MODOC, SC – Shannon Buckingham of Morristown, TN driving the S&S Millwright Barry Wright edged Casey Roberts of Toccoa, GA by a half car-length to win the 50-lap StormPay.com Dirt Late Model Series race on Saturday night at Modoc Speedway. The $5,000 win also gave Buckingham the StormPay.com DLMS National Tour points lead.
Buckingham trailed early race leader David Gentry of Lewisburg, TN for the first 39 laps of the race. Gentry crashed while trying to lap Michael Page of Douglasville, GA in turn four on lap 40. Gentry had to pit for a new right front tire, and Buckingham took over the lead. Roberts made a couple of strong inside moves, got along side Buckingham, but couldn’t complete the pass.
Roberts’ best move came on the last lap coming off the fourth turn when powered along side Buckingham, but fell a half car-length short at the checkered flag and had to settle second in the Cushman Paint and Body Barry Wright.
“Our car was ailing at the end of the race, and I could hear Roberts was close, and then I could see him there at the end,” Buckingham said. “He drove me clean, and it was a great race. David Gentry was strong and had the race won. I hated to see him lose the lead like he did because we’ve lost some races like that too, but we’ll take the win.”
Buckingham had a strong race car on Friday night, as he was the fast qualifier among the 40 entrants, turning the 4/10-mile clay oval in 17.662 seconds for an average speed of 81.531 miles per hour. Buckingham then won the first 10-lap heat race, and finished second to Gentry in the StormPay.com Lightning Quick 6 Dash to start the feature race from the outside front row.
Carnell Parker III of Clarksville, TN started his Parker Racing Mastersbilt from the 18th started spot and rallied home for a third-place finish. That earned Parker the NeSmith Chevrolet Hard Charger of the Race Award. The top three cars in the race were shod with American Racer Tires.
Marshall Green of Woodstock, GA came from 15th to finish fourth in his Hoosier Racing Tire shod Hog Bone Racing GRT. Jeff Smith of Villanow, GA was fifth in the Smith and Sons Trucking Warrior, and the defending StormPay.com DLMS National Champion Denny Slayton of Rossville, GA took the sixth spot in the Pete Slayton Motorsports GRT By DWB Racing.
After restarting 16th after his lap 39 incident, Gentry came back to finish seventh in the Hawkins Equipment Mastersbilt. Jordy Nipper of Gray GA drove the Scotty’s Muffler Newman to an eighth-place finish and ninth went to Owen Osteen of Woodruff, GA in the Dustin Osteen Mastersbilt.
Zach Nichols of Cedartown, GA had to take the 24th points provisional starting spot, but raced his way to a tenth-place effort in the B&B Specialized Hauling GRT. After running in the top five for most of the race, Frankie Beard of Hartwell, GA faded late, and finished 11th for the Rookie of the Race honors.
Gentry brought the field down for the start of the race, and took the lead followed by Buckingham, Nipper, Slayton, and Smith. Jeff Purvis of Clarksville, TN brought out the first of 12 caution flags on lap four when he stalled the StormPay.com Warrior on the frontstretch.
On the restart, Gentry and Buckingham pulled away from the rest of the field, but behind them, passing was the name of the game.
Osteen and Beard got around Smith for fifth and sixth respectively. Beard, who started ninth, got by Osteen for the fifth spot on lap five. Green had advanced from 15th to eighth by lap seven, and Johnson in the Miller Brothers Coal Warrior came from 13th to ninth by lap eight.
Brad Comer of Gray, GA brought out the second yellow flag on lap ten with a flat right-rear on his Central Carpet Outlaw, and Smith pitted with a tire problem during the caution period. On the restart, the passing continued with Beard getting by Nipper for the third spot. A three car tangle in turn three lit the caution bulb for the third time on lap 12.
Matthew Turner of Dawsonville, GA in the Turner Excavating Rocket, Keith Nosbisch of Valrico, FL in the Adams Used Auto Parts Rocket, and Purvis got together knocking all three cars out of the race. Gentry led Buckingham, Beard, Nipper, Slayton, Roberts, Green, Osteen, Johnson, and Parker down for the restart.
The passing game was on again after the restart, as Roberts passed Slayton for the fifth spot, and passed Nipper for fourth on lap 13, while Green got around Slayton for the sixth position. Johnson moved up to seventh, getting around Slayton on lap 15. Lap 18 saw Green pass Nipper for the fifth spot, and Parker passed Osteen for ninth.
Johnson had his run to the front to the front come to an end on lap 23 when he stopped to bring out caution flag number four with a front suspension problem. Johnson and his crew repaired the car, but lost three laps in doing so. Johnson returned to the race to salvage a 15th-place finish, but fell behind Buckingham in the points chase by 24 points.
Parker was showing his strength on the restarts by passing Slayton for the seventh spot, and after a lap 24 restart when Comer spun in turn four, Parker got around Nipper for the sixth spot. The next caution flag and the one on the ensuing restart on lap 28 were both multi car tangles.
Despite the carnage, no one was hurt, and the only car knocked out the race was Todd Higdon of Danielsville, GA in the Barto Enterprises Barry Wright. Parker was at it again on the next restart, passing Green for the fifth spot. On lap 30, Roberts passed Beard for the third spot, and Smith was back into the top ten riding in the ninth position. Beard faded to the fifth spot when Parker got around him on lap 32.
By lap 35, Gentry began to close in on the last car on the lead lap for the first time in the race. Gentry tried to go to the inside of Page in turn four, but ran out of room, jumped the inside dirt rim of the track, got airborne, and landed on the back of Page’s T&T Trucking Mastersbilt.
This reshuffled the line-up for the restart, as Gentry went to the pits to change a right-front tire, and Beard also pitted. Beard came back out, but spun in turn two on lap 41 to bring out the ninth yellow flag of the race. Jeff Fields of Aragon, GA lit the yellow bulb for the tenth time on lap 43 when he sailed off the first turn in the Summerville Junkyard Mastersbilt.
One of the drivers on the move was 15-year-old second-generation driver Travis Pennington of Winston, GA. Pennington was one of drivers involved in one of the lap 28 multi-car tangles, but he rallied his T&T Services Warrior back up to the fifth spot by lap 44. Gentry had also moved back up into the top ten, and was running eighth.
Nichols tangled with the Beaver Bail Bonds Rocket driven by Phillip Seifert of Spartanburg, SC on lap 45 in turn four for the 11th caution of the race. Roberts looked inside Buckingham in turns three and four after the restart, but Buckingham was able to stay on the point.
Gentry spun in turn two on lap 48, and once again had to go to the tail for the three-lap dash to the finish. Gentry was able to advance to the seventh spot at the checkered flag. Pennington’s car began to spew steam on the lap 45 caution period, and he fell out of the fifth position on the final lap of the race.
When the white flag came out, Roberts got a run on Buckingham down the backstretch, as Pennington stalled on the high side of turn three, Roberts got under Buckingham coming off the fourth turn to the checkered flag, but Buckingham hung on for the half car-length margin of victory.
OFFICIAL RESULTS OF ROUND FOUR AT MODOC SPEEDWAY IN MODOC, SC ON 4/1/06:
POS STRT CAR # DRIVER HOMETOWN LAPS $ WON
1. 2 44 Shannon Buckingham Morristown, TN 50 $5,000
2. 11 101 Casey Roberts Toccoa, GA 50 $2,500
3. 18 75 Carnell Parker III Clarksville, TN 50 $1,850
4. 15 89 Marshall Green Woodstock, GA 50 $1,500
5. 3 00 Jeff Smith Villanow, GA 50 $1,250
6. 6 99s Denny Slayton Rossville, GA 50 $1,100
7. 1 1 David Gentry Lewisburg, TN 50 $1,150
8. 4 1n Jordy Nipper Gray, GA 50 $750
9. 5 20 Owen Osteen Woodruff, SC 50 $700
10. 24 17 Zach Nichols Cedartown, GA 50 $650
11. 9 21b Frankie Beard (R) Hartwell, GA 50 $600
12. 23 90 Jimmy Kay Taylorsville, GA 50 $550
13. 16 19 Michael Page (R) Douglasville, GA 50 $500
14. 10 01 Travis Pennington (R) Winston, GA 49 $450
15. 13 5 Ronnie Johnson Chattanooga, TN 47 $400
16. 7 75s Phillip Seifert Spartanburg, SC 44 $380
17. 17 16 Jeff Fields Aragon, GA 42 $360
18. 12 4 Mike Huey Chester, SC 39 $340
19. 22 49 Todd Higdon Danielsville, GA 27 $320
20. 21 c4 Brad Comer Gray, GA 22 $300
21. 19 21x Bob Robertson Evans, GA 18 $300
22. 8 10 Matthew Turner Dawsonville, GA 12 $300
23. 14 15 Jeff Purvis Clarksville, TN 11 $300
24. 20 12 Keith Nosbisch Valrico, FL 11 $300
ENTRIES: 40
FAST QUALIFIER: Buckingham, 17.662 Seconds, 81.531 Miles Per Hour
PROVISONALS: Kay and Nichols
LEAD CHANGES: 1
LAP LEADERS: Gentry, 1-39; Buckingham, 40-50
LAPS LED: Gentry, 39; Buckingham, 11
NeSMITH CHEVROLET HARD CHARGER: Parker (started 18th and finished 3rd)
ROOKIE OF THE RACE: Beard
STORMPAY.COM POLE AWARD: Gentry
CAUTIONS: 12
STORMPAY.COM DIRT LATE MODEL SERIES NATIONAL POINT STANDINGS THROUGH 4/1/06:
Buckingham trailed early race leader David Gentry of Lewisburg, TN for the first 39 laps of the race. Gentry crashed while trying to lap Michael Page of Douglasville, GA in turn four on lap 40. Gentry had to pit for a new right front tire, and Buckingham took over the lead. Roberts made a couple of strong inside moves, got along side Buckingham, but couldn’t complete the pass.
Roberts’ best move came on the last lap coming off the fourth turn when powered along side Buckingham, but fell a half car-length short at the checkered flag and had to settle second in the Cushman Paint and Body Barry Wright.
“Our car was ailing at the end of the race, and I could hear Roberts was close, and then I could see him there at the end,” Buckingham said. “He drove me clean, and it was a great race. David Gentry was strong and had the race won. I hated to see him lose the lead like he did because we’ve lost some races like that too, but we’ll take the win.”
Buckingham had a strong race car on Friday night, as he was the fast qualifier among the 40 entrants, turning the 4/10-mile clay oval in 17.662 seconds for an average speed of 81.531 miles per hour. Buckingham then won the first 10-lap heat race, and finished second to Gentry in the StormPay.com Lightning Quick 6 Dash to start the feature race from the outside front row.
Carnell Parker III of Clarksville, TN started his Parker Racing Mastersbilt from the 18th started spot and rallied home for a third-place finish. That earned Parker the NeSmith Chevrolet Hard Charger of the Race Award. The top three cars in the race were shod with American Racer Tires.
Marshall Green of Woodstock, GA came from 15th to finish fourth in his Hoosier Racing Tire shod Hog Bone Racing GRT. Jeff Smith of Villanow, GA was fifth in the Smith and Sons Trucking Warrior, and the defending StormPay.com DLMS National Champion Denny Slayton of Rossville, GA took the sixth spot in the Pete Slayton Motorsports GRT By DWB Racing.
After restarting 16th after his lap 39 incident, Gentry came back to finish seventh in the Hawkins Equipment Mastersbilt. Jordy Nipper of Gray GA drove the Scotty’s Muffler Newman to an eighth-place finish and ninth went to Owen Osteen of Woodruff, GA in the Dustin Osteen Mastersbilt.
Zach Nichols of Cedartown, GA had to take the 24th points provisional starting spot, but raced his way to a tenth-place effort in the B&B Specialized Hauling GRT. After running in the top five for most of the race, Frankie Beard of Hartwell, GA faded late, and finished 11th for the Rookie of the Race honors.
Gentry brought the field down for the start of the race, and took the lead followed by Buckingham, Nipper, Slayton, and Smith. Jeff Purvis of Clarksville, TN brought out the first of 12 caution flags on lap four when he stalled the StormPay.com Warrior on the frontstretch.
On the restart, Gentry and Buckingham pulled away from the rest of the field, but behind them, passing was the name of the game.
Osteen and Beard got around Smith for fifth and sixth respectively. Beard, who started ninth, got by Osteen for the fifth spot on lap five. Green had advanced from 15th to eighth by lap seven, and Johnson in the Miller Brothers Coal Warrior came from 13th to ninth by lap eight.
Brad Comer of Gray, GA brought out the second yellow flag on lap ten with a flat right-rear on his Central Carpet Outlaw, and Smith pitted with a tire problem during the caution period. On the restart, the passing continued with Beard getting by Nipper for the third spot. A three car tangle in turn three lit the caution bulb for the third time on lap 12.
Matthew Turner of Dawsonville, GA in the Turner Excavating Rocket, Keith Nosbisch of Valrico, FL in the Adams Used Auto Parts Rocket, and Purvis got together knocking all three cars out of the race. Gentry led Buckingham, Beard, Nipper, Slayton, Roberts, Green, Osteen, Johnson, and Parker down for the restart.
The passing game was on again after the restart, as Roberts passed Slayton for the fifth spot, and passed Nipper for fourth on lap 13, while Green got around Slayton for the sixth position. Johnson moved up to seventh, getting around Slayton on lap 15. Lap 18 saw Green pass Nipper for the fifth spot, and Parker passed Osteen for ninth.
Johnson had his run to the front to the front come to an end on lap 23 when he stopped to bring out caution flag number four with a front suspension problem. Johnson and his crew repaired the car, but lost three laps in doing so. Johnson returned to the race to salvage a 15th-place finish, but fell behind Buckingham in the points chase by 24 points.
Parker was showing his strength on the restarts by passing Slayton for the seventh spot, and after a lap 24 restart when Comer spun in turn four, Parker got around Nipper for the sixth spot. The next caution flag and the one on the ensuing restart on lap 28 were both multi car tangles.
Despite the carnage, no one was hurt, and the only car knocked out the race was Todd Higdon of Danielsville, GA in the Barto Enterprises Barry Wright. Parker was at it again on the next restart, passing Green for the fifth spot. On lap 30, Roberts passed Beard for the third spot, and Smith was back into the top ten riding in the ninth position. Beard faded to the fifth spot when Parker got around him on lap 32.
By lap 35, Gentry began to close in on the last car on the lead lap for the first time in the race. Gentry tried to go to the inside of Page in turn four, but ran out of room, jumped the inside dirt rim of the track, got airborne, and landed on the back of Page’s T&T Trucking Mastersbilt.
This reshuffled the line-up for the restart, as Gentry went to the pits to change a right-front tire, and Beard also pitted. Beard came back out, but spun in turn two on lap 41 to bring out the ninth yellow flag of the race. Jeff Fields of Aragon, GA lit the yellow bulb for the tenth time on lap 43 when he sailed off the first turn in the Summerville Junkyard Mastersbilt.
One of the drivers on the move was 15-year-old second-generation driver Travis Pennington of Winston, GA. Pennington was one of drivers involved in one of the lap 28 multi-car tangles, but he rallied his T&T Services Warrior back up to the fifth spot by lap 44. Gentry had also moved back up into the top ten, and was running eighth.
Nichols tangled with the Beaver Bail Bonds Rocket driven by Phillip Seifert of Spartanburg, SC on lap 45 in turn four for the 11th caution of the race. Roberts looked inside Buckingham in turns three and four after the restart, but Buckingham was able to stay on the point.
Gentry spun in turn two on lap 48, and once again had to go to the tail for the three-lap dash to the finish. Gentry was able to advance to the seventh spot at the checkered flag. Pennington’s car began to spew steam on the lap 45 caution period, and he fell out of the fifth position on the final lap of the race.
When the white flag came out, Roberts got a run on Buckingham down the backstretch, as Pennington stalled on the high side of turn three, Roberts got under Buckingham coming off the fourth turn to the checkered flag, but Buckingham hung on for the half car-length margin of victory.
OFFICIAL RESULTS OF ROUND FOUR AT MODOC SPEEDWAY IN MODOC, SC ON 4/1/06:
POS STRT CAR # DRIVER HOMETOWN LAPS $ WON
1. 2 44 Shannon Buckingham Morristown, TN 50 $5,000
2. 11 101 Casey Roberts Toccoa, GA 50 $2,500
3. 18 75 Carnell Parker III Clarksville, TN 50 $1,850
4. 15 89 Marshall Green Woodstock, GA 50 $1,500
5. 3 00 Jeff Smith Villanow, GA 50 $1,250
6. 6 99s Denny Slayton Rossville, GA 50 $1,100
7. 1 1 David Gentry Lewisburg, TN 50 $1,150
8. 4 1n Jordy Nipper Gray, GA 50 $750
9. 5 20 Owen Osteen Woodruff, SC 50 $700
10. 24 17 Zach Nichols Cedartown, GA 50 $650
11. 9 21b Frankie Beard (R) Hartwell, GA 50 $600
12. 23 90 Jimmy Kay Taylorsville, GA 50 $550
13. 16 19 Michael Page (R) Douglasville, GA 50 $500
14. 10 01 Travis Pennington (R) Winston, GA 49 $450
15. 13 5 Ronnie Johnson Chattanooga, TN 47 $400
16. 7 75s Phillip Seifert Spartanburg, SC 44 $380
17. 17 16 Jeff Fields Aragon, GA 42 $360
18. 12 4 Mike Huey Chester, SC 39 $340
19. 22 49 Todd Higdon Danielsville, GA 27 $320
20. 21 c4 Brad Comer Gray, GA 22 $300
21. 19 21x Bob Robertson Evans, GA 18 $300
22. 8 10 Matthew Turner Dawsonville, GA 12 $300
23. 14 15 Jeff Purvis Clarksville, TN 11 $300
24. 20 12 Keith Nosbisch Valrico, FL 11 $300
ENTRIES: 40
FAST QUALIFIER: Buckingham, 17.662 Seconds, 81.531 Miles Per Hour
PROVISONALS: Kay and Nichols
LEAD CHANGES: 1
LAP LEADERS: Gentry, 1-39; Buckingham, 40-50
LAPS LED: Gentry, 39; Buckingham, 11
NeSMITH CHEVROLET HARD CHARGER: Parker (started 18th and finished 3rd)
ROOKIE OF THE RACE: Beard
STORMPAY.COM POLE AWARD: Gentry
CAUTIONS: 12
STORMPAY.COM DIRT LATE MODEL SERIES NATIONAL POINT STANDINGS THROUGH 4/1/06:
- Shannon Buckingham – 370
- Ronnie Johnson – 346
- Frankie Beard (R) – 342
- David Gentry – 336
- Jimmy Kay – 326
- Jeff Fields – 318
- Denny Slayton – 312
- Carnell Parker III – 310
- Jeff Smith – 306
- Zach Nichols – 276
- Michael Page (R) – 274
- Matthew Turner – 236
- Curtis Cline – 212
- Jeff Jones – 178
- Owen Osteen and Jordy Nipper - 176
