Story by: Andy Marquis ~ [email protected]

Lucama, NC(November 25, 2012) – It appeared Deac McCaskill and Lee Pulliam would battle for the win in the Thanksgiving All Star Classic at Southern National Motorsports Park until lap 175 when both cars were taken out by the lapped car of Austin Self. That incident handed the lead, and eventually the win, to Greg Edwards.

“We just had a lot of patience and luck,” Edwards said in victory lane. “We got to this racetrack Friday and this car was absolutely awful. We were going to be lucky just to make this race. We got off the scales and changed the whole racecar. We messed up in qualifying but we knew we had a car that could win this race. It came on at the end. I’ve got to thank God, this crew, and James Long for letting me drive this car.”

Mike Darne, who qualified on the pole, appeared to have a shot at the win when a lengthy late race caution, triggered by Brandon Brown and Brandon Dean, caused his car to run out of fuel, ending his race. Brown had sustained damage in an earlier wreck and had attempted to fix it under caution by driving his car in to the wall. That caused heavier damage and, during the first attempt at a Green/White/Checkered Finish, Brown attempted to move up the track to get out of the way when he collected Dean. The two drivers then traded paint under the caution to express their displeasure with each other.

Blake Jones, who took a provisional to get in to the race after missing it due to engine problems, moved up to the runner up position when Darne retired from the race. He tried to make a run at Edwards, who was also concerned about fuel, but Edwards was able to hold him off. Jones was satisfied with the second place finish, crediting Jay Hedgecock for the car’s performance.

“The spotter and Jay (Hedgecock) did everything,” Jones said humbly of his second place finish. “They made every move that we made tonight. Jay gave me a wonderful racecar and he deserved to be here in qualifying and the heat races. He’s never been here before and it’s my fault because of lack of experience. 200 laps are plenty enough to get us here. I can’t thank Jay or Lloyd enough, especially Billy, Chad and Jamie for giving me this ride. I got a call Friday morning telling me to come down here. Where we started this weekend, missing practice and all, pretty good weekend for us.”

“When we unloaded, I didn’t even think we were going to make the show,” third place finisher Josh Oakley said. “I was last, I think, at halfway. We hadn’t been here before in this car. I haven’t been here in forever. I told them I was just going to ride it out the first half because the car was so loose. I couldn’t turn it down getting in, it was spinning coming off. We made some big adjustments at halfway and it started coming to life. If we would have gotten some long runs in the second half, we would’ve been even better than we were.”

Tommy Lemons, Jr. and Brandon Brown finished fourth and fifth. Cliff Daniels, Michael Hardin, Justin Snow, Michael Rouse and Matt McCall rounded out the top-ten.

Results

1. #97 Greg Edwards
2. #8 Blake Jones
3. #8 Josh Oakley
4. #27 Tommy Lemons Jr
5. #68 Brandon Brown
6. #99 Cliff Daniels
7. #77 Michael Hardin
8. #0 Justin Snow
9. #23 Michael Rouse
10. #51 Matt McCall
11. #1 Tony Grady
12. #17B Keith Bumgarner
13. #08 John Wes Townley
14. #36 Harrison Rhodes
15. #5 Brandon Dean
16. #14 Mike Darne
17. #02T Austin Thaxton
18. #44 Dillon Bassett
19. #99L John Livingston
20. #02W Matt Waltz
21. #59 Gary Causey
22. #81 Patrick Coleman
23. #80 Kris Bowen
24. #17 Mark McFarland
25. #12 Garrett Campbell
26. #08 Deac McCaskill
27. #1P Lee Pulliam
28. #07 Austin Wayne Self
29. #44M Nate Monteith
30. #83 Matt Bowling
31. #10 Woody Howard
32. #9 Thomas Burbage
33. #50 Jamey Caudill
34. #90 Terry Carroll
35. #18 Chad Kendrick