IT'S TIME TO RACE!!

April 27, 2004 FSCR Carlson SurvivesFirst Blizzard of the Season [Editors Note - On Friday April 16, Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola ran the first of five 100 lap Super Late Model Races.] Spring is in the air and the first blizzard of the year was witnessed Friday night at Pensacola’s historic Five Flags Speedway. No it wasn’t snowing on the Florida panhandle speedplant. The initial Bizzard Series 100 for Super Late Models was on the racing card and local veteran, Scott Carlson drew on his thirty year’s of experience on the high-banked half-mile and won the first of the five-race series. It was not an easy task as Carlson had to overcome the loss of his primary sponsor earlier in the week and then had to withstand the pressure applied by two of the Peach State’s top pilots. David Hole of Cumming, Georgia lived up to his nickname when he pulled the holeshot over pole-sitter Eddie Mercer and looked unbeatable in the first fifteen laps as he pulled away to a twelve-car-length advantage. Fast Eddie, losing the handle on his car as he had a tire going down, watched helplessly as the field quickly dispatched him to the tail. This left Carlson in second place and he was quickly reeling in the leader. When the dueling duo came upon the disabled Mercer machine in turn three on the 28th lap, Carslon ducked to the bottom grabbing the lead from high riding Hole. After the pair had passed, Mercer looped his car coming out of turn four and collected Ronnie Sanders who had worked his way into third place. The Fayetteville, Georgia veteran, running his first race in the car owned by ’85 track champ Tracy Goodson, now found himself relegated to the back of the field. Nineteen-year-old Grant Enfinger, who is in his second year of late model competition, was hanging onto third place as Junior Niedecken closed after starting ninth. Enfinger, who won a 100-lap race at Mobile earlier in the month, is a student at the University of South Alabama. Neidecken fell out on lap-50 with mechanical problems as Ryan Crane, Donald Long and Sanders moved forward in the field. Pensacola’s Long started on the tail of the nineteen-car-field. Cars on the lead lap at the halfway mark were Carlson, Hole, Crane, Sanders, Enfinger, Long, Dale Little, Keith Thorpe, and Royce Johnston. The second and final caution of the race came out on the 69th circuit when Johnston spun in turn one. Everyone pitted for right side tires and Carlson’s crew got him out first with Sanders in tow on the lap-76 restart. Hole had to restart in fifth place. Scott quickly pulled away from the rest of the field as Sanders abused his tires chasing him down. After catching the leader on the 83rd lap, the ’77 Snowball Derby winner was unable to maintain the pace and fell back to a fifty-yard deficit at the finish. Panama City’s Crane, with the help of North Carolina racing legend Freddie Query in the pits, was the fasted car on the track in the waning laps. He passed four cars in the final twenty laps including a last lap charge around third place Donald Long. The finishing order was Carlson, Sanders, Crane, Long, Little, Hole, and Enfinger with Eddie Mercer the first car one lap down in eighth. In victory lane, Carlson said it was a punishing week for everyone on his team and thanked them as well as Bob Majors of Advanced Construction for stepping in and helping out after the loss of his primary sponsor. In Modified racing action, Sammy McMullen looked like a repeat winner as he took the lead on the third lap and opened up a large gap on the field. However, the winner of the season’s first race fell out on the fifteenth lap giving the lead to Oakie Mason. Mason’s ill-handling mount was passed by both Bill Touchstone and Tim Martin on lap eighteen and Martin was then able to take the lead four laps later. Louisiana second-generation driver Martin, held on to win over Touchstone and Mason. The early leader of the Super Stock feature Mike Williamson, also fell victim to mechanical problems as his engine expired on the third lap. Steve Britt inherited the lead and held it all the way to the finish but not without a strong challenge from Steve Campbell. Chris Cotto was able to get around Campbell with three laps to go and finished second. In the Spectator race, which was free of any caution flags, Jimmy Hardin lead from start to finish beating previous winner Earl Polk and Billy Hoover. The Bombers couldn’t make it one lap without flagman Danny Spence bringing out the yellow flag. On the first lap it was polesitter Chuck Brown who spun out resulting in a complete restart. The field didn’t make it through the first turn on the next attempt and Willie Kitchen ended up against the first turn wall with a badly bent racecar. Brown and Randy Thompson waged a spirited battle for eleven laps before Thompson emerged the leader and ultimately the winner of the 15-lap affair. He beat Nathan Sapp and Pete Kitchen to the finish line. The next race in the "Celebrating five decades of speed" season will be on Friday, April 30 featuring the Modifieds, Super Stocks, Spectators, and Bombers. Happy hour pricing will admit those who arrive between 5:00pm and 7:00pm for $5 with a $7 fee after 7:00pm. For information, call the speedway office at 944-8400 or go to www.snowballderby.com. Blizzard Series 100 – Super Late Models 1. Scott Carlson 2. Ronnie Sanders 3. Ryan Crane 4. Donald Long 5. Dale Little 6. David Hole 7. Grant Enfinger 8. Eddie Mercer 9. Brandon Vaughn 10. Roger Reuse 11. Nathan Ingersole 12. Ron McDonald 13. Eddie Craig 14. Royce Johnston 15. Keith Thorpe 16. Junior Neidecken 17.Wes Loyd 18. David Kyser 19. Lorenzo Benton Have an opinion on this story? Post a message on our Message Board! news@karnac.org or send a letter to the editor!