Carolina Clash: Luke Roffers dominates "Ed Gibbons Memorial" Alex Cummings FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. - April 2. Luke Roffers was able to motor his way to an impressive second Carolina Clash win at the "Ed Gibbons Memorial" at Fayetteville Motor Speedway, beating out 31 of the best Late Model drivers in the region. After thanking his sponsors, Roffers added, "I also want to thank my crew for their hard work and determination, along with wishing my Dad a happy birthday. This is a great present for him on his birthday." The home town boy Dustin Mitchell and West Virginia native Chris Meadows led the field of 24 to the green flag after qualifying first and second. A massive pileup would ensue in turn two when six cars tangled, bringing out the red flag. Unfortunately, Ray Tucker and Chris Blackwell were unable to continue due to extensive damage on both cars. When the green was shown again, the fans in the stands were treated to a spectacular show with two wide racing taking place for the next six laps from second place on back, with Mitchell leading. Two distinct grooves had shown up, one really low and one really high. Jeff Smith took to the high side and used it to his advantage en route to his six place finish after starting the event in the 23rd position. "I consider tonight pretty much a win by advancing 17 positions in the feature," said Jeff Smith after the race. "My car was able to run high or low and I want to thank my crew for all of their hard work tonight." On lap seven, heading down the backstretch, Roffers made his move on the inside of Mitchell going into turn three and made the pass. Roffers then checked out on the field, taking nearly a full straightaway lead in just a handful of laps. The race was on for second through tenth as nine cars ran either nose to tail or side by side. Every lap saw a position change between one of the drivers in the top 10 during the rest of the race. Lap 17 saw the caution wave when Tim Allen stopped on the back stretch after a mechanical failure, and lap 19 saw Travis Hair slow up. The final caution waved on lap 21 when Kenny Compton, Jr. looped his car, setting up one of the wildest finishes in Carolina Clash history as a 18-lap shootout would ensue. Roffers took his car to the inside of the track and ran away with the lead as the top 15 cars were running nose to tail, jockeying for position and dicing it up. On lap 32, Mike Gault made a power move around Brent Robinson for the fourth position then two laps later, Gault made a move to the outside, passing Dean Bowen for third. Then on lap 35, Bowen would get crossed up in turn two, allowing three cars past. As the cars crossed the finish line to take the checkers, the finish resembled what NASCAR fans would normally see at a restrictor plate race with the cars coming across in a large group, two and three wide for positions second on back. When the dust settled, Roffers was the winner taking home the $4,000 check with Dustin Mitchell in second, Mike Gault third, Brent Robinson fourth, and Scott Autry fifth. Travis Yow began the night with a great qualifying run, putting him in the eighth starting position and locking him into the feature. Yow would run in the top 10 for the most of the night but fell back to 11th place where he would finish.
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Big Gains for Hubbard, Pearson, Ogle - The A-Team Has Been Updated 05-15-12
Scott James battles #13 Barry Doss in heat race action at Florence (Ky.) Speedway, but in the $2,000-to-win feature, the only thing anyone saw was the tail end of James' #81 car. (Roy Walker)
After plenty of trash-talking via the electronic media between Jeff Matthews and Ivedent Lloyd last week, it was #21 Lloyd who got the final word as he reeled in #33 Matthews to win Friday's LM feature at Oclala, Fla.'s Bubba Raceway Park. (R.E. Wing)
Fans at Markleysburg, Pa.'s Roaring Knob Motorsports Comlex were treated to dual LM features Saturday - one a makeup from a May 5th rainout. (Above) Tim Senic challenges eventual regular feature winner Chuck Harper, while Jared Hawkins (below) claimed the makeup race. (Tommy Micheals)
Henley, Missouri's Jason Russell leads the way to Victory Lane in the ULMS Late Model feature at Lucas Oil Speedway Saturday. (Chris Bork)
Some fierce racing action at Lucas Oil speedway. (Chris Bork)
Dalton, Ga.'s Craig Reece returned to Dixie Speedway Saturday and led all the way to win the Crate LM victory. (Steve Hixson)
Ray Guss Jr. races last week's Quad City Speedway winner, Mike Murphy, Jr. This time, it was advantage Guss. (Chris Damitz)
With a strong motor back into his mount, Veteran Lamar Scoggins claimed last Friday's Crate LM victory at Boyd's Speedway. (Steve Hixson)
Veteran racer Lance Matthees navigates Spring Lake, Minnesota's Deer Creek Speedway before taking Saturday's WISSOTA Late Model checkers. (Jason Durst)
Racing hard at mid-pack, it's the dueling 55s of Cory Mahder (inside) and Greg Nippoldt at Deer Creek. (Jason Durst)
Ryan King (above and below) swept both the Ltd. Late Model and Crate Late Model features Saturday at 411 Motor Speedway in Seymour, Tenn. (Chad Wells)
Still riding his wave in Iowa, Mike Murphy, Jr. in early action before taking the main event win at Davenport last Friday. (Chris Damitz)
Jason Jameson ran a gauntlet to finally capture another win Friday night at Moler
Raceway Park (see main page). (Roy
Walker)
After holding back a charge from Alex Ferree, Chub Frank drove home with a Friday night win at Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, Pa. (John Stivason)
Bobby Pierce, Brett Sievert, and Mike Glynn race in a tight pack in Kankakee (Ill.) Speedway's "Crosstown Cup", but (below) it was ultimately Shawn Toczek (42) here racing the high side of Mike Provenzano, who sailed to the win. (Dan Simpson)
NALMS Suspends Remaining Season
In a statement released to the racing media Monday, Northern All All Stars Late Model Series (NALMS) owners Shawn Hall and Bob Mooney relased the following statement:
To all NALMS drivers and fans,
Northern Allstars Late Model Series regrets to inform all of our drivers and fans that as of today (May 14, 2012) we will suspend all series races for the remaining 2012 season. The primary reason for the decision to discontinue the series was mainly economics. Tracks, teams and fans are having a hard time these days with the cost of living in general. With the cost of fuel, parts, tires, tickets and lodging, many people just cannot afford to travel to our shows, so we feel it's best to stop for now and try to regroup for the 2013 season.
Our series needs to be able to have at least 18 to 20 shows to cover our cost of putting on these shows and our drivers point funds. With many tracks cutting back on their special events and other tracks just choosing not to have specials at all, it's has really cut our options for race tracks down to a very few unless you are willing to travel several hours away from the Central Illinois area, and that is not cost effective for the racing teams or fans.
In closing we would like to thank all of the drivers and fans whom have supported the series over the years and we hope to be able to come back with a bigger and better season for everyone in 2013.
A-Team Leaders from 1997-2011 (Click on link for complete rundown)
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