Davin Scites qualified on the pole for the Bailey's 300

MISFORTUNE CLAIMS MAJORITY OF MMS RACERS AT MARTINSVILLE

Kelly Kingery tops the list of finishers in Bailey’s 300

JW Martin

RIDGEWAY, VA- Every Motor Mile Speedway regular who started the feature event in the Bailey’s 300 had a shot at winning Martinsville Speedway’s coveted grandfather clock. But time wasn’t on their side.

The race was filled with early promise for the MMS contingent. Over half of the 17 drivers entered in the event made the 200-lap feature. Davin Scites broke his own track record and sat on the pole, and for the second straight year he and Philip Morris occupied the front row following qualifying.

But only eight laps into the event, Chad Harris retired from the race.

Then Scites incurred underbody misfortune.

Soon thereafter, suspension issues forced Forrest Reynolds from competition.

Next, contact between leaders Morris and Dennis Setzer preceded a collision that put Morris out of contention two circuits from the finish.

So many started so strong on Sunday, but at the conclusion of the Bailey’s 300, only one of the nine Motor Mile starters completed the contest unscathed.

Billed as the best Late Model race in the country, the Bailey’s 300 showcases 42 of the best racers in the nation with a 200-lap shootout at the sport’s oldest venue. Flat in banking and steep in tradition, the Martinsville Speedway serves as a multifaceted platform for the competitors. For some, the event is an audition, for others, a curtain call. For one, it is the climax of their Late Model career.

Out of the 109 teams that traveled to the track for the annual event, 17 represented Motor Mile Speedway during the regular season. Six drivers qualified inside the top 22, and by virtue of their efforts they were exempt from the four heat races that set the remainder of the 42-car field. Forrest Reynolds, Craig Oliver and Jamie Byrd managed to make the show on the basis of their finish of fifth or better in the four, 25-lap sprints.

STARTING LINEUP – MMS REGULARS

1.) #06 Davin Scites – 20.316

2.) #26 Philip Morris – 20.365

5.) #27 Tommy Lemons Jr. – 20.402

13.) #4 Kelly Kingery – 20.502

15.) #5 Jerame Donley – 20. 543

18.) #3 Chad Harris – 20. 536

27.) #04 Forrest Reynolds – RACED IN

37.) #70 Craig Oliver – RACED IN

42.) #76 Jamie Byrd – RACED IN

FAILED TO QUALIFY

#56 Curtis Truex Jr

#5 Shaun Mangum

#30 Jason Merriman

#2 Dennis Holdren

#37 Dwayne Howard

#25 Derrick Lancaster

#73 Owen Kelly

#41 Rusty Skewes

Scites and Morris led the field to the start, with Morris’ no. 26 managing to maneuver around Scites’ no. 06 after the second circuit. The pair of Motor Mile rivals paced the first 17 laps of the event, until the defending champion of the contest, Dennis Setzer, overtook Morris off turn four following the first caution flag of the day.

Three more cautions plagued the first 50 laps of the event, with a multi-car collision collecting Oliver and Donley on lap 43. The fourth yellow of the day signaled the beginning of a race full of frustration for Donley, who would be involved in four accidents throughout the course of the contest. Ultimately, Donley rebounded to finish eighth, despite significant cosmetic damage.

Three Motor Mile regulars occupied the top four positions when the field got the restart on lap 46. Morris continued to give chase to Setzer, while Scites came under fire for third place from the no. 27 of Tommy Lemons Jr. Lemons had gained one position from his fifth place starting spot, and in the coming laps the duo would exchange the third position numerous times.

Morris resumed the lead on lap 74, occupying the top spot until the competition caution at lap 100. Scites would encounter underbody trouble seven laps from the half-way point, fading deep in the field as he fought a broken sway bar.

Race officials inverted the top six cars following the mandatory caution at lap 100. The new lineup benefited Lemons, who restarted in the second position. One lap later, the driver of the no. 27 Bailey’s Chevrolet had the lead. Lemons led the next 21 laps, surrendering the top spot to Setzer on lap 122. It had been an impressive race for Lemons, who had been the highest running Bailey’s sponsored car throughout the event. Five laps following the lead change, however, Lemons’ luck changed.

Morris had worked his way to third since the restart, and had joined in the fray for first on lap 122. Lemons had squeezed into the second spot, and for the next five laps Morris made fleeting attempts at the pass. Then, in the apex of turns three and four on lap 127, contact between the two sent Lemons looping up the banking in turn four. Lemons was able to drive away from the accident unharmed, but the damage was done. The team spent the rest of the race attempting to recover from the spin.

“We were just sitting there riding, waiting on the last fifty laps, and just got dumped,” Lemons said. “It’s a shame, I feel like we had a top three car easily.”

Two laps after the restart, misfortune claimed another Motor Mile contender. In his first start at Martinsville, Forrest Reynolds had rallied from his twenty-seventh place starting spot and into the ninth position when contact with another competitor bent the front-end suspension on the no. 04 Chevrolet. After spending four laps on pit road assessing the damage, Reynolds and the team retired from the event.

“We got to twelfth or thirteenth at the half-way point; we were diggin’ that first half. Then early in the second half Wayne Ramsey rammed into the right side of us,” Reynolds explained. “It was fun. It was a war out there; unreal.”

Scites and the no. 06 Champion Spark Plugs team would join Chad Harris and Reynolds in the garage on lap 161 after fighting overheating issues.

At lap 173 rain showers delayed the event for about one hour. Darkness was descending upon the track when the field took the restart, with Morris still in pursuit of Setzer. Another competition caution came at lap 190, giving driver no. 26 one final attempt at a pass on Setzer’s no. 2.

The opportunity proved to be Morris’ undoing.

“We both got loose going off into three and we banged,” Setzer explained afterward. “It was hard racing at Martinsville, that’s what we expect every time we come here.”

Morris saw the lap 194 altercation differently.

“Unfortunately, [Setzer] got in three a little hard and lost the back-end. He didn’t mean to take me out, but I was there, and it ended up collecting me. That put an end to our day,” Morris said.

Both drivers skated up the turn three banking following the contact, allowing eventual winner Jason York and Matt McCall to glide by underneath. Morris was tagged on the front stretch as he fought to regain control of his racecar. The spin would put Morris a lap down; an insurmountable deficit that relegated the no. 26 Clarence’s Steakhouse team to a seventeenth place finish.

The crash culminated in a green-white-checkered finish. York edged out Setzer at the line, and McCall finished third. Crossing the line in fourth place – the highest finisher among his Motor Mile peers – was Kelly Kingery. Branded with new sponsorship from Jet 21 String Guards, Kingery’s no. 4 had emerged from the race spotless, a tribute to Kingery’s experience and poise.

“I knew all you had to do was keep a good clean head and avoid the wrecks and you’ll have a decent finish,” Kingery said.

In nine attempts, the finish was Kingery’s best effort at the famous short track.

“The first 100 laps were all about survival. I pretty much knew that if I kept myself out of trouble I’d have a shot at a top ten, and I was real surprised to be able to have a shot at a top five. I’m glad I got to capitalize on that.”

For all of the Motor Mile drivers who competed at Martinsville Speedway Sunday, their hopes of attaining the checkered flag, the cash and the clock will have to wait until next time.

FULL FIELD FINISHING ORDER (MMS regulars in italics)

1.) #18 Jason York

2.) #2 Dennis Setzer

3.) #54 Matt McCall

4.) #4 Kelly Kingery

5.) #21 Butch Hamlet

6.) #40 C.E. Falk III

7.) #81 Matt DiBenedetto

8.) #5 Jerame Donley

9.) #78 Matt Jaskol

10.) #02 Joey Coulter

11.) #27 Tommy Lemons Jr.

12.) # 55 Alex Yontz
13.) #8 Jamie Yelton

14.) #44 Justin Johnson

15.) #70 Craig Oliver

16.) # 0 David Triplett Jr.

17.) #26 Philip Morris -1

18.) #28 Travis Jarrett

19.) #15 Michael Rouse

20.) #31 Ryan Robertson

21.) #88 Mark McFarland

22.) #76 Jamie Byrd -28

23.) #90 Terry Carroll

24.) #51 Wayne Ramsey

25.) #06 Davin Scites –DNF; Engine

26.) #04 Forrest Reynolds – DNF; Suspension

27.) #17 Stacy Puryear

28.) # 77 Timothy Peters

29.) #29 Andy Loden

30.) #71 Stephen Berry

31.) #87 Sam Yarbrough

32.) #24 Brad Brinkley

33.) #67 Greg Edwards

34.) #32 Owen Miller

35.) #00 Lucas Ransone

36.) #50 Jamie Caudill

37.) #08 Deac McCaskill

38.) #30 Cliff Daniels

39.) #16 R.D. Smith

40.) # 72 Richard Boswell

41.) #91 David Quakenbush

42.) #3 Chad Harris – DNF; Engine