RTMPromo
03-23-2008, 02:18 PM
Billy Morris picked up in 2008 where he left off at the end of 2007...in Victory Lane. Morris and the #55 car started near the front of the pack and within three laps had made his way to the lead of the caution-filled, time-shortened season opener.
Morris kept a sizeable lead throughout the race, although 2-time RTM champion Ronnie Davis gave him a scare on more than one occasion, getting his blue and orange #14 to dissolve Morris’ lead and made several attempts to pass him on the inside in later stages of the race.
Not to be outdone, The #22 of Rodney Brooks and the #34 of Ted Montague kept the heat on the leaders and stayed within striking distance. Rodney Brooks managed to catch Davis in the last few laps of the race and managed to pass him with only a few laps to go, eventually finishing the race in 2nd.
That was at the front of the pack, what happened further in the field was a different story.
Cautions happened quickly when Robert Conner and Johnny Davis collected each other in turn 1 on the third lap. Marlin Gunter, who had nowhere to go, also became collected in the incident. Caution ensued again, ten laps later when Wisconsin native Damian Jenks got his orange #80 car sideways coming into turn 4. Johnny Davis, already banged up from the first caution, had nowhere to go and was again collected into the incident, ending his day with a damaged race car and a 17th place finish. Scary moments as after the collision, the #80 car was engulfed with smoke, safety officials quickly extinguished any fires and Jenks was able to walk away safely.
The yellow waved again as on lap 18 as Robert Conner’s bad luck continued to grow, when a piece of his roof panel flew off coming into turn 3 causing a debris caution. When the green flew again the #11 car of Irvin Bell spun in turn 2 when #22 Rodney Brooks got into the back of him, sending his car up the embankment. Bell did not hit anything and was able to continue…until two laps later when going into turn 3 Bell’s car spun again, with an apparent engine issue as a large flame flashed, ending Bell’s day.
RTM officials showed the red flag on the account of a large amount of fluid was put on the track after Bell’s crash. During this red flag period, the race was shortened to a ten-lap shoot out due to time constraints of the PASS Super Late Model Race. That didn’t stop one last incident from occurring as defending RTM series champion AJ Winstead, who had managed to stay in the top 6 all night, had a left front tire go down after an exchange with #22 Rodney Brooks. As AJ tried limping back to pit lane, he had to go around the track one more time when he lost control and spun in turn 2, Robert Conner’s luck seemed to have run out when the back of his car clipped the back end of the spun #99 car sending Conner spinning up the racetrack.
This led to a green-white-checker finish, with Billy Morris keeping a charging Brooks and Davis at bay to claim his first victory of the 2008 season.
After the race, the #22 car of Rodney Brooks was found to be too low in post-race inspection, resulting in having his official finishing position demoted to third, and being awarded points for last place finish.
Next week, the tour returns to familiar turf as they join the NASCAR Whelen Modifieds for The Night of the Modifieds at Southern National Raceway Park in Kenly, NC.
Official Results:
1. #55 Billy Morris
2. #14 Ronnie Davis
3. #22 Rodney Brooks
4. #34 Ted Montague
5. #21 Aubrey Thurston
6. #2 Doug Paasch
7. #06 Gary Wheaton Jr.
8. #7 Tony Ingram II
9. #9 Tony Ingram
10. #66 Marlin Gunter
11. #99 AJ Winstead
12. #2x Larry Penny
13. #72 Robert Conner
14. #11 Irvin Bell
15. #38 Michael Johnson
16. #80 Damian Jenks
17. #19 Johnny Davis
18. #26 Kenny Wilson
Pole: #22 Rodney Brooks
Morris kept a sizeable lead throughout the race, although 2-time RTM champion Ronnie Davis gave him a scare on more than one occasion, getting his blue and orange #14 to dissolve Morris’ lead and made several attempts to pass him on the inside in later stages of the race.
Not to be outdone, The #22 of Rodney Brooks and the #34 of Ted Montague kept the heat on the leaders and stayed within striking distance. Rodney Brooks managed to catch Davis in the last few laps of the race and managed to pass him with only a few laps to go, eventually finishing the race in 2nd.
That was at the front of the pack, what happened further in the field was a different story.
Cautions happened quickly when Robert Conner and Johnny Davis collected each other in turn 1 on the third lap. Marlin Gunter, who had nowhere to go, also became collected in the incident. Caution ensued again, ten laps later when Wisconsin native Damian Jenks got his orange #80 car sideways coming into turn 4. Johnny Davis, already banged up from the first caution, had nowhere to go and was again collected into the incident, ending his day with a damaged race car and a 17th place finish. Scary moments as after the collision, the #80 car was engulfed with smoke, safety officials quickly extinguished any fires and Jenks was able to walk away safely.
The yellow waved again as on lap 18 as Robert Conner’s bad luck continued to grow, when a piece of his roof panel flew off coming into turn 3 causing a debris caution. When the green flew again the #11 car of Irvin Bell spun in turn 2 when #22 Rodney Brooks got into the back of him, sending his car up the embankment. Bell did not hit anything and was able to continue…until two laps later when going into turn 3 Bell’s car spun again, with an apparent engine issue as a large flame flashed, ending Bell’s day.
RTM officials showed the red flag on the account of a large amount of fluid was put on the track after Bell’s crash. During this red flag period, the race was shortened to a ten-lap shoot out due to time constraints of the PASS Super Late Model Race. That didn’t stop one last incident from occurring as defending RTM series champion AJ Winstead, who had managed to stay in the top 6 all night, had a left front tire go down after an exchange with #22 Rodney Brooks. As AJ tried limping back to pit lane, he had to go around the track one more time when he lost control and spun in turn 2, Robert Conner’s luck seemed to have run out when the back of his car clipped the back end of the spun #99 car sending Conner spinning up the racetrack.
This led to a green-white-checker finish, with Billy Morris keeping a charging Brooks and Davis at bay to claim his first victory of the 2008 season.
After the race, the #22 car of Rodney Brooks was found to be too low in post-race inspection, resulting in having his official finishing position demoted to third, and being awarded points for last place finish.
Next week, the tour returns to familiar turf as they join the NASCAR Whelen Modifieds for The Night of the Modifieds at Southern National Raceway Park in Kenly, NC.
Official Results:
1. #55 Billy Morris
2. #14 Ronnie Davis
3. #22 Rodney Brooks
4. #34 Ted Montague
5. #21 Aubrey Thurston
6. #2 Doug Paasch
7. #06 Gary Wheaton Jr.
8. #7 Tony Ingram II
9. #9 Tony Ingram
10. #66 Marlin Gunter
11. #99 AJ Winstead
12. #2x Larry Penny
13. #72 Robert Conner
14. #11 Irvin Bell
15. #38 Michael Johnson
16. #80 Damian Jenks
17. #19 Johnny Davis
18. #26 Kenny Wilson
Pole: #22 Rodney Brooks