Garvey Takes Copperhead 100 at South Alabama

By Mark Chisum

It was a pretty good weekend for Mike Garvey. Garvey won both portions of the Gulf Coast Pro Late Model doubleheader. Garvey won Five Flags Speedway’s Allen Turner Series race Friday night and completed the sweep in Saturday’s Viper Series Copperhead 100 at South Alabama Speedway.

Justin South has the qualifying portion of the evening figured out as he took his fifth consecutive Viper Series pole. South’s time of 15.389 was just .018 faster than Zac Hausler’s time. Qualifying was very close, with third fastest qualifier Korey Ruble just .033 slower than the pole, and fourth place Hunter Robbins only .050 off the pace. Inversion put Chris Davidson on the pole and Ruble on the outside.

At the drop of the green flag, Ruble shot to the front and began his domination of the race. The race opened with a 83-lap green run, and Ruble eased away from the field each lap. While Ruble was out front, racing behind him was intense at times. Robbins moved into second on lap three, with South moving past Davidson on lap eight to move into third. Garvey, starting tenth, was making his way through the field, also, moving into fourth by lap 22. At lap 25, Ruble was already enjoying a commanding lead over Robbins, South, Garvey, and Spencer Davis.

Ruble continued his pace and stretched his lead over Robbins and Garvey as the race neared half way. On lap 53, Garvey moved past Robbins to take over the second spot. South followed four laps later to move into third. With 25 to go, Ruble enjoyed a half lap lead over Garvey, South, Robbins, and Hausler.

Ruble led the field to the race’s first caution on lap 83. Unfortunately for him, Ruble was the cause of the caution. A deflating right front tire was the culprit, and Ruble was taken out of contention. Garvey took over the lead, followed by South, Robbins, Hausler, and Davidson. The race’s second caution flew on lap 88. Two laps after the restart, Robbins worked his way back around South on lap 89 and erased the small lead Garvey had built.

Robbins Spent the final ten laps, trying to steal the win away from Garvey, but came up short in his bid. Garvey led Robbins to the stripe by .784 seconds. South finished third with Davidson fourth, and Hausler fifth.

In the Modified Feature, Bubba Pollard and Donald Crocker had a great battle for the win, before Crocker took control after a restart and went on to win. Pollard, started fourth, but blasted into the lead on the first lap. Pollard led the first 17 laps, but Crocker was in position to take the lead when the caution flew. On the restart, Crocker turned under Pollard to grab the spot and pulled away for the win. Heath Mills was third, followed by Brandon Howell and kip Whitehead.

Chris Lucas dominated the Street Stock Feature, taking the lead on lap four and cruising to the win. Chris Salter led the first three laps before Lucas took over. With the race going green all 25 laps, Lucas pulled away from Slater to take an easy win. Dennis Thomas and Darrell Cawley had a spirited battle, complete with contact, for third. In the end, Thomas came out on top. Billy Maxie rounded out the top five.

The Roadrunner Feature came down to a last lap battle for the win, with Kim Bishop taking home the trophy. David Daniels led the first four laps before Ricky Strickland took over. Bishop followed Strickland past Daniels one lap later. Strickland enjoyed a small lead for a while, but in the end, Bishop pulled to his bumper and the race was on. Bishop kept the pressure on Strickland the rest of the way, but Strickland was up to the task, until the final two turns. Entering turn three, headed to the checkered flag, Strickland went in too hard and pushed up the track. Bishop jumped at the opportunity and dove to the inside to make the pass. Bishop outran Strickland to the flag to take the win. Nick Petrie finished third, followed by Daniels and Mike Wolfe.

In the wild Coyote Feature, Josh Wood took the lead on lap 11 and went on to win. Danny Thompson led the first five laps before Roger Wood Jr. took over. He led until lap 11 when Josh Wood worked his way to the front. Five cautions slowed the pace during the middle portion of the race, the last one coming on lap 12. After that, it was green the rest of the way and the two Woods pulled away to settle things between themselves. Roger Wood kept Josh Wood close, but could never regain the top spot. Rusty Locklar finished third, Lee Rogers fourth, and Joseph Chandler fifth.

Jack Whittle took the lead on lap 14 and went on to win a competitive CupLite Feature, which featured five lead changes in the first ten laps. Carroll Williams led the first two laps before Gordon Reese moved to the front. Two laps later, Rick Northey grabbed the lead. Northey lead four laps until Jason Fowler took over the point on lap nine. Fowler fell off the pace on lap 14 and Whittle took over the lead. Whittle lead the rest of the way to take the win. Northey finished second, Adam Salter third, Dylan Northey fourth, and Reese fifth.

In the Mini Sportsman Feature, Donnie and Lon Howell swapped the lead a couple of times in the early going before Donnie Howell took the lead for good on lap four. Lon Howell held on to second, followed by Adam Salter, Keith Hutchinson, and Jarod Howell.

South Alabama Speedway will be closed Labor Day Weekend, but will reopen September 8 with SAS T Shirt Night. Anybody wearing a South Alabama Speedway T Shirt will be admitted to the grandstand for only $2.00. Regular admission is $7.50 for Adults and $3.50 for children ages 6-12. For more information, contact the track at (334) 565-3539, or visit the track’s web site at www.southalabamaspeedway.com.

Copperhead 100

1. Mike Garvey

2. Hunter Robbins

3. Justin South

4. Chris Davidson

5. Zac Hausler

6. Brandon Odom

7. Josh Adkins

8. Cody Coughlin

9. Kyle Bryant

10. Shanky Smith

11. Korey Ruble

12. Cole Fancher

13. Ray Black Jr.

14. Brady Boswell

15. Ryan Redmon

16. Spencer Davis

17. Lance Blacker

DNS Augie Grill

Modified

1. Donald Crocker

2. Bubba Pollard

3. Heath Mills

4. Brandon Howell

5. Kip Whitehead

6. Terry Davis

7. Rick McCarson

8. Terry Malone

9. Bo McCraney

10. David Beale

11. Kevin Peel

12. Mario Lupi

Street Stock

1. Chris Lucas

2. Chris Salter

3. Dennis Thomas

4. Darrell Cawley

5. Billy Maxie

6. Gary Davis

7. Johnny Otto

Roadrunner

1. Kim Bishop

2. Ricky Strickland

3. Nick Petrie

4. David Daniels

5. Mike Wolfe

6. Devin Allen

7. Daniel Davis

8. Bobby Rhodes

9. Joseph Wyrosdick

Coyote

1. Josh Wood

2. Roger Wood Jr.

3. Rusty Locklar

4. Lee Rogers

5. Joseph Chandler

6. Danny Thompson

7. James Harris

8. Ronnie Furniss

9. Michael Piland

10. James Faulk

11. Adam Missildine

12. Perry Patino

13. Dylan Wolfe

14. Chris Johnson

15. PJ Parrish

16. Wade Burgans

17. Cameron Grissett

18. Brian Missildine

19. Tony Tidwell

DNS Brandon Till

CupLite

1. Jack Whittle

2. Rick Northey

3. Adam Salter

4. Dylan Northey

5. Gordon Reese

6. Jason Fowler

7. Karl Williams

8. Kevin Stewart

9. Cory Tillman

10. Carroll Williams

Mini Sportsman

1. Donnie Howell

2. Lon Howell

3. Adam Salter

4. Keith Hutchinson

5. Jarod Howell