JACKSONVILLE, NC – Coastal Plains Raceway saw a variety of both new winners and returning veterans pick up victories on Saturday night in a race that was much needed for the Coastal Carolina racing community.
Most notable was United States Marine Corps. Gunnery Sergeant Neil Mason picking up his first career win in a U-CAR. Mason has raced at Southern National, Carteret County and Coastal Plains and was finally able to break through on Saturday night. Mason prevailed in a thrilling duel with Steve Sullivan and, after the race, was ecstatic about the victory.
“Sorry if I went a little overboard there,” Mason said of his postrace celebration. “This is my first career win and I had to drive Steve so hard. He wouldn’t give me the inside line. I had to get him on the outside. Man, that was incredible. It feels so good to win. My team has worked so hard to get us here and man, that first win, I bet there’s nothing better than that. That’s awesome.”
While Mason was a newcomer to victory lane, the winner of the Mini-Stock feature was not.
Brandon Clements is no stranger to victory lane in a Mini-Stock or at Coastal Plains Raceway Park. Once again, after a spirited battle with Kris Hetu, Clements was able to march his way to victory once again.
“My car was so free getting in the corner, I had to wait for [Hetu] to make a little mistake to get underneath him,” Clements remarked. “The car just wouldn’t get in the corner for me and it’s hard to pass like that. It ended up coming to us in the end and we got the win.”
In this era of consistently declining car counts, tracks often remind fans that you only need two cars to have a good race and that was literally the case in the Street Stock feature.
When Roy Combs dropped out of the race, that left only Donald Frink and Gary Rochelle on the track to battle it out. The two drivers swapped the lead back-and-forth in an extraordinary race which would be settled in overtime after Rochelle spun out on the inside of Frink trying to make the pass. In overtime, Rochelle again found himself on the inside, pinched down. In turn one on the final lap, he once again got out of shape and both leaders spun out. Frink got back to the gas and made it back to the flag to score the win.
“It was fun,” Frink said. “I wish we would have had more cars. We were racing hard. That last lap, we both wanted to win. I just went in there wide open trying to come out and I was lucky enough to come out with it. He drove in there wide open too. Just racing.”
Will Bristle dominated in the Legends feature, leading from the start of the race all the way to the finish to pick up the victory and the over five-foot tall trophy.
“I think that is definitely, by far, the tallest trophy I have ever won,” Bristle said. “We’ve actually been very fortunate this year. 2018 has been a wonderful year. I’ve got to thank Dillon Spain for all the help. Everyone who supports us each and every week, it makes it even better when we come out and win for everyone who supports us. I had to hit my restarts right. They were getting anxious. I tried my best to get them to woe back but they were pushing so we did the best we could and ended up in victory lane again.”
The Jr. Mini Cup race came down to a sibling rivalry as sisters Morgan Odum and Carmen Odum battled for the win. The two girls left Chase Singletary behind them on a late race restart. On the restart, Morgan Odum split traffic to race to the lead and drive away with the win while Carmen raced her way back up to second after an early race spin.
“It was a little bit difficult,” the older Odum sister said. “I was kind of deciding whether to go in between or not. I ended up doing it. A little bit scary but we did it and we got the job done and that’s all that matters. I was very lucky because that restart is what got me this win and that’s the only thing I could count on.”
Matthew Brewer and Larry Hall battled for the lead throughout much of the Mini Cup feature, but a late race caution would change the on-track outcome. On the race’s final restart, Steven Brewer was able to race his way around both Matthew Brewer and Hall to take the lead. However, the race would be decided in the tech shed after the race with Larry Hall inheriting the win after postrace technical inspection.
The race was held just hours after a somber memorial service at nearby Carteret County Speedway for the late Bobby Day Watson. Watson was also remembered at Coastal Plains. Saturday’s race was also the first in the Southeastern North Carolina region since Hurricane Florence.
Results
Legends
- Will Bristle
- Brenton Irving
- Cameron Murray
- Aaron Crumpler
- Adam Resnick
- Tristen Stephenson
- Billy Hall, III
- Tucker Jones
- Shane Irving
- Josh Spence
- Willie Ridenhower
- Ronnie Lone
Mini-Stock
- Brandon Clements
- Kris Hetu
- Travis Miller
- Shannon Ward
- Peanut Evans
U-CAR
- Neil Mason
- Steve Sullivan
- Abby Jolly
- Curtis Lanier
- Andrew Jackson – DNS
Mini Cup
- Larry Hall
- Matthew Brewer
- Chris Brewer
- Easton Swaim
- Bubba Todd
- Steve Murray
- Frankie Corbett
- Justin Hall – DNS
- Steven Brewer – DQ
Jr. Mini Cup
- Morgan Odum
- Carmen Odum
- Chase Singletary
- Seth Sanders
- Dominic Chisholm
Street Stock
- Donald Frink
- Gary Rochelle, Jr.
- Roy Combs, III
