Kyle Benjamin Rolls To Rattler 250 Win At South Alabama

In last year’s Rattler 250, Kyle Benjamin got to within 30 feet victory lane at South Alabama Speedway in Opp, AL. Unfortunately, it was on lap 194 and Benjamin’s car was on its roof after a hard crash with DJ Vanderley.

In this year’s 37^th Annual Hardee’s Rattler 250, Benjamin, a 15 year old from Easley, South Carolina, rolled into victory lane rubber side down after beating a stellar field of Super Late Models.

The pace in qualifying was amazing as 11 drivers were under Logan Boyett’s track record time of 15.056. Dewitt, Michigan’s Chad Finley was fastest, blistering the 4/10ths mile oval in 14.779 seconds, or 97.436 mph. Finley brought the field to the green flag, but the outside row, led by TJ Reaid, didn’t follow and the line wadded up before it reached the starting line. Mike Garvey, Augie Grill, Donnie Wilson, and Chris Wimmer all had significant damage, but continued in the race. On the second try, Finley pulled away at the drop of the green flag to take the lead over Reaid, Benjamin, Wimmer, and Anderson Bowen.

Three drivers, Casey Smith, Bubba Pollard, and Stephen Nasse were making early moves, moving into the top five by lap 30. Benjamin had moved into second while Reaid was sliding backwards. At lap 50, Finley led Benjamin, Smith, Pollard, and Nasse. With an extended green period from lap 25 to 92, the field settled in and got some laps in. The top five remained the same until the caution waved on lap 92. Benjamin pitted, putting Reaid back in the top five at the lap 100 mark.

A competition yellow as planned for lap 100. Anybody that remained on the track would move up in the running order, and the one lone car remaining was Benjamin. The rest of the field would rejoin Benjamin in the order they were running at the time of the caution.

When the race restated, there was another long green period, this one going from lap 101 to lap 175. Nasse worked his way past Pollard on lap 129 and Smith on lap 147 to move into third behind Benjamin and Finley. But when the next caution flew on lap 175, it was time to get serious. Most of the leaders pitted for their last two Hoosier tires, leaving Anderson Bowen and Mason Massey at the front. Nasse waited an extra lap before taking his two tires. Smith was first out of the pits, followed by Jeff Fultz, Pollard, Reaid, Benjamin, and Finley.

Bowen led the field back to the green flag. Smith worked his past Massey and reeled Bowen in. On lap 202, Smith made the move to the inside of Bowen to take the lead. With Bowen up in the outside groove, the fresher tires took over. First Pollard and Benjamin, then Reaid, Nasse, and Hunter Robbins got by Bowen before he could get back in line. Nasse was the one on the move, as he moved into fourth just as the caution flew on lap 213.

Two laps later, Pollard’s day came to an end with a blown engine while running second. This would bring out the race’s last caution on lap 215. Smith led the field back to green with Benjamin, Nasse, Reaid, and Robbins in tow. On lap 224, Benjamin made his move and took the lead. Nasse followed Benjamin past Smith to move into second. With 25 laps to go, Benjamin led Nasse, Smith, Robbins, and Reaid.

Benjamin pulled away for a while but as laps wound down, Nasse began to cut into the lead. With about ten to go, Nasse was within a half car length of the leader, but got loose in turn two, and Benjamin pulled out to a four car length lead. Nasse was never able to recover and Benjamin led Nasse to the checkers by .856 seconds. Smith was third, with Reaid fourth, and Fultz fifth. Sixth through tenth went to Robbins, Bowen, Jeff Choquette, Brandon Hermiller, and Massey.

In Saturday night’s 8^th Annual Grasshopper Pro Late Model 125, Presented by JR’s Lawnmower Shop, Korey Ruble became the first two time winner of the event. Ruble took the lead on lap 97 and pulled away as a fierce battle for second raged behind him.

Justin South continued his mastery of qualifying at South Alabama Speedway, taking his seventh pole in a row. This time, South shattered Bubba Pollard’s track record of 15.164 with a time of 15.151. South led the field to the green, but Ruble got a good jump from the outside and took the lead going into turn one. Ruble led the first six laps until Casey Smith took over on lap seven. Augie Grill, Hunter Robbins, and South followed.

With three early cautions, the top five running order remained the same until lap 43 when Robbins switched positions with Grill. With the race going green for an extended period, the field held their positions and ran some laps. On lap 77, South moved into fourth as Grill began to fade a little. Pollard move past Grill on lap 82. On lap 97, Ruble moved to the inside of Smith to grab the lead. With 25 laps to go, Ruble led Smith, Robbins, South, and Pollard.

The last 25 laps saw the caution fly four times, keeping the field bunched and the racing intense. South moved past Robbins on lap 105 to move into third. On a lap 109 restart he moved past Smith into second. Smith had gotten out of the preferred line and Pollard and Robbins also got by to move into third and fourth. Smith spun coming out of turn two to bring out the caution on lap 112. With ten to go, it was Ruble, South, Pollard, Robbins, and Brandon Odom.

Ruble was enjoying the view in his rear view mirror as South, Pollard, and Robbins were in a fierce battle for second, allowing Ruble to gain a two car length lead. The race’s final caution came out on lap 118 when Brandon Odon and Landon Cling got together, setting up an eight lap sprint to the checkered flag.

Ruble got the jump and once again, South, Pollard, and Robbins were going at it, fighting for the second spot. Robbins muscled his way past South on lap 119 to take the spot. Pollard followed a lap later to move into third. South had lost his momentum and Grill got by on lap 124 for fourth. Robbins and Pollard were still battling for the runner up spot as Ruble eased away out front. Ruble led Robbins and Pollard to the stripe to take the win. Grill was fourth with South crossing the line in fifth.

But the race wasn’t officially over yet as the top three, plus South due to his new track record, headed to post race. The top three all passed post race tech, but the compression in South’s engine was too high and he was disqualified, costing him fifth place and the track record. The official order of finish was Ruble, Robbins, Pollard, and Grill. Fifth place went to Harrison Burton, the 12 year old son of NASCAR driver Jeff Burton. Sixth through tenth went to Kyle Plott, Smith, Ryan Redmon, Garrett Jones, and Shanky Smith.

In the Modified feature, Donald Crocker led the lap that counted to take the win. Brina Nester led the 23 car field to the green flag and looked as though he was headed to his second Rattler win. Heath Mills was second, followed by Crocker, Bubba Pollard, and Brandon Howell. With the 40-lap race filled with cautions in the early going, there was little opportunity to make any head way through the field. Crocker and Pollard were able to get past Mills on lap 14. Brandon Curren and Howell moved past Mills a lap later. Curren spun on lap 16 and Howell pitted with a flat tire, ending their chances to win. Up front, Crocker was staying on Nester’s bumper, but unable to make a move on the leader. Crocker followed Nester until the final lap when he worked his way around the leader to take the checkers. Pollard was third, followed by Ricky Brooks and Jeff Letson.

Cameron Henderson took the lead when early leader Brandon Odom‘s rear end broke and he hit the back stretch wall. Odom led the first five laps before his incident. Henderson started third, but moved into second on the second circuit. Once out front, Henderson eased away from the field to take the win. Jim Wall finished second, Jamie Ater third, Steve Stagner fourth, and Jason Fowler fifth.

Chris Lucas continued his dominance in Street Stock, winning the Rattler feature. Brandon Odom led the field to the green and led the first five laps. Chris Salter pulled even on lap six and beat Odom to the line to lead. Odom fought back to lead lap seven, Salter cleared Odom to lead laps eight and nine before Lucas took over on lap ten. Once out front, Lucas pulled away to take the win. Salter followed Lucas the rest of the way to finish second with Dennis Thomas third. Chad Roberts came from the 18^th starting spot to finish fourth. Gary Davis finished fifth.

In the Roadrunner Feature, Ricky Strickland took the lead after a lap 10 restart and went on to win. David Daniels led the first nine laps while Strickland was making his way through the field. Strickland, starting eighth, moved into second on lap four and immediately put pressure on Daniels. On a lap 10 restart, Strickland pulled to the inside of Daniels and took the lead. Strickland had to survive one more restart, but sped away from Daniels and took his first Rattler win. Nick Petrie finished third, followed by Brandon Burk and Devin Allen.

The Coyote feature wasn’t over until post race inspection. Joseph Chandler led all 25 laps to take an apparent win. Danny Thompson moved into second on lap six and chased Chandler all race, but couldn’t keep pace with the leader. Chandler led Thompson, Rusty Locklar, Brian Misseldine, and James Faulk across the line to take the checkers. However, in post race inspection, Chandler and Locklar were disqualified for illegal ignition coils, giving the win to Thompson. Misseldine moved up to second and Faulk to third. Dylan Wolf3e and James Harris moved into the top five.

Jack Whittle won the CupLite Feature, taking the lead on lap 25. Shep Lucas looked to have things well in control, taking the lead at the green and leading the first 18 laps. On lap 19, Lucas experienced mechanical problems and dropped off the pace. Rick Northey took over the point and led the next six laps. On a lap 25 restart, Whittle made his move and got past Northey to grab the lead. Whittle led the final six laps to take the win. Northey held on to second. Jason Fowler was third with Lance Blacker fourth and Karl Williams fifth.

Eddy Hinson took the lead on lap two and went on to win the Mini Sportsman feature. Dustin Monday led the first lap before Hinson took control of the race. Monday kept Hinson close but could never make a serious bid to regain the lead. Donnie Howell finished third. Tim Chesser and Weston Spivey rounded out the top five.

John Cohorn won both Motorcycle features, leading every lap in both races. Van Rayburn and Davo Majzun took the other podium positions in both features.

With the Rattler in the record books for another year, South Alabama Speedway will reopen on April 13 with the Pro Late Model Viper Series taking the spotlight. The series will kick off its 2013 schedule with the Diamondback 100. Local Features are also scheduled. For more information, visit southalabamaspeedway.com.

South Alabama Speedway – Opp, AL
Rattler Weekend – March 15-17, 2013

Rattler 250
1. Kyle Benjamin
2. Stephen Nasse
3. Casey Smith
4. TJ Reaid
5. Jeff Fultz
6. Hunter Robbins
7. Anderson Bowen
8. Jeff Choquette
9. Brandon Hermiller
10. Mason Massey
11. Allen Karnes
12. Bubba Pollard
13. Chad Finley
14. Mike Garvey
15. Donnie Wilson
16. Ross Kenseth
17. Logan Boyett
18. Brandon Odom
19. Augie Grill
20. Chris Wimmer
DNS Dakota Stroup

Pro Late Model 125
1. Korey Ruble
2. Hunter Robbins
3. Bubba Pollard
4. Augie Grill
5. Harrison Burton
6. Kyle Plott
7. Casey Smith
8. Ryan Redmon
9. Garrett Jones
10. Sam Smith
11. RS Senter
12. Dalton Grindle
13. Kevin Herbert
14. Landon Cling
15. Kyle Bryant
16. Brandon Odom
17. Russell Fleeman
18. Will Mack
19. Chris Davidson
20. John Thompson
21. Brandon Brilliant
22. Matthew Wragg
23. Kyle McCallum
24. Rusty Sanford
DQ Justin South

Modifieds
1. Donald Crocker
2. Brian Nester
3. Bubba Pollard
4. Ricky Brooks
5. Jeff Letson
6. Heath Mills
7. Jim Wall
8. Brandon Odom
9. Chris Cotto
10. Martin Liland
11. Kip Whitehead
12. Brandon Howell
13. Mario Lupi
14. Rick McCarson
15. Terry Malone
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17. Bruce Permenter
18. Jacob Permenter
19. Brandon Curren
20. Todd Jones
21. Billy Melvin
22. Jeremy Mack
23. Dave Nester

Super Stock
1. Cameron Henderson
2. Jim Wall
3. Jamie Ater
4. Steve Stagner
5. Jason Fowler
6. Darrell Cawley
7. Travis Slawson
8. Waylon Spivey
9. Greg Talley
10. Brandon Odom
11. Travis Valdez

Street Stock
1. Chris Lucas
2. Chris Slater
3. Dennis Thomas
4. Chad Roberts
5. Gary Davis
6. Joseph Chandler
7. Johnny Otto
8. Daniel Parker
9. Billy Maxie
10. Darrell Cawley, Jr.
11. Jim Pokrant
12. Brandon Odom
13. Korey Walker
14. Mike Wolfe
15. Daniel Davis
16. Adam Salter
17. Todd Valdez
18. Bubba Deaton

Roadrunner
1. Ricky Strickland
2. David Daniels
3. Nick Petrie
4. Brandon Burks
5. Devin Allen
6. Wayne Burkett
7. David Jones
8. Danny Monaghan
9. Tim Peters
DNS Bobby Rhodes

Coyote
1. Danny Thompson
2. Brian Missildine
3. James Faulk
4. Dylan Wolfe
5. James Harris
6. Ralph Sanders
7. Jason Monaghan
8. Michael Piland
9. Keith Missildine
10. Adam Missildine
11. Kevin Bishop
12. Lee Rogers
13. Bobby Rhodes
DQ Joseph Chandler, Rusty Locklar

CupLite
1. Jack Whittle
2. Rick Northey
3. Jason Fowler
4. Lance Blacker
5. Karl Williams
6. Corey Tillman
7. Dylan Northey
8. Carroll Williams
9. Waylon Spivey
10. Shep Lucas
11. Mack Byrd
12. Kevin Sherwood

Mini Sportsman
1. Eddy Hinson
2. Dustin Monday
3. Donnie Howell
4. Tim Chesser
5. Weston Spivey
6. Timothy Chandler
7. Dale McClendon
8. Billy Watson
9. Adam Salter
10. Bob Jones

Motorcycles (Friday)
1. John Cohorn
2. Van Rayburn
3. Davo Majzun
4. Cameron Joyce
5. Tristan Reeves
6. Main Franquez
7. Nick Nguyen
8. Chris Allen
9. Tim Freeman

Motorcycles (Saturday)
1. John Cohorn
2. Van Rayburn
3. Davo Majzun
4. Cameron Joyce
5. Archie Boyer
6. Tristan Reeves
7. Mani Franquez
8. Nick Nguyen
9. Randy Randall
10. Chris Allen
11. Tim Freeman