Riding the Road to the Snowball Derby With only one race remaining after tonight, everyone is trying to lock their selves in the top ten in points. This could possibly ensure a starting spot in the 49th Annual Snowball Derby come December. The points they receive will also count toward the Southern Super Series point championship, which consist of five different tracks. Look for a great field of some of the top Super Late Model drivers in the country to be present. Also on the schedule are the Beef O’Brady Pro Trucks, where Shanna Ard makes his first run in his new truck, the Dock on Pensacola Beach Sportsman and the Butler U-Pull-It Bombers. Looking ahead to next time... We have the highly popular bashing and crashing Demolition Derby, presented by Michles and Booth. That is in two weeks, on August 5th It pays $1,500 to the last car running, then 300 to second and $200 for third place. to the Five Flags This year the field is limited to 50/50 winner 14 vehicles, that’s the limit of our crash beginning on May 28th zone on the front straight away. It’s a Back to School nite for the kids too. Admission for everyone 6 and older is $5...so we all can be kids for at Let Us Fix Your Windshield. least one night! One other feature too. We have At No Cost To You.* invited all candidates in county wide A windshield contributes to primary elections from Santa Rosa and your vehicles structural integrity. Escambia counties to join us to meet the race fans. So we all get to say hi to Call us and we’ll file your claim. those who are offering their services for (850) 476-6340 public office on August 30th. See ya at the races!
If you are a big fan of Super Late Model racing, tonight is meant for you! The ultra-fast Supers will make their third trip to Five Flags Speedway for race number three in the Deep South Crane Rental Blizzard Series race sponsored by SERF, Inc., specializing in engineering and design of pressure vessels, reactors heat exchangers and pipe. The Blizzard Series points look like they will go down to the wire and decided in race 4 Saturday, Sept/ 24th. Zane Smith leads Kyle Grissom by only five points and Casey Roderick, last year’s Blizzard Champion, by only six points. Only 20 points separate the top 5 so all 3 drivers will be on hand looking for the win.r
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With Roots in Dirt, Determination Paying Off in Rookie Season Many routes lead drivers to milestone victories. Jarrett Parker’s path to his first career victory at Five Flags not to mention asphalt, was unconventional to say the least. Parker, 21 and a Beef “O” Brady’s Pro Trucks rookie, overcame no practice on race day and a backup transmission to break through with his first win — and first pole, last month. “We changed transmissions in the pits that night,” said Parker, a go-kart wunderkind on dirt since he was 9. “We got two courtesy laps and then qualified, and got the pole. Even though we got the win, and I’m ecstatic over that, the truck is still not where I want it to be. “If a driver says he’s ever there, then he’s not trying to find that extra bit. There’s always something to get out of a vehicle.” The inspired and motivated Molino native, now Pensacola resident, is in his first year driving a full-bodied vehicle after a decorated career in go-karting. He is just 27 points out of first. That proximity to the front comes thanks to three top-four finishes after a “DNF” derailed his debut when a wreck ruined the season opener. A night after wowing Pensacola fans, Parker brought his winning act to Mobile and took home another checkered flag.
“Honestly, I couldn’t explain how I felt after the win Five Flags,” he said. “And to win in Mobile the next night, it was like a weight lifted off my shoulders. It was pure happiness for the team and all the sponsors.” Among them are Grocery Advantage, Shannon’s Heating and Cooling LLC, A-1 Small Engines and Parker Roofing, the family business. Racing has been the family’s other business since Scott Parker, Jarrett’s father, was running roughshod in Hobby divisions at dirt tracks across the Gulf Coast with close friend Scott Stedham, one of the founders of A-1 Small Engines. “I’ve got old VHS videos of the two of them,” Jarrett Parker said. “They always said it was the ‘Scott and Scott Show.’ ” Parker seemed predestined to become a hotshoe. In addition to his father’s footsteps, Parker follows in the shadow of long-distance cousins, Joe and Troy Ruttman, wheelmen from past generations. (Read the rest of the story on our web site.)
1 Derek Scott, Jr 2 Donnie Wilson 5 Garrett Archer 5 Quinton Bear 7 Casey Roderick 9 William Byron 9 Jeff Choquette 9 Derek Kraus 10 Ryan Crane 11 David Rogers 11 Logan Boyett 12 Harrison Burton 14 Ryan Luza 14 Chris Davidson 17 Quin Houff 19 Riley Herbst 26 Bubba Pollard 43 Dennis Schoenfeld 47 Allen Karnes 51 Todd Gilliland 77 Zane Smith 79 Kyle Bryant 97 Cole Anderson 98 Kenzie Ruston 99 Casey Smith 99 Jr. Niedecken 99 Raphael Lessard
1 Howard Langham 02 Eric Wallace 3 Taylor Jorgensen 4 Jerry Goff Jr 6 Okie Mason 12 Adam Haugh 15 Mark Lindley 18 Jessie Reid 22 Matt Jackson 26 Steven Davis 36 Chad Chastain 40 Brian Weimer 46 Jarrett Parker 47 Jami Weimer 47 Andy Wojtaszczyk 52 Eric Courville 56 Darryl Rudd 68 Lori Lindley 95 Chris Colomander
not only the win, but the praises of his car ownercrew chief. “ It was one of those situations. Fifteen to go, and you haven’t been able to get around (Grill) on the outside,” Anthony Campi recalled. “(Anderson) needed to fall back, regroup, get the car situated and make another run at it.
Young Anderson Proving to be Quick Study against Super Late Model Elite When Augie Grill admits defeat, you know you’ve accomplished something. Give him a few years, a decade or two perhaps, but at some point 18-year-old Cole Anderson will recall fondly the night he chased down the unflinching veteran and he’ll wax poetically about his eventual win. But to see Anderson’s Diamondback 125 victory earlier this month at South Alabama Speedway in Opp, it almost felt like a changing of the guard moment for short-track racing. It wasn’t just that Anderson won his second straight Southern Super Series race, but the way he defeated Grill. Anderson showed a level of maturity in changing strategies that earned him
8/5 Demolition Derby, Modifieds of Mayhem, Sportsmen, Bombers; Meet the Candidates Nite 8/13 Mountain Dew Drifting 9/2 Pro Late Twin 50’s Super Stocks, Sportsmen, Bombers. 9/17 Allen Turner PLM Tune Up 100 Pro Trucks, Sportsmen, Bombers. 9/24 Season Championships, Blizzard 150, Super Stock, Sportsmen, Bombers. 10/1 Mountain Dew Drifting 11/19 Snowball Derby(C) Preview 12/1-4 49th Annual Snowball Derby
“It was good he realized that. He surprises me sometimes. We talked over the radio how to set (Grill) up on that pass, and (Anderson) executed it perfectly. Four or five months ago, we probably end up second, wrecked or something different.” Instead, Anderson took the lead with 13 laps to go and snatched his fifth win of the season for the Anthony Campi Racing No. 97. Grill finished second and was left shaking his head, gobsmacked at the Houdini act Anderson managed to pull off. Anderson looks to make it a half-dozen victories this Friday when the Super Late Models return to Five Flags Speedway for the SERF, Inc. 125. Anderson hails from Northfield, Minn., a quaint town that gets to enjoy the beauty of each season. Despite his Midwestern roots, Anderson is becoming quite familiar with the famed halfmile asphalt oval. He’s run the two previous SLM races to a pair of subpar results and collected a pair of fourths at last month’s Allen Turner Hyundai Pro Late Model Twin 50s. “It’s a cool place,” Anderson said of Five Flags. “It has a lotta character and it’s fast. It’s quickly becoming one of my favorite racetracks to go to. I’m looking forward to coming back this week. “I have to manage my tires better. The track’s real abrasive. Take care of the tires and getting in a rhythm helps a lot.” (The story is continued on our web page: www.5flagsspeedway.com)
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 29 Shanna Ard, Milton 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
52
B J Leytham
33 Steve Buttrick
8
Robert Balkum
29 Shanna Ard
22
John K Merritt
07 Jim Pokrant
6
Kerner Kafka
28 Dayton Sidner
71
Tommie Blocker
97 Hunter Lambert
3
Taylor Jorgensen
9
Todd Jones
1
Howard Langham
94
Jason Johnson
46
Jarrett Parker
9
Andrue Nolen
40
Brian Weimer
14
Wesley King
6
Okie Mason
4
Bill Cooley
2
Bret Holmes
77
Zane Smith
99 Jr. Niedecken
31
Kyle Grissom
89 Jeremy Pate
7
Casey Roderick
12
Harrison Burton
99
Casey Smith
7
Cole Daffron
14 Connor Okrzesik
See web site for latest total points for all drivers.