Boyett Breaks Through at South Alabama

By Mark Chisum

Logan Boyett has had a fast car all year in South Alabama Speedway’s Viper Series, leading a lot of laps, only to see victory slip away in the closing laps. Boyett finally closed the deal Saturday night, leading the final lap, and taking the win in the Copperhead 100.

Bubba Pollard set fast time in qualifying with a time of 15.397. Korey Ruble was second, just .007 seconds slower than Pollard. Boyett was third quickest, .079 off of Pollard’s pace. Inversion put Boyett on the outside front row and when the green flew, the Pensacola driver rocketed to the lead. Pollard quickly went from fourth to second, with Ruble following. Ruble got past Pollard on lap nine and starting cutting into Boyett’s ten car length lead. That lead was erased with a lap 19 caution. Pollard got back ahead of Ruble for two laps after the restart, but Ruble fought back to regain the position.

On lap 27, Ruble worked his way under Boyett to grab the lead. Pollard and Brandon Odom got past Boyett two laps later. The caution flew on lap 49 and Odom took the opportunity to pit for adjustments. When racing resumed, Pollard worked his way inside of Ruble to take the lead at the halfway point. Boyett was third with Sam Smith fourth and Shanna Ard fifth.

When the next caution flew on lap 72, Pollard was sent to the pits to fix a rear end leak. Ruble took back the lead but only for two laps as Boyett muscled his way past to grab the lead with 25 laps to go. The race was slowed one more time on lap 83 to check the track for fluids. Pollard was again sent to the pits and rejoined the field at the back. When the green flew, Boyett pulled away from the field and loooke das though he would be able to cruise to the win. However, as the laps wound down, Ruble began cutting into Boyett’s lead and pulled to Boyett’s bumper. Boyett slipped with hree laps to go and Ruble jumped at the opportunity, pulling to the inside. The pair battled side by side the rest of the way. As they exited turn four coming to the checkered flag, Boyett got a good run on the outside and beat Ruble to the line by a half car length. Pollard battled his way back to third, followed by Odom and Ard.

The finish wasn’t official until after post race inspection. During the inspection, an illegal ignition box was found on Ruble’s car and he disqualified, moving everybody up a spot. Smith moved into the top five. With one race left in the Viper Series, the September 11 Cottonmouth 100, Boyett and Odom are tied for the lead. Smith is third, just 7 points behind the leaders. Ruble and Pollard are next, 22 and 24 points back.

In local action, Jamie Ater took the lead on the second lap and went on to win the Street Stock Feature. Billy Maxie led the first lap from the pole position. Action was furious early on as the field raced three wide into turn one and then again into turn three with Ater emerging as the leader on the second lap. Ater pulled away from the field and led the rest of the way to take the win. Cameron Henderson finished second, followed by Johnny Otto, Dennis Thomas, and Maxie.

In the Roadrunner Feature, Chris Yeakos took the lead on lap 18 to take the win. Ricky Strickland took the lead at the start and led until Yeakos got by on the outside. Yeakos eased away from Strickland who had to hold off Mike Wolfe to take second. Michael Smith was fourth with Danny Monaghan fifth.

Max Nelson picked up his second straight Coyote Feature win. Travis Slawson led the first eleven laps before Lee Rogers took over. Rogers led for just two laps before Nelson made the winning pass on the inside. Rogers had one last shot at Nelson after a late race caution, but Nelson good a good start and held Rogers off to take the win. Slawson was third with Rusty Locklar fourth and Joseph Chandler fifth.

In the Mini Sportsman Feature, Dylan Wolfe led early and then came back to take the win. Wolfe led the first two laps with Joey Cannon taking over for six laps. Wolfe fought his way back to the lead on lap nine and led the rest of the way. Eddy Hinson tried to dive under Wolfe on the final turn,but contact with Wolfe broke Hinson’s momentum and let Wolfe get away. Hinson held on to second. Mike Wolfe was third, followed by Jeremy Geddings and Donnie Howell.

South Alabama Speedway will be closed this weekend but will reopen on August 21 with a full card of local racing action. 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

Copperhead 100

1.        Logan Bouett

2.       Bubba Pollard

3.       Brandon Odom

4.       Shanna Ard

5.       Sam Smith

6.       Lance Blacker

7.       Kyle Bryant

8.       David Capps

9.       Will Mack

DQ  Korey Ruble (2)

DNS Chance Adkins

Street Stock

1.        Jamie Ater

2.       Cameron Henderson

3.       Johnny Otto

4.       Dennis Thomas

5.       Billy Maxie

Roadrunner

1.        Chris Yeakos

2.       Ricky Strickland

3.       Mike Wolfe

4.       Michael Smith

5.       Danny Monaghan

6.       Bobby Rhodes

7.       Jonathan Fleming

Coyote

1.        Max Nelson

2.       Lee Rogers

3.       Travis SLawson

4.       Rusty Locklar

5.       Joseph Chandler

6.       Jason Monaghan

7.       Danny Monaghan

8.       Robert Colvin

Mini Sportsman

1.        Dylan Wolfe

2.       Eddy Hinson

3.       Mike Wolfe

4.       Jeremy Geddings

5.       Donnie Howell

6.       Dale McClendon

7.       Karen Williams

8.       Jason Cannon

9.       Joey Cannon