Night of Champions News

Schedule

Friday 3:00 Pits Open 2 Donnie Wilson 2h Brett Holmes 4 Kason Plott 5 Dalton Armstrong 7 Casey Roderick 9 Jeff Choquette 11 David Rogers 11 Logan Boyett 14 Conner Okrzesik 15 Christian Eckes 16 Johanna Long 19 Kyle Plott 26 Chandler Smith 26 Bubba Pollard 26 Travis Braden 30 Bobby Knox 43 Dennis Schoenfeld 47 Allen Karnes 51 Cole Rouse 51 Stephen Nasse 54 David Gilliland 55 Cole Anderson 58 Tyler Ankrum 79 Kyle Bryant 88 Garrett Jones 92 Ron McDonald 95 Derrick Griffin 98 Paul Kelley 99 Casey Smith 99 Chase Purdy 112 Augie Grill

00 00 1 2 4 4 04 05 08 7 9 10 14 14 17 18 18 21 21 22 22 23 24 26 27 30 30 41 42 43 46 46 50 51 51 55 66 79 89 95 99

5:00 – 9:00 Open Practice (tires & fuel available until 8pm)

Anthony Cataldi Brandon Curren Josh Adkins Luke Christian Sat, Sept. 23rd Elliott Massey 10:00 Pits Open; Neil Wells Pre Tech Begins Cory Roper 11:00 Qualifying/Tire SelecBayley Currey Memphis Villarreal tion Draw (tech station) 11:15 Race Tire SelecCole Daffron tion (SSS 6) (ATPLM 4) Jeff Choquette RS Senter Conner Okrzesik 12:00 noon Drivers/ Chris Davidson Crew Chiefs Meeting Kurt Guillot 12:45–1:15 SSS Prac Ryan Paul Casey Roderick 1:20–1:50 ATPLM Prac Brandon Johnson 1:55 – 2:25 SSS Ryan Herbert Final Practice Brandon Herbert 2:30–3:00 ATPLM Riley Thornton Final Practice Josh Hollis Christopher Tullis Chandler Smith 3:00 SSS to pre qualiAustin Wood fying tech (by group) Bobby Knox 3:30 ATPLM to pre Rusty Sanford qualifying tech (by group) Troy Grasaffi 4:30 SSS Qualifying J J Day Justin South 5:15 ATPLM Qualifying Cole Williams 6:15 Autograph Jarrett Parker Session (in Fan Zone) Ty Roberts 7:15 SSS Cars to Grid Perry Patino 7:30 Pre-Race Festivities Zack Knowles Ronnie Osmer 7:45 Deep South Korey Ruble Cranes 125 Blizzard/ Michael Villarreal SSS Championship .

Taylor Jorgensen Allen Turner Tune-Up Derrick Griffin 100 PLM Championship Jr. Niedecken

By Chuck Corder

Oct. 7th AMA SUPERMOTO Oct 21 Rare Air VW show; and Marine Corps League car show Nov 16 Miss Snowball Pageant Nov. 18 Snowball Preview Nov 30-Dec 3 Snowball Derby

National Anthem

Eddie Gibbs, Eglin AFB

Roderick and Pollard Prepare to Hoist Champions’ Hardware, Keep Close Eye on Derby Preparations Picture it: Gridlock in Atlanta.

Bumper-to-bumper traffic, “Spaghetti Junction,” the whole nine. Got that frustrating, irritable mental image emblazoned in your brain?

Now, imagine navigating the notoriously congested I-85 and I-285 beltway with an extraordinarily heavy foot of Casey Roderick, one of the nation’s top late model drivers.

“What gets old is all the traffic,” said Roderick, whose 15 wins this season include all three Allen Turner Pro Late Model 100 lappers run this season at Five Flags Speedway.

“I sit in traffic more than actual driving time. No traffic, I can make it in 45 minutes.” Instead, it’s typically a 90-minute daily stretch for the Lawrenceville, Ga., native on his way to Fayetteville.

Fayetteville, Ga. Home to one Ronnie Sanders. Owner and crew chief of the famed red No. 18 late model program that Roderick has guided so deftly this season.

The team returns to the famed halfmile asphalt oval for the Night of Champions. The regular season finale (lest we forget about a certain 50th milestone come December) promises not to disappoint with the Allen Turner Tune-Up 100 for PLMs and the Deep South Cranes 125 for the Deep South Cranes Blizzard Series Super Late Models, run in conjunction with the Southern Super Series.

Roderick looks to lock up his first career Allen Turner PLM track crown and his third overall in Pensacola.

“Adding one to the collection is always good,” said Roderick, who won Blizzard Series track championships the

last two years. “It’s something to be proud of. You can always look back at that particular trophy, a championship trophy, and it reflects on the whole year.

“It can sit there and always remind you of how hard you worked, the struggles you had to get through to try and improve yourself.”

Roderick leads Milton legend Wayne Niedecken Jr. by 36 points thanks to three commanding performances.

If Roderick is able to secure the title, it would be his second PLM track championship in the month of September.

He won the Alabama 200 at Montgomery Motor Speedway earlier this month to clinch that track title.

“I’ve run three Alabama 200s so far,” Roderick said. “The first I finished third. The second, last year, I finished second. So I guess the third year was the charm.”

The 25-year-old Roderick hopes to join Chase Elliott (2015), Augie Grill (2008), Bobby Gill (1993) and Ed Howe (1972) as the only drivers to win the Alabama 200 and the Snowball Derby in the same year.

“I’ve been really good at the Snowball the last two years, but we’ve just had some unfortunate things happen,” Roderick said. “I go all year, have decent luck, and don’t get into much trouble; Derby time, everything hits me all at once. Two years ago I was running second, my crew guys got taken out on pit row, and then somebody got together with me when I was pulling out of my spot and ripped the whole nose off the car. Stupid stuff has taken me outta the race.

“Hopefully, this year we’ll be fast, but minus the bad luck.”

Another contender looking to shed a run of bad luck at the Derby will be Bubba Pollard. The Senoia, Ga., driver is 30 now, married, with baby “Mac” watching her daddy’s every move out on the racetrack.

“She’s watching racecars on TV now,” Pollard said of little Elizabeth MacMillian, the first child for he and wife Erin. “It’s cool for her to go to the track and get to be in the Victory Lane pictures.”

Pollard has won two of the three previous Blizzard Series races this season and finished runner-up in the other. With a 27-point cushion over Jeff Choquette, Pollard seems in good shape for his third career Blizzard Series track title.

It’d be funny to call Pollard an elder statesman if it wasn’t a reality with so many teenage drivers giving the sport a youth appeal.

“Guys are starting off so young, and it’s incredible how fast they learn, how fast they go,” Pollard said. “When I was their age, I was scared to death. They teach me something, too.”

But now out of his 20s, Pollard sees no reason to slow down. His busy schedule took him to California, Michigan, Wisconsin, South Carolina and other stops outside of southern short tracks where he could test his mettle against all comers.

(Continued on our web site.)

Video Ted Baber Eddie Richie 251-232-8836 850-458-2501 Car Photos

11

Johnathan Day

00

Brannon Fowler

26

Bubba Pollard

71

Tommie Blocker

3

Mark Barnhill

9

Jeff Choquette

52

Robert Balkum

07

Jim Pokrant

7

Casey Roderick

91

Sarah Dority

55

Jimbo Walker

26

Chandler Smith

22

John K Merritt

33

Steve Buttrick

19

Kyle Plott

98 Jay Jay Day 46 Jarrett Parker 29 Shanna Ard 66 Andrew Johnson

5t

18 Clint Holmes 2 Jensen Jorgensen

3t

151 Gary Sutton

18

Casey Roderick

92

Bubba Winslow

14

Chris Davidson

40

Todd Jones

18

Ryan Paul

82

Joe Mahuron

99

Junior Niedecken

97

Hunter Lambert

05

Bailey Currey

2017 Track Champions