Philip Morris came into the season finale at Motor Mile Speedway with seven victories at the 4/10 mile speedplant but he was looking to close the season with two more and another championship. When the night ended he had nine wins in 12 races and his eighth career Motor Mile Speedway title.

Morris put his car on the pole but due to multiple wins he would start from the sixth position. CE Falk who qualified second would start from the pole flanked by 2016 NASCAR Whelen All-American Series National Champion Matt Bowling. Mike Looney, Dennis Holdren, Bryan Reedy, Dan Moore, Jay Payne, Kyle Dudley and Matt Elledge completed the top 10 starters.

Falk jumped out front from the start of the race before an early caution flag waved on lap number eight as Jonathan Hall’s car stalled. Soon after the restart Morris was already up to second position and launched his car into the lead. A battle for the top spot would not be waged for the rest of the race.

Bowling who pitted under the early caution had made it back to fifth within a couple laps and by halfway he was already in fourth and looking for more. A lap 45 caution slowed the field and brought Morris back to the field but on the restart he was off again as the field strung out and there was little to no movement among the top five.

Looney started working Falk hard for the second position on lap 56 and on lap 63 he got door to door for the spot and took it away. Morris pedaled his car in front of the field about 20 car lengths and took that lead all the way to checkered flag. Looney followed in second with Bowling getting around Falk for third. Falk would hang on to finish fourth ahead of Holdren.

For race number two the field was inverted eight as required by the NASCAR sanctioning agreement. The invert put Payne on the pole with Dudley on the outside and Morris all the way back in eighth position. Reedy started third in the second race but was the first caution of the night as the field was running tight from the drop of the green flag and he went around with contact on the third lap.

Morris in just three laps was already back to fifth position as Payne led Dudley, Holdren, Bowling, Morris, Looney and Falk. On the restart Payne went deep into the third turn and bounced off the side of Dudley. The contact cost Payne as he slipped back a little as Bowling made it three wide with him and Dudley. Dudley came out with the lead but Bowling was closing the gap.

Payne’s slip stacks up the field behind him as Holdren, Payne, Looney and Morris all fight for the third position. As that battle begins to settle out Bowling takes his car to the lead shuffling Dudley back to second. Morris comes out of that four way battle with third positon and sets sights on Dudley while Payne is falling back as he’s hung up on the outside groove.

Morris moves by Dudley on lap 12 and pressures Bowling right away and as lap 15 goes up on the board Morris’ number takes the top spot on the scoreboard. Dudley begins to slip back through the field as Looney goes by on lap 19 and Falk is hot on his heels.

The best battle throughout the mid and later points of the race is a battle for fifth between Dudley and Holdren. They battle nose to tail as Holdren works to the inside of Dudley but to no avail. Holdren then slips a little on lap 50 and Reedy is there to capitalize as he goes after Dudley himself. The battle between the two is ended as Reedy takes the spot while Morris sweeps below to put them a lap down.

In the closing laps Looney moves to second ahead of Bowling but no one has anything for Morris as he sweeps the night and celebrates his eighth Motor Mile Speedway track championship. He’s followed to the line in the second race by Looney, Bowling, Falk, Reedy, Dudley, Bob Saville, Holdren, Payne and Moore complete the top ten finishers.

On this night Philip Morris was perfect. First he qualified on the pole ahead of the 15-car field and then from the drop of the green flag took less than 15 laps to get to the lead first from the sixth position and next from the eighth position. It was a fitting way for the 52-year old driver to cap off what’s been one of his most successful seasons.

Unofficial Results:
Race #1:
1 – #01 Philip Morris
2 – #87 Mike Looney
3 – #83 Matt Bowling
4 – #02 CE Falk
5 – #2 Dennis Holdren
6 – #17 Bryan Reedy
7 – #4 Kyle Dudley
8 – #8 Jay Payne
9 – #15 Bob Saville
10 – #99 Matt Elledge
11 – #22 Dan Moore
12 – #1 Blake Morris
13 – #03 Josh Leedy
14 – #81 Joe Taylor
15 – #25 Jonathan Hall

Race #2:
1 – #01 Philip Morris
2 – #87 Mike Looney
3 – #83 Matt Bowling
4 – #02 CE Falk
5 – #17 Bryan Reedy
6 – #4 Kyle Dudley
7 – #15 Bob Saville
8 – #2 Dennis Holdren
9 – #8 Jay Payne
10 – #22 Dan Moore
11 – #99 Matt Elledge
12 – #1 Blake Morris
13 – #03 Josh Leedy
14 – #25 Jonathan Hall
15 – #81 Joe Taylor