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Garvey Captures Allen Turner Tune-Up 100; Long Holds off Jones, Crowned One of Five Track Champions

By Chuck Corder

All eyes were locked onto the leaders.

It just so happened, the attention was being paid to two Pro Late Model cars that had no shot at the Allen Turner Tune-Up 100 win at the Whataburger Night of Champions on Saturday at Five Flags Speedway.

Johanna Long nursed a slim points lead all night long with defending track champion Garrett Jones trying desperately to finish three spots ahead of the Pensacola she-ro to claim back-to-back titles.

But when the checkered flag finally flew, Jones’ fifth-place finish was only two positions better than Long’s seventh.

Mike Garvey ran a dominant second half to top the 25-car field, but Long captured her second PLM track title of her career by three points over the 15-year-old Jones.

“This means a lot to me,� said Long, the 2010 Snowball Derby champion and former NASCAR Nationwide Series driver who won a PLM track title in 2008.

“The guys worked extremely hard all year. It means lot to me, but I’m happy to give it to (car owner) Tommy Rollins.�

The countdown to the finish was intense. Jones made last-ditch attempts to climb another spot and swipe the championship out from under Long.

But Jones never could get around Junior Niedecken for fourth. Niedecken’s great run procured the Gulf Coast PLM championship thanks to his great runs at both Five Flags and Mobile International Speedway.

Jones, who recorded three feature wins in 2014, was trying to make up a nine-point deficit he faced coming into the 100 lapper. Long padded a four-point lead after qualifying five spots better than Jones.

“It stinks I didn’t get a win,� said Long, who remains winless since her heroic 2010 Snowball celebration. “But we got the big one. Garrett Jones is very hard to beat. It definitely earned this, maybe more than I did, but we came out on top.�

Garvey erased some recent demons at the famed half-mile asphalt oval.

After see-sawing with fast-qualifier Bubba Pollard (16.675 seconds) for the lead midway through the race, Garvey finally made the pass stick on Lap 69 and never looked back.

Pollard finished runner-up and saw his eight-race winning streak in his No. 26 PLM come to a disappointing end.

Justin South, one of the finest PLM drives in the nation, rounded out the podium.

“It’s taken awhile for us to catch up,� said Garvey, who enveloped the crowd with smoke after a spectacular burnout. “We finally got there. Bubba has been so hard to beat here. That’s why we’re so excited. It’s been a long road, but we’re finally back where we need to be.�

 

Home Depot Modifieds and Pro Trucks

Most athletes hit their primes in their 30s.

Okie Mason is defying the odds at 52.

Mason had locked up both the Home Depot Modifieds and Pro Trucks track titles before the 35-and 25-lap features, respectively, began at the Whataburger Night of Champions on Saturday at Five Flags.

But the Eight Mile, Ala., driver wasn’t resting on his laurels. Mason won the feature for good measure, holding off a determined Donnie Hamrac.

Mason finished third in the Pro Trucks to race winner Howard Langham. Jami Weimer, a 19-year-old female driver from Cumming, Ga., finished as the Pro Trucks runner-up.

“Man, this is a dream season,� said Mason, who also secured track titles in both divisions at Mobile International Speedway earlier this month. “When you’re old like I am, not many people come after you. But I’m here for the old people.�

Victory Lane nearly turned into a boxing ring, as Hamrac and Milton’s Chris Cotto exchanged unpleasantries and had to be separated by track officials.

Those two, who have a history from past features, mixed it up throughout the Mods feature until Hamrac turned Cotto coming out of Turn 2 with 30 laps complete.

 

Beef “O� Brady’s Sportsman

Johnny Greene Jr. hooked himself another one.

The charter boat captain by day collected his second Beef “O� Brady’s 25-lap feature of the season Saturday, keeping Lee “Red Dog� Reynolds� at bay.

“It was a heckuva race,� Greene said. “Red Dog, it’s fun racing with him. It’s good to see him up here again.�

Shanna Ard won the track championship at the Whataburger Night of Champions without finishing the race.

Ard was wrecked with nine laps left and saw his night end with a broken radiator among other issues.

Still, his margin coming into Saturday night was so heavy that he could not be caught by the cars that came out to the track.

“They were beating the hell out of each other, but you know what, it’s racing,� Ard said. “We still won championship and I can’t thank my family for all the sacrifices. I hate it had to end that way, I really wanted to finish in the top three.�

Shawn Laws led for most of the race, the first 15 laps, before all heck broke loose.

Laws bobbled in Turn 2, which opened the door for Greene and Reynolds. Greene and Laws got hooked together and Reynolds took P1 momentarily.

But before the field could make it back around to the start-finish line for the positioning to count, the same crash that collected Ard ended nights for several other drivers.

“Shawn Laws did a great job driving,� Greene said. “My apologies for getting into him, but it was nothing intentional.�

 

Butler U-Pull-It Bombers

Michael Nelson left no doubt Saturday night.

He came into the Whataburger Night of Champions tied with Robert Balkum for the overall Butler U-Pull-It Bombers points lead.

But Nelson, the defending track champion, broke the tie with a better qualifying effort and then locked up his second consecutive title by finishing one position ahead of Balkum.

“Championship, baby, yessir!� Nelson screamed over the public address system. “I’m so excited. Man, it's awesome. Back-to-back championships. I love it.�

The Mobile tandem of B.J. Leytham and Geno Denmark finished 1-2, respectively, but the battle everyone followed around the famed half-mile oval was between Nelson and Balkum.

Balkum got hanged out on the start and battled around John Kevin Merritt just to keep Nelson in view.

He had almost a half-straightaway racetrack to make up on Nelson, who was holding onto third comfortably.

Everything was hunky-dory and it seemed mathematical that Nelson would cruise home in third and defend his track title.

But when Michael Kitchen went for a spin in Turn 4 to bring out the caution with four laps left, one wondered if Balkum could make one final charge for the hardware.

It wasn’t meant to be, though

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