Addis Holds Off Howard For Greenville-Pickens Limited Late Model Victory

Veteran late model racer Blair Addis overtook 14-year-old Colby “The Kid” Howard with six laps remaining to pick up the victory in the 50 lap Limited Late Model feature at Greenville-Pickens Speedway Saturday night. Addis and Howard dueled door to door for several laps as the race drew near its conclusion. 

With six laps remaining, Addis was able to power past Howard for good in turns three and four en route to “Call Double Aught Bryan Ramey Victory Lane”.

Howard set fast time in qualifying at a 21.708 with Addis second fastest at a 21.850. When the green flag dropped, Howard and Addis pulled away at the front of the field. However, a caution on lap 22 for fluid from the car of Marion Thomas brought the field back together. 

On the restart, it was again Howard and Addis pacing the field. As the race passed its halfway point, Addis began to pressure Howard for the top spot. The two eventually wound up racing side by side and swapping the lead several times before Addis was finally able to pull away with six laps to go.

Addis, the 2005 track champion at Greenville-Pickens Speedway, put his Hedman Hustler Hedders Chevrolet into the winners circle for the second week in a row at the historic half mile as he also won the Southeast Limited Late Model touring event at Greenville-Pickens Speedway last weekend.

The drive of the night belonged to Taylor Nesbitt-Sorrow who time trialed in the eight position but raced her way through the field to a third place finish as she picked off Saluda, S.C. driver R.J. West with two laps to go. West, who overcame a motor issue in practice, ran solidly in the third position for most of the race before Nesbitt-Sorrow was able to overtake him in the closing laps. 

Luke Sorrow nipped Anthony Miller at the finish line to claim the fifth spot. Belton’s Ron Hall came home seventh followed by Don Morgan, Thomas Marion and Nick Thunder who rounded out the field.

In Super Stock, Josh Sams led wire to wire holding off Ted Somero and Tim Sams to claim the victory in a caution free twenty lap feature. 

The Renegades put on a whale of a show as Bobby Emory and Terry Thurston swapped the lead several times in the opening laps. 

The race was slowed by the first crash of the evening when Michael Thompson and Larry Nabors made contact in turn one causing Nabors to spin. The crash also collected Scotty Tyner and Parker Jameson, neither of whom were able to continue in the race. At the end of the 20 lap feature it was Bobby Emory who held on to score the victory in the Renegade division.
 
The 4 Cylinders had a plethora of yellow flags in their event, but when the smoke cleared, the names at the front of the field were familiar ones as Dannon Esco picked up his third victory of the season followed by Chad Redding’s “Silver Bullet” machine and Tommy Davis. The trio each had two wins in the 4 cylinder division coming into Saturday’s race.

The Pure Stock feature saw point leader Buck Simmons black flagged for jumping the initial start of the race. The beneficiary of this was Ashley Granata, as she went on to lead all 15 laps of the feature. Hank Hutto’s blown engine with three laps remaining oiled down the track and set up a late race restart, but Granata was able to hold off Zach Meinders for her second checked flag of the season.

Next Saturday, the action packed month of May wraps up with Twin 75’s for the NASCAR Whelen All American Series Late Model Stock Cars. 16 year old Chase Purdy swept the Twin 75’s on May 14th, the fourth and fifth victories of the season at the historic half mile for the Mississippi driver. Easley’s Trey Gibson has three victories on the season and will look to match Purdy’s win total Saturday night.

Meanwhile, defending track champion David “The Rocket” Roberts, Dylan Hall, and a host of other late model stock drivers will look to break into Call Double Aught Bryan Ramey Victory Lane for the first time this season. Support divisions on the card include Super Stocks, Pure Stocks, Renegades and 4 Cylinders.

Gates open at 4pm for spectators, with the first racing green flag at 7pm. Admission is $15 for adults and $5 for youth ages 9-11. Kids 8 and under are admitted free with paid adult.

For all the latest updates about Greenville-Pickens Speedway during the week, visit the track website at www.greenvillepickens.com.

You can also find them on Facebook by searching Greenville-Pickens Speedway, and on Twitter @GP_Speedway. You can also call the track office at 864-295-5764 weekdays during regular business hours.

GPS PR