5TH 32 WESLEY BLAIR
Mini Stock
Top 5
1ST 57 MICHAEL PENDLEY
2ND 42 ALLEN GILREATH
3RD 89 HUGH SCHAFFER
4TH 11 ARRON PEAY
5TH 5 BRADLEY NICKOLES
