WINSTON SALEM, NC :: Derek Stoltz had accomplished what he wanted to do last year. He wanted a Sportsman championship so he went out and finished consistently and came home as the 2012 champion. But he didn’t like the way he did it. Winning a championship means point racing, and point racing means being conservative at times. Stoltz vowed to never do that again, for 2013 he was just going out to win races, nothing more and nothing less. His philosophy seemed to pay off Saturday night as they have one race in the books on the year…..and he has one win.
Stoltz qualify fifth in the 24 car field with Taylor Branch and veteran Barry Edwards starting on the front row, 2012 Camping World Truck Series finale winner Cale Gale and Noah Triplett would line the second row. Those qualifying spots don’t mean much at the stadium though as the entire field redraws……..no folks it doesn’t make sense to me either but it’s the way it is. On the redraw it turned out very odd, of all the numbers in the bag Edwards and Branch just switched spots with Stoltz third and Kenny Bost starting fourth. Gale would be the odd man out as he started 17th.
Edwards would use the inside starting spot to take the lead at the green with Branch getting pinched to the outside and falling back to fourth behind Stoltz and Bost. Behind them things got interesting before they go turn one as 2012 Caraway Speedway Late Model champ Mack Little took his ride 3-wide into turn one causing cars to check up, the Triplett left front tire was cut down in the process. Triplett would have to pit under green ruining his night before it even got started.
The first caution would fly on lap six as Mitch Gales, Michael Tilley and Jacob Creed got tangled up in turn one. This would be our first restart of the night and the turning point of the 40 lap event as Stoltz would take the outside of Edwards. From the green Stoltz would get a great launch and immediately move over in front of Edwards going into turn one to take the lead. The leaders would settle in for just a moment but there was one driver that was carving his way through the field.
Cale Gale, winner of last year’s Camping World Truck series event at Homestead where he beat Kyle Busch in a thriller, decided he was going to come play this year around the quarter mile. They went out and got a Port City Super Late Model and started building everything else, most of the entire car was done in-house. It was for fun, but when racers put on their helmets they are all business and Gale was no exception. He had been fast in practice and backed it up in qualifying, then in the race he had the fastest car on the track. Starting in 17th he sliced his way through the field quickly but quietly and before lap 13 he was in seventh. To pass ten cars at the stadium in 10 laps is not seen often, and especially with all the fenders still on the car. Gale was coming.
Lap 17 would see another caution for a spin which gave the leaders time to regroup. Branch would come from fourth to line up outside Stoltz with Jordan Fleming right behind him beside Edwards. As the green flew Stoltz would jump into the lead with Branch and Edwards in tow, the problem came going into turn three. With Jordan Fleming to the outside, Bost would make contact spinning the Fleming car around and causing a lot of carnage behind them as the entire field had to take evasive action. With no less than ten cars involved, it was the “big one” of the night. Ronnie Barron and Zack Staley would be immediately done for the evening after that one.
After the next restart, Branch begins to show his muscle and gives Stoltz fits as they become a two race race. Lap after lap Branch stays tucked under the rear bumper of Stoltz, never making a move but looking like he just wants to pressure him enough so he makes a mistake. Only problem with that was, Stoltz is the defending champ for a reason; his mistakes are few and far between. We get to ten to go and behind them Gale makes a move to get under Bost and take over the fifth spot then starts his attack on Zack Clifton who now runs fourth.
Of course the race wouldn’t make it to the end green, what fun would that be? Noah Triplett gets into Kyle Southern turning him around in turn three, setting us up for a five lap shootout. As they start single-file, Stoltz gets the best jump he had all night and drives away by 3 car-lengths over Branch and Edwards. We all thought Branch would quickly close the gap, before the caution he looked to be toying with Stoltz, but obviously Stoltz had been laying back a touch because he put it in another gear he had not used all night, and at the perfect time as he drove across the line to take the white flag.
Even though Bowman Gray is one of the smallest tracks in the country, leading at the white flag there is still a long way from winning. Branch would eat into the lead going into turn one, then down the backstretch he draws to the bumper of Stoltz. Coming off turn four he gives Stoltz a hard shot turning him sideways, Stoltz saves it but stacks up the fields behind him, Branch let him gather it back up but it almost cost him second as Edwards ducks to the inside to try and beat him to the line.
It was another barn-burner of a Limited Late Model race at Bowman Gray, probably the best race of the night. There were some crashes, but the guys up front put on a show driving each other hard but remarkably clean. Stoltz benefited from everyone’s patience and had done what he said, he didn’t want to race for points ever again and he just wanted to win races. He started off on the right foot for 2013 but we can see that the entire division is as competitive as ever.
