Stevie Jones Scores Mother’s Day Win At Cochran Motor Speedway

By: Todd Shearin

Stevie Jones survived an unusually high number of cautions to take the late model win Saturday night at Cochran Motor Speedway.Jones, who started on the pole alongside Tony Head was able to charge to the point on the second restart after the initial start was waved off due to a spin at the rear of the field. Head made a valiant effort to overtake the 3-time winner but patiently fell in line and tracked the leader the entire race never falling lower than second. Mitch Fulford, who started third, was a constant threat by keeping pace with the top 2 all race. The yellow waved a season high 12 times eliminating several of the top names that made up the stellar field. Jones, who has much experience on flat tracks was able to fire at the right time on each restart to maintain the lead and ultimately bring the Turk Racing Impala home with the win ahead of Head and Fulford.Folks this race was much like the other late model races this year with a lot of passing and side by side action, you’ve got to check it out for yourself. To all of our out of town competitors, thanks for coming. Glen Herrington made his 2008 debut a good one by starting on the pole and taking the sportsman feature win by leading every lap. Herrington beat outside pole sitter Johnny Tribble to the corner on lap 1and never gave up the lead. The race settled into green flag action with 4 cars battling for the top spot. Ricky Burgamy and Eric Baggett soon joined the leaders swapping positions 1 thru 3 multiple times throughout the event. Baggett, who started from the rear by virtue of the 2 wins in a row rule stormed to the front, and was in striking distance by lap 5 but ran out of time. On the white flag lap Tribble, Burgamy, and Baggett thrilled the crowd by getting 2 and 3 wide fighting for the second spot with Baggett just edging out Trbble, and Burgamy in that order. Congrats to Glen on his first win of the season. On a side note, the top 4 finishers have all been winners in the young 2008 season…very good competition in this class. In pure stock action Josh Odom took the hard fought win by getting by leader Eric Register in the latter stages of the race. The race began with pole sitter Tad Hunnicutt taking the early lead only to see his night in with a badly damaged racecar as a result of an early caution. Register took command on the restart, but soon felt heavy pressure from Odom and Kim Floyd. Scott Smith soon joined the fray by working his way to the top 4 after starting 8^th.Odom patiently tracked Register for multiple laps until he found an opening and got by in turns 3 and 4 and held on for the win. The cadet feature was a “caution fest” totaling 10 yellows. Carter Fair will be sore for several days after making hard contact with the backstretch wall on lap 1.Fair’s Monte Carlo slammed the wall hard on the right side after rocketing towards the front on the initial start. It just so happens I was the first one to his car where I found him unconscious, a very scary moment. Thankfully he soon “woke up” and was able to climb out of the car on his own. I want to say thanks to all of our safety personnel that do a great job each week. Carter, I’m glad you are all right! On the restart former road warrior, Kyle Conyer paced the 24-car field from the pole. In only his second cadet race Conyer battled veterans Eric Register, and Darryl Dunn before being overtaken for the lead. Register held the lead until a late race spin set up the battle between Dunn and Conyer.The race ended with Dunn taking the win and Conyer coming home second. A distraction in the stands diverted my attention during the road warrior feature leaving me short on the details of the race. I know yall work hard and spend a lot to race; therefore I try to describe the action as best as I can out of respect to the racers and readers. Having said that I won’t just “make up” something to write, but I do know that Josh Barbee won the race with a loud roar going up in the stands as he took the checkered flag. Congratulations Josh and all of the other road warrior drivers. Thanks to all of our fans, racers, and sponsors. Make plans to join us next week for a great night of racing. May God Bless All Of You!
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