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Battle for Positioning Inside Top 10 Heats Up as Blizzard Series Crosses Halfway Point Next Week

By Chuck Corder

Every race matters.

There’s a reason that’s an old cliché. A driver gets off the throttle for one second in one race and it can cost him an entire season.

But with only two Buddy’s Home Furnishings Blizzard Series races left in 2012, that adage rings ever truer.

Another dynamite Super Late Model field is expected for the Coors Light 100 on June 22 at Five Flags Speedway.

While all the drivers will have their eyes on a victorious prize when they gather next Friday, a handful will be simply hoping for solid top-10 finishes to improve their winter fates for the 45th annual running of the Snowball Derby in December.

The top 10 in points at the end of the Blizzard Series, are eligible for one of two provisional starting spots in the Snowball Derby.

Going into next week, a logjam currently exists for spots inside that treasured window.

Longtime Snowball veteran David Rogers (Orlando, Fla.) sits eighth. Two points behind him in ninth is SLM rookie Clay Alexander (Franklin, Tenn.). Donnie Wilson (Oklahoma City, Okla.), who finished second to Pensacola “she-ro� Johanna Long in the 2010 Snowball, sits 10th.

And just outside the top 10 are Pensacola’s Logan Boyett, Casey Smith (Austin, Texas) and Jeremy Pate, another local driver.

Boyett trails Wilson by two points for that coveted spot, Smith is just four back and Pate just five. All are fully aware of what’s on the line.

“We’d love to be in the top 10 come Derby time,� Alexander said, “but all we can do is all we can do. It’s not for anyone’s lack of effort. It certainly would take a lotta pressure off.

“It guarantees you a spot and you can work on your car and not have to worry about qualifying runs. That’s the huge benefit.�

Alexander has had a mixed bag for his first full season in the Blizzard Series.

He owns finishes of ninth, 21st and 18th in the first three events. Alexander currently trails points leader Bubba Pollard by 76 points.

“I just have to keep a level head and don’t outdrive the car,� he said. “It’s really tough for me to feel like I’m doing everything I can and I’m still not winning races. But you can’t get down in the dumps. All you can do is your best. Sometimes it’s tough to handle all the disappointments.

“We’ve struggled with that like everybody. Once we can get the monkey off our back, we’re gonna be just fine.�

For what it’s worth, Alexander is doing everything he can to focus on the race and letting the points fall where they may.

“I’m not sure if there could be any more pressure than there already is,� he said. “We just need to start running better.�

That’s a refrain Boyett seems on the cusp of.

The 22 year old enjoyed his second-best Blizzard Series finish at the Rubber and Specialties 100 last month when he finished 10th, nine spots behind two-time winner and defending Snowball champion Chase Elliott.

“There was an unreal amount of competition at the last race compared to the second race when I finished sixth,� Boyett said. “It builds my confidence and lets me know what I’m legitimately up against.

“The next two races will be about finishing and improving on what we’ve done.�

Boyett moved up from the Allen Turner Pro Late Model Series late last season, but has only competed in five total SLM events at Pensacola’s high banks.

He has an impressive cerebral approach that belies his youth, a trait that could certainly pay dividends in the stretch run.

“You have to focus on the present,� Boyett said. “There’s only so much you can do. You try to pay attention to (the points), but you just have to be careful.�

With a late model series track title already under his belt, Boyett certainly has some “asphalt cred.�

He won the Viper Championship, a PLM series, at South Alabama Speedway in 2010.

Boyett would love to have zero pressure on him when it comes December and earn his way into a hometown race that attracts the nation’s elite late model drivers.

“It would definitely mean a lot,� Boyett said. “There’s no telling what could happen. You can’t leave anything on the table, but you can’t wreck the car either. It’s hard to do sometimes.

“Sometimes taking it easy is the fastest way to go. You gotta go slower to go faster sometimes.�

That’s not a bad cliché either.

After getting rained out with the PLMs last Friday, the Sportsmen and Bombers will renew their respective seasons when the gates open at 5 p.m. June 22.

Grandstand admission is as follows: $15 adults, $14 seniors, $12 military/students (ages 12 thru 17), $5 children ages 6 to 11 and free for kids under 6. Pit passes are $25.

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