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Thorn, Holmes Survive Wild Night to Score Pro Late Model Victories; 13-Year-Old Smith Makes Mark

By Chuck Corder

Many adjectives would be apt to describe Friday night at Five Flags Speedway.

Only one, however, could do it the justice it so rightly deserves: bizarre.

Perhaps, the calendar had drivers in foul moods. April 15, Friday’s date, was after all Tax Day.

Chalk it up to being just the second night of racing in the young season at the famed half-mile asphalt oval, an always abrasive and tricky track.

For two divisions, the Allen Turner Hyundai Pro Late Models and the Faith Chapel Super Stocks, it was their debut races and it showed.

Both classes had to have the opening green flag drop three separate times before finally completing a scored lap, a product of caution flags waving off their first two attempts to start their respective races.

A few yellows flew for nasty and scary wrecks, some that required trips to the Escambia County emergency medical team bus for further evaluation. Under one caution in the Faith Chapel Super Stocks class, teams from the offending parties that brought out the yellow had to be separated by track officials and local deputies as fists began to fly.

Something, most certainly, was in the air Friday at Five Flags Speedway. Still, when the long evening finally came to a merciful end well past midnight, history had once again been made at Pensacola’s high banks.

Maybe the three certainties in life are death, taxes and milestone moments at Five Flags.

Eighteen-year-old Bret Holmes became the latest to carve his spot in track lore, collecting his first-career Pensacola victory in the back half of the Allen Turner Hyundai Pro Late Model Twin 50s.

Holmes, named Rookie of the Race earlier this month at the ARCA event in Nashville, ran down Derek Thorn in the waning laps to deny the Bakersfield, CA, driver two trips to Victory Lane in one night.

Thorn won the 50-lap opener, his third victory at Five Flags in a year, after passing Holmes for the lead on Lap 25.

“We finally got it done tonight,� said an elated Holmes, who finished runner-up to Thorn in the first 50-lap feature. “We had been second and third here a bunch and it had been a little frustrating to come that short. I remember last year, running behind Derek, riding his tail when he crossed the line. We finally got over that hump this season.�

Holmes did it thanks to ideal tire management down the stretch when Thorn’s tires failed him.

Thorn, seemingly, had the dominant car throughout Friday, escaping from Holmes midway through the opener and barging to the lead by Lap 5 in the finale. The Californian enjoyed clean air and appeared on his way to a clean sweep before a caution came out with 30 laps complete.

From there, the rubber guiding on the Kurt Jett-owned No. 9 dissipated.

“Those last five or 10 laps felt like I was driving on ice,� Thorn said. “We had a lotta speed today.�

Much to the shock of fans because of Thorn’s superior driving, Holmes improbably passed him on Lap 41 and never looked back.

Thorn coupled his win with a third place after Pearland, Texas, driver Chris Davidson screamed by him on Lap 45 to take home runner-up honors to Holmes’ victory.

“I feel bad for our guys,� Thorn said. “Third ain’t bad, but you always come for the wins.�

Holmes’ victory was a crowning achievement for the Auburn University student. Earlier in the night, though, it was another teenager — a much-younger teenager — who made a bit of history.

Chandler Smith, all 13 years of him, wowed the Five Flags crowd by setting the fast time for the PLM during qualifying. Smith took his No. 26 to the pole under the guidance of crew chief Ricky Turner, a former Snowball Derby champion who groomed Sprint Cup young gun Chase Elliott and other protégé drivers.

The middle-schooler’s (MIDDLE SCHOOLER!!!!!) time of 16.654 seconds, eclipsed late model veteran Justin South (16.655) by .001 of a second.

After competing in the top-five for most of the first 50 lapper, though, Smith fell off in the final laps to finish seventh. He was 10th in the second half of the twin 50s.

Faith Chapel Super Stocks

Todd Jones is always looking to sell his No. 9 Super Stock ride.

Until someone takes him up on the offer, though, Jones will be content on enjoying nights like Friday at Five Flags Speedway.

Jones, the 2014 Super Stocks track champion, bested a decimated Faith Chapel Super Stocks field to claim a 25-lap feature victory.

The field lost a few drivers during practice, including legendary short-track driver Dave Mader III, and then two more as soon as the green flag dropped.

“I don’t like to win ’em like that, but I’ll take it,� Jones said. “I hate those two cars got tore up.�

Wesley King and Bobby Baria, encompassing the front row, were those two cars.

Their nights ended before they had a chance to begin. Baria, lined up outside, came down hard on King’s right side just as they passed the flagstand on the opening green.

The two couldn’t separate from one another, possibly because their wheels locked together, and both careened hard into the inside front wall.

They walked away safely, but in the pits afterward their two teams came to blows before others stepped in and separated the melee.

The Dock on Pensacola Beach Sportsmen

It’s shaping up to be quite the track championship battle Steve Buttrick and Brannon Fowler this season.

The two past The Dock on Pensacola Beach Sportsmen champions continued to wage their long friendly rivalry Friday night at the famed half-mile asphalt oval.

On this night, Buttrick took advantage of a rare Fowler mistake to score the 25-lap victory and relegate Fowler to second. Two-time defending series champion Shanna Ard was third.

On opening night last month, Fowler got the better of then-runner-up Buttrick.

“It’s just a reverse from last race,� Buttrick said. “It’s so much fun racing with Brannon. He made me work on my car after last race. I had nothing for him then. We made it a little better for tonight.�

Indeed. Buttrick took the lead from Fowler on Lap 6 when Fowler bobbled coming out of Turn No. 4.

Fowler tried to get under Buttrick in Turn No. 2 on Lap 16, but Buttrick denied him the chance.

“The car toward the latter stages didn’t have quite the power to get around (Buttrick),� Fowler said. “I wish we could’ve been one better, but that’s the way it goes. It was good hard racing.�

Butler U-Pull-It Bombers

Another Friday night, another trip to Victory Lane for Mobile-area driver B.J. Leytham at Five Flags Speedway.

Leytham has now won the first two Butler U-Pull-It Bombers 20-lap features this season. Pensacola driver Robert Balkum celebrated his birthday by admirably outracing Robert Loper for second, as Loper rounded out the podium.

“We weren’t even coming to race tonight,� Leytham admitted. “I thought we were just coming to watch.�

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