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Trackside Now: PASS South "Firecracker 125"

Super Late Model Racing in South Carolina

July 3rd, 2009 - Greenville-Pickens Speedway (SC)

Friday - 11:55pm ET - That is it from Greenville-Pickens. Speed51.com will be back for the second of two PASS South races this weekend at Hickory Motor Speedway (NC) on Sunday with live Trackside Now updates and radio coverage on RaceTalkRadio.com, brought to you by Speed51.com.

Friday - 11:50pm ET - After a wild night of racing, Jay Fogleman set sail on the final restart of the night, taking the checkered flag first ahead of Brian Ickler. Here is the unofficial finishing order:

POS.

NO.

NAME

Jay Fogleman

151

Brian Ickler

Alex Flemming

Ben Rowe

Ryan Blaney

47M

Trey Mitchell

Heath Hindman

Jeff Choquette

Joe Winchell

John Batten

Lee Tissot

Jeff Bolen

Tayla Orleans

Jeff Fultz

Corey Williams

Dean Clattenburg

10L

Johanna Long

Clete Claywood

Preston Peltier

Tim Pinion

Mark Gibson

Justin Wakefield

Randy Gentry

Bryce Walker

Cassius Clark

Spencer Wauters

Randy Porter

JR Norris

Friday - 11:09pm ET - Jay Fogleman has won the Firecracker 125. We will have more shortly.

Friday - 11:08pm ET - GREEN FLAG: Jay Fogleman and Brian Ickler head towards turn one.

Friday - 11:05pm ET - Well, during this yellow, we were able to check with scoring. This is the correct top five now: Jay Fogleman, Brian Ickler, Ben Rowe, Alex Fleming, Ryan Blaney.

There are 14 of the 28 cars on the track with some a lap or laps down.

Friday - 11:01pm ET - YELLOW FLAG - LAP 124: Jeff Bolen, Tayla Orleans, Clete Caywood made contact on the front stretch and into turn one, bring out yet another yellow as a couple of the cars are parked against the wall on the inside.

Orleans was not in the top five like we thought. She was a lap down.

Friday - 11:00pm ET - GREEN FLAG: Jay Fogleman and Brian Ickler head towards turn one.

Friday - 10:59pm ET - Ok, we think this is the correct top five: Jay Fogleman, Brian Ickler, Ben Rowe, Alex Fleming, Tayla Orleans. We are not sure though.

Friday - 10:56pm ET - Track crews are still trying to remove Dean Clattenburg's car from the turn one wall area. Meanwhile, officials have moved some cars around in the top five. We are waiting to see what the true top five is.

Friday - 10:53pm ET - Jeff Choquette has possibly run out of gas while leading. He stopped in turn four at the entrance to pit road.

The end of this race is getting more confusing. Jay Fogleman is now the leader, followed by Brian Ickler, Ben Rowe, Trey Mitchell and Alex Fleming.

Friday - 10:50pm ET - YELLOW FLAG - LAP 124: Jeff Fultz, Dean Clattenburg and a few others spun in turn one. It was hard to tell what exactly happened as they were three wide going into turn one, but it might have been something with Fultz not getting up to speed on the restart. Maybe that smoke that was seen had something to do with it.

Resetting the top five at this point: Jeff Choquette, Jay Fogleman, Brian Ickler, Ben Rowe and Trey Mitchell.

Friday - 10:45pm ET - GREEN FLAG: Jeff Fultz and Jeff Choquette head towards turn one.

Friday - 10:43pm ET - YELLOW FLAG - LAP 124: Just after taking the two to go signal from the flag stand, Trey Mitchell went under Corey Williams going into turn one, lost the backend and when he corrected it, he hit Williams and spun him out.

Under yellow, Williams came up and took a swipe at Mitchell on the track. Officials have now sent both drivers to the rear of the field.

Meanwhile, under yellow, observers in the tower say that the #67 of Jeff Fultz might be smoking. He is leading over Jeff Choquette, Jay Fogleman, Dean Clattenburg and Brian Ickler.

Friday - 10:39pm ET - It is a three-way battle for the top spot as all three cars are within a few feet of each other in the corners.

Friday - 10:38pm ET - We haven't mentioned Ryan Blaney in a while. On one of the more recent yellows, we think he ducked into the pits. He is currently way back in the pack.

THere are 10 laps remaining with Jeff Fultz leading over Corey Williams, Trey Mitchell, Jeff Choquette, Dean Clattenburg and Jay Fogleman.

Friday - 10:35pm ET - Jeff Fultz is now the leader over Corey Williams after the restart. Trey Mitchell has run up to third and is challenging for second.

Friday - 10:34pm ET - GREEN FLAG: Jeff Fultz and Corey Williams head towards turn one.

Friday - 10:32pm ET - YELLOW FLAG - LAP 108: Justin Wakefield and Alex Fleming wrecked in turns one and two due to the restart getting choked up a bit. On the shuffle, Jeff Fultz got the lead from Corey Williams.

Friday - 10:31pm ET - GREEN FLAG: Corey Williams and Jeff Fultz head towards turn one.

Friday - 10:25pm ET - YELLOW FLAG - LAP 107: Mark Gibson's car puked a motor going into turn one, bringing out the yellow flag.

Top 10: Corey Williams, Jeff Fultz, Brian Ickler, Trey Mitchell, Jeff Choquette, Heath Hindman, Johanna Long, Dean Clattenburg, Jay Fogleman

Friday - 10:22pm ET - Corey Williams held the top spot on the restart.

Friday - 10:21pm ET - GREEN FLAG: Corey Williams and Jeff Fultz head towards turn one.

Friday - 10:20pm ET - YELLOW FLAG - LAP 102: A multiple-car wreck broke out on the backstretch. We didn't see what happened, but we know those involved were Ben Rowe, Randy Gentry, Lee Tissot, John Batten, Clete Caywood, Preston Peltier and Joe Winchell. Some cars have more damage than others, but Tissot, Gentry and Peltier appear to have the most damage. Ben Rowe has been on and off pit road many times during this yellow.

Friday - 10:15pm ET - We are at lap 100, so there are 25 laps to go in tonight's race. Corey Williams now leads by about three car lengths over Jeff Fultz. Brian Ickler is third with Trey Mitchell quietly moving up to fourth. Jeff Choquette is fifth.

Friday - 10:13pm ET - Corey Williams has retained the top spot over Jeff Fultz, but Fultz is fighting hard for the lead.

Meanwhile, there is an officer in each of the Spencer Wauters and Cassius Clark pits, making sure the teams stay away from each other. They are about seven pit stalls away.

Friday - 10:11pm ET - GREEN FLAG: Corey Williams and Jeff Fultz head under the flag stand and towards turn one.

Friday - 10:06pm ET - YELLOW FLAG - LAP 89: Cassius Clark and Spencer Wauters wrecked on the front stretch, stopping under the flag stand with Clark's car pinned against the wall. Clark, obviously upset, got out and jumped on the hood of Wauters's car. Wauters stayed in his car as Clark kept throwing his hands up to him. Crew members then went to the pit wall and started shouting at Clark.

A police officer got inbetween the crew members and Clark to keep it from escallating further.

Currently Corey Williams leads Jeff Fultz, Brian Ickler, Ryan Blaney and Jeff Choquette.

The #51 of Bryce Walker is in the pits with the crews looking under it.

Friday - 10:01pm ET - Well behind the action up front, Dean Clattenburg and Jay Fogleman almost wrecked on the front stretch as they banged fenders, but both were able to keep going.

Up front, Corey Williams has now pulled out to a bit of a lead over Jeff Fultz. Brian Ickler is third.

Friday - 9:58pm ET - We are at lap 72 and Corey Williams is now the leader. He worked his way under Ryan Blaney to take the lead. However, he can't get too comfortable. Jeff Fultz has moved to second and is now all over Williams' bumper for the lead. Blaney is now third with Brian Ickler fourth.

Friday - 9:56pm ET - Ryan Blaney has finally taken the top spot from Brian Ickler with Corey Williams following him through. Jeff Fultz also moved around Ickler to the third spot. Now Williams is trying everything to get around Blaney with Fultz a few inches off their bumpers.

Friday - 9:54pm ET - The battle for the lead is epic right now. Brian Ickler seemed to have slipped, putting four cars two by two for the top spot between Ickler, Ryan Blaney, Corey Williams and Jeff Fultz.

Friday - 9:52pm ET - It took a lap of side-by-side battling, but Brian Ickler held off Ryan Blaney on the restart and retains the lead.

There is a huge contract in lines between the top four. Icker is so low coming off turn four he is almost hitting the inside wall. Behind him, Ryan Blaney and Corey Williams are running high.

Friday - 9:50pm ET - GREEN FLAG: Brian Ickler and Ryan Blaney go under the flag stand.

Friday - 9:48pm ET - YELLOW FLAG - LAP 56: Mark Gibson went for a spin in turn four.

Meanwhile, a few cars have pitted during this yellow flag, including Ben Rowe, Gibson and Justin Wakefield.

Top five: Brian Ickler, Ryan Blaney, Corey Williams, Jeff Choquette, Heath Hindman

Friday - 9:45pm ET - Ryan Blaney and Corey Williams have both passed Jeff Choquette and are running down Brian Ickler.

Friday - 9:44pm ET - Up front, Brian Ickler has had some issues with lapped traffic. He has been slowed many times due to getting stuck behind the lapped cars, but it might be Ickler's own fault. In the driver's meeting, they told the lapped cars to stay low. Ickler appears like he is trying to route them up the track so he can keep the low line.

Meanwhile, Corey Williams and Ryan Blaney are having a great battle for third. Blaney has it, Williams wants it, but they both are running the high line. Willliams has tried a few times to duck low, but his car is faster on the high line.

Friday - 9:40pm ET - Maybe it is because his boss Andy Santerre is in the stands watching, but Corey Williams is driving like a man possessed. At lap 40, he has now moved into the fifth-place position and is running down the fourth-place runner Heath Hindman.

Friday - 9:36pm ET - The battle for position is for third on back right now as about seven cars are racing hardcore for position. Ryan Blaney has currently worked his way to third with Lee Tissot fourth, Heath Hindman fifth and a host of others, including JR Norris, Jeff Fultz, Corey Williams and others all swapping positions every lap.

Friday - 9:33pm ET - Corey Williams, who started in the rear after having a spring malfunction during qualifying, has moved to 11th at lap 22.

Brian Ickler still leads Jeff Choquette.

Friday - 9:30pm ET - Jay Fogleman must have something wrong with his car. He has gone from the lead to 10th place in 12 laps and is still falling backwards slowly as other drivers pass him on the high side.

Speaking of the back of the field, PASS rookie Jeff Bolen opted to start the race from the rear since it is his first ever race in a Super Late Model. He is currently running 27th as Tim Pinion with his wounded car is running last.

Friday - 9:28pm ET - Jeff Choquette has jumped to the lead and led a few laps, but Brian Ickler has forged ahead to the lead now at lap eight.

Friday - 9:26pm ET - Jay Fogleman got the early jump and leads the field currently. Meanwhile, back in the back, Justin Wakefield had a horrible start and has lost many positions.

Friday - 9:24pm ET - GREEN FLAG: Jeff Choquette and Jay Fogleman lead the field under the flag stand to start the Firecracker 125.

Friday - 9:20pm ET - The National Anthem has been sung and the cars are rolling. We should be green flag shortly.

Friday - 8:55pm ET - Even though Elgin "Stat Boy" Traylor isn't here covering the race with us today (you can catch him on the live broadcast of the Rockingham ASA Challenge race tomorrow on RaceTalkRadio.com and on Speed51.com), he is watching the Trackside Now coverage and pointed out an interesting fact about JR Norris.

Norris and Greenville-Pickens Speedway go together like bread and butter. He won the final NASCAR Southeast Series race ever and the Championship at Greenville back in 2006. Norris won two races that season, both of which were at Greenville. Those cars, like tonight’s ride, were provided by Richie Wauters.

Friday - 8:35pm ET - With the meet and greet over, we are currently enjoying some local racing before the big show. All the Super Late Model drivers are down in the pits getting ready for their event, coming up soon.

Friday - 7:45pm ET - The meet and greet is happening right now. While the fans get autographs from the drivers, the redraw for the top-10 occured. Jeff Choquette drew the top spot, so he will start on the pole for tonight's race.

Here is the complete starting line-up for the PASS South Firecracker 125:

Pos.

No.

Name

Jeff Choquette

Jay Fogleman

Heath Hindman

151

Brian Ickler

JR Norris

Cassius Clark

Ryan Blaney

Lee Tissot

Randy Gentry

Jeff Fultz

Mark Gibson

Joe Winchell

Dean Clattenburg

Justin Wakefield

Ben Rowe

Spencer Wauters

Clete Claywood

Bryce Walker

10L

Johanna Long

Alex Fleming

Randy Porter

47M

Trey Mitchell

Preston Peltier

Tayla Orleans

John Batten

Jeff Bolen

Tim Pinion

Corey Williams

Friday - 7:45pm ET - We ran into Sue Santerre, wife of Andy Santerre, down by the concessions. Sue said that Corey Williams had a right rear spring come out of the bucket when he went to qualify. They put it back in and he is good to go for tonight's race. Williams is an employee of Andy Santerre Motorsports and Sue and Andy are here to support him from the stands.

Friday - 7:20pm ET - Corey Williams had some issues during qualifying. We haven't heard what the situation is, but we will check in and find out soon.

Right now the local divisions are on the track for their heat races. While there is a break in the Super Late Model action, we are taking a break. We will be back shortly.

Friday - 7:15pm ET - Here are the results from time trials. Allen Karnes pulled out of the event, leaving 28 total cars here tonight. PASS South will start all 28 cars, so they will not have a last-chance race. 11th through 28th are set by qualifying, but first through 10th will redraw during the meet and greet for where they will start the 125-lap event tonight.

Pos.No.NameTime

Ryan Blaney

20.232

Heath Hindman

20.333

Jeff Choquette

20.335

Jay Fogleman

20.390

Jeff Fultz

20.399

Randy Gentry

20.456

151

Brian Ickler

20.476

JR Norris

20.487

Lee Tissot

20.502

Cassius Clark

20.522

Mark Gibson

20.536

Joe Winchell

20.540

Dean Clattenburg

20.548

Justin Wakefield

20.561

Ben Rowe

20.566

Spencer Wauters

20.588

Clete Claywood

20.612

Bryce Walker

20.639

10L

Johanna Long

20.671

Alex Fleming

20.776

Randy Porter

20.784

47M

Trey Mitchell

20.791

Preston Peltier

20.822

Tayla Orleans

20.902

John Batten

20.928

Jeff Bolen

21.045

Tim Pinion

21.569

Corey Williams

N/A

Allen Karnes

N/A

Friday - 6:46pm ET - Qualifying has completed here at Greenville-Pickens. Ryan Blaney has set fast time in PASS South Super Late Model qualifying.

We will have full results from qualifying momentarily.

Friday - 5:14pm ET - The final Super Late Model practice has concluded. In the second session, we did find out that Corey Williams was fastest of the cars that did have transponders working and JR Norris was top of the charts in the third and final session, but not all cars had transponders.

We are heading down for the driver's meeting and will be back with more shortly.

Friday - 4:50pm ET - Here is a roster of who is here. There are 29 cars.

Jay Fogelman

Ben Rowe

Spencer Waters

JR Norris

Alex Flemming

Cassius Clark

Randy Gentry

Ryan Blaney

10L

Johanna Long

Clete Claywood

Jeff Bolen

Preston Peltier

Allen Karnes

Randy Porter

Dean Clattenburg

Tim Pinion

Corey Williams

Trey Mitchell

John Batten

Bryce Walker

Mark Gibson

Joe Winchell

Jeff Fultz

Jeff Choquette

Lee Tissot

Heath Hindman

Tayla Orleans

Justin Wakefield

151

Brian Ickler

Friday - 4:40pm ET - After the first practice, we touched base with some drivers to see how they were doing.

Jeff Bolen is here for his first Super Late Model race. In fact, it is his first big car experience in his career here today. The Legends Car Semi-Pro racer was going to practice yesterday, but wasn't going to be able to get here in time. His first laps ever in a SLM was during the first practice. He isn't sure how he is doing compared to everyone else, but he said it is fun.

Alex Fleming said he is struggling hard right now. He said the track is 40-degrees warmer than it was in yesterday's practice session.

Preston Peltier said his car is ok and they are making minor changes. He also said he was aware of the "bulldozer" writing on the sign and shrugged it off as not bothering him one bit.

Corey Williams is happy. Repeat, Corey Williams is happy. Williams hasn't had a car that would handle to his liking for quite some time, but today it is much better. One change he said he would have liked to make before coming here this weekend? He wishes they would have put the Batman logo on the hood. When he runs that logo, he does well here.

Last night, Jeff Choquette finished second in the Clyde Hart Memorial 125 Super Late Model race at New Smyrna Speedway in Florida. Today he is here, racing Cale Gale's machine. Choquette said he did get some sleep, but it wasn't very much.

Justin Wakefield's bad-luck year continues. 20 minutes into yesterday's practice session, he blew a motor. His team is hopeful that they got their bad luck out of the way for the weekend.

Long-haired Dean Clattenburg is back and said his car is average. He isn't listed on the entry list for Hickory in two days, but said if things go ok here, he will go there too.

Jeff Fultz said he was free off the corner. He is trying to make adjustments to correct that without messing up his center-corner speeds.

Jay Fogleman's car looks mint, sporting the ResCare HomeCare sponsorship. He said his car is good and is very optimistic for tonight.

Bond Suss, crew chief for Kyle Busch's #51 machine driven by Bryce Walker, said their car isn't the best, but they are right there.

Walker's teammate Brian Ickler really didn't say too much on his car, just on the weather. Ickler said he has had a horrible rain-to-race ratio, and is happy it is sunny and not raining here today.

Speaking of teammates, JR Norris and Spencer Wauters both said their cars are good, but not excellent.

Johanna Long said that her car is good and she is just trying to get used to this track. She was all smiles in the trailer after the first practice and she is having fun here.

Friday - 4:30pm ET - PASS currently doesn't have transponders charged and on the cars for the practice sessions, so we will not have times from practice. They should be good to go for qualifying and the race.

Friday - 4:20pm ET - We are currently between practice sessions here for the PASS Super Late Models. The only incident during the first session was a spin by Tim Pinion on the backstretch. He made contact with the inside wall. Pinion said that his car felt weird coming off the corner, then it was like the steering malfunctioned, causing the spin. Pinion was disappointed as it was a brand new car he had here, but he said they will try to get it fixed and back going for the race.

Friday - 2:45pm ET - We are heading trackside for the first practice session. We will be back afterwards with updates as well as times, if possible.

Friday - 2:40pm ET - The cars haven't even hit the track today for their first practice and the mud-slinging has already started. At the outside sign-in booth, on the PASS poster for this event, someone wrote "bulldozer" on it, pointing to Preston Peltier's #26 machine. It should be an interesting night of racing.

Friday - 2:35pm ET - We do not have a full list of drivers that are here, but one name that is here that wasn't going to be here is Ben Rowe. The Richard Moody team decided not to pull south, so Rowe brought a piece that has been sitting in his family's garage for four years, got it ready and is here, ready to race. For more on that situation, click here for the full story.

Johanna Long, fresh off her win at Five Flags Speedway (FL) last weekend, is here ready to race in the PASS South Series.

Legends Semi-Pro racer Jeff Bolen is here, making his first appearance in a PASS South vehicle.

Dean Clattenburg, who used to be a regular on the series but had to scale back due to the economy, is here with his #39 machine.

Friday - 2:30pm ET - The weather looks excellent for tonight's race. Currently it is in the mid-80s with zero-percent chance for that dreaded four-letter word beginning with the letter R. Around race time, it is supposed to be in the upper 70s, so it will be an excellent night of racing and fireworks.

Friday - 2:20pm ET - While you read along here, you can discuss the events in the Speed51.com Short Track Discussion Forum at Motorsports Lounge by clicking here.

Friday - 2:15pm ET - Welcome to Greenville-Pickens Speedway in South Carolina, for the "Firecracker 125" PASS South Super Late Model event. Here is today's schedule of events:

1:00 PM

Pit Gate Opens

1:30 PM

PASS TECH OPENS

3:00 - 5:50 PM

PASS Practice

3:00 - 4:00 PM

PASS SLM

4:30 - 5:15 PM

PASS SLM

5:20 PM

PASS SLM DRIVERS' MEETING