LOWE'S MOTOR SPEEDWAY - 5/24/07 BANDOLEROS

By Jason Buckley

Sellers Celebrates 16th Birthday With An Outlaw Win

There are many birthdays in a person’s lifetime that are considered special.  On Wednesday Kendall Sellers celebrated his “Sweet 16,” and on Thursday he made it sweeter by winning the Bandolero Outlaws race at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.

“Yesterday was my birthday,” said Sellers.  “We decided to come out here on Pole night and get a little birthday luck.  It turned out pretty good.”

Sellers used the good luck from his birthday to draw the pole position for the race.  On the start, he jumped out to a good lead over the nine-car field.  Josh Turner started outside pole, but was passed by Chris McKinney on the start, dropping him back to the third position.

Throughout the race, the top positions didn’t change, making it a snooze fest for the fans to watch.  Sellers cruised on to the win with McKinney taking second, ahead of Turner. 

“At the beginning I had something for him but after our tires got heated it started to push real bad,” said McKinney.  “This is only my second time here, but I am planning on running the Summer Shootout here this year.”

While the win was easy for Sellers, he didn’t discount the competition in the Outlaw division.

“The #13, Chris McKinney, he has always been strong no matter where we go,” said Sellers.  “Josh Turner has always been good.  There is a lot of people that are good and can win at any given moment.  I just knew I had to get out and do what I was taught to do today.

“We are going to run the Summer Shootout as well as many other races on the East Coast.  Hopefully this win is a sign of good things to come out here this year.”

Casey LaJoie Survives Wreck Fest For First LMS Young Guns Win

It was just too good to be true.

Prior to the Young Guns taking to the track for their feature, the Outlaw division ran their race with no incidents to speak of.  While some fans were looking for a more exciting event with the Young Guns, drivers were looking forward to a clean race so they could load up their cars undamaged.  It only took a corner at speed before that dream was dashed as multiple car wrecks plagued the race. 

Once it was all over, it was Casey LaJoie that survived the wreck fest, claiming his first Lowe’s Motor Speedway quarter-mile win.

“We won a couple races at Concord,” said LaJoie.  “Our car has been good all year, but we just need to get the driver working right.  The driver was right today and we got the win.”

LaJoie started 10th in the 13-car field.  With the bad draw, LaJoie was looking to run hard from the drop of the green flag to make up positions.  Every time the caution came out, more cars in front of him were taken out of competition.  The major move up through the field for LaJoie happened when the third and fourth place drivers tangled in turn two.  While under yellow flag conditions, second place Dylan Pack and leader Nick Stroupe got together, putting Stroupe out of the event and LaJoie up to second behind Pack. 

Outlaws Results

1) #6 Kendall Sellers

2) #13 Chris McKinney

3) #11T Josh Turner

4) #42 Nathan Rodgers

5) #33 David Furr

6) #21 T.J. Hicks

7) #7 Ryan Jernigan

8) #72 Charles Lloyd

9) #88 Marcus Limehouse

Young Guns Results

1) #17 Casey LaJoie

2) #04 Ronnie Bassett, Jr.

3) #25 Robert Poole

4) #71 Cody Blackburn

5) #11 Brett Pepicelli

6) #10 Gregory Lang

7) #28 Ryan Glenski

8) #63 Justin Grimes

9) #89 Dylan Pack

10) #45 Nick Stroupe

11) #19 Chad Finchum

12) #7 Tyler Mullins

DQ) #97 Brandon Lynn

The "Birthday Boy" was the class of the field. (LN Photo)

Wrecks plagued the Young Guns race (top).  Brandon Lynn (bottom - #97) lost part of his car during one of the incidents. (LN Photos)