Purdy Takes Twin LMS Wins In Greenville-Pickens Opener

Chase Purdy scored double Late Model Stock victories on Saturday in the 2016 season opener for Greenville-Pickens Speedway.

Purdy stole the first of the two 75 lap features at the historic Easley, SC raceway on the last lap from Trey Gibson, but Gibson made sure the youngster never got close in race two as he put his No. 112 in victory lane.

However, a disqualification of Gibson’s car in post-race tech handed the win back to Purdy for the sweep of both events.

In the first Late Model feature, Rodney Howard jumped off the outside pole and quickly opened up a healthy advantage. Behind him, Purdy fell as far back as fourth as Dylan Hall and Gibson were all in the mix.

Howard maintained his advantage until lap 45 when Hall ran him down and passed him with an inside move on the back straightaway.

With 30 laps left, Hall was now the leader but both Gibson and Purdy started to pick up the pace as Howard fell further back through the field. It took just four laps for Gibson to duck under Hall and take the lead in turn one, and Purdy began to turn up the heat as he took over second.

The race was Purdy’s first Late Model Stock start in the Hawk-McCall Motorsports No. 41, and he was determined to make it count. He caught Gibson and the pair made contact a couple of times in the closing laps.

Purdy made a move into turn three with the checkered flag in site. He drew alongside Gibson and beat him to the line to snatch the victory on the final lap.

Gibson finished second, with Hall in third, Bob Root fourth and David Roberts in fifth.

The second 75-lap Late Model Stock feature was run just minutes after Purdy took the checkers. It was started straight up from the finish of the first race, which put Purdy and Gibson on the front row.

Purdy took the lead at the drop of the green but three laps later it was Gibson diving underneath the youngster in turn one and unknowingly pulling off the pass for the win. This race was a bit of a different story than the first feature in that the rate of attrition was much higher.

Rodney Howard was the first big shoe to drop as he went to the pits on lap 13 with mechanical problems.

The first yellow flag of the race came on lap 20 when the No. 2 of Cody Haskins broke in turn two and had to be towed to the pits.

A two car tangle on lap 46 in turn three sent Kevin Vasser and Richard Starkey to the pit area for the rest of the night. Dylan Hall, who had run strong to finish third in the first event, struggled in race two and even made a pit stop under a yellow flag for adjustments.

Meanwhile, Gibson never let Purdy or anyone else anywhere near him as he dominated the event and scored a convincing win to make up for the one that got away just moments earlier.

Following post-race technical inspection, Gibson’s car was disqualified, giving Purdy the sweep of both races.

Root, Tasha Kummer, Roberts and Ralph Carnes rounded out the top five.

In other action, the Pure Stock division saw fast qualifier Freddy Hale take the early lead in the 12-lap contest with Buck Simmons trailing him closely. Hale led the first seven circuits until Simmons found his way by in turn three.

The only yellow of the event waved on lap nine when Brian Benton slowed suddenly and went to the pits. Hale, running second at the time, had his window net fall down under the yellow.

Because he had to have assistance to put it back up, this was treated as if he’d pitted for repairs and he was sent to the back of the field for the restart. This handed second over to the No. 28 of Ashley Granata. Simmons went on to scor the victoyr, with Granata in second, Hank Hutto in third, Dannon Esco in fourth and Hale in fifth.

Bobby Emory led flag to flag in the 20-lap Renegade feature, but it wasn’t without pressure. Billy Brown ran second early and appeared to have a car to challenge for the win, but he slowed suddenly on lap 11 and pulled out of the race.

Emory had the measure of the entire field and held on for the victory. Parker Jameson wound up in second place, with Shane Hill third, Spenser Darnell in fifth and Steve Guthrie in fifth.

The 15-lap Four Cylinder feature event figured to be highly competitive. Dannon Esco qualified fastest and grabbed the early lead, but the No. 69 of Tommy Davis ran alongside Esco for several laps.

A three-car crash in turn one saw the No. 21 of Travis Barbere tip over on his side, but he was uninjured in the multi-car melee.

Michael Webster, Chad Redding and Travis Shelton all took their turns doing battle near the front, swapping positions throughout the race with Davis, as Esco did his best to fend them off. Davis fell back as far as fourth before using a late race restart to power back on the outside and take the lead with just three laps left in the race.

Davis held on for the victory, with Esco in second, Don Tavernia in third, Chad Redding in fourth and James Coggins in fifth.

Robin Darnell led the first 20 laps of the 25-lap Super Stock race as Tim Sams in the No. 71 threw everything at him trying to find a way around him.

Darnell rebuked every challenge until lap 21 when Sams finally saw daylight on the inside and drove underneath for the lead. Sams’ lead lasted only a lap, however, as he made contact with the fourth-place running car of Ken Guthrie as he was lapping him and both cars crashed, ending up with damage.

This gave the lead and the win to Darnell, who held off Mike Mote for the final three laps to claim top honors. Dale Stancil, Stanley Pressley and T.J. Johnson rounded out the top five.

Colby Howard and Luke Sorrow started in the front row of the 75 lap Limited Late Model feature. Howard grabbed the lead at the outset and held it for over half of the event.

Sorrow remained patient in second, keeping Howard close but not overworking his car or his tires. As the pair worked through traffic in the last third of the race, Sorrow seized the opportunity to turn up the wick.

With 15 laps to go, Sorrrow dropped to the inside, taking the lead and driving away from the field to get the win in fine fashion.

Howard faded in the closing laps, allowing Andrew Cordell to finish second. Howard was flagged in third, but was disqualified in post race tech, moving Taylor Sorrow to third, Bob Root to fifth and Greg Welborn in fifth.

Action returns to Greenville-Pickens Speedway on Saturday, March 12, with the Limited Late Models, Super Stocks, Renegades, Pure Stock and Four Cylinders topping the bill.

For more information, visit GreenvillePickens.com.

Greenville-Pickens Speedway – Easley, SC
Race Results – March 5, 2016

Late Model Stocks Race 1
1. Chase Purdy
2. Trey Gibson
3. Dylan Hall
4. Bob Root
5. David Roberts
6. Rodney Howard
7. Will Burns
8. Ralph Carnes
9. Cody Haskins
10. Neil Meredith
11. Lance Gatlin
12. Tasha Kummer
13. Kevin Vassar
14. Austin Northcutt
15. Richard Starkey
16. Taylor Sorrow

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1. Chase Purdy
2. Bob Root
3. Tasha Kummer
4. David Roberts
5. Ralph Carnes
6. Neil Meredith
7. Dylan Hall
8. Lance Gatlin
9. Kevin Vassar
10. Richard Starkey
11. Cody Haskins
12. Will Burns
13. Austin Northcutt
14. Rodney Howard
15. Taylor Sorrow
DQ: Trey Gibson

Limited Late Models
1. Luke Sorrow
2. Andrew Cordell
3. Taylor Sorrow
4. Bob Root
5. Greg Welborn
6. Daniel Alvarez
7. Greg Tinsley
8. Tasha Kummer
9. Phillip Peters
10. Brad Burns
DQ: Colby Howard

Four-Cylinder FWD
1. Tommy Davis
2. Dannon Esco
3. Don Tavernia
4. Chad Redding
5. James Coggins
6. Travis Shelton
7. Neil Meeks
8. Robert Hall
9. Ray Mullinax
10. Jack Hooper
11. Manual Molleda
12. Derek Fowler
13. Dallas Hollis
14. Sandra Tavernia
15. Jay Ivey
16. Bobby Lavair
17. Brian Messer
18. Michael Webster
19. Travis Barbere
20. Chad Tavernia
21. Austin Heil

Pure Stock
1. Buck Simmons
2. Ashley Granata
3. Hank Hutto
4. Dannon Esco
5. Freddy Hale
6. A.J. Davis
7. Charlie Meinders
8. Brian Benton
9. Spencer Morgan

Renegade
1. Bobby Emory
2. Parker Jameson
3. Shane Hill
4. Spenser Darnell
5. Steve Guthrie
6. Alexx Breazele
7. Larry Nabors
8. Scotty Tyner
9. Colt Smith
10. Daniel Jameson
11. Doug Miller
12. Wendell Smith
13. Joe Allen
14. Billy Brown

Super Stock
1. Robin Darnell
2. Mike Mote
3. Dale Stancil
4. Stanley Pressley
5. T.J. Johnson
6. Tim Sams
7. Ken Guthrie
8. Adam Rogers
9. Danny Gilbert