Championship for Pro Lates and Pro Trucks

Taylor Jorgensen holds a slim seven point lead over Howard Langham.

Both will have their hands full and it is a must that both drivers will have to be on top of their game to pull this championship off.

We expect a healthy field of cars tonight and as always some of the best racing you can find anywhere. Also on the schedule are the Sportsman and Bombers.

You will only have to wait one week as we will return on Saturday, September 24th for the last race of the season until the 49th Annual Snowball Derby. week, we will treat you We’ll give a box of to 150Next laps of hard core racing for Really Good Steaks the Super Late Models, sponsored

by Deep South Crane Rental and to the Five Flags PFC brakes. This will be the last 50/50 winner race for the Blizzard Series and beginning on May 28th the Southern Super Series and champions in both series will be crowned.

Also on the 24th, the Super Let Us Fix Your Windshield.

Stock, Sportsman and Bomber At No Cost To You.* championships will be determined.

A windshield contributes to Hopefully you won’t miss either your vehicles structural integrity. race because I can guarantee you the air is going to be full of exciteCall us and we’ll file your claim. ment.

See ya at the races!!

(850) 476-6340

When you leave 5 Flags Speedway tonight all of you great fans will know who the champion is for the 2016 regular racing season in the Allen Turner Hyundai Pro late Model and the Pro Truck divisions. The Pro Late Models will run for 100 green laps, and it’s no secret that Alabama’s Brett Holmes has clinched the championship for the Pro Late Models but the trucks will be something you don’t want to miss. (See stories inside.)

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*Florida insurance companies must pay full cost for windshield repairs or replacements if you carry comprehensive coverage.

-Steve

Going into Saturday’s 100-lap season finale, Daffron and four other PLM drivers are separated by 12 points or less for that coveted second spot.

Veteran Milton driver Wayne Niedecken, Jr. currently leads for the final berth, but is only two points ahead of West Palm Beach’s Jeff Choquette — riding a four-race win streak at Five Flags — and six points clear of Daffron.

Holmes Home Free for PLM Crown,

“We’re just trying to make sure we have everything in line with the chassis and the car,” Niedecken said, “so we’re ahead of the newcomers. We just want to keep our nose clean. Last

Racing fans remember well the wise words of year, at this time, we had a rough weekend and gentleman, scholar and big-hairy-American-winningdestroyed the car. I’m hoping for a better weekmachine Ricky Bobby who copyrighted the phrase, end this time around. The main thing is to have a “If you ain’t first, you’re last™.” good performance.”

Rarely does a driver gun for second. That is,

Long-time champions in the sport, Nieunless that spot holds vital importance. Such will decken and Choquette are no strangers to big-time be the case. With Bret Holmes already clinching late model racing and winning. But a guaranteed the track championship last month, one slot on the grid for the Flake is still a 00 Anthony Cataldi final mystery remains entering the Allen 1 Perry Patino treasured accomplishment that means Turner Tuneup 100 on Saturday: Who just as much to the veteran duo as it 2 Bret Holmes 2 Luke Christian prevails in a hotly-contested battle for does to the rookie, Daffron.

3 Others Eye Other Pass to Snowflake

7 Cole Daffron 9 Jeff Choquette “They know I’m 110 percent on10 RS Senter

The PLM series winner, the board because I know they’re 110 14 Chris Davidson aforementioned Holmes, and the driver 14 Connor Okrzesik percent into it,” Choquette said of his that finishes second in the season stand- 17 Okie Mason Jett Racing Team owners. ings automatically punch their tickets to 18 Ryan Paul 19 Adam Johnson the Snowflake 100.

Daffron, in his first full season rac21 Justin South 22 Jordan McCallum ing late models on asphalt, has com The “Flake,” as it has become af- 23 Josh Hollis peted mostly on dirt tracks since he fectionately known, will fall on the first 26 Chandler Smith was a go-kart wunderkind at 9.

27 Austin Wood Saturday in December during the 49th 40 Keith Thorpe annual Snowball Derby. It is overwhelm- 41 Troy Grisaffi The Pell City, Ala., native grew ingly regarded as the nation’s most pres- 51 Zack Knowles up racing at Talladega Short Track.

55 Ronnie Osmer tigious PLM race and the appetizer to Daffron was a national champion on Sunday’s 300-lap main course for Super 80 C J Lockamy dirt by the time he was 11 in 2007.

81 Brandon Odom Late Models.

He always felt drawn to asphalt rac89 Jeremy Pate ing, though, and it wasn’t primarily 92 Ron McDonald

“That’d mean a lot to us,” said 97 Cole Anderson because he got to interact with Sprint 99 Johnny Greene 18-year-old rookie Cole Daffron, who Cup Series stars, such as Carl Ed99 Jr Niedecken currently sits fourth in the PLM standwards, Trevor Bayne and Tony Stewings. “That’s what we’re shooting for. art, on the weekends NASCAR would Coming into the year, we really didn’t think we’d invade the Superspeedway. have a chance. Now, we do.”

(Read the rest of Chuck Corder’s story on second?

Going into this Saturday’s 100-lap season finale, Daf-

the PLM championship on our web site: www.5flagsspeedway.com)

” It won’t take a miracle Saturday for Langham to pull off the upset and come away with the track championship. All he needs is to either finish four spots ahead of Jorgensen during the 40 lapper or, first, make up some ground during qualifying and then still beat her to the flagstand.

By Chuck Corder

Jorgensen, Langham Stare Down Championship Dreams with Pro Trucks Track Title on the Line

Taylor Jorgensen has made quite the splash in her rookie Pro Trucks campaign here.

Yet despite her three wins and a runner-up finish through five races, the 20-year-old Georgian still has had to navigate rough waters thanks to a close rival.

Veteran Howard Langham, 49, has kept her honest by being the model of consistency.

The Mobile-area driver hasn’t finished lower than sixth and boasts three podium finishes, including a pair of seconds. Jorgensen leads Langham by a slim 7 points heading into the 40-lap season finale Saturday.

“It’s a little nerve wracking,” Jorgensen said of maintaining her championship cushion. “(Langham has) been the most consistent all season. He has been right there, knocking on the door with a bunch of top-three finishes.

“It has made my drive to win even more extreme than it already was. Honestly, of course I want to win, but the championship means the most to me. If I can finish ahead of the (No.) 1 car (Langham), that’d be awesome. If not, the championship will be well-deserved for him as well.”

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Super Stock, Sportsmen, Bombers.

10/1 Mountain Dew Drifting 11/19 Snowball Derby(C) Preview 12/1-4 49th Annual Snowball Derby

The winner of any race, regardless of division, at the famed half-mile asphalt oval is awarded 50 points. Second earns 48 and the points continue to descend by intervals of 2 throughout the field.

Langham could easily make up that gap with his polished driving skills. There’s also the possibility of accidents, a reality that happened back in June when Jorgensen finished 12th, easily her worst result. “ Any other time, she’s been spot on and consistent,” Langham said. “You can’t knock her for what she’s been able to accomplish. She’s done a heckuva job, especially considering it’s her first year driving a truck, and it’s her first year in Pensacola. “Hats off to her. If we can somehow sneak out with (the title), that’d be icing on the cake for us.”

With Saturday’s finale being the last race before the Snowball Derby in December, there is an expectation based on past seasons to see drivers that haven’t raced at Pensacola’s high banks all year or in their careers. If history repeats itself, it can throw more variables into Jorgensen’s celebration plans. “I’ve considered it — the new faces and new trucks will see out there,” she said. “I’m just going to take my time, and pace myself’”.(Read the rest of the Pro Truck story on our web site: www.5flagsspeedway. com.)

National Anthem by Pensacola Sound Chorus

Who is at the Wheel?

5 Derek Long; Bay Minette 8 BJ Leytham; Mobile 13 Jimmy Hollingsworth, Mobile 15 Robert Loper, Irvington 16 Brad Mosley; 8 Mile 22 John K Merritt; Pensacola 22 Zack Carpenter, Loxley, AL 24 Caleb Burkett, Pensacola 29 Matt Thompson, Wilmer, AL 34 Cory Pittman, Cantonment 42 Brandon Sidner, Pensacola 44 Bobby Jones, Mobile 49 Jay Whalen, Pensacola 52 Robert Balkum, Pensacola 55 Kenny Bullard, Pensacola 56 Kerner Kafka, Pensacola 71 Tommie Blocker, Invington 78 Tim Wilmot, Cantonment

80 Zack Jordan, Pensacola 86 Jonathan Smith, Theadore 88 Geno Denmark, Dauphin 91 Sarah Dority, Pensacola 95 Robert Riley, Gulf Breeze

00 Brannon Fowler, Molino 1 Jonathan Langham, Mobile 6 Jim Pokrant, Pensacola 09 Hunter McNair, Cantonment 13 Paul Mathis, Pensacola 28 Dayton Sidner, Cantonment 23 Jake Moore. Pensacola 31 Johnny Greene, Daphne, AL 33 Steve Buttrick, Cantonment 51 Albert Pirez, Lillian, AL 60 Jimmy Goodwin, Milton 77 Shawn Laws, Navarre 81 Tina Davidson, Pensacola 97 Hunter Lambert, Pensacola 99 Billy Hoover, Pensacola

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Pictures Tom 251-597-4747 Photo

8

B J Leytham

33 Steve Buttrick

52

Robert Balkum

6

22

John K Merritt

28 Dayton Sidner

6

Kerner Kafka

29 Shanna Ard

71

Tommie Blocker

97 Hunter Lambert

3

Taylor Jorgensen

94

Jason Johnson

1

Howard Langham

9

Todd Jones

46

Jarrett Parker

9

Andrue Nolen

36

Rodney Benefield

4

Bill Cooley

40

Brian Weimer

14

Wesley King

2

Bret Holmes

7

Casey Roderick

99 Jr. Niedecken

77

Zane Smith

12

Harrison Burton Chris Davidson Bubba Pollard Donnie Wilson

9

Jeff Choquette

7

Cole Daffron

89 Jeremy Pate

14 4t 26 2

Jim Pokrant

See web site for latest total points for all drivers.