IT'S TIME TO RACE!!

September 2, 2008 Ronnie Smith Gets Big Win At Five Flags Five Flags Media Ronnie Smith won his second Pro Late Model race of the season last night at Five Flags Speedway, holding off points leader Brandon Carlson in a late race battle. After a slow start to the season, Smith now has two wins and a fourth place finish in the last three races. "Tonight was a really good night," Smith said. "We kind of had a slow start to the season and fell way back in the points. The car's been really good here lately, and we've come back to get in the top five." Smith took the lead from the pole and dominated the first half of the race. Keith Thorpe ran second until defending series champion, Sammy McMullen, took the position on lap-23. Lapped traffic slowed Smith on lap-29 and bottling up the top five cars. McMullen looked to make the pass for the lead, but lost moment after making contact with Smith. The contact pulled away half of Smith's rear bumper cover. One lap later, fourth-running Carlson made a strong move passing both John Wes Townley and McMullen on the same lap. By the time Carlson got to second, Smith had already pulled back to another sizeable lead. Carlson didn't seem to have the speed to catch Smith, but a caution on lap-36 gave him a chance to race for the win. Carlson looked under Smith on the restart but was unable to pull along side and had to fall back in line. He followed Smith until two laps to go, when he attempted to go inside of Smith in turn one. The move didn't stick as Carlson slid high coming off of turn two. That ended Carlson's chances as Smith pulled away to the win. Carlson held on to second with John Wes Townley third. Thorpe finished fourth while McMullen fell back to fifth in the closing laps. "I guess someone got into the back of me in that lap traffic," Smith said. "I could tell it did some damage, the car started to get loose after that. I really wasn't that worried though. The car was still pretty fast." Carlson added to his points lead tonight his closes competitor, Johanna Long finished sixth. "I didn't think I had a car fast enough to win," Carlson said. "I was really just points racing until I got to second, then I thought I had a chance. I was a little faster than him the last few laps. I just got into turn one too hard and slid high." In the Super Stock division, Tommy Rollins Jr. made his first trip back to victory lane since making his return to racing after more than a ten year break. Chris Cotto led early in the race with points leader James Kimbrough second, until the two made contact, sending both cars spinning in turn one. Rollins assumed the lead and held off Brandon Harris for the win. Cotto and Kimbrough battled back to finish third and fourth respectively. Allen Pierce finished fifth. Raymond Ray held off Randy Thompson to win the Sportsmen feature. Thomas Warren Jr. finished third with William Kitchen fourth and Bubba Winslow fifth. Michael Kitchen won the Bomber feature, passing John Taylor with two laps remaining. Taylor finished second with Travis Fowler third. Both Taylor and Fowler were disqualified after their cars failed post race inspections. Daryl Lynchard was moved up to second and Kenny Bullard to third. Racing returns to Five Flags on Sept. 12 with double points racing. Pro Late Model - 1. Ronnie Smith; 2. Brandon Carlson; 3. John Wes Townley; 4. Keith Thorpe; 5. Sammy McMullen; 6. Johanna Long; 7. Brandon Odom; 8. Keith English; 9. Shain Cheney; 10. Harry Murchison; 11. Elliott Massey; 12. Sams S. Smith Super Stock - 1. Tommy Rollins; 2. Brandon Harris; 3. Chris Cotto; 4. James Kimbrough; 5. Allen Pierce; 6. Mike Moore Sportsmen - 1. Raymond Ray; 2. Randy Thompson; 3. Thomas Warren, Jr.; 4. William Kitchen; 5. Bubba Winslow; 6. Thomas Faddis; 7. Wayne Burkett; 8. Jim Pokrant; 9. Tina Davidson Bomber - 1. Michael Kitchen; 2. Daryl Lynchard; 3. Kenny Bullard; 4. Tim Holland; 5. Michael T. Nelson; 6. Kearner Kafka; 7. Sam Mellema; 8. Daniel Webber; 9. Tim Chopp; 10. Devron Brooks; 11. Pete Kitchen; 12. William Goulet; 13. Brandon M. Burks; 14. Ronnie Powell; 15. Joel G. Lesley, Jr.; 16. Rick Grimes Have an opinion on this story? Post a message on our Message Board! or Email KARNACto send a letter to the editor!