Story by: Corey Latham — [email protected]

Rockingham, NC(April 20, 2009) — The talk was over, we had discussed it, analyzed it, tested on it, and gave opinions on what we THOUGHT would happen.

The fact of it was though, that nobody really knew until we tried it. Could Late Model Stock Cars handle the speeds and forces that a true SuperSpeedway such as Rockingham would throw at them? Simple answer was yes…..a very big yes. We witnessed it first hand Saturday, as Corey Lajoie took the win in grand style beating and banging with Paddy Rodenbeck to the very end. And it could have even been better.

Before the cars hit the track to race, lots of issues were going on early in the morning hours. The teams were allowed to tape up the front grill for qualifying, but if you choose to do so, you had to race it just like it rolled out to qualify. After many teams did this, they had better thoughts Friday night, as engine longevity on such a RPM demanding track was a much talked about issue leading into the race. And with 3 cars expiring motors in practice, it turned out to be a no-brainer for most teams. Some just had to drop to the rear regardless of taping issues, such as pole-sitter Matt McCall and Rockingham Pro Cup winner Clay Rogers. McCall broke a shock mount during qualifying, and Rogers found packing debris in his new water pump and hose. The new lineup had Richard Boswell II on the pole with Paddy Rodenbeck lined up outside and Lajoie starting 3rd.

The field was lined up ready to go and history was about to be made. The stars of the Late-Model Stock Car world were going to tackle the biggest, fastest track they had ever raced on. The field rolled off for the initial pace laps, but one car was already having problems.

Rockingham’s very own, Randy Benson, was flying from the rear of the field to hit pit road. Benson had brake problems the day before, and the team worked on the car that morning forcing him to lose his original starting position. The brakes were fine now, his problems were with a right rear tire going down. The ARCA series had just finished qualifying and a car at the end of the order wrecked off turn 2, Benson was the unlucky soul who picked up a small piece of debris, and found himself two laps down before he even started his laps, the field was gone.

As the cars thundered into turn one, everybody was holding their breath. Boswell shoots out front, as Lajoie gets under Rodenbeck for second off turn 2. Lap 3 saw the lead change hands quickly, as Lajoie and Rodenbeck scream past Boswell pulling Clay Greenfield with them. It was amazing, our questions were answered after 3 laps, these cars were made for here.

In the early going, positions were changing every lap. Boswell was falling, and Kyle Grissom, Andy Loden and Brandon McReynolds were coming. Boswell started out front, but by lap 11 he was now out of the top 5. Lap 11 was unkind to another favorite, as Clay Rogers had his engine expire to bring out the days first caution. Did the debris in the cooling system hurt his engine from the day before? “I don’t think so. I never had it get over 210 yesterday, it didn’t give any warning today at all, it just popped”, said a frustrated Rogers.

On the next restart, Rodenbeck and Lajoie set the tone of the day for the battle for the lead, It’s going to be between them. Rodenbeck dives to the inside of Lajoie in turn 1, and gets loose pushing up into Lajoie, getting both cars out of shape. Lajoie would hold him off, and Rodenbeck goes into “chase” mode once more.

The front of the field was exciting, but all eyes weren’t wondering too far from the initial pole winner, Matt McCall. McCall was the winner of the first event of the year at Bristol, and by all indications he was the car to beat this weekend once again. He rolled off from the 23 spot, but quickly starting putting them behind him, bringing 27th starter Coleman Pressley right with him. They each had good enough cars to win, but the question was if they had enough time to get to the front in the 70 lap race. By the halfway mark, they were right on schedule.

Lap 35: Lajoie, Rodenbeck, Greenfield, Kyle Grissom, Andy Loden, Owen Kelley, Jake Crum, Matt McCall, Coleman Pressley, Garrett Campbell

The first half of the race wasn’t very kind to some. Jamey Caudill is the veteran of the series, but after nearly losing his car numerous times he had to bring it to pit under a lap 25 caution for attention. During the same caution, Boswell and Darrell Wallace Jr. hit pit road, as Boswell was falling back fast, Wallace started next to last, and wasn’t moving up. Brandon McReynolds wouldn’t have the luck of the caution, as he had to pit under green for a cut tire, putting one of the faster cars 2 laps down.

Matt DiBenedetto would get a caution at the right time, but it wouldn’t matter because he would have been the caution himself. Brennan Poole would cut down a tire and hit the turn 1 wall, and while the field paced the track, the hot pink dodge of DiBenedetto would roll to a stop, a dead battery ending his day.

While some usually strong cars were struggling, the pair of Lajoie and Rodenbeck were putting on a show…..when they could. The 70 lap race distance on such a fast track was clicking off quickly, and the second half of the race saw more “pacing” than passing. The cleanup for the many harmless incidents took many laps to clear, and when it was said and done, there were more caution laps than green flag laps. It came to an even slower pace as the red flag was displayed on lap 60 for Richard Boswell. Already having a bad day, the #88 blows a right front tire and slams the turn 2 wall, knocking the fuel pump off in the process, causing the car to burst into flames. Boswell would escape uninjured.

We get a restart with 5 to go, and Rodenbeck wants the lead bad. Into turn one he dives to the bottom, contact, both cars get sideways but neither driver lets off the gas. Into turn 3 still side-by-side, more contact, still 2+2. They would stay this way for another complete lap, before the final caution of the day sets the stage for the finish.

Darrell Wallace Jr. was already having a day to forget, and it didn’t get better as the car has a tire go down off turn 2. Joey Bryant had the toughest luck of the weekend, blowing an engine in practice and wrecking the car, leasing an engine from Kyle Moon and fixing the car, and starting shotgun on the field for missing the qualifying session. While Wallace Jr. was sideways, Bryant went to avoid and lost it into the outside wall, destroying the front of his machine.

Now It’s all on the line. The two leaders had put on a whale of a show between themselves, and we all expected the same for 2 more laps.. The restart was anything but pretty, as some cars were laying back, and some crowding, causing lots of spacing between the top 5. Behind them, 2008 UARA champion Jake Crum was passing cars on every restart in wholesale fashion on the outside, as he got to Joey Coulter, it got interesting. Coulter blocked high, Crum dove to the inside deep in turn 1, contact was made and Coulter went hard into the outside wall, collecting Lance Gatlin in the process.

That was it. The caution and checkered flags were waving and Corey Lajoie had conquered “The Rock”. The finish was controversial to say the least, and many drivers in the top 10 were “disagreeing”, to put it nicely, as to where they finished at. And the fireworks between the Crum and Coulter crews in the pits were and added attraction to the post-race activities. In the end though, there were definitely some bumps and bruises of the day, but it showed that it could be done, the Late-Models could race at Rockingham and put on an exciting show.

Dread and gloom from some going into the event was replaced by how good this really could be. The most important man there had the most encouraging remark when it was over, track owner Andy Hillenburg’s eyes were big as he said “Oh my goodness!” He was impressed, it’ll be even better next year.

Notes: Bob Saville had a hard crash into the wall on lap 43 resulting in a mild concussion. He was awake and alert as they took him to the care center and should be fine.

The Jake Crum team had their hands full after the race. After the race and the last lap incident between Crum and Joey Coulter, Coulter parked his battered car in front on the Crum’s motorhome, instead of behind his own hauler. And it escalated from there, with the authorities having the last word in the argument. No punches were thrown, and it was just your typical racing disagreement at the racetrack. Both teams walked away after some jawing and put it behind them……we think.

Owen Kelley drove for Jr. Motorsports last year at Motor Mile Speedway, but this season he is fully committed to the UARA schedule. He was one of the quietest drivers of the day, nothing flashy or daring, just very consistent and steady. He never fell out of the top ten all day and came home with a solid 8th place finish.

Kyle Grissom and Andy Loden almost spoiled the leaders party, as the laps clicked away and the cautions bunched the field up, both drivers gave the leaders a scare. They were coming fast, and as the leaders fought hard, they laid back a tad, for fear the cars of Lajoie and Rodenbeck would wreck each other for the lead. They were wrong, but still managed to get by Clay Greenfield in the final laps to come home 3rd and 4th.