Radford, VA(April 4, 2009) — When it comes to Late Model Stock Car racing at Motor Mile Speedway, one name stands above all and on Saturday evening in the first race of the 2009 season that one driver was in victory lane again.
Philip Morris, the 2006 and 2008 NASCAR Whelen All-American Series National Champion claimed his second victory of the season after opening South Boston Speedway two weeks ago with a win as well. Morris qualified on the pole for the race, but didn’t immediately lead the race at the drop of the green flag.
In the 150-lap affair Morris peeled the lead away from Frank Deiny, Jr. on lap 17 after Deiny started on the outside of the front row for the race and took the lead on the start. Deiny, making his first race in a brand new FDJ Motorsports chassis looked strong early, but Morris would soon hit his stride and race by the driver he’ll be running against all season long for the championship.
With Morris out front and Deiny comfortably in second it was third place qualifier, Chad Harris who found himself under attack in his new Marlowe Racing chassis. Brandon Dean in a Pistone LTO and Mike Looney were both coming hard for third place. Dean slipped by Harris as Looney followed him through, but the passes would be short lived as Harris found the power to eventually go back by both.
Only small incidents slowed the field in the early going as fifth place qualifier, Rusty Skewes was among those as he spun out in the early laps after having such a stellar qualifying effort in his brand new FDJ Motorsports chassis. Others having troubles early included Tommy Lemons, Jr. in his Marlowe Racing chassis, who seemed to have some sort of mechanical issues with his engine.
With Morris out front the script was pretty much written that he would be the one to cash in at the end of the race, but behind him there was a few story lines brewing as the race headed into the final laps. Looney, who was having a great run and being one of the few drivers who actually was able to beat Morris last season got into an altercation late when the field bunched up on a restart and he ended up three wide heading into turn one in the middle and got taken out.
Looney would continue mostly undamaged, but that would change a few laps later as he tried to race back up inside the top ten when the accordion effect happened again in front of him and he got into the back of Skewes damaging both cars. For Skewes that wouldn’t be the end of the road for him as far as damage as he lost a wheel late and slammed into the outside wall hard. His wheel raced down pit road as he slowly continued up against the outside wall from turn four to the start/finish line. Parts were flying everywhere as he hit the wall as hard as I’ve ever seen for a one car crash, needless to say he was finished for the evening.
Zeke Shell and Casey Holt, both east Tennessee natives traded shots all day as they banged off of one another with the end result coming when Shell went for a spin in turn four. Both drivers had good performances early in the 150-lap race only to have issues as the race went along with Shell returning to a top ten finish with Holt coming back to finish 11th. Certainly not the result that either driver was looking for in the season opening race.
As the race got down to the final few laps Harris was on the move as he would wrestle second place away from Deiny. On the final restart Harris was lined up behind Morris, but the two-time National champion was too strong for the three-time track champion as Morris would go to victory lane with Harris finishing second and Deiny claiming third in his first race as he returns to Late Model Stock Car racing full-time this season after spending a few seasons in the former, USAR Hooters Pro-Cup Series.
Jason Merriman raced up through the field from his ninth place starting effort to a fourth place finish with Dean having a great run finishing fifth with Lynn Phoenix capitalizing on Looney as well as others misfortune to finish sixth after starting 13th. Shaun Mangum had an impressive day first starting fourth and racing among the leaders all day only to fade late and finish 7th. Derrick Lancaster started 15th, but he was able to race into eighth place with Looney getting back to ninth and Shell completing the top ten.
Official Results:
1 – Philip Morris #26
2 – Frank Deiny Jr. #4
3 – Chad Harris #3
4 – Jason Merriman #30
5 – Brandon Dean #99
6 – Lynn Phoenix #14
7 – Shaun Mangum #5
8 – Derrick Lancaster #25
9 – Mike Looney #47
10 – Zeke Shell #97
11 – Casey Holt #22
12 – Jordan Pennington #55
13 – Kenneth Brooks #54
14 – Adam Long #20
15 – Kyle Steffens #77
16 – Dewayne Howard #37
17 – Dennis Holdren #2
18 – Rusty Skewes #41
19 – Andrew Thomas #69
20 – Jamie Byrd #15
21 – Tommy Lemons Jr. #27
22 – Doug Williams #79
23 – Scott Lancaster #29
24 – Forrest Reynolds #28
25 – Peewee Earnhardt #21
