June 10, 2015 – On a hot for June afternoon in South Carolina, it was business as usual for the Shriner’s of the Laurens County Shrine Club as they settled in for what was a great night of fundraising for the Shriner’s Hospital System for the 34th consecutive season. Laurens County Speedway was the host track for the 10th event on the Carolina Clash 2015 season and yet another winner found his way to victory lane, marking the 9th different winner in 10 races this season.
With rain and thunderstorms surrounding Laurens County and the surrounding areas in upstate South Carolina, the event pressed on and went in entirety.
The win would be Bailes’ second at the Laurens County Shrine Race, with the other coming at the Carolina Speedway Shrine Race a few years back. This was his fourth race entered with the Carolina Clash in 2015.
Dennis Franklin was the event’s fastest qualifier as he was the only driver to crack the 13 second bracket with a fast time of 13.824 seconds. Ross Bailes only missed the top marker by just under .3 seconds, as he paced a lap of 14.027.
Franklin led the event’s first 24 laps, but had to work lapped traffic, which allowed Bailes to close the gap on last year’s event winner. Once tied up in traffic, Bailes awaited the right moment to power around Franklin in turn four, leading back to the lap 25 score.
Bailes went on to pull away from Franklin en route to the win.
The race lasted for 16 minutes and was slowed two times for cautions, with the first coming on lap four when series point leader Ben Watkins spun in turn one. While running eighth, Watkins lost control and collected Doug Sanders in the spin. Both drivers were able to continue. Watkins raced his way back to a seventh place finish.
Zack Mitchell continued his streak of third place finishes in the Laurens event, the second in a row for the Enoree, SC driver. Kid Quick was able to hang with the front two until getting marred up behind lapped traffic just past halfway.
Chatsworth, Georgia native Aaron Ridley ran fourth the entire event, holding off early race charges from Brett Hamm of Newberry, SC, driving in his first Carolina Clash event. He ran fifth the entire race until slowing for the race’s second caution on lap 28. He finished 12th.
Joey Coulter of Miami Springs, Florida continued to string off successful top-five runs in his first full season with Carolina Clash. In his first Laurens start, he finished fifth from his seventh place starting spot.
Jim Manka of Augusta, Georgia held on to sixth after holding off Ben Watkins who finished seventh after his early spin.
Anthony Sanders of Spartanburg, SC completed the event one lap down in the eighth place position, ahead of uncle Doug Sanders, who continues to hold down second place in the series point contention, ahead of Kevin Wilson, who finished tenth.
Kevin Wilson was the Safety-Kleen Hard Charger of the Race, advancing four spots from his starting position. He picked up products from Safety Kleen and the five bonus points for being the hard charger of the race.
Finishing out the order of the race was Kevin Godwin of Blythewood, SC, Brett Hamm of Newberry, SC, Dustin Mitchell of Pine Level, NC and Billy Lambert of Mount Pleasant, NC.
Mitchell and Lambert retired from the race after four laps.
The most series incident of the race happened in the qualifying session. Elberton, Georgia driver Kenny Collins went high entering turn one, where the car climbed up on top of the wall and eventually exited the track in turn two, into the pine trees (see photo). While the car sustained considerable damage, Collins was able to walk away from the wreck. He was the recipient of the Heintz Performance Hard Luck Award.
Ben Watkins continues to lead both the Carolina Clash point standings along with the Renegade Race Fuels Rookie of the Year points.
The Carolina Clash Super Late Model Series moves to the Wythe Raceway in Rural Retreat, Virginia for the final race of the first half of the 2015 season on June 20, 2015. Following that race, the series will take a summer break for the month of July and return to racing on August 1, 2015 at Fayetteville.
The Carolina Clash Super Late Model Series would like to extent a heart-felt thanks to all of the teams for attending the event at Laurens on behalf of the Laurens County Shrine Club. Thanks to Dennis Nabors and Laurens County Speedway for a great night of racing and hope to be back next year for the 35th annual event.
Laurens County Speedway Results
1. Ross Bailes
2. Dennis Franklin
3. Zack Mitchell
4. Aaron Ridley
5. Joey Coulter
6. Jim Manka
7. Ben Watkins
8. Anthony Sanders
9. Doug Sanders
10. Kevin Wilson
11. Kevin Godwin
12. Brett Hamm
13. Dustin Mitchell
14. Billy Lambert
Thanks to American Racer, Hoosier Racing Tires, Renegade Racing Fuels and Racing Lubricants, Safety-Kleen of Charlotte, NC, Steve Heintz of Heintz Performance, Tri-Star Racewear, Steve Knight’s Performance Tees, Thomas Clarke Performance Web Design and Solutions, and Lee Furniture Company for all their support with the Carolina Clash.