After getting bumped from the lead in the first of two 75-lap Late Model Stock Car races at Greenville Pickens Speedway Trey Gibson returned to form in the second and final race of the night as he put on a dominating performance leading every lap en route to victory.
Gibson who led the last 24 laps before the checkered flag in the first race before NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Rookie of the Year candidate Chase Purdy muscled his way past him for the season opening victory. Purdy would start from the pole in the second race as there wasn’t an invert in between races but it was Gibson who led the first lap and led all the way to the finish.
The first race of the night went caution free but the encore wasn’t going to be it’s twin. The first caution waved over the field on lap 20 when Cody Haskins spun around and hit the wall ending his night. Lap 45 took out two more drivers as Richard Starkey and Kevin Vassar made hard contact and Vassar slammed the wall ending his night. Starkey was pushed to the pits but his night was complete soon after. Those were the only two cautions but cars were dropping like flies as not many cars made it to the finish of the second race.
Gibson’s time at the front was aided by two key mistakes by the rookie Purdy as he missed a shift on both restarts and gave up some distance to Gibson. Behind these two drivers was a couple strong runs by Bob Root and Tasha Kummer. Root had a strong finish in race one and backed it up while Kummer rebounded from the performance in race one to finish fourth behind Root.
David Roberts rallied late to get by Ralph Carnes for fifth position with Carnes slipping to sixth ahead of Neil Meredith, Dylan Hall and Lance Gatlin who were the only cars running at the finish.
After the finish of the second race Gibson was excited to be in victory lane but said he hadn’t forgot what happened in the first race.
“It’s good to get a win,” said Trey Gibson from victory lane. “We had a good car and I think we would have had two wins if not for him (Purdy) getting into us in the last one. I won’t forget that and it’s a long season.”
Purdy was focused on his mistakes after race two and was very frustrated about missing a shift on both restarts. However everyone in attendance was impressed with his runs as he finished first and second on the night, which was impressive for a driver running only his third and fourth race in a Late Model Stock Car.
Technical inspection is on going at this time and we’ll have any updates as the night goes on.
Race #2 Unofficial Results:
1 – Trey Gibson #12
2 – Chase Purdy #41
3 – Bob Root #28
4 – Tasha Kummer #35
5 – David Roberts #18
6 – Ralph Carnes #40
7- Neil Meredith #36
8 – Dylan Hall #4
9 – Lance Gatlin #97
10 – Kevin Vassar #44
11 – Richard Starkey #8
12 – Cody Haskins #2
13 – Will Burns #82
14 – Austin Northcutt #29
15 – Rodney Howard #16
16 – Taylor Sorrow #92