Ruble Takes Win in Timber 100

By Mark Chisum

 

Korey Ruble passed race-long leader Logan Boyett on lap 84, and then held off a furious late race charge from Brandon Odom to take the win in Saturday’s Viper Series Timber 100 at South Alabama Speedway. It was Ruble’s second Viper Series win in 2010.

Bubba Pollard set fast time in qualifying with a time of 15.394 seconds. Pollard pulled a six for inversion and that played a huge roll in Pollard’s night. Boyett qualified second fastest, just .051 slower than Pollard, and drew the one to start on the pole. When the green flew, so did Boyett, pulling away to an eight car length lead as field battled behind him. Ruble, starting third, had to work his way around Dennis Reno Jr. while Boyett was cruising out front. Boyett’s lead was erased when the caution flew on lap nine.

The race took on a different complexion on lap 13. Reno got sideways as the field headed down the front stretch. Pollard nailed Reno, severely damaging the front end of his car. Mack, running behind Pollard, plowed into the rear end of Pollard, lifting the rear end of Pollard’s car into the air and busting its fuel cell. The race was red flagged for cleanup. Reno, Pollard, and Mack were done for the night.

When racing resumed, Boyett resumed his pace, again pulling away from Ruble. Boyett stretched his lead to six car lengths and led Ruble, Odom, Sam Smith, and David Hodges to the half way point. Ruble was reeling Boyett in when the yellow flew for debris on lap 56. After the quick caution period, Boyett took off again, moving out to a comfortable lead over Ruble.

As the race headed into the last 25 laps, Boyett’s car began to tighten up, and he wasn’t able to hold it down in the turns. Ruble was able to erase Boyett’s advantage, but Boyett wasn’t giving up the lead without a fight. Although Ruble could get the inside line, Boyett held tough on the outside. It took Ruble several laps, but his patience finally paid off on lap 84 as he worked his way past Boyett to take the lead. Brandon Odom had closed the gap also, and followed Ruble past the fading Boyett.

Odom was on Rubles bumper with five laps to go. As they entered turn one, they came up on two lapped cars racing side by side into the turn. Ruble went to the outside of the lapped cars. Odom, seeing an opening, tried to dip under the second car. He got up to Ruble’s door, but as they exited the turn, Odom lost grip. He corrected the car, but Ruble was gone. Ruble beat Odom to the line 2.216 seconds in a race that was much closer than the finish. Boyett held on to third, followed by Smith and Kyle Bryant.

Ruble leads the Viper Series points by 57 points over Odom and Smith, who are tied for second. The next Viper Series race is scheduled for August 7.

In the Street Stock Feature, Billy Maxie was awarded the win after post race inspection. Johnny Otto led the first lap before Jamie Ater took over on the second lap. Ater led until a lap 12 caution. During the caution period, Ater pulled into the pits, retiring from the race, and giving the lead back to Otto. Otto retained the lead for three laps before Henderson powered by on the inside. Henderson led the final eleven laps to take the checkers. Otto came home second, followed by Maxie, Dennis Thomas, and Jason Singletary. However, in post race inspection, the cars of both Henderson and Otto were found to be two low, and both were disqualified. Their “dq’s” gave the winner’s trophy to Maxie and moved Thomas and Singletary up in the finishing order. Justin Killian and Ater moved into the top five.

Chris Yeakos came back from a mid race penalty to claim the Roadrunner Feature win. Ricky Strickland came from the fourth starting spot to lead the first 14 laps. On lap 15, Yeakos got into Strickland, causing the leader to spin. Both were sent to the rear. Mike Wolfe took over the point, but two laps later, Strickland got into Wolfe. Wolfe spun, and again both were sent to the rear, giving the lead to Yeakos. Yeakos was able to stay clean for the remaining 10 laps win the exciting race. Wolfe came back to finish second with Strickland third. Bobby Rhodes was fourth and Danny Monaghan fifth.

At one point, the Coyote Feature was a three car duel. It ended up being a runaway victory for Lee Rogers. Lon Howell led the first lap with Rusty Locklar taking the lead on lap two. Locklar led the next 13 laps, but had a great fight with Travis Slawson and Rogers during the middle portion of the race. Locklar was leading, but Rogers and Slawson were both on his bumper. Rogers, on the inside of Slawson, was able to woek his way under Locklar to take the lead on lap 15. Once out front, Rogers was able to pull away from the field to take an easy win. Rogers also got past Locklar to finish second. Joseph Chandler was fourth and Chris Yeakos fifth.

Eddy Hinson waited until the final lap to take the lead to win the Mini Sportsman Feature. Cameron Henderson led the first three laps with Dale McLendon taking over on lap four. Jeremy Geddings took the lead four laps later and led until the final circuit. Hinson was glued to Geddings’ bumper as they took the white flag. As they exited turn two, Hinson moved to the inside to get position on Geddings. Hinson completed the pass going into turn three and led Geddings to the finish. McLendon finished third, followed by Dylan Wolfe and Henderson.

South Alabama Speedway will be closed on June 19, but will reopen on June 26 with feature races in all eight local classes. Special admission prices for the night are $5.00 for adults and $3.00 for children ages 6 to 12.  For more information, contact the track at (334) 565-3539, or visit the track’s web site at www.southalabamaspeedway.com.

 

Results

 

Pro Late Model Viper Series

Timber 100

 

1.        Korey Ruble

2.       Brandon Odom

3.       Logan Boyett

4.       Sam Smith

5.       Kyle Bryant

6.       Billy Ammons

7.       David Hodges Jr.

8.       David Capps

9.       Dennis Reno Jr.

10.   Bubba Pollard

11.   Will Mack

12.   Jacob Wallace

 

Street Stock

1.       Billy Maxie

2.       Dennis Thomas

3.       Jason Singletary

4.       Justin Killian

5.       Jamie Ater

6.       Cameron Henderson

7.       Johnny Otto

 

Roadrunner

1.        Chris Yeakos

2.       Mike Wolfe

3.       Ricky Strickland

4.       Bobby Rhodes

5.       Danny Monaghan

6.       Michael Smith

 

Coyote

1.        Lee Rogers

2.       Travis Slawson

3.       Rusty Locklar

4.       Joseph Chandler

5.       Chris Yeakos

6.       Aaron Horan

7.       Jason Monaghan

8.       Michael Piland

9.       Lon Howell

 

Mini Sportsman

1.       Eddy Hinson

2.       Jeremy Geddings

3.       Dale McLendon

4.       Dylan Wolfe

5.       Cameron Henderson

6.       Jason Cannon

7.       Mike Wolfe

8.       Donnie Howell

9.       Kevin Calloway

10.   Karen Williams

11.   Joshua Sibley