Purdy Picks A Pair In Greenville Late Models

Purdy was the Root’s Tire and Auto Service Pole Award winner, so he and Cody Haskins led the field to the green in the first late model feature. 

The 16-year-old  led the first lap but Haskins was strong in the early going and took control on lap two. Tennessee’s Kres VanDyke made an appearance at Greenville and held on to third for much of the first half of the race, fending off the repeated challenges of Dylan Hall in the AutoBank No. 4. 

On lap 21, Purdy saw an opening going into turn three and guided his Bama Buggies Off-Road No. 41 underneath the No. 2 of Haskins and took command for good.  

Hall was able to shuffle VanDyke back to fourth and ran inside of Haskins for several laps challenging for third.  At the stripe it was Purdy, Haskins, Hall, VanDyke and Trey Gibson aboard the Blair Addis owned, Headman Hustler Headers No. 1 completing the top five in that order. 

Next out on the track was the Mulligan Power Truck Series for their 60-lap main event.  Tim Lollis in the No. 50 and “The Young One” Luke Sorrow started on the front row. 

This race was all about Sorrow as he drove away from the field and led flag to flag to put the $2,000 winner’s share in his pocket with his yellow No. 9.  

Lollis ran second for most of the distance but the battle for third eventually caught up to him.  Veteran racers Randy Porter in his Porter RV Sales No. 32 and Kenneth Headen in the No. 44 went at it tooth and nail for third and fourth and eventually both got by Lollis, who faded at the end.  

Finishing fifth at the checkers was the No. 36 of Brandon Fox.  

The 20-lap super stock feature saw Travis Cox and Ken Guthrie swap the lead back and forth until the evening’s first yellow flag was waved on lap two for a multi-car melee that sent the No. 20 of Dale Stancil and the T.J. Johnson No. 98 to the pits for repairs.

Both returned to action.   

Cox, Guthrie, Tim Sams, Stanley Pressley and Travis Stephens were the top five when the race was restarted.  Guthrie grabbed the lead going into turn one and Sams followed, sending Cox back to third. 

Yellow lights came back on again as Stancil and Austin Somero tangled coming out of turn four.  Both went to th epits and Stancil did not return. 

On the ensuring restart, Sams made quick work of Guthrie and sped off into the lead, putting half a straightaway on the field before lap 10 was in the books.  

Cox passed Guthrie for second and set sail after Sams, but was unable to catch him.  Sams had over a two second lead when the checkers waved. Cox, Guthrie, Pressley and Stephens followed him across the line. 

The late models returned for their second 50-lap showdown.  Chase Purdy grabbed the early lead but on lap two Cody Haskins got a piece of the wall and stopped in turn two, necessitating a yellow flag. 

Purdy, Ryan Walker, Hall, VanDyke and Tasha Kummer led the field to the restart.  

After that it was all Purdy as he endured a couple of more caution flags to score his ninth win of the season at the historic half-mile.  Hall came home second followed by Gibson, a strong running Daniel Alvarez and Ryan Walker. 

Spencer Morgan passed early leader Buck Simmons and walked away with the win in the 12-lap pure stock feature.  Simmons beat out “The Flying Schoolteacher” Ashley Granata for the second spot while Granata, Zack Meinders and A.J. Davis filled the remainder of the top five. 

In the 15-lap four-cylinder feature, Hunter Evans had a half-straightaway lead on the rest of the field until the ninth lap when a yellow flag closed the gap.  

Michael Cross used the restart wisely, outracing Evans into turn one and going on to victory.  Evans finished second followed by Tommy Davis, Manuel Molleda and Michael Webster. 

The Renegades finished off the evening with one of their most competitive races of the season.  Ricky Burnett had Steve Guthrie and Alexx Breazele on his bumper the entire distance until slight contact sent Guthrie around and both cars to the tail of the field.  

Burnett scooted away on the restart and ended up with the win.  Chris Whitfield finished second followed by Bobby Emory, Eddie Ray and Larry Nabors.