Sandy Sanford came away as the winner of the Pepsi Next Demolition Derby at Mobile International Speedway Saturday night. Photo courtesy MIS
It was a night of champions, destruction and burnouts Saturday night at Mobile International Speedway. Two champions were crowned in Brandon Tipton and Brannon Fowler and they shared headlines with race winners Robbie McClendon, Jayme Corry and Chad Robinson. But at the end of the night, it was Sandy Sanford who survived the carnage to win the Pepsi Next Demolition Derby.
Pepsi Next Demolition Derby
The evening served as a celebration of the Pepsi/Buffalo Rock 49 season partnership with Mobile International Speedway. The night was capped by the Pepsi Next Demolition Derby, won by Mobile-native Sandy Sanford. He pounded the competition into submission and took home the trophy and winner’s share of the purse.
“I bought this little car 10 months ago and wasn’t quite sure what to do with it,” Sanford said. “But I’d say it worked out pretty well.”
Halls Motorsports Motorcycles
Robbie McClendon won his third-consecutive Halls Motorports Motorcycles feature of the season – a clean sweep but announced his biggest challenge yet:
“We’re going to try this four-wheel thing and take a car to Pensacola to compete in the Snowball Derby festivities,” McClendon said in victory lane.
Chris Glaze and Shannon Norris won heat races in the division to open the night of racing at Mobile International Speedway.
Bob’s Speed Shop Sportsman
The Demolition Derby appeared to have started early on Saturday night as Chad Robinson cruised to his ninth victory of the season in one of the most explosive races of the season. Brannon Fowler also captured headlines following the race as he was crowned 2012 season champion by 29 points over Robinson as a result of the night’s festivities.
Three complete restarts were required before a single lap could be turned as a result of crashes involving James Patrick, Johnny Greene and others. Patrick would spent the remainder of the race trying to overcome his early troubles.
When the field finally made a lap, Bob Bryant took the point from Jay Jay Day going into turn one. Mark Barnhill and Robinson followed Bryant also taking positions from Day on the exit of turn two, at which point Day was finally able to fall into the bottom and preferred groove.
Robinson finally caught Bryant on lap nine and raced side-by-side for four laps, which in turn invited Barnhill into the fray.
Running for the lead on lap 12, Bryant, Barnhill and Robinson tangled with Bryant coming out on the short end and spinning off of turn 4. The spinning Bryant forced Jeff Smith up into Johnny Greene and the pair into the front stretch wall. Both cars were unable to continue but the drivers walked away. Bryant left the accident unscathed but was forced to restart at the back of the field.
Meanwhile, under the caution, second-place Barnhill started leaking fluids onto the racing surface. This forced him into the pits under red, leaving Robinson without both of his challengers from the previous stint.
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The restart left Jay Jay Day on the outside of Robinson with Fowler behind his championship rival. After a failed restart attempt, the field finally picked up the green with Robinson pulling away from the rest of the field without challenge. Bryant rebounded from his spin to go from the rear of the field all the way back to fourth in just four laps, just as the caution flew on lap 17 for a Jason Smith spin.
Robinson pulled away on the final restart, Bryant unable to cut the gap after passing Day and Fowler, allowing Robinson to roll to his ninth victory of the season. Despite a lackluster restart on lap 17, Fowler was able to complete the race in fifth, good enough to secure the 2012 track championship. He defeated Robinson by just 29 points, remarkable for Robinson given the fact that he missed the first two races of the season.
“No one deserves this more than Brannon,” Robinson praised Fowler. “He’s one of the cleanest guys out there and is a true champion. We tried to run him down with big wins at the (Lee Fields) Memorial and Sportsman Challenge. He just matched us race after race. Congratulations to him.”
Island Motor II Bombers
Jayme Corry won the final Island Motor II Bombers feature race of the season on Saturday night, exchanging the lead several times with Matt Jackson before finally pulling away on a late restart to win his sixth feature of the season.
The theme of the entire race was Jackson getting much better restarts than Corry and holding the lead for several laps before Corry was able to charge back to the front. The two exchanged the lead five times before Corry finally charged past Jackson with four laps to go to close out the bombers season.
The battle for the lead appeared aggressive but clean, a thought not entirely shared by the winner.
“I wouldn’t define it as clean racing but it wasn’t dirty,” Corry said. “Matt was out there to win just like every other person and sometimes it involves rubbing and bumping to get there. It’s just all a part of racing. I really enjoyed myself tonight and it was great racing against such close competition, I Definitely had to work to get this win.”
The first caution fell when Charles Lathan, bottled-up the leaders coming off of turns one and two. When he went into the infield grass to get out of the way, several of the leaders made contact in the dust storm. William Leytham was running third and caught the worst of it and had to pit for repairs. He would return to the track before losing a lap.
The caution quickly reappeared for a two-car spin in turn two, off the restart, involving TJ Thompson and Ralph Rogers. This led to a much smoother restart with Jackson again beating Corry into turn one.
The moral victory was short lived, as Corry roughed-up Jackson a lap later to retake the lead. Meanwhile, the best battle on the track was for third where Wesley Barnhill was wrestling Derek Kane Long for position. Their racing resulted in contact, with Barnhill ending up in the grass. Barnhill remarkably saved it and battled back to finish fifth.
Richard Graham spun on lap 16 to bring out another yellow, setting up a dramatic two-lap battle where Jackson again beat Corry to turn one. He just barely held on to the lead for the next two circuits where Tommie Blocker and Troy Bartlett spun on the frontstretch to bring out yet another caution.
The next restart saw both Jackson and TJ Thompson get around the slow to start Corry. After a series of cautions, Corry finally got the restart he was looking for, disposing of both Thompson and Jackson and cruised to a fairly sizable victory.
It was a total team victory for Day Racing Team as Corry won and teammate Tipton captured the division championship by virtue of starting the race. Tipton pulled off the track early in the race to protect his car for 2013 but returned in the closing laps to initiate a cloudy burnout immediately following the checkered flag.
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