Story by: Corey Latham ~ [email protected]

Asheboro, NC(October 20, 2011) — We were able to knock another race off our belt this weekend as “Big Race” season is in full swing. Caraway held their annual event of 250 laps for the Late Models, the Davis Roofing 450 Weekend, and while the name was different from the Mid-Atlantic Championships of the past, it was the same great racing. Throughout the field that is, Garrett Campbell put a whipping on the cars up front on his way to his 5th big Late Model win of the season.

Tommy Lemons Jr. would pick up the pole for the 20 car field but with the mandatory redraw, Alex Yontz would start his beautiful #77 lead by veteran crew chief Ed Berrier out front. Yontz would quickly show his strength as he pulled away from the field in the early going but was chased down with the help of some cautions and the “choose” cone double file restarts. Jeb Burton, Travis Swaim, Lemons and Garrett Campbell all showed they were they cars to beat on this day in the early going.

One car not at the front that usually is was BJ Mackey. The William Barber owned Ford had to start shotgun on the field due to a problem with their carburetor in pre-race tech, the same exact problem they had at Martinsville before qualifying just a week ago. Mackey would waste no time in coming to the front moving into the top five just after the 50 lap mark. While it looked to be another Mackey show on the way it was not to be on this day as the car did not to respond to adjustments made during the halfway break and he slid back finishing sixth.

After a few restarts, most of them for Quinn Houff spinning regularly by himself, Campbell takes advantage on lap 47 when he pulls to the outside of Yontz for the top spot. As they get the green and race into turn one Yontz washes up the track and tries to stay off Campbell the best he can, ultimately killing his own momentum and allowing Campbell to take the lead on the outside. As Campbell began to drive away Yontz had his hands full once more as Tommy Lemons, who had been the fastest all weekend began to apply pressure and took over second from Yontz just a few laps later.

Lemons would get his chance at Campbell on lap 70 as another caution brought out by Houff would pair them up at the front. Lemons had a tremendous restart from the outside but Campbell would stick it in the corner deep on the inside and they would make hard contact while everyone managed to stay straight. Yontz gets back around Lemons for second 10 laps later while the best battle is for fourth as Mackey and Robert Tyler go side by side for over 12 laps until Mackey finally moves past.

The only incident of the entire 250 lap event comes on lap 103 as Jimmy Wallace has his throttle stick going into turn three and uses Jeb Burton to stop his car……..needless to say it didn’t turn out well for either driver. Wallace has considerable damage but mostly suspension and body while Burton will be needing a new rear clip on his FDJ prepared machine. After the red flag Campbell and Yontz race hard for the lead with Campbell finally moving ahead after three laps, meanwhile Mackey just does get by Lemons to go to third before the halfway break.

One of the funniest things during the halfway break was in the Campbell pit. Don Clapp, Garrett’s grandfather is the backbone behind their racing operation, and like most things around him no matter where they are, what Don says goes. The team decided it would be funny to lay out all sorts of parts on the back of the trailer like they were going to change them at halfway, shocks, springs, trackbars, you name it, it was out there. When Mr. Clapp saw this he was fit to be tied, and when he asked what it was for and they told him that was the stuff they were changing he let them know real quick it wasn’t happening, “Like hell you are, your lucky I’m even letting ya’ll change the tires”…………like the crew, he knew this car was near perfect.

After the break with everyone getting some fresh rubber we now expected the cream to rise to the top. Only problem was it was already there, Campbell was on a rail and would not be denied. The two cars people were watching were Mackey and Mack Little, as Mackey was going and Little was coming. The changes to the #98 seemed to go in the wrong direction, other teams made small adjustments but the Barber Ford made a trackbar adjustment and a spring rubber and the car didn’t respond. As Mackey began to fall Little began to shine and moved into fourth just past the lap 175 mark. He then put some awesome pressure on Lemons for third diving into the car many car lengths deeper than Lemons giving him some hard shots but backing off each time to let him gather it up.

A restart on lap 209 would be the last one of the day, and the only chance for anyone to do anything with Campbell. It would not happen as he simply drove away from Yontz in second and Lemons holding off a hard charging Dan Moore in third. As Campbell picked up the victory he also made note to the other drivers in the Late Model ranks, after winning two UARA races this season and four more victorties at two different tracks he is a threat to win at each track he attends.

1 12 Garrett Campbell
2 77 Alex Yontz
3 27 Tommy Lemons, Jr
4 10 Dan Moore
5 16 Mack Little
6 98 BJ Mackey
7 21 Travis Swaim
8 18 Scott Hall
9 7 Gene Kepley
10 88 Robert Tyler
11 33 David Polenz
12 25 Tony Black
13 17 John Kidwell
14 45 Quinn Houff
15 2 Pete Stewart
16 28 Travis Jarrett
17 23 Elliot Jewel
18 24 Brad Brinkley
19 87 Jeb Burton
20 75 Jimmy Wallace