Mike Garvey, seen here from 2010 action, picked up the victory in the Viper Series event at South Alabama Speedway. Photo by Justin Poole
Mike Garvey took the lead on lap 53 and held off a challenge from Colt James to claim his first Viper Series win at South Alabama Speedway. Garvey bested a 15 car field in Saturday’s Pigmy 100.
Josh Hamner turned the fastest time in qualifying with a lap of 15.436 seconds. Inversion put Garvey on the pole with Hamner on the outside. Hamner got the jump from the outside to take the lead into turn one. Garvey followed, but Hamner stretched his lead in the early going. James was the one turning heads. Starting eighth, James steadily moved through the field, moving to third by lap 19. The field settled in and turned some laps. Hamner led Garvey, James, Brandon Odom, and Bobby Knox, Jr. to the halfway point.
Hamner began to fade just past the halfway point, and Garvey took over the lead on lap 53. James worked his way past Hamner on lap 61, and began to close the gap Garvey had built. With the race having a 33-lap green stretch from lap 50 to 82, James closed to Garvey’s bumper, and took a looked inside on several occasions. The veteran Garvey was ready for the challenge, and slammed the door each time. Garvey eventually gained a two car length advantage over James, until the caution flew on lap 83.
With cool tires, James had another shot at Garvey, but Garvey got the jump and pulled away again. Garvey had to survive four cautions in the final 17 laps before pulling into Victory Lane. James was a close second in his first start at South Alabama Speedway. Odom finished third, with Hamner sliding back to fourth in the final rundown. Knox rounded out the top five.
There was a big swing in the Viper Series points battle. Coming into the night, Bubba Pollard had a small three point lead over Odom, and 37 over Korey Ruble. Pollard had a forgettable day experiencing a broken axle in practice. A quick fix was made, but Pollard couldn’t even complete a qualifying lap. Starting on the rear, Pollard took the green, but pulled to the outside pit area without completing a lap, finishing 15th. Ruble experienced problems during the race, and was credited with a 13th place finish. With his competitor’s problems, Odom was the big winner with his third place finish. Odom came out with a 24 point lead over Pollard. Ruble is third, 57 points back.
Pollard had a much better time in the Modified Feature. Staring sixth, Pollard made quick work of the field in front of him, taking the lead on lap five and cruising home with the win. Lance Blacker grabbed the early lead from the outside pole, beating pole sitter Cameron Henderson to turn one to take the lead. Pollard moved into second on lap four and took the lead after a lap five restart. The only thing that kept the field close was a couple of cautions. Steven Davis moved from the tenth spot to take second on lap seven. Korey Ruble followed Davis through the field and took the second spot on lap 12. The race’s last caution came on lap 18, and gave Ruble and Davis one last shot at Pollard. Howver, on the restart, Pollard pulled away to take the win. Ruble finished second, followed by Davis. Donald Crocker was fourth with Blacker fifth.
The Street Stock Feature came down to the final lap with Johnny Otto, Jody Henderson and Brandon Odom battling for the win. Otto took the lead on lap one and built a comfortable lead while Henderson and Odom were coming back through the field after a lap two tangle. Otto’s lead was erased with a lap 15 caution. By that time, Henderson and Odom had made their way through the field and lined up on Otto’s bumper. Otto was able to keep his competitors behind him as they headed to the white flag. Coming up on a lapped car, Otto went to the outside with Henderson and Odom going to the inside. Otto chose the wrong path as the lapped car went high, squeezing Otto into the outside wall, leaving Henderson and Odom to fight for the win. The pair battled the final lap with Henderson beating Odom to the line to take a hard-earned win. Otto was able to hang on to third. Billy Maxie and Randy Herrick rounded out the top five.
Kim Bishop won his seventh consecutive Roadrunner Feature, taking the lead on lap twelve and outrunning Chris Yeakos to the checkers. Ricky Strickland charged to the lead on lap one, coming from the sixth starting spot. Yeakos took over on lap nine and led three laps before Bishop took over. Yeakos chased Bishop the rest of the way but couldn’t run the leader back down. Mike Wolfe came from the seventh starting spot to finish third. Strickland slipped back to fourth at the finish. Nick Petrie picked up a top five finish.
In the CupLite Feature, Greg Adams kept pace with Bishop’s win streak, picking up his seventh straight feature win. Adams pulled even with early leader Jack Whittle on the seventh circuit and took the lead for good when Whittle fell off the pace with mechanical problems. Once out front, Adams eased away from Karl Williams to take the win. Carroll Williams was third with Gordon Reese fourth. Whittle was credited with a fifth place finish.
Rusty Locklar took the lead on lap 18 and went on to win the Coyote Feature. Joseph Chandler took the early lead from the outside pole and built a huge lead over the field. A lap 15 caution brought the field back to Chandler and three laps later, Locklar made the winning pass. Lee Rogers came from the seventh starting spot to take runner up honors. Chandler was third at the finish. Tony Tidwell was fourth with Dustin Jowers fifth.
Dustin Monday took the lead on the third circuit and sped away from the field to take the Mini Sportsman Feature win. Once out front, Monday stretched his lead over the field as the race went green from flag to flag. Dale McLendon was second, followed by Eddy Hinson, Lon Howell, and Donnie Howell.
Action continues At South Alabama Speedway on July 23 with racing in six local classes. For more information, contact the track at (334)565-3539, or visit the track’s web site at www.southalabamaspeedway.com.
South Alabama Speedway – Opp, AL
Results – July 9, 2011
Pro Late Model
Viper Series Pigmy 100
1. Mike Garvey
2. Colt James
3. Brandon Odom
4. Josh Hamner
5. Bobby Knox Jr.
6. Jake Moore
7. Jeff Morgan
8. Roger Adkins
9. Brandon Hall
10. Anderson Bowen
11. Sam Smith
12. Josh Bragg
13. Korey Ruble
14. Kyle Bryant
15. Bubba Pollard
Modified
1. Bubba Pollard
2. Korey Ruble
3. Steven Davis
4. Donald Crocker
5. Lance Blacker
6. Heath Mills
7. Mike Daniels
8. Cameron Henderson
9. Kevin Peel
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11. Jacob Permenter
12. Bruce Permenter
13. Mario Lupi
Street Stock
1. Jody Henderson
2. Brandon Odom
3. Johnny Otto
4. Billy Maxie
5. Randy Herrick
6. Craig Harrison
7. Adam Salter
8. Lee McManus
9. Chris Salter
Roadrunner
1. Kim Bishop
2. Chris Yeakos
3. Mike Wolfe
4. Ricky Strickland
5. Nick Petrie
6. Rick Thompson
7. Robert Berry
8. Gary Swanner
9. Bobby Rhodes
Coyote
1. Rusty Locklar
2. Lee Rogers
3. Joseph Chandler
4. Tony Tidwell
5. Dustin Jowers
6. Danny Thompson
7. Dylan Wolfe
8. Cameron Grissett
9. James Harris
10. Michael Pilant
11. Chris Johnson
CupLite
1. Greg Adams
2. Karl Williams
3. Carroll Williams
4. Gordon Reese
5. Jack Whittle
Mini Sportsman
1. Dustin Monday
2. Dale McLendon
3. Eddy Hanson
4. Lon Howell
5. Donnie Howell
6. Kevin Calloway
7. Bobby Jennings Jr.
8. Jeremy Geddings
