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Smith Defends Demolition Derby Title; Buttrick Runs Away with 50-Lap Sportsman Spectacular, $1K

By Chuck Corder

The back end of Ronnie Smith’s Crown Victoria was completely crunched, folded up nearly beyond the back tires.

And this was the winning car.

Welcome to the Demolition Derby.

Smith, a former Allen Turner Pro Late Model champion, successfully defended the Demo Derby title he won last year, thrilling a capacity crowd along the way.

“I do it for the fans,� Smith said. “I came out here and tested the other day. No, I’m just kidding.�

The “Master of Disaster� had to do some improvising late in the crash fest when the throttle became stuck wide open.

Smith was forced to run with his brake. Amazingly enough, it worked to perfection as he finished off the win when he nearly put Robert Balkum’s camouflage car on its side.

Smith crawled out of the wreckage and lifted his hands high as the fans roared with delight.

“This (win) is right up there with the rest of ’em because the fans enjoy it the most,� Smith said. “If it wasn’t for these guys, we couldn’t do this.�

Escambia County fire officials hosed down the front straightaway, preparing a slippery asphalt surface for the 11 junkyard dogs.

Their services wouldn’t have been needed last week when this program was originally scheduled before showers drenched the oval.

Track officials were concerned earlier Friday that a second postponement was in the cards when thunderstorms rolled through Pensacola.

Thankfully, the rain broke in the early part of the afternoon and a jam-packed show went off without a hitch.

 

Faster Pastor

For once, Josh Lipscomb was lost for words.

The head pastor at Liberty Church — Blue Angel campus—didn’t need to say much. The No. 11 he was driving spoke loud enough.

Lipscomb cruised to Victory Lane inaugural Faster Pastor Race that saw four local pastors and United Cerebral Palsy Northwest Florida President/CEO Sherry White help raise money for UCP.

“It was incredible,� Lipscomb said. “I don’t know how to explain it. It was a great experience. It’s a dream I’ve always had and it’s great to see it come to fruition.�

As Lipscomb pulled away to more than a straightaway lead in the middle of the eight-lap feature, there was a great four-car battle for second.

Track chaplain and Liberty Church associate pastor Wayne Butts eventually got the position and held on to it to make it a Liberty Church 1-2 sweep.

“This was a great cause,� Butts said, “and we can’t thank the car owners enough for entrusting us rookies with their cars that they treasure so greatly.�

White, despite being terrified to get behind the wheel, was ecstatic that UCP benefitted so immensely

“It has been a pleasure. I wanna thank Tim Bryant and Pat (Bryant) and all the Five Flags fans. It was a great night for UCP.�

 

Sportsmen

Steve Buttrick continues to be a puzzle his rivals cannot piece together.

The Cantonment driver hoisted his sixth checkered flag of the season in the Sportsman division Friday at Five Flags Speedway.

This win was much more special than any of his previous five victories.

Buttrick, the two-time defending Sportsman Snowball Derby champion, won the 50-lap Sportsman Spectacular and collected $1,000 for the victory.

Buttrick went from third to first and took the lead near Lap 15 when something broke on then-leader Brannon Fowler’s No. 00 and second place Randy Thompson couldn’t avoid Fowler.

“I’m sorry for Brannon and Randy,� the humble Buttrick said. “I guess Brannon broke and Randy was too close. I was barely able to avoid it.�

Once Buttrick did, though, no one could make him break a sweat.

Shanna Ard tried his hardest, taking several quality looks in and out of turns, but it was to no avail.

“Steve Buttrick is the hardest person out here to race. He’s hard to catch,� said Ard, who finished runner-up. “I gave it everything I had. I can’t ask for anything better than this except I wish I won. I need that money.�

Buttrick was happy to pocket the payday, but also was pleased to be battling against Ard.

“It was great racing with Shanna,� Buttrick said. “I had a lotta fun and this was a great turnout.�

The standing-room only house saw most of the field ride for the first half of the race.

Once it reached halfway, though, strategies were abandoned. Action was furious near the back of the pack, plus the battle of third was one to watch all night long.

Calvin Cook and Jimmy Goodwin beat and banged all around the oval until Cook finally finished on the podium.

Ard had his hands full with Michael Couture early on in the second half of the race until the field reached Lap 33.

Couture was trying to take over second from Ard and the pair touched numerous times until Couture slid up the racetrack and slammed against the Turn 1 wall hard.

 

Modifieds

Donnie Hamrac didn’t let a little thing like a bad roll of the die get him frustrated.

Hamrac backed up his fast-qualifying time of 17.935 seconds by capturing his second checkered flag of the season in the 25-lap Modified feature Friday at Five Flags.

Hamrac started near the tail end after a disappointing 10 on the die set the 11-car field’s invert. The series points leader avoided some early cautions and expertly worked his way through traffic.

“I gotta thank my crew first,� Hamrac said. “We had it loaded up last week, ready to go and had some trouble. We went back to the shop, worked on our notes and it showed today.�

Hamrac wasn’t the only one. Several drivers had hotrods, which caused for some tenuous moments at the start.

It took three starts to get one lap under green as cautions kept flying because of aggressive driving that saw four-wide action going in and out of the turns.

Kevin Chase from nearby Gulf Breeze led the opening laps until Milton’s Chris Cotto took over the point.

Cotto led for the next 15 laps until Hamrac and Brandon Howell (Lucedale, Miss.) freight-trained him down the back straightaway with Hamrac taking the lead on Lap 19 in the outside groove.

Howell chased Hamrac, but could never pull alongside the red No. 8.

“I wish we could’ve won, but congrats to Donnie for a great race,� Howell said. “I just hope we can get a little better and run this thing up front next time out.�

 

Bombers

Gary Goodwin figured out the best way to erase the nightmare of his last race: Just win baby.

The defending Bombers track champion won his fifth feature of the year. It was Goodwin’s first race since July 27 when a scary crash on the front stretch did some serious damage.

“It sure is a lot better finish than last week, for sure,� Goodwin joked. “Thanks to the crew for helping me out. They did a fine job.�

Active duty Marine Michael Nelson finished second. He was certainly pleased with the runner-up finish, but was frustrated he couldn’t track down Goodwin.

“It was a fun race,� Nelson said. “We couldn’t catch the 23, but we’ll settle for second.�

Kenny Williams, who was involved in that collision with Goodwin, rebounded for a third-place finish.

“I have to thank everybody that asked about me,� Williams said. “I can’t quit for some reason and I love it.�

 

 

from sixth to fourth in lap 1.

Tracy Soles and Michael Nelson lead.

Burks and Goodwin go to front on Lap 3. Goodwin gets by Burks at start of Lap 4.

Burks takes look on Lap 12, but can’t get there. Nelson takes second from Burks.

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