Boaz, Alabama, Driver Wins ASA Southeast Asphalt Tour Event in His First Start The RC Cola / MoonPie American Speed Association Southeast Asphalt Tour regulars knew they had a tough task ahead of them at Lanier National Speedway (GA) on Saturday night. The top Tour drivers didn’t just have to worry about beating their fellow series regulars, they also had to go against a line-up of local racers who would be tough to beat. Chris Whorton was one of those drivers who knew the Lanier track like the back of his hand, and not only was it tough to beat him – it was impossible. After a series of late-race restarts, Whorton held off Kyle Fowler and Paul Kelley to win the James Garrison Memorial 100.
“It’s great to come back and win,” said Whorton. “This is not my home track, but it’s definitely my home away from home. Huntsville, Alabama, is my home track. They said we couldn’t come down here and win a championship, and we did it in fashion last year.”
“I’m not that pretty to be taking all these pictures, though,” added Whorton. “They say that fine wine is better when it ages and I’m kind of like sour milk, I don’t look any better for these pictures. It does mean a lot to win a big race like this.”
The post race celebration was bittersweet, as the race was a tribute to James Garrison who had been a staple to the Lanier track. Garrison founded Garrison Racing Equipment in nearby Cornelia, GA. He passed away in 2007 and was a well-known member of the racing community in the Southeast. One might say Lanier was his home away from home, as he spent many nights at the track working out of his parts truck and working with the tires. His family was on hand to celebrate that race in his honor.
Whorton started on the outside of the front row and led laps early on.
Shane Sawyer, another track regular, blew by Whorton on a lap 22 restart to get the top spot. Sawyer then pulled away during the green flag run, and it was clear he had the strongest car of the night. The next restart would prove to be costly, as Sawyer never got his car up to speed and went from the lead to the pits in a matter of seconds. Reports indicated that the car lost power, thus ending his night.
“Yeah, Shane definitely was the class of the field,” said Whorton. “I knew if I could just get a jump on him and try to get around him I could pull away. Shane (Sawyer) is a great guy, a class act guy, so I definitely didn’t want to rub him. I got down on the apron and made the pass.”
As Whorton regained the top spot, a few Lanier regulars who had raced ASA SAT races earlier in the year came marching to the front. Jason Hogan was picking his way to the front and was up to fifth when a mechanical issue sidelined the popular Cleveland, Georgia, driver.
“We came from thirteenth to fifth in about 18 laps and to third in 50 laps,” said Hogan. “We were pretty strong. You win some, you lose some. We’ll come back and we’ll get them.”
Paul Kelley was the next driver to test the waters around Whorton. Kelley came into the event as the point leader in the Super Six series. His car was set up for the longer runs, a strategy that played into Whorton’s favor. The two had a great battle up front lap after lap. Kelley got halfway up beside Whorton, only to lose grip on the bottom, forcing him to fall back in line.
“He (Whorton) was pretty consistent from the restarts to a long green run,” said Paul Kelley. “After 10 laps, our car really started to come alive. It was always real free on the starts before it would come to me. We might have wrapped up the local Super Six championship tonight, we just didn’t have enough green-flag laps to get the win.”
As the two played cat and mouse, Kyle Fowler worked his way to the front from his 14th starting spot. Fowler is an ASA SAT regular and a former Legends driver at Lanier. Backing from SPEED TV’s Bob Dillner and short track veteran Mike Garvey made the youngster a serious contender in the closing laps.
“I thought I had a good shot at winning the thing actually,” said Fowler. “We don’t get to race much, and we haven’t been able to race much this year, but since we did, I just wanted to make it count. I only got to race about seven times, and it was definitely the best run this year and we’re really happy with it.” Fowler did sneak around Kelley in the closing laps for the runner-up finish. Kelley was third, Stephan McCurley posted a career-best fourth, and 2008 Lanier track champion Shawn Simpson was fifth.
Point leader Jay Middleton had a rough night, as he found the wall on the 40th lap as a result of having another car blow its engine in front of him. His crew did some valiant work to get the car back on track to make laps for points. In the end, Middleton finished 25th and lost some ground in the Championship chase.
Round number ten of the RC Cola / MoonPie ASA Southeast Asphalt Tour will be on Saturday, September 20th, at Hickory Motor Speedway (NC). If you would like more information regarding the event and upcoming TV coverage, please visit the official website of ASA SAT at www.asasoutheast.com.
The RC Cola / MoonPie ASA Southeast Asphalt Tour is part of an eight-race televised program that makes up the “Road to Nashville,” which will set up the most prestigious event of the season at the historic Music City Motorplex at the Tennessee State Fairgrounds. ASA SAT and the CRA Super Series will race in Nashville on Saturday, November 1st, as part of the Adam Petty Memorial All American 400 weekend.
credit: ASASAT
