Flashbacks washed over Augie Grill at Five Flags Speedway on Friday. The uneasiness caused him to squirm a little his Super Late Model seat.

     The two-time Snowball Derby champion lost the Blizzard Series season opener when on a late caution he began leaking fluid, putting a sudden and dramatic end to his night. When another came out on Lap 91 during the U.S.A. Digital 100 on Friday, Grill was bound to not let history repeat itself.

     Lesson learned, as Grill made a dominant return to Victory Lane. “That first race was heartbreak,” said Grill, who was dominant from qualifying and thereafter. “I didn’t smell in the car anything this time. I thought we’d be all right when everybody got back out. Fortunately, I was able to pull away.” He drove away from the youngster Chase Elliott, who won here last month and unofficially took the Blizzard points lead after finishing as the runner-up.

     Elliott led a good portion of the race early, but could not close the door when Grill came barreling down on him in the middle of the race. “I worked as hard as I could, but Augie was too tough,” the 14-year-old said. “It’ll be our goal from here on out to win every week.”

     On a night full of bright pink, purple, green, orange and more fireworks, yellow was the color that stole the show at Five Flags. An inaugural competition yellow promised to add a bit of drama to the Blizzard Series. Yet, as expected, it had little effect on the usual cast of characters that drive up front. “Basically, it worked out like it would’ve had everybody pitted on Lap 80, you know,” Grill said. “It was nothing too different, except I didn’t have to beat everybody out in the pits.”

     He had his white No. 112 running on all cylinders, even though he didn’t make it easy on himself. Fastest in qualifying, Grill partook in the other Blizzard Series adjustment Friday ? a field invert. On the roll of the die, he figuratively rolled the dice by slamming the die into the asphalt. The gamble did not pay off and the field was set to an eight-car invert. It didn’t matter on this night.

     “We didn’t have the car we liked to have on the last race,” Grill said. “We worked on it and got it back to like it was for the first race. We had a really good car tonight.” Among Grill, the fireworks and the series changes, the night’s other highlight was an ultra-competitive battle between Bubba Pollard and Casey Smith late in the race. The pair were door-to-door just prior to Lap 85 as they battled for third and stayed that way for several laps. They sandwiched around Eddie Mercer, down a lap, before Smith finally passed Pollard at the start of Lap 90.
 
Sportsmen
      Stevie Mercer just would not be denied. Starting fifth, Mercer was determined to return to steer his black No. 72 back to Victory Lane. The veteran got his wish, forcing the issue all night to pick up his first win since earlier this season.

     “These cars don’t know it’s an asphalt track,” Mercer said. “Loose cars, trading paint, that’s how we like to race. We’ve been in a dry spell. It feels like we’re getting back there.” He topped series points leader Steve Buttrick along the way, as Mercer and Buttrick ran away from the rest of the 12-car field for most of the 25 laps. Mercer passed Buttrick on Lap 14 and never looked back. Not even lapped traffic late in the race could put the brakes on Mercer’s runaway night.

     “The car was good, but it was not enough to get by (Mercer),” Buttrick said.
 
Bombers:
Curtis Faircloth continues to be a thorn in the side of Mike Goraum. For the second time in three races, the Pace native topped the series points leader to find his way to Victory Lane. The bad news for the rest of the Bombers? Faircloth seems destined to be a thorn in more than just Goraum’s side. That was clear from the outset when Faircloth got a good run as the green flag dropped yet, but his hard driving spooked Tracy Soles in the No. 6 and caused a quick caution.
 
Super Stocks
     Randy Thompson continued to pad his series points lead with another victory. Two weeks after his first career victory, Earl Polk finished as the runner-up. Chris Cotto rounded out the top three despite early car troubles.
 
Five Flags Speedway, Official Results, June 25, 2010

Apr 17, 2010 – Vanderley Repeats! Wins PLM Feature

There’s nothing like a trip to Victory Lane to put disappointment in your rearview mirror. Just ask D.J. Vanderley. The 18 year old erased the pain of a settling for his second college choice with a dominant win in the Pro Late Model Division on Friday at Five Flags Speedway. VanderLey is now two-for-two with wins in each race this season.

“This definitely helps,” said Vanderley, who chose to attend Auburn when scholarship money wasn’t enough to enroll at Georgia Tech. “Georgia Tech was my dream school, but it didn’t work out. But Auburn is going to be a really good education, too.”

Don’t pity Vanderley too much, though. He already has been awarded a presidential scholarship to Auburn and received admissions to its honors college. Plus, he’s one heck of a racecar driver. “All the stars seem to be lining up for us,” Vanderley said. “The first race out here, we were a little loose. Tonight, we were a little tight. We know where we want to be.” A scary thought for the rest of the division.

After an early crash in the 40-lap feature, which did damage to defending series champion Ronnie Smith, Vanderley gradually worked his way to the front. He finally got by leader David Jones at the start-finish line on Lap 19. As much as runner-up Keith Thorpe tried to cut into VanderLey’s massive lead, the kid just kept pulling away.

“Two poles, two wins. It doesn’t get much better than this so far,” Vanderley said. He did in fact win the pole, but started sixth when an unlucky roll of the dice pushed him back to sixth for the feature’s start. The dice roll nearly cost him when an opening-lap pileup caught Smith, Thomas Praytor, Kyle Bryant and almost included him. “I swear that was scary,” said Vanderley, who dodged trouble with some nifty driving. “I didn’t think I’d make it through. It was a headache.”

That’s about the only pain the young man felt Friday.

Modified Division
Ryan Redmon might have lost his power steering, but he didn’t lose his speed in taking his second consecutive Modified feature.
“I lost my power steering with about 10-12 laps left, so I got a little workout,” the Marianna resident said. But it didn’t matter. He had already built a commanding lead.

Redmon took the lead on Lap 2 with a strong move to the outside. He passed three cars, including polesitter Gerald Wilkerson coming out of Turn 4. The caution flag came out on Lap 5 when Chris Cotto spun out while running third. Three laps later, the second and final caution came out when Mike Maddox, who had just taken over third place, had a mechanical failure.

After the restart, Redmon pulled away. Nathan Ingersoll took second, while Wilkerson was third.

Sportsman Division
Steve Buttrick used his favorite line at the top of the track to capture his second win in as many weeks. Buttrick took the lead for good at the end of Lap 14 when then-leader Willie Kitchen got sideways. Jim Pokrant finished third.

“I could get used to this,” Buttrick said. A two-car crash on the opening lap had the night’s polesitter Bubba Winslow in the thick of it. After some work quick back at his hauler, Winslow put his car back on the track with his front-end smashed. Winslow, who entered the night just two points shy of Buttrick in the division’s standings, valiantly drove to an eighth finish to earn some crucial points.

Three-time defending series champion Randy Thompson, a contender early in the race, had serious mechanical issues and finished a distant 10th.

Bombers Division
When he needed it most, Mike Goraum snatched the checkered flag. With Daryl Lynchard, who came into the night leading in points, out because of an early crash, Goraum seized the opportunity. “It was a great night,” he said.

Goraum passed Rick Grimes the midway point and held on despite a couple of restarts because of cautions. Grimes finished runner-up with Tony Boyd third.

Pro Late Model feature
1. D.J. VanderLey; 2. Keith Thorpe; 3. Tommy Rollins; 4. David Jones; 5. Shanna Ard; 6. Dillon Spreen; 7. Ronnie Smith; 8. Robert Royce; 9. Thomas Praytor Jr.; 10. Kyle Bryant

Modified feature
1. Ryan Redmon; 2. Nathan Ingersoll; 3. Gerald Wilkerson; 4. Donnie Hamrac; 5. Josh Goodwin; 6. Chris Cotto; 7. Bobby Ingersoll; 8. Ron Schneider; 9. Mike Maddox; 10. Phillip Merryman

Sportsman feature
1.Steve Buttrick; 2. Willie Kitchen; 3. Jim Pokrant; 4. Brannon Fowler; 5. Thomas Warren Jr.; 6. Marty White; 7. Keith Foss; 8. Bubba Winslow; 9. Tina Davidson; 10. Randy Thompson; 11. Bo Resmondo

Bomber feature
1. Mike Goraum; 2. Rick Grimes; 3. Tony Boyd; 4. Brandon Burks; 5. Michael T. Nelson; 6. Kenny Bullard; 7. William Goulet; 8. James Beal III; 9. Rick Thompson; 10. Curtis Faircloth; 11. Courtney Rodrigues; 12. Jeremy Tassin; 13. Michael Johnson; 14. Bo Hancock; 15. Daryl Lynchard; 16. Michael Kitchen; 17. Brandin Sidner; 18. Dayton Sidner; 19. Tracy Soles; 20. Scooter Willis

by Marty LittlePENSCAOLA, Fla. – The Tampa Bay Area Racing Ass’n. made their first of two planned visits this season to the fast half mile of Five Flags Speedway Friday night and it was Joey Aguilar the victor in the 30 lap sprint car feature after a wire to wire run from the pole position.

Aguilar paced the 21 car field at the drop of the green flag over fellow front row starter Ben Fritz and Bo Hartley. The man on the move was Shane Butler as he worked through traffic from his eighth starting slot. Always fast Troy DeCaire in the Rudolph 68 brought out a yellow flag on lap 13 when the left front wheel departed and he pounded the concrete. DeCaire was unhurt but the same can’t be said for his car.

When the green flew once again it was Aguilar over Butler and Hartley as they clicked off laps in the 14 second bracket like clockwork. It was a yo-yo deal among the front trio as Butler could run down Aguilar before Joey would stretch it out on Shane with Hartley only a few car lengths back. The pace slowed somewhat in the close laps as Hartley ran down both Aguilar and Butler but all three were mindful of the rough track surface and the condition of their tires due to the rough track surface.

When the checkers flew it was Aguilar for his first victory in Doc Miller’s 78 ahead of Butler, Hartley, Dude Teate and D.J. Hoelzle.The second five consisted of Larry Brazil, Fritz, Michael Miller, Tommy Nichols and fast qualifier Brian Gingras.

Heat race victories fell to Aguilar, Hartley and Fritz.

The next event is set for March 27 at DeSoto Super Speedway in Bradneton, Fla.

Feature finish (30 laps) – 1. Joey Aguilar, 2. Shane Butler, 3. Bo Hartley, 4. Dude Teate, 5. D.J. Hoelzle, 6. Larry Brazil, 7. Ben Fritz, 8. Michael Miller, 9. Tommy Nichols, 10. Brian Gingras, 11. Mickey Kempgens, 12. Sonny Hartley, 13. Johnny Gilbertson, 14. David Retzlaff, 15. Willy Stauffer, 16. Dakotah Stephens, 17. Troy DeCaire, 18. Matt Mercer, 19. Larry Brazil, Jr., 20. Steve Heisler, 21. Johnny Newsome. DNS Todd Fayard.

OFFICIAL RESULTS
FIVE FLAGS SPEEDWAY
MARCH 19, 2010

Modified – Feature

Finish Start Car Driver Hometown Race Points
1 6 66RR Ryan Redmon Marianna , Fl 50.00
2 3 145 Bill Melvin Trussville , Al 47.00
3 1 10BI Bobby Ingersoll Summerdale , Al 44.00
4 5 127 Phillip Merryman Cottondale , Al 41.00
5 2 17 Chris Cotto Milton , Fl 38.00
6 8 71G Josh Goodwin Cantonment , Fl 35.00
7 9 91S Ron Schneider Pensacola , Fl 32.00
8 4 33 Nathan Ingersoll Robertsdale , Al 29.00

Sportsmen – Feature

Finish Start Car Driver Hometown Race Points
1 1 51 Stevie Mercer Pensacola , Fl 50.00
2 2 12W Bubba Winslow Cantonment , Fl 47.00
3 4 33B Steve Buttrick Cantonment , Fl 44.00
4 6 42T Randy Thompson Cantonment , Fl 41.00
5 5 00F Brannon Fowler Molino , Fl 38.00
6 3 07 Jim Pokrant Pensacola , Fl 35.00
7 10 83 Bo Resmondo Pensacola , Fl 32.00
8 13 72 Thomas Warren, Jr. Pensacola , Fl 29.00
9 7 102.7 Marty White Pensacola , Fl 26.00
10 9 10PN Peter Nelson Pensacola , Fl 23.00
11 12 5F Kieth Foss Pensacola , Fl 20.00
12 8 4K William Kitchen Pensacola , Fl 17.00
13 11 81 Tina Davidson Pensacola , Fl 14.00

Bombers – Feature

Finish Start Car Driver Hometown Race Points
1 2 5G Mike Goraum Cantonment , Fl 50.00
2 7 87 William Goulet Navarre , Fl 47.00
3 8 68 Daryl Lynchard Navarre , Fl 44.00
4 6 25H Eddie Hobbs Milton , Fl 41.00
5 10 44H Bo Hancock Milton , Fl 38.00
6 1 12 Brandon Burks Milton , Fl 35.00
7 21 97B Kenny Bullard Cantonment , Fl 32.00
8 3 52TB Tony Boyd Pensacola , Fl 29.00
9 4 03 Michael Nelson Pensacola , Fl 26.00
10 13 52R Robert Balkum Pensacola , Fl 23.00
11 11 23G Gary Goodwin Pensacola , Fl 20.00
12 9 8 Michael Kitchen Pensacola , Fl 17.00
13 14 99 James Beal, Iii Pensacola , Fl 14.00
14 16 28S Dayton Sidner Cantonment , Fl 11.00
15 15 11R Courtney Rodrigues Pensacola , Fl 8.00
16 5 72W Shannon Warren Pensacola , Fl 5.00
17 17 1 Hunter Ward Pensacola , Fl 2.00
18 20 91 Tim Chopp Crestview , Fl 2.00
19 18 6S Tracy Soles Pensacola , Fl 2.00
20 12 14BL Brian Lane Pace , Fl 2.00
21 19 42s Brandin Sidner Cantonment , Fl 2.00