Mike Looney's Swamp Thing

LOONEY LICKS ‘EM!

Limited Sportsman driver and car make mark on LMSC division as racing returns to MMS

JW Martin

An almost month-long downpour of rain at Motor Mile Speedway turned into an uproar of cheers Saturday night as racing finally resumed at the Radford short track.

The Collision Plus/Star Country event lived up to its name as collisions and carnage headlined every race of the evening. For the exception of the LMSC division, every class saw at least one red flag as action returned to the .416 mile speedway.

LMSC

Mother Nature held off the rain and Mike Looney held off the field through all 152 circuits to claim his first victory in Late Model competition at Motor Mile Speedway Saturday evening.

After besting the field with a lap time of 16.036 to take the Price’s Body Shop Pole Award, Looney encountered problems early in the event when he lost radio communications with the crew while leading on lap 25. Running without the aid of a spotter for the remainder of the race, the problem on Looney’s number 47 –dubbed “Swamp Thang”- could have been the downfall of an otherwise impressive performance. But with one of the nation’s best in Looney’s rear-view mirror coming to the checkered flag, the problem was solved.

“Motor Mile Speedway [is] the number one track in America. Philip Morris and Davin Scites behind me, I mean, that’s just to name a few. That’s a Limited car… I’m sure I’m gonna’ wake up here any minute from this dream,” a speechless Looney stated in victory lane.

In what turned out to be a happy ending for the ex- Limited Sportsman driver, Looney’s “dream” was marred with conflict as a number of the track’s elite took stabs at the lead late in the contest.

It was a race that almost never happened. Scattered clouds produced rain spurts throughout qualifying, but by the drop of the green, the skies had parted and for the first time in nearly a month, the sun beamed down over the 35 car Late Model field.

Only a pair of cautions slowed the event in the first 30 laps. The first came on lap 10, and the worse of the two occurred on lap 26. With the leaders encountering lapped traffic, the front of the field came three abreast down the backstretch, with the lapped machines of Dwayne Howard and the number 88 of Ben Bryant to the inside of Wade Day’s forth place car. As Howard fell back, the 88 converged with Day’s number 74, and as the pair connected and careened into the inside retaining wall, Day’s number 74 nerfed the nose of Bryant’s automobile, climbing overtop the hood in a sea of sparks. Both Day and Bryant would be forced to the garage with severe damage. Neither driver would return, finishing thirty-third and thirty-fourth respectively.

The restart ushered in a 42 lap green flag run, and it was during this portion of the race that Philip Morris began his march to the front. After starting in sixth, Morris had maneuvered around Scites, Lemons, and Mitcham, and by lap 47 the number 26 had taken second from Brandon Dean’s number 99.

When the third yellow of the day was displayed on lap 76, Scites and Mitcham had passed Dean, and when racing resumed on lap 89, Looney had the three biggest names in recent Motor Mile history to contend with.

While the top five continued to battle amongst themselves, Looney continued to pace the field through two more yellow flags on laps 110 and 140. The latter of the two cautions would be highly significant.

Looney had managed to fend off charges from both Morris and Scites in the waning laps, and as the field came to ten to go, the battle was no longer for the lead. As Looney distanced himself, Scites’ second place machine had slid into the clutches of Philip Morris. Morris poked the nose of the number 26 to the inside of Scites in turn one, and as Scites tried to keep Morris pinned to the apron, the pair made contact that lasted the length of both corners. Morris’ right front fender connected with Scites’ left rear tire, and the rubbing through the first pair of turns spelt devastation for Scites’ number 06 in turns three and four. Rolling through the apex of the turns with Morris in the inside lane, the tire gave way, sending Scites in an uncontrollable spin up the banking.

The spin would take Davin Scites out of contention; relegating the driver to a twentieth place finish and subsequently dropping the JR Motorsports driver from first to seventh in the point standings.

“Right when the spotter said inside, I don’t know if he moved up the track and hit us… he stayed in it, it’s his typical driving style,” Scites said in response to the contact. “You know, that’s [just] part of it.”

The ensuing restart would trigger one more caution, setting the field up for the first green-white-checker finish of the year.

Morris would get the jump as the field came to the green flag, but after the leaders pulled the pack through turns one and two, Looney- like he had done all evening- had drifted away from Morris by about two car lengths. The advantage would not be overcome.

“[After the contact with Davin] it knocked the fender in and we had an aero push after that,” explained Morris. “Really had a good run on the 47 on the green-white-checkered but I just couldn’t follow through on it, and to be honest, I was worried about losing second place.”

Brandon Dean, after a quiet, solid day, would follow Morris to line in third.

“I think we could’ve got around Philip but I didn’t want to push the issue,” said Dean. “Hey- we’re runnin’ against the best and we lost against the best.”

And the best on this night was an under-funded, small town team from Catawba, Va.

“Really-this is what I’ve worked for all my life… to beat the best. We’ve worked so hard for so many years, and we really don’t have the budget- but I got great guys and that makes it extra special,” said a triumphant Mike Looney.

The dominating win vaulted “Swamp Thang” into second place in the standings, behind by a mere four points to last season’s track champ Philip Morris.

Top Ten

[1] #47 Mike Looney [2] #26 Philip Morris [3] #99 Brandon Dean [4] #24 Jason Mitcham [5] #3 Chad Harris [6] #08 Curtis Truex Jr. [7] #27 Tommy Lemons Jr. [8] 84 Justin Johnson [9] #04 Forrest Reynolds [10] #17 Tink Reedy

LIMITED SPORTSMAN

Roger Parrish Jr. looked poised to go back-to back.

Then Cory Donley appeared to be headed for his first victory of the year.

And Anthony Barnes took the checkers, but didn’t receive the win in a Limited Sportsman contest as unpredictable as it was incredible.

Eight cautions accounted for over a dozen mangled racecars- including an accident in the waning laps that collected the majority of the top five.

After coming off a dominating performance in the season opener, Roger Parrish Jr. put the number 07 on the pole for the second straight race with a blistering lap time of 16.523.

Cautions came early and often in the event, with the first yellow coming on lap 1. A vicious crash on lap 3 brought the field under the second caution of the evening, leaving a debris field of sheetmetal and rubber scattered across turns three and four.

As the field raced through turn three, Randy Dunnigan’s number 3 connected with the back end of Matthew Gusler’s number 05. As Gusler tried to correct his machine, the entangled number 3 –with nowhere to go- nerfed the nose of the number 05, driving overtop the driver’s side door of Gusler’s Chevy. The contact would completely strip the number 05 of its right side sheetmetal, exposing the roll cage underneath.

As the crash continued up the banking, Jerry Godbey’s number 00 racecar collided with Gusler, and by the end of the affair all three machines had sustained damage. Matthew Gusler would accumulate the most damage; the impact received would force the team to retire early from competition.

Parrish would pace the field through three more multi-car accidents, and by lap 16 drivers were settling into a decent green flag run.

On lap 29 outside poll-sitter Cory Donley had closed the gap between him and the leader, and after racing side-by-side for a lap, the event had its first lead change of the evening. After falling to second, the position change would prove to be an ominous sign for Parrish.

On lap 41, the Limited Sportsman points leader would go up in a cloud of smoke in turns three and four. It would be reported later that Roger Parrish Jr. lost the power steering line on his automobile, and although he would return to the track after repairs, the malfunction ultimately took Parrish out of contention, and out of the points lead.

It wouldn’t be the last time the leader would encounter trouble, however.

After officials cleaned up fluids from Parrish’s problem, the field came to the restart with just nine laps of racing remaining. But just two laps after the green flag waved, the yellow was back in the air for a race-altering crash in turn two.

Tracy Moore’s number 11 had rallied from fifth to second by the time of the restart, and had begun to apply pressure to the rear of Donley’s lead machine. Moore appeared to roll through the center better than Donley, and as the duo raced into one on lap 43, Moore and Donley collided in the turn’s apex.

The crash began to unfold in slow motion. Each driver tried ferociously to correct their racecars, but as the pair slid up turn two, Moore’s number 11 violently snapped into the side of Donley’s machine. The number 11 crawled overtop the hood of the number 51, taking sheetmetal with it as it became partially airborne. As the fiasco unfolded in front of the entire field, the third place car of Aaron Ceplazes would become involved, along with Randy Dunnigan. Donley and Ceplazes- cars demolished- would be unable to continue, ending promising days for both drivers. Moore would manage to forge on with heavy damage after a pair of pit stops ultimately took him out of contention.

“I hate I got into him, I wouldn’t wreck my car for the world-or his. He deserves to win as much as me, I was just racin’ hard for the win,” explained a dejected Tracy Moore.

After warranting the red flag, the mayhem ahead had left the forth and fifth place machines of Anthony Barnes and Caleb Holman to decide the outcome of the event.

And after five laps of intense, clean, side-by-side action, Holman yielded to Barnes.

Barnes would take the victory only momentarily, however. After officials deemed Barnes’ number 9 incompliant with the rule book, Holman would later be declared the victor.

“We had about a sixth or seventh place car, but this class is kinda’ all gloves-off racing. But I appreciate Nick Cole giving me a chance to drive his car and Chevron for sponsoring it,” Holman stated.

With a flat left rear tire, Dusty Mullin’s third place effort would be replaced with a runner-up finish.

“I’m lucky just to finish up after some of the stuff I’ve seen tonight, so I’m real pleased,” said Mullins.

The win would give Holman the points lead in the Limited Sportsman division.

Top Ten

[1] #63 Caleb Holman [2] #18 Dusty Mullins [3] #20 Adam Long [4] #31 Zack Dunnigan [5] #11 Tracy Moore [6] #3 Randy Dunnigan [7] #94 Jeff Woodward [8] #33 Philip Sisson [9] #55 Phil Harris [10] #07 Roger Parrish Jr.

MOD-4

Kevin Kenley won from the pole Saturday evening, subsequently starting the season off with back-to-back wins in the MOD-4 division.

Less than half the field made it to the finish as attrition claimed eight cars in the event.

Led by Kenley’s number 29 Toyota, 14 racecars started the contest, and after 13 laps of green flag racing, the red flag was displayed after a hard crash on the backstretch.

Kimberly McCreary’s number 42 automobile would need the assistance of a wrecker to get back to the garage after her car made substantial contact with the wall. The single car accident would be only one of two major accidents of the evening, as DNF’s would result from failures or malfunctions.

Five laps after McCreary’s misfortunes trouble would find the number 2 of Dennis Holdren. Going into turn one on lap 19, the rear end on Holdren’s yellow machine locked up, forcing the number 2 to a halt on the turn one apron. The malfunction would ultimately force Holdren behind the wall with an eighth place finish.

After a hard, two car accident involving Tim Brumfield and Lee Bradley brought out the caution on lap 24, the second place machine of Rocky Yates had only one more attempt at a pass on the restart.

Yates’ number 3-which had ran second all race long- looked high as the field went into turn one, but Kenley’s strength on the bottom made Yates fleeting attempt fail. Kenley would take the checkers, with Yates and Jeff Montgomery rounding out the top three.

“It was pretty close there at the end, we was pretty well even with each other,” said Montgomery. “But will try again next week.”

For as well as Rocky Yates’ Ford Fusion performed Saturday night, the Abingdon, Va., native couldn’t muster the speed that the winner’s Toyota had.

“Oh, what a race! At least I split the Toyotas anyway- there tough,” said Yates.

As Kenley expanded his lead to six points in the standings, the driver of the number 29 had nothing but praise for that Toyota engine.

“This Toyota has got some power. It’s awesome. It’s a great car to drive-I couldn’t ask for a better car to drive,” Kenley said.

Top Ten

[1] #29 Kevin Kenley [2] #3 Rocky Yates [3] #25 Jeff Montgomery [4] #17 Brian Reedy [5] #63 Nick Cole [6] #02 Tim Brumfield [7] #62 Lee Bradley [8] #2 Dennis Holdren [9] #99 Ritchie Radar [10] #64 Kirby Gobble

UCAR

Darrell Hamlin took the UCAR crown Saturday evening in an event overshadowed by a multi-car crash on lap 7 that reaped disastrous results. Over five cars were involved in a serious accident that warranted the red flag and left two drivers injured.

After sustaining heavy front-end damage, David Hamlin, driver of the number 35 automobile, was able to walk away in a neck brace. Roger Huff was not.

Although O.K., as a precautionary measure Huff was stabilized and cut out of his number 28 machine with the aid of area fire and rescue personnel. In what became a tedious affair lasting the better part of an hour, Huff, with help from the safety crew, was pulled from the car on a back brace and transported to the local hospital for evaluation.

The podium finishers, while excited about the overall performance of their racecars, expressed concern for those involved in the lap 7 crash.

“I really hope David Hamlin and Roger are all right-Lord be with them,” third place finisher and pole sitter Scooter Hollandsworth remarked.

Top Ten

[1] #36 Darrell Hamlin [2] #21 Ricky Howell, Jr. [3] #34 Scooter Hollandsworth [4] #7 Chris Shorter [5] #48 Terry Dove [6] #9 Scott Howell [7] #08 Matt Trump [8] #05 Nelson Dalton [9] #11 Tim Gusler [10] #5 Ashlyn Shrewsbury