|
| Durden Goes Wire To Wire in Super Late Model 100 | 
By Rick Warren
Saturday Night. Bronson Motor Speedway. Beautiful Weather. A Pit Area Full of Super Late Models. 100 Laps of Racing. What more could a race fan ask for?
You could feel the excitement building from early Friday afternoon at the open practice session for the Super Late Models. As the drivers from all over the state became familiar with this track once again, laps times were falling faster than prices at WalMart.
As time for qualifying drew closer, every one was looking for a lap in the elusive 12 second range. Unofficially, several drivers dropped into the 12 second range in practice. When qualifying was over, no one had broken the barrier, but several came very close. The fast qualifier was the Old Pro, Dave Pletcher, with a time of 13.051
Second Fast was Wayne Anderson , at 13.124 , with Dick Anderson third at 13.212, Robbie Yoakam fourth at 13.233, and Kevin Durden fifth at 13.271. After qualifications were done, Dave Pletcher as the #1 Qualifier had the task of drawing a number to determine the number of cars, if any, to invert in the starting order. Pletcher reached in the bag and drew a #5, which put Kevin Durden on the Pole, with Robbie Yoakam outside. The second row was a father and son row, with Dick and Wayne Anderson starting side by side.
The field was set, introductions were done, and the fans were ready to watch the best of the best try to outrun each other for 100 laps! When the Green Flag fell, Durden drove into the lead with Yoakam, Anderson, Anderson, Jimmy Cope, and Pletcher right behind. With only a few cautions for minor incidents, fans got to see a lot of green flag racing.
Shortly after the start, Dick Anderson moved the #14 car into second, and went to work on Durden, trying the high side, the low side, trying to rattle the leader, looking for any opening to try and take the lead. Anderson made several runs at the leader, but came up a little bit short each time. While Anderson was trying to take the lead, he also had to contend with Cope and Pletcher taking turns trying to pass for second place.
The race only had one serious incident, when on a restsrt, Daniel Keene Jr. got crossed up coming off turn 4, and collected Patrick Williams. Both cars were damaged heavily, and unable to continue.
The race ended with Anderson making one final run at Durden, but the #50 Wilson Enterprises/ Mr.Lee/Winners Circle Monte Carlo proved to be to strong, and Durden came away with the well earned victory.
Dick Anderson finished a strong second, with Jimmy Cope third, Dave Pletcher fourth, and Mike Franklin rounding out the top five.
Durden , by virtue of leading every lap, collected all the lap money, adding a nice bonus to his winnings for the night.
In the Winners Circle, track Owner Mike Cope handed Durden a Check for $4000, for the win, and the lap money.
Durden said that his car seemed to be getting better as the race went on, but he still was very much aware of the ones chasing him, and was very happy with the car, the crew, and all his supporters.
Have an opinion on this story? Post a message on our Message Board!
news@karnac.orgor send a letter to the editor!
|
