Chase Elliott Makes Up Lap To Win Beau Slocumb Memorial

Chase Elliott’s father, 1988 Sprint Cup champ Bill Elliott, once commented after winning a race that he would rather be “lucky than good.”

Saturday night, Chase Elliott would be both lucky and good in winning the second annual Beau Slocumb Memorial 208 at Gresham Motorsports Park in Jefferson, GA.

Elliott held a commanding lead as the first of three segments in the Pro Late Model event was drawing to a close when his No. 9 Chevy slowed suddenly, coming to a stop in the fourth turn of the high banked half-mile track.

A sway bar had broken on his car in one of the worst possible places, and Elliott stopped the car, drawing a caution in the process.  Once the yellow was out, Elliott drove back around to the pits.

For drawing the caution, Elliott was penalized one lap.  In addition, he was not allowed to use the free pass rule to get the lap back.  He would have to do it the old fashioned way, by racing through the field.

Then came the lucky break.

As Elliott’s Ricky Turner led crew worked to repair his stricken racer, the field prepared to return to green.  As they prepared to come to the green flag, Elliott left his pits, making his way down pit road at an agonizing 35 mph.  It looked like he would lose at least one more lap, and possibly a third.

But the car of Gus Dean was misaligned in the rundown, forcing officials to wave off the restart to get him lined up in the right place.

That allowed Elliott to rejoin the field, and return briefly to the pits without losing any more time.

Elliott would make up the lap, and then charge past Alabama’s Augie Grill to score the victory.

“I don’t know how we did that,” Elliott said in victory lane.  “I told the crew whenever the sway bar broke, I wasn’t going to give up until the checkered flag waved.”

“You had to run as hard as you could run,” he added.  “I was out of breath because I had to run so hard. Fortunately, we had a long green flag run to where we could get our lap back.”

Elliott started out the night on the pole, and would pick up the lead early after a short tussle with Grill in the opening laps.

The first of two multi-car accidents occurred on lap 17 near the back of the pack, including Chase Miller, Stephen Nasse, Brady Boswell, Eric Wallace, Levi Kyle McCallum, and Michael Lance.

Elliott would jump back to the point on the restart, with Grill moving to second and Willie Allen to third.

Three laps later, a cut tire by Mason Massey sent his Bill Elliott owned car hard into the turn four wall, bringing his night to an end.

Elliott would again jump out front easily when the green came back out, with Grill settling into second, and Kyle Benjamin moving to third.

Allen would surge back to third a couple of laps later, then moved up to challenge Grill for second just two laps later.

Disaster struck for several racers in the top ten on lap 31, when defending race winner Bubba Pollard lost an engine going into turn one, dropping oil on the track.  That set off a chain reaction crash that gathered up Colt James, Anderson Bowen, Mike Garvey, Russell Fleeman, Spencer Davis, and Austin Hill.  The shunt brought out the red flag to clear up the carnage.  Everyone walked away from the incident.

After a 20 minute red flag period, the race resumed, with Elliott again reclaiming the lead, while Grill and Benjamin gave chase.

Further back in the top five, T.J. Reaid, piloting a team car to Elliott, gave a big challenge to NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver Max Gresham, wit the two going back and forth for the fifth position for several laps.

The caution would fly again on lap 91 for Elliott’s sway bar situation.  When it resumed, Allen found himself out front, with Grill hot on his heels.

Allen would stay out front to the end of the first segment, pocketing a cool $2,500.  He was followed across the line by Grill, Reaid, Benjamin, and R.S. Senter.

As the field prepared to start the second segment, the lead lap cars were inverted, putting Shawn Simpson in the top spot, with Gus Dean in second.

When the green came out, Simpson moved out front, as Gresham charged to second.

On lap 103, Gresham would move to the point, but had to give it back as the caution came out when Mason Mitchell tagged the turn one wall.

Gresham would retake the lead on the restart, only to have to give it back again when the yellow flag again flew after Benjamin spun on the backstretch and was tagged by McCallum.  Both drivers’ nights were over.

Gresham again took the lead on the restart, and this time it stuck, with Simpson moving to second, and Dalton Grindle to third.

But the scoreboard changed fast, as Allen moved to third on lap 105, then to second on lap 106.

Meanwhile, Elliott was on the charge, looking to get his lap back.  He would move around Allen, and then set his sights on leader Gresham.

On lap 128, Elliott raced his way past Gresham to put himself back on the lead lap.  He then began to pull away.

In the meantime, Allen hit the pits with an apparent problem.  He would be in and out of the pits several times over the next several laps, and was out of contention.

The caution came out again when Matthew Wragg spun on the front stretch.  It was a clean spin, and he was able to drive away.

Gresham pulled away with the lead on the restart, but three laps later, found himself under fire from Grill.  Grill would make the pass for the top spot on lap 148.

Meanwhile, Elliott was on the charge, moving to fifth.

Gresham would see his night come to an end with a spin in turn two, as he backed his Ronnie Sanders owned No. 18 into the outside wall.  Simpson spun trying to avoid Gresham, coming to rest at the bottom of turn two.  Gresham was able to drive back to the pits, but his night was over.

Grill maintained the lead on the restart, but all eyes were on Elliott, who charged to second.  On lap 152, Elliott began challenging Grill for the top spot.

The fight was delayed by a caution on lap 161, when Grindle and Jimmy Henderson spun in the fourth turn.  Both drove away.

Elliott and Reaid pitted for fresh tires under caution.  It paid off big just four laps into the next green flag run, as Elliott charged through the field, around Grill, and into the lead.  The Georgia speedster would hold the point to the end of the second segment on lap 175, winning $3,000 in the process.  Grill was second, followed by Reaid, Senter, and Dean.

Elliott would go unchallenged in the final 33 lap segment to score the win.  Reaid finished second, with Grill third, Senter fourth, and Dean fifth.

Cody Coughlin, Boswell, Lance, Rodney Benefield, and Wragg rounded out the top ten.

“This one is for Beau Slocumb,” Elliott said. “We lost a heck of a racer last year, but he’s here with us in our hearts.”

“We weren’t very good that first segment,” said second place finisher, and Elliott team mate Reaid.  “We made a few changes and it definitely helped.

“It’s cool to finish one-two here for Beau.”

“We were decent that first run and got better the longer the run went, said Grill.  “We made a few adjustments and feel like we made the right ones. We went back out there and didn’t have any brakes.

“But we went out there and didn’t knock the nose off of it, so it was a good night.”

In other action, fans were treated to a wild and fast race in the Outlaw Late Model feature.

The action started early, as Matthew Wragg and Jason Bates tangled on the opening lap, gathering up Terry Martin and Hoyt Stephens in the process.

That moved Mike Davidson into the top spot, with Murphy giving chase.  The caution would fly again one lap later, when Martin looped his car around in turn three.

Davidson would move back out front on the restart, with Stephens moving to second, and Murphy to third.

Bates was on the charge, moving to third.

The caution came out again when Bates spun Stephens off turn four.  David Murphy was also caught up, along with Martin.  Bates was parked for the night by race officials.

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Davidson jumped out front on the restart, with Matthew Wragg moving to second, and Stephens in third.

The caution would fly again on lap 10 for debris, and for a fourth time on lap 16 when Chuck Cooper spun on the front stretch after contact with Stephens.

Davidson would hold on for the win, with Wragg second, Cooper third, Stephens fourth, and Murphy credited with fifth.

“I didn’t have to get aggressive,” Davidson said in victory lane.  “I just found a spot I could run fast and not hit anyone. They gave me a hole and you have to take it.

“It’s great to start the year off like this.”

In the Truck feature, Cody Haskins recovered from having to drop back to second for jumping the start to take control on lap eight, going on to and dominate the event.  The only bump in the road came when Kristen Wallace and Conrad Compton tangled in the second turn.  Both drove away.

Haskins would go on to win, with Spencer Davis, Matt Vassar, Kevin Vassar, and Emilee Riley rounding out the top five.

“(Davis) has definitely stepped up his game from last year,” Haskins said.  “We worked on the long runs, and that’s where we were better.”

In the Mini-Stock feature, it looked like Scotty Beck had the race one until his engine exploded with just four laps to go.

That put Aaron Calvert out front, but a bump and run on the last lap gave the lead and the win to Avery Burgess.  Calvert held on for second, with Matt Meyer in third, Todd Holder in fourth, and Shawn Mize in fifth.

“We worked hard all off-season,” Burgess said.  “I can’t be happy enough. I always wanted to win here.

“I couldn’t get by the 01 (Calvert) without getting him in the bumper. I raced him as clean as I could, but in order to win the race, I had to use the bumper.”

Jackie Daniel would hold off Brian Sosebee to pick up the win in the Sportsman feature.

“Me and Brian have really close cars,” Daniel said.  “He runs really good with us. I just hope we can get a few more cars out here.”

Nathaniel “Boo” Carlisle had the lead in the Renegade feature, but ran out of gas with six laps to go, handing the win to Mike Childers.

“It was a lot of fun,” Childers said.  “I wish (Carlisle) hadn’t had some trouble.”

Gresham Motorsports Park returns to action on May 12 for the Super Late Model Racing Radios 100.  For more info, visit racegmp.com.

Gresham Motorsports Park – Jefferson, GA
Beau Slocumb Memorial 208 – April 7, 2012

1. Chase Elliott
2. T.J. Reaid
3. Augie Grill
4. R.S. Senter
5. Gus Dean
6. Cody Coughlin
7. Brady Boswell
8. Michael Lance
9. Rodney Benefield
10. Matthew Wragg
11. Shawn Simpson
12. Dalton Grindle
13. Jimmy Henderson
14. Max Gresham
15. Willie Anderson
16. Kyle Benjamin
17. Chase Miller
18. Mason Mitchell
19. Levi Kyle McCallum
20. Stephen Nasse
21. Tanner Berryhill
22. Bubba Pollard
23. Colt James
24. Austin Hill
25. Mike Garvey
26. Spencer Davis
27. Anderson Bowen
28. Russell Fleeman
29. Mason Massey
30. Eric Wallace

Outlaw Late Model
1. Mike Davidson
2. Matthew Wragg
3. Chuck Cooper
4. Hoyt Stephens
5. David Murphy
6. Terry Martin
DQ. Jason Bates

Trucks
1. Cody Haskins
2. Spencer Davis
3. Matt Vasser
4. Kevin Vasser
5. Emilee Riley
6. Brandon Franklin
7. Kristen Wallace
8. Conrad Compton

Mini-Stock
1. Avery Burgess
2. Aaron Calvert
3. Matt Meyer
4. Todd Holder
5. Shawn Mize
6. Allen Cantrell
7. Brandon Amos
8. Billy Hockman
9. Scotty Beck
10. Drew Griffith
DNS-Spanky Hicks

Sportsman
1. Jackie Daniel
2. Brian Sosebee

Renegades
1. Mike Childers
2. Nathaniel “Boo” Carlisle