(Gaffney, South Carolina) 8/6/16 – When Brett Hamm chose to start on the inside of row one after capturing the VP Racing Fuels Fast Time, that was all the incentive Johnny Pursley needed to set his sights on the bullseye entering turn one and it was a perfect strike. Pursley used a very present upper half cushion of an awesome Cherokee surface to power his way to the lead. He kept a comfortable distance between himself and the second-place cars throughout the event, which was caution-free after lap three, when Douglas Davis slowed to a stop in turn three. The race went the rest of the 37 laps nonstop as Johnny Pursley and Chris Ferguson stretched out to a near half a lap lead over the third place contender Brett Hamm, the CarQuest Auto Parts Rookie of the Year contender.
Pursley has struggled in recent months with his super late model program, ever since a catastrophic crash at Swainsboro, Georgia destroyed his car. However, the new Longhorn powered by Clements Race Engines was awesome as Pursley and Ferguson used the upper groove to best the pace of the rest of the field, putting nearly two-thirds of the field a lap down by the checkers.
Anthony Sanders scored his best finish of the season with a fourth place run, where he was mounting a charge on Brett Hamm for third near the end of the show. Josh Langley (Heat 1 winner) returned to racing after several weeks off with a solid fifth place run. Doug Sanders, Jeff Smith, Ross Bailes, Kelly Guy (Heat 2 Winner), and Tim Allen rounded out the top 10 of the 18 car field.
The win was the 7th career Carolina Clash win for Pursley, joining a tie with Jonathan Davenport, Ed Gibbons and Jack Pennington on the winners list with seven wins. It was Pursley’s first Carolina Clash win at Cherokee Speedway and first series win since October 19, 2013 at Fayetteville Motor Speedway to close out the 2013 season, where he finished runner up to Dennis Franklin in the championship standings that season.
Johnny Pursley is from Clover, SC and drives a 2016 Longhorn Chassis powered by Clements Race Engines. The car is owned by his family Pursley Grading and is sponsored by Farmers Service Center of York, SC.
The next race for the Carolina Clash will be the 44th annual Shrine 100 at the Carolina Speedway in Gastonia, NC paying $3000 to win. Then, the series moves to Fayetteville Motor Speedway for the Back to School Bash on Saturday, August 13, 2016.
Thanks to all of the series sponsors for their support in 2016.
Cherokee Speedway Race Results
1. Johnny Pursley
2. Chris Ferguson
3. Brett Hamm
4. Anthony Sanders
5. Josh Langley
6. Doug Sanders
7. Jeff Smith
8. Ross Bailes
9. Kelly Guy
10. Tim Allen
11. Scott Shirey
12. Brent Dixon
13. Josh Richeson
14. Greg Clark
15. Timbo Mangum
16. Mike Huey
17. Douglas Davis
18. Billy Lambert
DNS – Steve Banal