LMS Pole Night 10/11/07: Bandolero Racing Action
By Jason Buckley
DQ PUTS BLAKE JONES IN BANDITS VICTORY LANE
Sometimes the driver who crosses the finish line first isn’t always declared the winner of a race. That was the case in Thursday’s Bandolero Bandits division race at Lowe’s Motor Speedway as Blake Jones, who was running second at the checkered flag, was declared the race winner after original winner Bodie Bellinger was disqualified for a restrictor plate infraction.
“Bodie was fast,” said Jones. “I thought I could get past him, but we ran out of time because of the caution. He ended up getting disqualified in tech, which gave me the win.”
Blake Jones had the his #80 car all ready to promote his sponsor in front of the NASCAR crowd. (LN Photo)
With 15 Bandits pre-registering by mid day Thursday and a few more trickling into the track before race time, there was a strong group of cars looking to take the top honors in front of the NASCAR drivers and fans. Sean Shalvoy led the field to the green flag to start the event and continued to be strong all race, but Bellinger drove his way from the fourth position to second, then to the lead early on with Jones moving into the second position.
The race was slowed a few times for spins, one involving multiple cars, which had multiple drivers scratching their head. Kayla Marshall spun her #11 Bandolero in turn two and was stopped in the groove backwards coming off the corner. Track officials didn’t immediately throw a caution, and while her car sat motionless in the middle of the track, multiple drivers took evasive action to not hit her car. After a short period, the caution did finally come out, but it was too late as Matthew Linker and Justin Carroll piled into Marshall’s stopped car, damaging all vehicles, some severely.
Chad Finchum has been good all season and finally got to victory lane at LMS. (LN Photo)
That changed Thursday evening as Finchum drove from the back of the pack to the front, giving him his first ever Young Guns win at LMS.
“I had a lot of fun,” said Finchum. “This is my first ever here.”
While Finchum was forced to start in the rear of the field due to a poor draw, Ronnie Bassett and Robert Poole led the field down to the green flag. Neither top driver stayed there very long as Dylan Pack worked his way from the fourth position to the lead early.
Pack held onto the lead until Finchum motored his way to his back bumper. The two drivers put on a battle for the top spot, but Finchum’s Bandolero was wicked fast, allowing him to move on by for the lead.
On the last lap, a lapped car spun in turn four, causing Pack to spin to avoid while he was trying to reel in the leader. Ryan Glenski moved to the second spot on the sprint back to the checkered flag, but it was Finchum taking the win.
“This win was special since we came from the back to the front,” said Finchum. “When I was in the pack I was trying to stay calm. I lost it a little bit and got loose, but I gathered it up.
“This is our first year racing and we were hoping to get the win here and we did. We came out on top and I am real happy.”
The Outlaw division puts on some good racing at LMS, but none of the drivers showed up to race on Pole night.
Top Three Finishers (unofficial)
1) #19 - Chad Finchum
2) #89 - Ryan Glenski
3) #04 - Ronnie Bassett, Jr.
OUTLAW DIVISION ABSENT FROM POLE NIGHT
While a decent amount of cars showed up to race at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in the Young Guns and Bandits division, not a single driver showed up to race the Outlaws division race.
Kendall Sellers was at the track, but was helping crew his team car. Nathan Rodgers, Kayla Turner, Dawn Eagens and other top Outlaw drivers were absent from the event.
[Editor’s note: According to multiple sources, the drivers were not told on the RACEiver a car was sitting stalled in the middle of the track. LegendsNation.com was not able to verify this information with the track officials.]
Once the racing resumed, Bellinger and Jones checked out on the rest of the field, driving to the checkered flag first and second.
In post-race tech, it was determined that Bellinger’s restrictor plate was not mounted properly, which caused his car to be disqualified. The win was given to Jones, who was happy to win after improving all season in his Bandolero.
“I thought we would have a really good car because of our Summer Shootout races here,” said Jones. “We could probably get to the front if we had enough time, but we didn't know if we would have enough time.”
For Jones, winning at Lowe’s Motor Speedway is special, especially during this event as it was in front of the top NASCAR drivers and teams in the country.
“I thought it was really exciting winning in front of the NASCAR people. I thought we were going to win during the All-Star weekend in the spring, but the car messed up. It feels good to come back and win this for my team and my sponsor Mountain Dew. The Code Red Bandolero was good today.”
Top Three Finishers (unofficial)
1) #80 - Blake Jones
2) #35 - Sean Shalvoy
3) #23 - Layne Clifton
[Editor’s note: LegendsNation.com received a phone call Friday from the Holleman family. John Holleman crossed the line in fifth, but with the winner DQ, he was moved to fourth. According to the Hollemans, the #35 of Sean Shalvoy was also disqualified in post-race tech, moving Holleman to third. He was awarded and took home a third place trophy from the event. LegendsNation.com was not able to verify this information with the track officials.]
CHAD FINCHUM GETS FIRST LMS YOUNG GUNS VICTORY
This season, Chad Finchum has had an up and down year in the Young Guns division. At Lowe’s Motor Speedway during the Summer Shootout, good runs were cut short by bad luck, keeping him from victory lane.
NEXT UP: OCR ACTION SPORTS PARK - SATURDAY 10/13
With the Pole Night racing action at Lowe's Motor Speedway concluded, the Bandolero racers now turn their attention to the weekend racing action at OCR Action Sports Park in Rougemont, North Carolina. Saturday the track will host the only Bandolero race on the weekend across the Carolinas.
LegendsNation.com will be on hand at OCR Saturday and will provide full race coverage next week.
