Motorsports Racing for May 22nd

SUPER LATE MODELS AND FIREWORKS TONITE When the Southern Super Series made their first appearance at here and Mobile International Speedway last month Texas native Casey Smith came to town with a slim points lead.

After a top five finish on Friday night here and his first Super Series win in Mobile, he went home with a more comfortable lead. He now holds a 61 point lead over Daniel Hemric. Being in position to win in every Southern Super Series race he has run in 2015, Smith finally picked up a much needed win at the ultrafast track just across the Alabama line in Irvington. Smith started on the pole at the track he dominated just a few years ago, and then dominated the race. Picture on right.

Heavy rains washed out all qualifying attempts and the race was started by point’s standings, which allowed Smith to start up front. Coming into tonight’s race we should see a “Dog Fight” shaping up from second thru fifth as only twelve points separate Daniel Hemric currently 2nd and Casey Roderick currently 5th.

In the last Southern Super Series race here at Five Flags we witnessed another “first” winner in the Southern Super Series race. Kyle Grissom drove a flawless race to claim the victory over the determined Dominique Van Weiringen as she gave Grissom all the pressure she could as she crossed the finish line for a very close second place finish.

Chuck Corder has stories on both inside.

Expect no different tonight as we will witness some good ole hard nose racing from such drivers as Donnie Wilson, Bubba Pollard, Grissom, Smith, Hemric, Harrison Burton and a host of others with the reputation of being some of the nations’ best short track drivers. Again, this will be a double header weekend as they travel to Mobile on Saturday.

Also on the schedule tonight will be the action packed Pro Trucks, Sportsman and Bombers.

Before closing we would like to send big CONGRATULATIONS to Justin South for his Pro Late Model win in the Allen Turner 100 and first ever win here two weeks ago and to Wayne Neidecken, Jr. on his win in the Pepsi 100 at Mobile.

Keep safe and we’ll see ya at the races!!!

National Anthem:

Eddie Gibbs Gulf Breeze

June 12 Modifieds of Mayhem #5 Plus Super Stock, Sportsmen and Bomber Marty White Appreciation Night, Kids Bike Racing.

June 26 Pro Late Double 20/30 Pro Truck, Sportsmen, Bomber, Vintage July 10 Pro Late Double 20/30 Super Stock, Sportsmen, and Bomber July 24 Super Late Blizzard #3, Plus Pro Truck, Sportsmen and Bomber Aug 7 Modifieds of Mayhem #7 Super Stock, Sportmen, Bomber PLUS Faster Pastor and Demolition Derby Aug 28 Pro Late Double 20/30 Plus Pro Truck, Sportsmen and Bomber Saturday, Sept 19 Pro Late Model 100 Allen Turner Tune-Up , Super Stock, Sportsmen and Bomber Saturday, Sept 26 Blizzard Pro Truck, Sportsmen and Bomber DSC Night of Champions Friday-Sun Oct. 23 NOPI Nationals Saturday, Nov. 21 Snowball Preview Thursday, December 3 - Sunday Dec 6th 48th Annual Snowball Derby

Car Photos

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Grissom Hopes to Back Up Blizzard Win, Blaze Own Path Toward NASCAR Ambitions

By Chuck Corder

Kyle Grissom shoots straight. There was a time when the 25 year old thought ascending the ranks to NASCAR was a mere formality.

The assumption is understandable once privy to the pit-row rearing Grissom enjoyed as a kid. The son of 1993 Xfinity Series champion Steve Grissom, Kyle spent most of his childhood watching his father compete on the biggest stages at the biggest tracks the sport had to offer.

“It was the only thing I knew,” Kyle Grissom said. “I always just assumed I’d be in NASCAR one day. That’s the way I thought it would go. There was no other way about it.” Of course, there was another way. While he awaits ever-so patiently on a call from NASCAR, Grissom is finally earning short-track stripes against the country’s top late model drivers.

Grissom won the Series opener at Five Flags Speedway last month, for his firstcareer trip to Victory Lane.He returns in the Harrison’s Public Safety No. 31 tonight, eyeing a repeat performance.

(Read all of Chuck’s story on our web: www.SnowballDerby.com)

By Chuck Corder

“It’s a different breed of racing down in the south,” said Van Wieringen, who finished 14th aboard her family-owned Pro Late Model at last December’s Snowflake 100, her first-ever glimpse at Five Flags. “They definitely have the best of the best here,” she continued. “It’s why I like being here.”

These days, Van Wieringen calls Charlotte, N.C., home. Growing up in Ontario, she followed in her father’s footsteps of road racing bikes when she dove headfirst into motocross at the tender age of 5.

Canadian by birth, American by wheels.

Dominique Van Wieringen was born and raised in Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada — a town about an hour south of Detroit — to a motocross-loving father and a mother who loved the sport of racing.

While the birth certificate officially, and correctly, reads Canada as Van Wieringen’s country of birth, her and younger brother Tristan “spent half our lives traveling throughout the states,” the 19 year old likes to joke.

Van Wieringen certainly earned an open invite to Pensacola anytime her heart desires after dazzling the loyal fans with her runner-up finish last month. “I’m hungry for more,” she said.

She’ll get all she can handle. In her first season driving for NEMCO Motorsports — a team co-owned by NASCAR fan favorite Joe Nemechek — Van Wieringen has made quite the splash. She is ninth in the Southern Super Series standings which marks the fifth race of the season, and trails leader Casey Smith by 168 points.

She was a natural. Murray and Janine Van Wieringen, Dominique’s parents, met at the racetrack, after all. Janine Van Wieringen gobbled up the behindthe-walls intricacies and had a knack for coordinating events for races.

“I come from a pure racing family,” Dominique Van Wieringen said. “Sometimes people say my mom is more into racing than my dad because she’s so passionate about it.” With a daughter destroying the Canadian competition, it didn’t take long for the Van Wieringens to regularly start crossing the border to attend races around Michigan’s peninsula and a little bit farther south.

“You can be No. 1 Canada, but you come to the states, and you’re mid-pack,” she said. “I wanted to run against people better than me because that’s when you can learn more.”Two years ago shemmoved to Charlotte following high school graduation. With an eye on a future in NASCAR, Van Wieringen has dug in her roots in the sport’s backyard.

(Read the entire story by Chuck Corder on our web site: www.snowballderby. com)

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The Locksmith Leader

FINAL 1 10 Okie Mason 2 13 David Beale 3 17 Chris Cotto 4 8 Donnie Hamrac 5 66 Heath Mills 6 57 Jason Huffmaster 7 7 Robert Chason 8 117 Michael Swilley 9 88 Joe Thornton 10 99 Brandon Howell

654 570 394 321 309 218 185 173 170 127

This is not a race car, but it was. James Owens converted it to street-legal, with headlights, tires and now you may see it on the highway. Really!