Cotto Takes Modified Win at South Alabama

By MArk Chisum

Chris Cotto has been an infrequent visitor to South Alabama Speedway, but has made his visits counts. Cotto led all 30 laps of the Modified Feature to take the win, his second win of the season at South Alabama. Cotto got a good jump at the start from the outside pole and beat Heath Mills to turn one to grab the lead. Mills spent the rest of the night chasing Cotto, but Cotto maintained a two or three car length lead throughout the race. Cameron Henderson beat Lance Blacker to the stripe on the final lap to garner third place honors. David Capps was fifth.

Chris Lucas continued his dominance of the Street Stock class, taking the lead on lap six and cruising home with the win. Billy Maxie and Johnny Otto battled for the lead early with Maxie leading the first lap and Otto leading laps two and three. Maxie battled back to lead laps four and five before Lucas took control the following lap. Lucas pulled away from Maxie to take the win. Otto had to battle with Chris Salter and Dennis Thomas. The battle looked like a dirt track race at times with all three fighting loose race cars. In the end, Otto took third with Thomas fourth and Salter fifth.

In the Roadrunner Feature, David Daniels took the lead on a lap 12 restart and went on to win. Nick Petrie led the first eleven laps until the first of three cautions pulled the field back to his bumper. Kim Bishop was running second and got a good jump and moved inside of Petrie as the field headed down the front shoot. Daniels followed and moved inside of Bishop as they exited turn two to grab the lead. Daniels held Bishop off for the remaining laps to take the win. Ricky Strickland also got by Petrie to take third. Mike Wolfe rounded out the top five.

Joseph Chandler led all 25 laps to win the Coyote Feature. Chandler had some stiff competition from Roger Wood in the middle part of the race, but Wood retired to the pits after a lengthy red flag on lap 16. Rusty Locklar took up the challenge on Chandler, but Chandler was able to hold him off to take the win. Floyd Brown finished third, followed by Tony Tidwell and Dylan Wolfe.

Jack Whittle took the lead on lap three and went on to win the CupLite Feature. Gordon Reese took the lead from the outside pole led the first two laps before Whittle worked his way inside on lap three. Once out front, Whittle had to survive four restarts before securing the checkers. Waylon Spivey finished second with Cory Tillman third. Reese was fourth with Karl Williams fifth.

In the Mini Sportsman Feature, Dale McClendon and Donnie Howell battled all race for the win. In the end, McClendon was able to beat Howell for the trophy. Todd Prescott was third, followed by Melvin Cooper and Weston Spivey.

South Alabama Speedway will be closed this weekend as it readies for the season ending Alabama Pro 200 weekend, scheduled for October 19-20. Friday, October 19 is Season Championship Night as the local Street Stock, Roadrunner, Coyote, CupLite, and Mini Sportsman classes will run their Season Championship races. The Motorcycles also return with a heat and feature race. On Saturday, October 20, the “Alabama Pro 200” headlines the schedule. The 200-lap Pro Late Model race will bring some of the top Pro Late Model drivers to South Alabama. Also on the night’s schedule are Feature races for the Modifieds, Coyotes, and Motorcycles. For more information, contact the track at (334) 565-3539, or visit the track’s web site at www.southalabamaspeedway.com.

Results

Modified
1. Chris Cotto
2. Heath Mills
3. Cameron Henderson
4. Lance Blacker
5. David Capps
6. Terry Malone
7. Terry Davis
8. David Beale

Street Stock
1. Chris Lucas
2. Billy Maxie
3. Johnny Otto
4. Dennis Thomas
5. Chris Salter
6. Darrell Cawley

Roadrunner
1. David Daniels
2. Kim Bishop
3. Ricky Strickland
4. Nick Petrie
5. Mike Wolfe
6. Bobby Rhodes
7. Daniel Davis
8. Devin Allen
9. Joseph Chandler
10. Jason Monaghan

Coyote
1. Joseph Chandler
2. Rusty Locklar
3. Floyd Brown
4. Tony Tidwell
5. Dylan Wolfe
6. John Musgrove
7. Lee Rogers
8. Brian Missildine
9. James Harris
10. Roger Wood
11. Cameron Grissett
12. Adam Missildine
13. Chris Johnson
14. Ralph Sanders
15. Michael Piland

CupLite
1. Jack Whittle
2. Waylon Spivey
3. Cory Tillman
4. Gordon Reese
5. Karl Williams
6. Kevin Sherwood
7. Jason Fowler
8. Shep Lucas
9. Rick Northey
10. Dylan Northey

Mini Sportsman
1. Dale McClendon
2. Donnie Howell
3. Todd Prescott
4. Melvin Cooper
5. Weston Spivey
6. John Cooper
7. Adam Salter
8. Paul Gay