Orange County Speedway Championship Race, Saturday, October 28

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Orange County Speedway Championship Race, Saturday, October 28

— courtesy Orange County Speedway by Jim Cribbs

Making his first season start in the Orange County Speedway Championship Race, Josh Oakley over-powered the field green to checkered for the win in the Mike Bledsole Mechanical Heating and Air Late Model race. Points leader Terry Dease finished in second, with a slightly damaged car, to take home his second consecutive Late Model Track Championship.
Mike Chambers, making his first start of the season, qualified second, just in front of Dease and Daniel Moss. At the start, Chambers went fender to fender with Moss for second while Oakley motored away and Dease fell back several positions. Then it was Chuck Lawson and Chris Denny, who started on the third row, racing side by side for fourth. Twelve laps into the 75-lap race, Chambers spun his car in turn two and Denny spun avoiding Chambers. That allowed Lawson to grab second in front of Moss and Dease as the caution flag flew..
On the restart, Oakley led the way, followed by Lawson, Moss, Dease and Mason Hudson in his first start of the year. On lap 28, Hudson almost takes it three-wide with Dease and Lawson, followed by contact between the cars of those two, putting Lawson’s machine in the turn three wall. Dease continued but Lawson, none too pleased, used his car to block the car of Dease when Dease came back around under caution. Lawson then pulled his damaged car to the garage..
At the finish, Oakley and Dease had the top two spots, Moss was third, with Hudson, Denny and Chambers occupying fourth through sixth. Camden Gullie, after extensive repairs from a practice crash, took seventh, the last car on the lead lap.

The top two points leaders in the Limited Sportsman division, Daryl Carver and Brent Evans, Jr, started side by side in row two for their 35-lap race with pole-sitter Daniel Moss and Tracey Chambers taking the green in the front row. Chambers fell behind Moss at the start but stayed on Moss’s bumper, taking the lead ten laps later then defending that top spot for her first ever win in this division. Her last OCS win was sixteen years ago while racing in the Mod4s.
Points leader Carver held on to take the second spot to win this year’s track championship, his second overall. Evans, Jr finished in third, followed by Jerry Hinesley in fourth. Moss apparently wore his tires out in the fight with Chambers, settling for a fifth-place finish. Brothers Corey and Ausin Purnell completed the night in the next two spots respectively.

Hill’s Complete Carpet Care Super Mini-Trucks had plenty of twists and turns as points leader John Comstock, with four season wins under his belt, fell out of the 20-lap event at the halfway point with motor problems. Jeffrey Martin, who came into the race just behind Comstock in the points, snatched the lead from pole-sitter Kiser Martin at the green, then held the lead through numerous restarts, only to see Devin Parrot nip him for the win at the checkered flag. However Comstock’s misfortune appeared to hand this year’s track championship to five-time season winner Jeffrey Martin.

Smokey Dave’s BBQ Mod4s got off to a confusing start with the two points leaders parked after a handful of laps. Pole-sitter Corey Purnell picked up his third season win, and in a strange turn of events, took this year’s track championship for that division. After the green flag flew to start the 25-lap race, officials black-flagged points leader Dennis Capps, and Harold Sumney, third in points, went out with mechanical problems. Purnell, starting the race second in points between those two, had his own problems, spinning on a lap eleven restart after contact with the car of Timmy Wilder. Purnell, fifth on the restart, charged through the field for his third win of the season. Wilder held on to take second, followed by Randy Ayers and Michael Dudley in third and fourth.

The Allison Legacy Series 35-lap race appeared to be no contest with Justin Taylor, second in points, taking a commanding lead at the green and staying there until lap 20 when lapped traffic changed the complexion of the race. Brent Suggs used that traffic to slip by Taylor and hold on for the win. Taylor battled Suggs right up to the end but settled for second place. Kyle Campbell took third in the race which awarded him the 2017 track championship for the miniature NASCAR look-alike machines.

The Carolina Collectors Auto Fest Vintage Sportsman 12-lap race was won by James Brown. He was heard to say after the race “I feel good”. No, not really. Lorne Long started on pole but front brake problems sidelined that car. Jacob Clayton took the lead from there but his car left the race at the midway point. From there Brown held on for the win but was aggressively challenged in the last few laps by Kenneth Smith, the second-place finisher. Paul Blalock finished third.

The final results of the 25-lap Pure Stock race have not been finalized as a result of post-race inspections. It does appear that Greg Autry, who lead from start to finish, was the winner in his first season appearance at OCS. Danny Winstead and Bobby Clayton came into the race tied in the championship points. But then those two crashed into each other avoiding the spinning car of Troy Sandefur. Winstead continued but Clayton’s day was done. The final points rundown is yet to be released.

(Orange County Speedway is an advertising client of WIZS.)

Orange County Speedway Limited Sportsman race and unofficial race results from last Saturday

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Orange County Speedway Limited Sportsman race and unofficial race results from last Saturday

— courtesy Orange County Speedway by Jim Cribbs

The Heaven’s must have been smiling when Daryl Carver took the checkered flag at the end of the hard-fought 75-lap Limited Sportsman race at Orange County Speedway Saturday night for his fourth season win. The Donnie Carver Memorial Race was named in honor of his late uncle, a great friend and supporter of OCS for many years. Donnie Carver was a NASCAR official, including flagman, for many years. The actual flags used for the race were his very own.
Daryl Carver’s victory was well deserved, having started fifth as a result of a pre-race draw for starting positions. That same draw shoved pole-sitter, Daniel Moss, back to a seventh-place start where contact with the car of Austin Purnell on lap 5 put him out of the race. The luck of the draw went to Brandon Baker and Tracey Chambers, the two front-row starters. Baker bolted past Chamber at the green to take the lead.
Daniel Schadt appeared to have the car to beat, moving from sixth to the second in the first few laps of the race, then passing Baker for the lead ten laps later. From there, those two staged a fierce battle for the lead until a lap 50 competition caution. On the ensuing restart, fourth-place Carver methodically worked his way past third-place Corey Purnell, then past Baker for second. Passing Schadt for the lead was no easy task for Carver as those two traded sheet metal several times after the restart.
The defining moment of the race may have been contact between the cars of Chambers and Baker on lap 60, bringing out the seventh caution flag and putting Baker out of the race. Chambers was able to continue, finishing the night in sixth. The following restart renewed the side by side race between Carver and Schadt with Carver getting by eight laps from the end, relegating Schadt to a second-place finish, followed by Corey Purnell in third. Jared Fryer in his first OCS race this year took fourth, with Brent Evans, Jr behind him. Seventh through ninth went to Jared Gillis, Jerry Hinesley, and Austin Purnell respectively, all three having recovered from spinouts during the race but all three on the lead lap.

Donnie Carver Memorial Race, Limited Sportsman, 75 laps
1) Daryl Carver
2) Daniel Schadt
3) Corey Purnell
4) Jared Fryer
5) Brent Evans, Jr
6) Tracey Chambers
7) Jared Gillis
8) Jerry Hinesley
9) Austin Purnell
10) Brandon Baker (-15)
11) Richard Hayden (-51)
12) Daniel Moss (-70)
PASS Touring Series Super Late Models, 150 laps
1) Tate Fogleman
2) Matt Craig
3) Kyle Plott
4) Dave Farrington, Jr
5) Kodie Conner
6) Trevor Noles (-1)
7) Jordan McCallum (-2)
8) Casey Roderick (-2)
9) Jody Measamer (-2)
10) Roy Hayes, III (-2)
11) Kyle McCallum (-3)
12) JP Josiasse (-3)
13) Tyler Church (-56)
14) Jay Fogleman (-103)
15) Donnie Carlton (-132)
16) Ryan Moore (-132)
Southern Modified Racing Series, 75 laps
1) David Bohn
2) Burt Myers
3) Jeremy Gertsner
4) Jason Myers
5) Tim Brown
6) George Brunnhozel, III
7) Josh Nichols
8) Gary Putnam
9) Tom Buzee
10) Brandon Ward

(Orange County Speedway is an advertising client of WIZS.)

@NorthernVanceFB @JFWWarriors

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Scouting Report by Jeff Jenkins

Listen live to 1450 AM and click on Listen Live on wizs.com for the play by play of tonight’s game.  Northern Vance at J.F. Webb.  Airtime is 6:45 p.m.  Kickoff is at 7 p.m.  The stream also works on your phone, tablet and smart TV.  Tunein Radio is also an option.  Search for WIZS.

Note: Southern Vance is off this week, preparing for its final regular season game next week: the annual Optimist Bowl against Northern Vance. The Raiders will also be awaiting word on whether they will make the playoffs, which may well depend on the outcome of the Southern-Northern game. MEANWHILE . . .

Northern Vance at J. F. Webb
Friday 10/27/2017

The Vikings and Warriors enter Friday night’s match up in Oxford in the same position they have been in for many years: struggling to avoid a last place finish in their conference. Northern Vance is 1-8 overall and 1-5 in the Northern Carolina 1A/2A, while Webb is 2-7 overall (thanks to a nonconference victory over 1A KIPP Pride) and also 1-5 in the NCC. Both teams got their one conference win over 1A Louisburg, and both teams missed their best chance at another conference win by falling victim to scrappy 1A Granville Central — the Panthers beat Webb 20-14 and Northern was shut out last week at home 21-0.

Webb’s Warriors have an edge over the Vikings on paper, scoring an average 17 points per game and allowing 29. In spite of some lopsided losses and a season opening shutout loss, the Warriors have not been shut out in league play, and they came within 4 points of upsetting Warren County (losing 28-25). Even though Northern can move the ball, they struggle to put points on the board, repeatedly stalling in opponents’ red zones. The Vikings average under 7 points per game, and their defense, although capable of stopping passing attacks, still allows 30 points per game, mostly on the ground. The Vikings have been shut out 4 times this season, twice by conference opponents.

Northern has won this matchup the past three seasons, but this might be Webb’s year to break that streak. Although Louisburg seems destined to lock up last place in the Northern Carolina, the loser of Friday’s game in Oxford will likely finish last among the 2A members.

South Boston Speedway

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Crute Accomplished The Improbable With South Boston Speedway Hornets Division Championship

SOUTH BOSTON, Va. (Oct. 26, 2017) – Tyler Crute knew exactly what he had to do in the final Budweiser Hornets race of the season at South Boston Speedway. And he did it.

Not that it was a simple task. He entered the 10th and final Hornets race of the season trailing Kevin Currin by 14 points in the championship chase. Impossible? No. Improbable? Yes. But none of that meant anything to the 26-year-old driver from Alton.

He dropped to the rear of the field at the start of the race to pick up as many passing points as possible and proceeded to march through the field for the victory and a two-point championship margin over Currin, who finished fifth.

“Win the race. That’s all I wanted to do … to do the best I could do,” said Crute. “I was down by 14 going into the race, so that was all I could do.”

Crute wound up with five victories on the season but could never shake Currin. Crute said he had a “dry spell” in the middle of the season. It wasn’t very dry, though. He finished out of the top five only twice all season, a seventh in the third race of the year and an 11th in mid-July.

“We had a dry spell where I worried too much about points and not enough about winning,” said Crute. “The last race, I said if I’m gonna win this thing, I have to get in the right mind set and that’s what I did.”

It was Crute’s first full season in a stock car. He ran a partial schedule in 2016 after making the move from go-karts. He struggled in his debut season with three blown engines.

“I was really surprised with the season we had after last year,” said Crute. “We were a lot better this year. We had better equipment and good sponsors, really good sponsors.”

Those sponsors included Blue Wing Creek Land and Timber, JMS Volvo, Dan and Mae Trucking and Tollerson Service Center. He also credits his crew, Chris Wilkinson and Justin Bailey, for much of his success.
And of course, his wife Jessica, who Crute says offers unlimited support and patience.

Crute isn’t sure if he’ll be back to defend his championship in 2018 or not. He knows the family will be moving back to go-karts next year, not with him behind the wheel but his young son.

“I’m still undecided for next year,” Crute explained. “I know my son is going to race go-karts. That’s my number-one priority and daddy will run if he has time for it.”

South Boston’s 61st season will open on Saturday, March 24 with twin 100-lap races for the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Late Model Stock Division, a 50-lap Limited Sportsman event, a 30-lap Pure Stock race and a 15-lap Hornets race.

For the full 2018 South Boston Speedway schedule, visit www.southbostonspeedway.com.

(South Boston Speedway is an advertising client of WIZS.)

@SVHS_Athletics at Warren County and @GCHS_PANTHERS @NorthernVanceFB

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Vance County Friday Night Football coverage on WIZS this week will feature Southern Vance at Warren County and Northern Vance hosting Granville Central. Join us on air and online for the live play by play. 1450 AM on your radio dial and wizs.com on your phone, tablet and smart TV. Airtime is 6:45 for a 7 o’clock kickoff.  You can also use the Tunein Radio App.

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Scouting Report — Southern Vance at Warren County — Friday 10/20/2017

Going into tonight’s games, Roanoke Rapids, Southern Vance and Warren County are jostling each other for third place in the Northern Carolina Conference (South Granville and Bunn are both 5-0 NCC).  All three teams are 4-2 in the league, but Roanoke Rapids has an edge with a 7-2 overall record and a win over Warren, while Warren has a 6-3 overall record, and Southern Vance is 5-4 after winning 4 of their last 5 games, including a surprising but decisive 44-27 victory over Roanoke Rapids.  Tonight’s meeting between Southern Vance and Warren County could sort out that group, since a win for the Raiders would put them in front of both of the other teams by way of head-to-head wins.  A win for the Eagles, on the other hand, would severely damage Southern’s chances for a playoff spot, since the Raiders would drop to 5-5 overall.   Roanoke Rapids is idle this week, getting ready for its own showdown with Warren County next Friday.

The teams are evenly matched, at least on paper:  Warren County scores an average of 29 points per game, and allows 25.  Southern has gotten better every week, and now averages 30 points scoring per game, while allowing 28 points.   These stats suggest that both teams have trouble on defense.  Both teams are also prone to mistakes, and penalties and turnovers nearly cost the Eagles an upset loss to Webb last week, when Webb forced an overtime with a late field goal, and the Eagles had to win it with a 3-point kick of their own.  Warren will not have to worry about offsetting field goals tonight, since Southern Vance has no kicker, even for extra points.  This has not been much of a handicap for the Raiders so far – their only close loss, a 34-30 disappointment to Bunn, would not have been helped by a kicker.  Against Warren, however, with the teams so close on paper, three points may well decide the outcome.

Much is riding on tonight’s game for both teams, and the determining factor could well be who scores the most in the first quarter, and how effective each pass defense can be.  Raiders QB Elijah Stewart has only thrown 2 interceptions this season, but Warren’s secondary has 10 picks, with Cornell Hendrick has accounted for an amazing 8 of those himself.  Eagles QB Cornelius Davis has been picked off 8 times this season, but the Raiders have been a easier to pass against, with only one takeaway.

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Scouting Report — Granville Central at Northern Vance — Friday, October 20, 2017

One and seven Northern Vance had an open week to regroup from a 54-7 thrashing from Bunn, and to find its way back to the winning ways that began on September 29 with the Vikings’ first victory of the season, a 17-14 squeaker over 1A conference member Louisburg.   Tonight and next Friday the Vikings have  the opportunity for back-to-back wins over 1A Granville Central and 2A Webb, which would improve their record to 3-7, and give them some momentum going into their season finale – the Optimist Bowl against Southern Vance (currently 5-4, 4-2).  Northern Vance is grouped with Webb, Louisburg and Granville Central at the bottom of the Northern Carolina Conference, all at least 3 games back of Warren County, which currently sits right in the middle of the pack.  All four teams suffer from similar deficits – low scoring an soft defenses – but Northern and Granville Central both have one conference win, and tonight’s match up will move one of those teams one game above that bottom level, at least for a week.

On paper, Granville Central has a slim advantage over the Vikings.  The Panthers from Stem are 3-5 overall, and won their two nonconference games (a 7-6 thriller over 2A Bartlett Yancey and a 33-8 morale booster over regional 1A doormat KIPP Pride). But GC was rudely introduced to its new 2A conference mates with a 46-0 loss to Roanoke Rapids in their conference opener.  The Panthers showed spunk in their 50-19 loss to Southern Vance (in the Raiders highest scoring game of the season), and took a 38-7 licking from Warren County.  Then, however, after a 28-0 nonconference loss to North Duplin, the Panthers defeated cross-county rivals J. F. Webb 20-14 and held Bunn to 17 points, although they were unable to score themselves.  Granville Central averages just under 11 points per game on offense, and allows over 25 points.  Northern Vance has scored 8 per game and has allowed opponents 31 per game.  The Vikings should therefore hope that tonight’s game will be a low-scoring affair, like their 17-14 win over Louisburg, while the Panthers will be looking for a game like their 20-14 win over Webb.  The final outcome could therefore be decided by a field goal or a two point conversion.

McCaskill, Nasse Claim CARS Tour Events

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— courtesy South Boston Speedway

SOUTH BOSTON, Va. (October 15, 2017) – Deac McCaskill and Stephen Nasse each claimed wins Saturday night in the AutosbyNelson.com CARS Tour 250 at South Boston Speedway.

McCaskill captured the 125-lap CARS Tour Late Model Stock race while Nasse won the 125-lap CARS Tour Super Late Model race.

South Boston Speedway regulars had a strong presence in the Late Model Stock field, claiming three of the top five finishing spots. Stacy Puryear, Timothy Peters and Bobby McCarty, who all call South Boston Speedway home, finished second, third and fourth respectively. CARS Tour regular Craig Moore was fifth.

South Boston Speedway’s all-time win leader Philip Morris captured the pole and led early before a blown engine eliminated him from competition before the halfway point.

Josh Berry finished 10th, but that was good enough to claim the CARS Tour Late Model championship.

Nasse claimed the win in the Super Late Model race while Cole Rouse captured the tour championship, despite bowing out of the race late in a spectacular wreck that saw his car get up on its side and slide down the first-turn wall.

Matt Craig chased Nasse to the checkered flag to finish second. Zane Smith was third, Mike Speeney fourth and Raphael Lessard fifth.

It was the 2017 season finale for South Boston Speedway. The 2018 season is scheduled to kick off on March 24 with twin 100-lap Late Model races, a 50-lap Limited Sportsman race, a 30-lap Pure Stock race and a 15-lap Hornets race.

@SVHS_Athletics vs @LouisburgHSFCS

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Vance County Friday Night Football is on the air Friday night at 6:45 pregame and 7 p.m. kickoff.  Live on 1450 AM and on wizs.com!  Listen for all the live play by play.  Northern Vance is off this week.  Please see full schedule below the scouting report.

Southern Vance is now 4-4 overall and 3-2 in the Northern Carolina Conference !  The Raiders are tied with Warren County for 4th place in the NCC, which sets up a fascinating match up between Southern and Warren next week that may detemine the playoff fortunes for both teams.

To Recap the Raiders’ season so far:  After a very impressive 2-1 start to their conference schedule, followed by a very physical (almost brutal) 51-6 beating from undefeated South Granville 2 weeks ago, Southern had the difficult task of preparing to meet the other unbeaten team, Roanoke Rapids, last week.  Raiders’ Coach Darry Ragland certainly did something right during the week running up to the home game with the Yellow Jackets, because his team, which left Creedmoor the preceding Friday night severely battered,  pulled off a stunning 44-27 win over RR to knock the Jackets out of the unbeaten ranks and into 2nd place in the league. That win can be rightly called an upset, given the disparity in the records of the two teams, but it did not look much like an upset while it was happening.  Raider QB Elijah Stewart, who was knocked out of the South Granville game at halftime with a foot or ankle injury, never passed better, and his receivers were never more sure-handed, than they were against the Jackets last week; and the defense, which had not been a consistent strong point for Southern this season, kept the Roanoke Rapids running backs bottled up for most of the game.

Southern Vance has gotten back on the wining track at a good time, and their home game against Louisburg this Friday night gives the Raiders every opportunity to improve to a winning record of 5-4 going into the Warren showdown.  Southern has already bested the other 1A member of the conference with their 50-19 victory over Granville Central, and should be able to knock off Louisburg.  Although the Warriors won their season opener 41-0, that was against KIPP Pride, which has been shut out or clobbered by most of the area 1A and 2A teams, (e.g., Granville Central beat the Pride 33-8), and Louisburg has been struggling mightily ever since.  They were the victims of Northern Vance’s first win of the season two weeks ago, and they come back to Vance County this week dragging their 1-6 record behind them like Marley’s chain.  They have had a week off to recover, but the Warriors do not seem to have what it takes this year to compete with a team which, like Southern Vance, has tasted the blood of victory and is on its way up.

Louisburg has been shut out three times this season and has a 13 point-per-game scoring average.  They have a freshman quarterback who might be quite good in a year or two, but who only passes for about 25 yards per game.  The Warriors rely on a running game centered around Sr. RB Amonte Moses who has averaged 66 yards rushing per game, along with another 20 yards per outing in receiving yards.   Moses has 2 of his team’s 9 TDs this season, and Soph Elijah Mitchell has 2 rushing scores.  Five other players have rushed for TDs, which suggests that Louisburg does have some depth in the backfield, and can look forward to a better season next year.

CARS Tour Championships

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— courtesy South Boston Speedway, by Mike Smith

Second Generation Drivers With South Boston Speedway Ties Gunning For CARS Tour Championships Saturday Night

SOUTH BOSTON, Va. (October 10, 2017) – Two second generation drivers with deep roots at South Boston Speedway will be gunning for championships when the CARS Tour makes its first visit to the historic Virginia track Saturday night.

Layne Riggs comes into the AutosbyNelson.com CARS Tour 250 with a four-point lead over Josh Berry in the CARS Late Model division while Brandon Setzer trails Cole Rouse by eight points in the CARS Super Late Model division. It is the final race of the season for both divisions.

Riggs is the son Scott Riggs while Setzer is the son of Dennis Setzer. Scott Riggs campaigned for more than a decade in NASCAR’s top three touring division, while Setzer spent almost 20 years in the top three series.

The older Setzer has both an Xfinity Series and a Camping World Truck Series win at South Boston, while Riggs scored a Late Model Stock win at South Boston and competed in the trucks series here, finishing third in the 2001 truck race.

Grandstand gates open at 4:30 p.m. Saturday with Late Model qualifying at 5 and Super Late Model qualifying at 5:30. An on-track fan fest is scheduled for 6 p.m. with the 125-lap Late Model race starting at 7 p.m. followed by the 125-lap Super Late Model race.

Riggs has two wins, five top-five finishes and 10 top 10s in 12 starts in 2017 to lead Berry, who drives for Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s Late Model team, by four points headed into Saturday’s season finale.

“Whoever finishes in front of the other one is going to win the championship,” the 15-year-old Riggs said of his battle with Berry.

While his father had many starts at South Boston, Layne Riggs has just one: the most recent Late Model race held September 16. He finished second to Philip Morris in the 100-lapper. That appearance wasn’t a coincidence.

“We ran the last race at South Boston. That was part of the strategy, to go and test and get some laps on a track we hadn’t raced on,” said Riggs. “We’ve definitely been testing more and we’ve gone over the car with a pretty fine-tooth comb to make sure it is perfect.”

Setzer faces a more difficult task than Riggs. Rouse’s eight-point lead isn’t insurmountable, but it is formidable.

“We’re still in the game,” said Setzer, who has two wins and three poles this season. “It’s gonna be tough, but we can catch him. We have to have a really good weekend and him not so good.”

Unlike Riggs, Setzer has South Boston experience. He’s competed in three Pro All-Stars Series (PASS) Super Late Model races on the 4/10ths-mile oval including one earlier this season. His best finish is third.

Riggs will be racing against more drivers than usual with a home-track advantage. At least five South Boston Speedway regulars … Bobby McCarty, Philip Morris, Brandon Pierce, Timothy Peters and Mike Jones … have entered the 125-lap CARS Tour Late Model event.

“There are definitely going to be more regulars than ever at South Boston. Normally only two or three show up and sometimes none,” said Riggs. “And normally the CARS guys run up front, but I expect them (South Boston drivers) to be running up front. The South Boston competition is the best I’ve ever seen. When they go to big races, they are the ones running strong.”

Advance adult general admission tickets to the AutosbyNelson.com 250 are on sale in advance for $10 each. Adult general admission tickets on race day will be $15. Youth ages 7-12 will be admitted for $5 with children six and under admitted free.

Advance tickets can be purchased daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. by calling 877.440.1540.

(South Boston Speedway is an advertising client of WIZS.)

@RRSchools @SVHSRaiders and @NorthernVanceFB @bunn_athletics

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Vance County Friday Night Football returns to WIZS 1450 AM and wizs.com Friday night at 6:45 p.m. for airtime and 7 p.m. for kickoff.  Double coverage of Southern Vance hosting Roanoke Rapids and Northern Vance at Bunn.  Tune in for Live Play by Play and score updates of both local teams.

The Yellow Jackets of Roanoke Rapids are unbeaten this season, which places them alongside South Granville at the top of the Northern Carolina Conference. With no open date so far this season, Roanoke Rapids is 7-0 while South Granville is 6-0. So when those Jackets come swarming into Southern Vance’s Raider stadium this Friday night, it will be the second week in a row for the Raiders facing off with a high-powered conference opponent. Southern Vance took a 52-6 beating from South Granville last week, losing starting QB Elijah Stewart to a foot injury in the first half, and his status is unclear for this week’s game. Stewart’s backup was also knocked out of last week’s game, so Coach Darry Ragland might be improvising against the Jackets.

Roanoke Rapids might be looking at this game as a chance to stay loose going into their own home game with South Granville next week – a matchup that should decide the conference championship, although both of the top dogs must still tangle with Bunn, which, although not in top form, is still a formidable team and the 2-time defending league champion from 2015 and 2016. Although not as dominating on paper as South Granville, which has 3 shutouts this season and has broken 50 points in 3 games, Roanoke Rapids has a right to feel confident this week. The Jackets are averaging scoring 39 points per game, and they allow their opponents under 10 points per week. That’s a bit better than South Granville on offense, but a looser defense than South, which has allowed under 4 points per game. The Yellow Jackets have no 50-point games (but 3 games in the 40s) and their only shutout was a 46-0 pasting of 1A Granville Central. Northern Vance has played both teams, and while the Vikings were shut out by South Granville 54-0, they scored 10 points on Roanoke Rapids before falling 35-10.

Southern Vance started the conference season with a tough 34-30 loss to Bunn, which gave them the confidence and momentum they needed to rack up their two road wins before colliding with South Granville. The Raiders came into their South Granville game last week with a satisfying 3-3 overall record and back-to-back conference wins over Webb and Granville Central. Along the way they improved on their stats: the Raiders averaged scoring 31 points per game, and allowed 26, BC (Before Creedmoor). This is not a formula for a brilliant championship season, but it can certainly get a team to over .500. They are now 3-4 and 2-1 in the league and are firmly established in the middle of the conference standings just below Warren County, which has not yet played either of the top two.

AC(After Creedmoor), however, the Raiders’ scoring average dropped to 28, and the points against rose to 30 points per game. If last Friday’s massacre were just a bad loss, Southern would be in a better position to bounce back against Roanoke Rapids, but the loss of some key players, especially Stewart, my be too much to overcome. At least this game is at home for the Raiders, because playing in Roanoke Rapids is always a disadvantage.

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The Bunn Wildcats host Northern Vance this Friday, planning to bring the Vikings back down to earth after Northern collected its first win of the season last week against 1A conference opponent Louisburg. It was a happy Homecoming last Friday at Northern Vance, but the narrow 17-14 victory over the Warriors may not provide enough momentum for the Vikings to match up well with Bunn. The Wildcats, with their first new coach in almost 30 years, have been struggling a bit this season, at least by “Bunn standards.” The two-time defending conference champions, who fell a couple of touchdowns short of the state 2A championship in 2015, were 1-2 going into conference play, and have not blown conference opponents off the field with their running game as they have in past seasons. They are 3-0 in the conference, placing them in third place behind the two unbeaten heavyweights, South Granville and Roanoke Rapids, but they just barely got by Southern Vance 34-30 in the conference opener and gave up 128 penalty yards in last week’s 56-35 win over Warren County. They were tied 29-29 with Warren at half time, and then shut the Eagles down until late in the 4th period.

At 4-2 overall the ‘Cats now average scoring just under 32 points per game. The problem is that they also allow opponents to score the same number of points – a rare scoring differential for the Wildcats, who scored 48 points per game last season and held rivals to 23. But Bunn would need to slip much further than they have to give the Vikings a chance this week. Northern has scored less than half as many points as Bunn this season, and has allowed a few more points per game. The Vikings actually have a competent defense, especially against the pass, but Bunn hardly ever passes the ball, so . . .

Orange County Speedway Results Sept 30

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— courtesy Orange County Speedway

— by Jim Cribbs

Orange County Speedway, Saturday, September 30

Annual Chad Pergerson and Kevin Bowen Memorial Race

Twin 50-lap races for the Mike Bledsole Mechanical Heating and Air Late Model Stocks may have shaken up the points race for this year’s track championship a bit, as points leader, and 2016 track champ, Terry Dease ended up on his roof and the second-place driver in the points race, Chris Denny, was a no-show, a result of crashing his car in the previous race night. In race one, top qualifier Craig Moore, in his first OCS start of the year, allowed the other front row starter, Stacy Puryear, to slip by him at the green and hold on for the win, Puryear’s second win in three consecutive starts. The second twin resulted in those two drivers switching places with Moore taking the win and Puryear the runner-up. Dease finished a strong third in race one but settled for seventh in race two, a result of his jaw-dropping flip down the front stretch six laps in. Dease was uninjured in the accident. The cars of both Chuck Lawson and Daniel Moss showed their strength at times. Moss spent some laps banging fenders with Dease in the first twin, completing the race in fifth with Lawson sandwiched between those two for fourth. An inverted start in the second race gave Lawson the top starting spot at the green. Lawson kept the hard-charging machines of Puryear and Moore behind him with some remarkable car control until Puryear slipped by sixteen laps in. Lawson finished that race in third, ahead of the fourth-place car of Camden Gullie.

The Limited Sportsman racers labored through their own exciting, but brief, twin 20-lappers, with the top qualifier for the night, Daniel Moss, taking home the winning trophy in both races. Moss, a Late Model Stock regular, was making his first season appearance in this division. Gary Young, Jr, qualified second and finished there in both races. Barry Beggarly, Jr, the sixth-place starter, completed race one in third but mechanical issues left him at the back of the pack for the second one. The points leader coming into the event, Daryl Carver mustered a seventh-place finish in race one, after a lap-12 dust-up with the car of Brent Evans, Jr, but improved to third in the second event. Second in points behind Carver, Evans, Jr had worse luck, spinning out under caution as a result of a flat tire then brushing the side of Carver’s car, giving him the last spot in the 12-car field for the first twin. Evans, Jr salvaged an eighth-place finish in the second twin.

Race number eight in the Pure Stock division proved to be the charm for Bobby Clayton, Jr, as he picked up his first season win, and possibly the points lead, in the 25-lap race. Clayton, Jr entered the race second in points to five-time season winner and 2016 track champ Danny Winstead. Winstead appeared to turn a sixth-place start into a second-place finish, more than likely assuring him of a third consecutive track title. However, Winstead’s car was disqualified in post-race inspections, placing him last in the 12-car field. His misfortune moved Brandon Watson up one spot for a second-place finish. Chase Sandefur inherited third, followed by Trevor Winstead and Les Aliff, fourth and fifth respectively. Thomas Penny, not considered a front-runner to date, turned heads by outgunning everyone in qualifying, getting his first pole position. That turned out not to be the charm for Penny as he finished the race in tenth, six laps in arrears.

Hill’s Complete Carpet Care Super Mini-Trucks 20-lap race did little to change the tight points race for the top two drivers. Coming into the event, John Comstock held a four-point lead over five-time season winner Jeffrey Martin and padded that a little by getting his fourth victory of the year, with one race left. Martin’s truck finished in second. In a case of deja vu all over again, Comstock started on pole with the truck of Devin Parrot beside him. The trucks of Jeffrey and Scott Martin made up the second row with Dalton and Noah Martin behind those two. Two cautions flags flew, one for the spinning truck of Dalton on lap 8 and the other when Parrot looped his machine eight laps from the end. Parrot recovered for a third-place finish, followed by Scott, Dalton and Noah Martin, fourth through sixth respectively, all trucks on the lead lap.

In the Quality Collision Solutions of Graham Grand American Modifieds division, it was disqualifications that determined the outcome of this 25-lap race, more than the racing itself. Gary Young, Jr was the fastest qualifier prior to the event and appeared to pick up his fourth win of the season. It was not to be as his tires failed post-race inspections and he was placed at the back of the five-car field. A similar fate awaited points-leader Richard Thomas with his tires also not passing, relegating him to fourth. That left John Barilka with his first season win, followed by Michael Roney in second and Jonathan Cook third. Todd Massey qualified second but did not start the race.

A tight points battle for Smokey Dave’s BBQ Mod4’s narrowly missed a shake-up in the fight to be this year’s track champion. At the end of the 25-lap event, top qualifier Corey Purnell walked away with his second season win and points-leader Dennis Capps settled for second. Harold Summey rounded out the top three. Summey started beside Purnell but snatched the lead from Purnell at the drop of the green. Three laps in, the last-place car of Randy Ayers spun out at the start/finish line bringing out the caution. As Ayers righted his car and pulled off, he did so in front of the field, causing Summey to lock his brakes and Purnell to spin behind him. (Purnell sits 8 points behind Capps in the standings with Summey 10 points in arrears.) This miscommunication with his spotter prompted officials to park Ayer’s car for the night.

A full field of classic cars in the Southern Ground Pounders event led to a wild show with several different divisions competing with each other throughout the race. There were big-block, high-horsepower racing machines from 1936 to 1972 models. It was Eddie Gilbert in a ‘65 Ford Falcon that prevailed for the win. Driving a ‘72 Pontiac Ventura, Chris Mincey took the next spot with Mack Tatum in his ‘65 Mustang rounding out the top three.

(Orange County Speedway is a paying advertising client of WIZS.)