South Alabama Speedway Regular Season Underway

By Mark Chisum

South Alabama Speedway opened its regular season Saturday night with feature races in eight local classes.

Korey Ruble dominated the Modified Feature, leading all 20 laps. Ruble grabbed the lead from the outside pole and ran away from the field. The race behind him for second was a great battle between Kevin Peel and Kip Whitehead. Whitehead was quicker in the turns, but Peel would pull away on the straights. The pair battled for fifteen laps before Whitehead’s engine gave up and he hit the back stretch wall on the sixteenth lap. Cameron Henderson, running fourth, got into Whitehead’s oil and suffered the same fate. After the restart, Ruble again pulled away from Peel and eased home with the win. Peel followed in second with Bruce Permenter third, and Mario Lupi fourth. Whitehead was credited with fifth.

Cameron Henderson ran away from Brain Martin and Jason Fowler to win the Super Stock Feature.

In the Vintage Feature, Kip Whitehead took the lead on lap nine and went on to win. Whitehead started fourth but moved into second behind early leader Jesse Smith on the first lap. Smith was able to keep Whitehead behind him for eight laps. As the pair exited turn four on the eighth lap, Whitehead made his move to the inside, pulling even at the stripe and completed the pass in turn one. Once out front, Whitehead pulled away to take an easy win over Smith. The battle for third was closer, with Lance Blacker holding off Randy Herrick for the position. Ricky Solomon was fifth.

In the Street Stock Feature, Chris Salter put himself in position to take advantage of Brandon Odom’s misfortune and went on to take the win. Odom grabbed the lead from the pole and pulled out to a three car length lead over Salter. On lap 13, Billy Maxie’s engine let go bringing out the races first caution. During the caution, Odom evidently ran over some debris and cut a tire down. Odom led the field to the green on the restart, but starting falling back on the back stretch. Salter took over the lead, but still had work to do before claiming victory. Todd Valdez pressured Salter the rest of the way, but couldn’t work his way around the leader. Salter survived two more restarts and Valdez’s challenges to take the win. Johnny Otto came from sixth to finish third. Darrell Cawley, making his first start in several years at SAS, finished fourth. Pebo Windham made his return also, and came home fifth.

Kim Bishop took the lead on lap seven and cruised home with the Roadrunner Feature win. Chad Roberts led the first six laps before Bishop took over. Bishop ran away from the field after taking the lead. The battle for second was another fantastic battle with Roberts and Chris Yeakos battling side by side for five laps. Yeakos cleared Roberts once but got loose and Roberts jumped back inside to continue the battle. The war came to an end when Roberts spun in turn four and went to the rear of the field with two laps to go. On the restart, Bishop pulled away from Yeakos to take the win.Before the caution, another tight battle was going on for fourth with Lee Monaghan, Ricky Strickland, and Mike Wolfe battling for the spot. Monaghan got the position for the restart and held off Strickland to take third place. Wolfe finished fifth.

Gordon Reese took the lead when the front three cars wrecked on lap 14 and went on to win the Coyote Feature. Lee Rogers grabbed the early lead before Adam Salter took over on lap eleven. Rusty Locklar followed Salter past Rogers to take second. The complexion of the race changed four laps later. Salter came up on a group of slower cars on the front stretch. He dove inside and cleared the cars but Locklar got into the rear of Salter entering turn one, sending Salter spinning. Rogers, running third, had nowhere to go and got into Salter, ending both drivers night. Locklar was sent to the rear, giving the lead to Reese. With the lead in hand, Reese led the rest of the way to take the win. Cameron Grissett finished second. Locklar made his way back to third and was followed by James Harris and Chris Johnson.

Greg Adams took the lead on lap two and led the rest of the way to capture the CupLite Feature. Rick Northey led the first lap before Adams took control. Jack Whittle moved from the fifth starting spot to second by lap three, and challenged Adams all race but could never find a way around the leader. Zak Wallace finished third, several car lengths behind the leaders. Waylon Spivey was fourth, followed by Larry Crutchfield.

Eddy Hinson took the lead on lap four and went on to win the Mini Sportsman Feature. Jeremy Geddings came from the sixth starting spot to finish second. Dale McLendon was third with Karen Williams fourth and Lon Howell fifth.

Action continues at South Alabama Speedway April 16 with the first Viper Series race. In addition to the 100-lap Pro Late Model race, features are also scheduled for the Street Stock, Coyote, CupLite, and Mini Sportsman classes. For more information, contact the track at (334) 565-3539, or visit the track’s web site at www.southalabamaspeedway.com.

Results

Super Stock

1.        Cameron Henderson

2.       Brian Martin

3.       Jason Fowler

Modified

1.        Korey Ruble

2.       Kevin Peel

3.       Bruce Permenter

4.       Mario Lupi

5.       Kip Whitehead

6.       Cameron Henderson

Vintage

1.        Kip Whitehead

2.       Jessie Smith

3.       Lance Blacker

4.       Randy Herrick

5.       Ricky Solomon

Street Stock

1.        Chris Slater

2.       Todd Valdez

3.       Johnny Otto

4.       Darrell Cawley

5.       Pebo Windham

6.       Tony Tidwell

7.       Deenis Thomas

8.       Brandon Odom

9.       Billy Maxie

10.   Lee McManus

Roadrunner

1.        Kim Bishop

2.       Chris Yeakos

3.       Lee Monaghan

4.       Ricky Strickland

5.       Mike Wolfe

6.       Chad Roberts

7.       Bobby Rhodes

8.       Nick Petrie

9.       David DeBoer

10.   Robert Berry

Coyote

1.        Gordon Reese

2.       Cameron Grissett

3.       Rusty Locklar

4.       James Harris

5.       Chris Johnson

6.       Adam Salter

7.       Lee Rogers

8.       Dylan Wolfe

CupLite

1.        Greg Adams

2.       Jack Whittle

3.       Zak Wallace

4.       Waylon Spivey

5.       Larry Crutchfield

6.       Rick Northey

7.       Karl Williams

8.       Carroll Williams

Mini Sportsman

1.        Eddy Hinson

2.       Jeremy Geddings

3.       Dale McLendon

4.       Karen Williams

5.       Lon Howell

6.       Kenny Younce

7.       Joshua Sibley