LUCAMA, NC :: Daniel Hemric took advantage of late race contact between leaders Preston Peltier and Trevor Noles to secure his third Pro All Stars Series (PASS) South Super Late Model win of the season in Saturday night’s Dogwood Blossom 150 at Southern National Motorsports Park. All three of Hemric’s PASS South triumphs this year have come after late race rallies that have seen him take the lead with 12 or fewer laps left to go in each race.
“Without a little luck on your side you can never get one of these things, these races are so hard to win now,” said Hemric, after becoming the first multiple time winner in 7 PASS South events at Southern National. “The cautions fell right so we could show the fans what we had left. It’s just an honor to be a part of this deal and hopefully we can come back and do it again soon.”
In qualifying for the Dogwood Blossom 150, PASS South Super Late Model points leader Tyler Church bested Peltier by .002 seconds for this 3rd career fast qualifying time. After the top 10 qualifiers redraw, Church would pull pill number 2 to start on the outside pole alongside rookie Harrison Burton.
At the drop of the green flag, Burton jumped out front to lead the stout 23 car field around the high banked 4/10 mile speedway. The first caution of the night would wave on lap 26 when top 10 runner Tyler Dippel spun in turn three and collected the machine of Dusty Cornelius. Both cars would sustain significant damage and would be finished for the night.
While Burton and Peltier continued to lead, Church was struggling. The PASS South points leader began to drop through the field and would eventually stop on the track with a flat right front tire to bring out the second caution of the night on lap 47.
Following the restart, Peltier was able to move around Burton for the lead. The handle on Burton’s car was starting to slip away as Trevor Noles moved by to take second. While the leaders were battling up front around the halfway mark of the 150 lap race, Jay Fogleman and Hemric were starting their climb to the front running 10th and 11th respectively.
The third caution of the night would wave with 40 laps to go for a solo spin by Zane Smith on the front straightaway. On the restart, Peltier appeared to spin his tires allowing Noles to move into the lead. But, just 12 laps later Peltier reassumed the top spot as he moved by Noles for the lead. As Peltier and Noles battled hard up front, Cole Timm, Brandon Setzer, and Hemric were all closing in from behind.
With 12 laps to go, Noles made contact with Peltier in turn 2 sending the leader around. For the restart, the leaderboard took a different look as Setzer and Hemric would lead the field around for the restart. At drop of the green flag, Hemric was able to take the lead from Setzer entering turn one. Hemric maintained his advantage the rest of the way to take the checkered flag in the Dogwood Blossom 150 ahead of Setzer, Fogleman, Timm, and Jared Irvan. Rounding out the top 10 were Burton, Daniel Keene, Jr., Church, Peltier, and Michael Rouse.
Austin Thompson took the lead from Jeff Batten for the final time with 13 laps to go and held on the rest of the way for his second career PASS Pro Late Model win. Early race leader Kodie Conner struggled on the previous restart losing the lead to Batten before eventually spinning as he exited turn four. Following Thompson at the finish were Nick Robinson, Batten, Lucas Jones, and Matt Murphy.
Jimmy Herrington and Billy Hogan raced side-by-side for the first ten laps before Herrington took command and led the rest of the way for the win in the Pee Dee Coastal Super Truck Series feature. Rounding out the top five were Hogan, Bryan Blackwell, Michael Cooper, and Jody Measamer.
The PASS South Super Late Models will be in action again next Saturday night, June 7 at South Boston Speedway in South Boston, VA along with twin events for the Limited Sportsman, plus Pure Stocks and Legends. Entry forms are now posted at ProAllStarsSeries.com.
