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Black, Rollins Race to Victory Lane As Rule Tweaks Inject Spark into Allen Turner Pro Late Models

By Chuck Corder

It appears change is exactly the rejuvenation the Allen Turner Pro Late Models needed at Five Flags Speedway.

A tweak in the feature’s format this year created some instant excitement at the famed half-mile asphalt oval Friday.

Instead of last year’s 100-lap features, the race was divided into two segments — a 20- and 30-lap sprints — and it delighted the Five Flags’ loyal fanbase.

Ray Black Jr. won the opener, but the latter half of the race was a thrilling finish between 52-year-old Tommy Rollins and 13-year-old Garrett Jones.

Rollins held off the kid by less than a radiator, as the two beat and banged coming out of Turn 4.

“That took three hard years and a lotta work,� said Rollins, who yields his seat to Nationwide Series driver Johanna Long when she returns home during off weeks. “It feels good. I hope this is a regular happening.�

With that kind of finish, why wouldn’t it be?

Pensacola’s Jeremy Pate rounded out the podium, but it was the top two cars that had the crowd on the edge of their seats.

Rollins led after two laps and cruised for much of the 30 lapper before Jones made his move from second.

“I love this track. It’s a lotta fun. It’s really fast,� said Jones, who saw Five Flags for the first time last December during the Snowflake 100. “You wouldn’t think it’d be this fast because it’s smaller. But with the banking, it creates a lotta momentum.�

Jones sounded like a seasoned veteran. He looked the part, too, using lapped traffic to inch his way closer to Rollins.

As the pair came around on the white flag, lapped car Troy Grisaffi was in no man’s land and blocked the leader Rollins.

That allowed Jones to pull ahead momentarily. When they came out of Turn 4, it was anybody’s race.

If you blinked, you missed the finish, as Rollins barely got his nose across underneath the checkered flag first.

“That was a lotta fun,� Jones said. “I wish we could’ve got another foot. It was close I know that. We’ll be back definitely.�

Black, who was the fast qualifier at 16.755 seconds, won the first interval with some nifty driving late against Fairhope, Ala., teenager Bryce Dulabhan.

Dulabhan had a couple of peeks at the lead, but each time Black shut the door on him to preserve the win.

“To get a win here means a lot to me,� said Black, who hails from Flagler Beach.

Black was pulling away early on as the leaders behind him battled it out. Pace’s Keith Thorpe had a terrific run going, climbing all the way to third by Lap 16 when disaster struck.

His No. 36 just simply broke and went careening into the outside wall between turn Nos. 3 and 4. Thorpe running so well. Started seventh and was up to third when disaster struck the Pace driver, who nearly won the PLM track championship a few years ago.

“Something on the left front broke and there came the wall,� said Thorpe, who nearly won the PLM track title a few years ago at Five Flags.

 

Modifieds

Brandon Howell went wire to wire in an impressive 35-lap feature victory that saw him endure a little bit more drama than he initially anticipated.

He started on the pole and was easily pulling when a caution on Lap 29 made things interesting for a ho-hum affair.

Donnie Hamrac, running second, got a great restart on Howell and the two were racing door to door.

But when Hamrac tried a slingshot on the backstretch it backfired. It took all of Hamrac’s superior skills to save his No. 8 from spinning.

“I got a little loose on the outside of (Hamrac),� Howell said. “I wasn’t trying to pinch him off. It was great to run with best of the best.�

 

Sportsmen

Mark Barnhill has officially become a thorn in Steve Buttrick’s side.

The Irvington, Ala., driver who broke Buttrick’s 2013 streak last week at Mobile International Speedway, ruined the Cantonment driver’s perfect mark Friday at Five Flags.

“It’s pretty awesome,� Barnhill said in Victory Lane. “I thought we’d be a little off because of not running here. I knew Buttrick was going to be tough when he drove on the outside of me and he and (Lee Reynolds) got together. It turned out great for me.�

For Buttrick, who finished fourth, it was a disappointing end to a night that began so promising.

He set a new track record in qualifying with a blistering time of 20.495 seconds and was battling Reynolds for the lead on Lap 13.

The two leaders came out of Turn 4 swapping paint down the front straightaway. Both try to slam on the brakes to avoid the inside wall, but Reynolds couldn’t avoid it as Buttrick’s No. 33 was leaning on the right side of his No. 32.

Because he was involved in the accident, race officials moved Buttrick to the back of pack. He made a valiant charge, but it was all for naught.

Buttrick’s troubles opened the door for Brannon Fowler, who finished second, to make up some much-needed ground in the season’s points race.

“That was a lotta action, lotta excitement,� Fowler correctly summed up.

 

Bombers

David Johnson continued the Alabama Gang theme for the local classes Friday.

He posted his second win of the season during a caution-marred, 20-lap feature for the Bombers.

Johnson was the fast qualifier and despite starting third after the invert didn’t disappoint, going to the lead after just two laps.

Tracy Soles, a two-time winner himself, made valiant attempts to get by Johnson, but an inability to protect his spot cost him, as he finished off the podium.

Kenny Bullard took second and sixth-grader Ryan Worsham backed up his runner-up finished from a few weeks ago with a third-place showing.

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