Mack #039;Top of the Class#039; at SAS
Published 12:00 am Friday, October 3, 2003
Will Mack has risen to the top of the Roadrunner class at South Alabama Speedway in 2003. Saturday night he collected his seventh and eighth winner's trophies.
It took Mack a week to pick up his seventh win of the season.
Last week's feature was rained on nine laps into the event. The line up was held unto this week and the remaining 11 laps were run under all green condition.
Mack, who held the lead last week when the rains fell, led all 11 laps to take the win. Kim Bishop was closing at the end, but had to settle for second. John Singletary was third, followed by Donald Drake and Jason Singletary.
In this week's feature, the Top of the Class 50 which featured drivers that had finished third or better during the year, Mack took his time, making his way to the second spot just before the half way point.
Sam Smith took the early lead and enjoyed a big lead by the time Mack had cleared the rest of the field. But Smith had a problem beginning to surface.
Each time he entered a turn, sparks flew from his right front tire. Smith was able to hold Mack off for several laps before his tire finally blew on lap 38.
Mack took over the lead and once again held off Bishop for his second win of the night. John Singletary was third again, with Jerry Hudson fourth and Smith coming back to finish fifth.
Jody Henderson led flag to flag to win the Super Stock Feature.
Henderson built a huge lead over Scotty Anderson and Rick Northey. A caution on lap 10 closed Anderson and Northey to Henderson's bumper, but when the green waved again, Henderson steadily pulled away.
By the time Northey got by Anderson for second, Henderson was long gone. Anderson finished third with Todd Blackburn fourth and John Mack fifth.
The Vintage class ran Twin 25-lap features to make up for last week's feature that was rained out.
Phillip Anderson took both ends of the doubleheader. In the first feature, Anderson came from the fifth starting spot, took the lead on lap 16, and went on to win.
Teddy Sasser led early but couldn't hold off the hard charging Anderson. Ted Shores finished third, Steve Joyner fourth, and Andy Bevis fifth. Anderson started in the rear for the second feature, but once again, Anderson charged to the front.
After a lap 13 restart, Anderson blew by Bevis to take the lead. Anderson then held off Stave Butterick for the win. Sassser was third at the line with Harold Parker fourth, and Kip Whitehead fifth.
In the Street Stock Feature, Stacy Bedsole survived an excursion with a lapped car but held on to take the win.
Bedsole was enjoying a comfortable lead when he got loose passing a lapped car. Regaining control, Bedsole slid back down the track as made considerable contact with the slower car allowing Chad Roberts and Derek Deese to close the gap.
After clearing the lapped car, Bedsole pulled back away to take the win. Deese made a good move to get inside of Roberts with four laps to go to steal away the runner up spot. Roger Davis was fourth with Harold Hurt rounding out the top five.
In a special Non-Winners race for the Roadrunner class, Jimmy Gess took the early lead, but Larry Roberts charged by on the eighth lap. Gess stayed close and regained the lead on lap sixteen. Gess held Roberts off for the remaining four laps to take the win. Danny Monaghan was third, Joseph Chandler fourth, and David Holloway fifth.
Next week at South Alabama, two special races highlight the lineup. The fourth Annual O'Reilly Auto Parts Super Stock 125 headlines the night. Also on the night's schedule is a 50-lap Battle of the Legends. In addition, there will be heats and features for the Vintage, Street Stock, Roadrunner, and CupLites. For more information, contact the track at (334) 565-3539 or visit the track's web site at www.southalabamaspeedway.com.