Bowling and Pulliam Split Wins at South Boston

SOUTH BOSTON, VA :: The 2014 race season may be winding down but the action on the track sure hasn’t. Late Model series points leader Peyton Sellers may have a firm grip over the standings but still has to avoid mechanical and on track issues. Otherwise, second, third, fourth and fifth position are still heavily contested as Matt Bowling, Austin Thaxton, Josh Oakley and Bruce Anderson continue to battle. Making a return back to South Boston Speedway with only two things on the mind was Lee Pulliam as car counts and winning was all that mattered. Though not necessarily conceding defeat in the National points, Pulliam however acknowledges that winning a third straight title looks very grim noting displeasure with the current points system.

None the less, twin 75’s were on tap and the first business of the day was qualifying nineteen Late Models. Of those nineteen Late Models, it was Lee Pulliam showcasing the fast lap of 15.839 seconds or 90.915 mph and easily worthy of the races pole. Matt Bowling earned the second spot on the grid, just fifty six thousandths of a second slower than Pulliam’s lap. On back were Deac McCaskill and Josh Oakley making up row two. Kaz Grala and Peyton Sellers were the row three guys and rounding out the ten best were Ronald Hill, Justin Johnson, Austin Thaxton and Rusty Skewes.

Word quickly spread that because of the consecutive wins at the track in recent weeks, Pulliam would be forced to start 10^th on the grid. Though the spot would carry max National points should he win, it was said by Pulliam that being there was not by choice against the stellar field that there was on that night.

The green flag came out and Bowling took point but as battles on the track became settled.  The first caution waved for Kyle Dudley. Lap two restart and once again the Ford Crate powered Late Model of Matt Bowling secured the point. McCaskill, along with Oakley, stayed on pace behind the leader mirroring his every move. Several laps later, the race leader was showing a sizable length lead before McCaskill steped it up and started to real the leader back in.

Just past the halfway, Bowling continued to show the way but was being harassed by McCaskill. On back in the field, Pulliam was making ground but yet to make the five best. Latter part of the race, action was heating up as Bowling and McCaskill were back and forth in a fierce battle for the lead. Pulliam finally reached the top five but with the few laps remaining, Pulliam wisely backed off to conserve the right rear. But, back up front, the battle for the lead was in full swing and waiting for a mistake was Josh Oakley who was pacing Bowling and McCaskill. But a mistake was never made as Matt Bowling would hold off the charge of Deac McCaskill to go on and cross the stripe first for the race win. McCaskill, Oakley, Pulliam and Sellers would make up the first races five best.

The second race featured a ten car invert giving Bruce Anderson pole and making race winner Matt Bowling the tenth car on the grid. Pulliam would start seventh as the green flag waved for the second Late Model feature displaying nineteen cars once again. Three wide racing for the lead took fans unexpectedly as Bruce Anderson, Dustin Storm and Justin Johnson battled for the top spot. The better handling car of Dustin Storm finally secured the point leaving the others to decide second. A lap eight caution saw troubles for Rusty Skewes and Johnny Cash but the caution was short lived as were quickly back to green. Storm once again secured the point but reports started to circulate that Storm jumped the start. Eventually, the black flag was shown and Storm came to pit road to retire from the race in protest.

After another brief caution, a lap 11 restart was on the way and this time, Josh Oakley was the leader with Lee Pulliam in tow. They were able to click off one lap before a huge mess in turn two brought racing to a halt along with a red flag condition. Several cars involved that were racing towards the front thus setting up a big clean-up and a lap 12 restart.

Oakley made quick work to secure his lead on the restart. Pulliam, this time, was a bit more aggressive and showed he wants that lead. After a brief battle, Pulliam was able to work around the leader and took the lead for the first time on the evening. At halfway, Pulliam had Oakley guessing as the lead was growing rather quickly. On back, McCaskill had worked his way to third, Johnson was holding his own in fourth and cracking the top five was Ronald Hill.

With a handful of laps remaining, Oakley caught a break as lap traffic wasn’t so friendly to the race leader and a 10 car length lead soon collapsed. While Oakley had a bead on the leader, Pulliam had disposed of the remaining lap traffic and soon the lead had built back up once again. White flag waved showing the field its final circuit and Pulliam was not to be denied picking up another full field win in 2014. Josh Oakley, Deac McCaskill, Justin Johnson and Ronald Hill completed the five best. Race action concludes in the 2014 at South Boston Speedway when a Late Model track champion will be crowned on September 13th. Twin 75s will highlight that evening before attention to the Martinsville MDCU 300 becomes the focus.