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Orange County Speedway, Rougemont, Saturday, August 26
Though Chris Denny started the night nine points behind division leader Terry Dease, after missing the rain-delayed next day conclusion of the previous Mike Bledsoe Mechanical Heating and Air Late Model Stock race at OCS only 49 days ago, he made up for it by winning both LMSC 35-lap twin races to on Saturday Night. Dease had his own measure of success, settling for second in both races after a fifth-place start in the first one and a fourth-place start in the second. Chuck Lawson followed that pattern by taking third in both events.
In race one Daniel Moss proved to be no lightweight, waging a strong battle with Dease for second until contact between the cars of those two, initiated by Dease, caused Moss to nearly spin his car on the backstretch twelve laps from the finish. Moss held on to finish fifth just behind the fourth-place car of Camden Gullie.
In race two, it was Lawson who got the action going when the nose of his car made contact with Gullie’s, spinning Gullie’s car into the fourth-turn wall, bringing out the caution before the first lap was complete. Gullie was able to continue, completing the night with a fifth-place finish. After the green flag fell on the next attempt to start the race, Moss decided on a little payback for Dease, bumping the rear of leader Dease’s car but almost spinning himself out in the process and dropping him to third, giving Dease a comfortable lead. From there, it was a battle between Moss and fourth-place Denny with Denny getting the best of that one. After a brief caution on lap 16, Dease lost the lead to Denny on the restart but kept his car on Denny’s bumper the remainder of the event.
An 11-car field for the Limited Sportsman race dwindled down to five lead-lap cars by the time the checkered flew on lap 35, giving 12-year-old Gage Painter of Statesville his first OCS win. Painter did it by outgunning cagey veteran Daryl Carver, winner of two races this season, but an owner of a second-place finish on Saturday, on his bumper the last five laps of the race. It was pole-sitter Carver and the other front-row starter Brent Evans, Jr showing their impatience that drew swift action from officials. After one or the other seemed to jump not only the start of the race, leading to a redo, but two more restarts, officials placed both cars at the back on a lap 10 restart. Evans worked his way back up to take third at the end of the race.
The night’s attrition first started when the cars of Austin and Corey Purnell got into each other in turn one on the second lap, putting the car of Austin out of the race and bringing out the night’s first caution flag. Corey Purnell did manage a fifth-place finish. After six more laps of action, the caution flag flew again for the spin and brief oil line fire from the car of Jacob Borst, putting that driver out of the race.
Two laps after the restart, the car of Tracey Chambers got into the one of Justin Newlin, which in turn brought the car of Jerry Hinesley crashing into those two between turns one and two. Hinesley got the worst of it, parking his car for the night with an eighth-place finish. Chambers was able to continue, salvaging a sixth-place finish, two laps in arrears. Newlin’s car sustained the least damage, allowing him to complete the night in fourth-place.
Pure Stock racers completed their 25-lap event with pole-sitter Chase Sandefur leading all laps except the last one, getting passed by division points leader and now four-time season winner Danny Winstead on the last lap, leaving Sandefur winless this year. A hard-charging Bobby Clayton, Jr used a fifth-place start to garner a third-place finish with Trevor Winstead finishing behind him. Lonnie Glosson took the checkered in fourth on the lead lap with Jamie Kerr the fifth-place car, five laps down. The most spectacular crash of the night happened when the cars of Thomas Penny and Taylor Tolar attempted to take the green but Tolar’s car plowed underneath the rear of Penny’s car, causing those two to crash into the inside wall of turn one, leaving Tolar’s car suspended on the wall and out of the race. Penny’s car made three more laps after the restart, retiring with smoke billowing from underneath the hood.
Hill’s Complete Carpet Care Super Mini-Trucks finished their 20-lap race under caution, giving points-leader John Comstock his third season win and leaving a seething three-time winner Jeffrey Martin in second. Breaking up the Martin clan was the third-place truck of Devin Parrott, followed by 13-year old Noah Martin, making his first OCS start, in fourth. Fifth-place went to the truck of Kiser Martin. Jeffrey’s disappointment was the result of Kiser’s truck spinning out on the last lap and ending the race under the yellow.
The 25-lap Smokey Dave’s BBQ Mod4s finished the night with first-time season winner Corey Purnell taking the checkered in front of the hard-charging car of pole-sitter Harold Summey, after stealing the lead from Summey at the start of the race. Summey had to recover from a lap one backstretch spin to finish second, a lap that included Randy Ayers spinning his car out at the start/finish line. Ayers finished the night in fifth, behind the car of Timmy Wilder. Dennis Capps, winner of the season’s last two races, started behind Purnell in third and finished the night in that position.
The 600-horsepower Grand American Modifieds, sponsored by Quality Collision Solutions of Graham, roared around OCS for 35-laps with the car of Gary Young, Jr starting on pole and finishing out front, giving him his third season win. Young, Jr qualified in second but inherited the top starting spot after the pole-sitting car of Josh Nichols had a problem with pre-race inspection, placing him at the back of the field for the start of the race. Nichols made quick work of the field, squeezing past the second-place car of John Barilka, six laps in. Nichols held on to finish there with Barilka behind him, followed by the fourth-place car of Richard Thomas. Connie Ray Wallace took fifth, the last car on the lead lap.
The Allison Legacy Series, the much smaller NASCAR look-alikes, ran their 35 laps with Kyle Campbell starting out front and finishing there for the win. Brett Suggs finished behind Campbell with the car of Matthew Davey coming home in third, followed by Jake Garcia in fourth, the last car on the lead lap. Ethan Elder appeared to have the car to beat after starting sixth in the nine-car field. After making a bold move past Suggs for second on lap 24, Elder’s car inexplicably spun in turn four, violently slamming the turn four wall. Though uninjured, his car was too damaged to continue.
Jacob Clayton, driving a 1956 Chevrolet, took home the trophy in the Carolina Collector Auto Fest Vintage Sportsman 10-lap race.
Orange County Speedway, Saturday, August 26
Mike Bledsole Mechanical Heating & Air Late Model Stock 35 laps, 1st rac
1) Chris Denny
2) Terry Dease
3) Chuck Lawson
4) Camden Gullie
5) Daniel Moss
Mike Bledsole Mechanical Heating & Air Late Model Stock 35 laps, 2nd race
1) Chris Denny
2) Terry Dease
3) Chuck Lawson
4) Daniel Moss
5) Camden Gullie
Limited Sportsman 35 laps
1) Gage Painter
2) Daryl Carver
3) Brent Evans, Jr
4) Justin Newlin
5) Corey Purnell
6) Tracey Chambers (-2)
7) Jared Gillis (-17)
8) Jerry Hinesley (-22)
9) Jacob Borst (-23)
10)Richard Hayden (-26)
11)Austin Purnell (-29)
Pure Stock 25 laps
1) Danny Winstead
2) Chase Sandefur
3) Bobby Clayton
4) Trevor Winstead
5) Lonnie Glosson
6) Jamie Kerr (-5 )
7) Thomas Penny (-22)
8) Taylor Tolar (-25)
Hill’s Complete Carpet Care Super Mini-Trucks 20 laps
1) John Comstock
2) Jeffrey Martin
3) Devin Parrott
4) Noah Martin
5) Kiser Martin
6) Dalton Martin (-4)
Quality Collision Solutions of Graham Grand American Modifieds 35 laps
1) Gary Young, Jr
2) Josh Nichols
3) John Barilka
4) Richard Thomas
5) Connie Ray Wallace
6) Roy Cook (-1)
7) Jonathan Cook (-1)
Smokey Dave’s BBQ Mod4s 25 laps
1) Corey Purnell
2) Harold Summey
3) Dennis Capps
4) Timmy Wilder
5) Randy Ayers
6) Mike Dudley (-4)
7) Darrell Haynie (-6)
Allison Legacy Series 35 laps
1) Kyle Campbell
2) Brett Suggs
3) Matthew Davey
4) Jake Garcia
5) Ashely Pantoulas (-4)
6) Kayla Lyons (-9)
7) Ethan Elder (-11)
8) Tim Niesen (-13)
9) Justin Taylor (-30)
Carolina Collector Auto Fest Vintage Sportsman 10 laps
1) Jacob Clayton
2) Paul Blalock
3) Kenneth Smith (lapped)
Vance County Friday Night Football Week 2 Preview
by Jeff Jenkins
Southern Vance
The Red Devils of Red Springs traveled nearly 150 miles from their home south of Fayetteville to visit the Raiders tonight. Southern Vance, of course, hopes this will be a long wasted trip for the Devils, but the Raiders will have to bring an A game that they might not know they have. Like Southern, Red Springs is a 2A member of a pretty large mixed 1A/2A conference that includes many of the teams they have become accustomed to playing over the past few years. But unlike the Raiders, the Red Devil have been quite successful against those accustomed opponents. Last year, Red Springs finished 6-5 for the regular season, and only 3-4 in their conference; but the wins they had were big ones. The Diablos scored 49, 50 and 75 points in their three conference wins, and had much closer losses. They ended up averaging 32 points per game and allowed 24. Their conference was so large that their 5th place finish allowed them into the playoffs for the 2nd straight year. 2015 was even better, with an 8-4 overall finish and a 4-3 league record.
Red Springs, also like Southern Vance, has a new head coach this year; and like Southern, they seemed to be on the same page as their new coach for last week season opener. The Raiders stumbled around for much of the game last week – Coach ___ told the dispatch that he kept seeing the light flicker while his team was on the field but he could not keep it burning – but eventually found their way and hung on for a 30-22 OT win. The Red Devils had an easier time of it, judging from their 33-0 victory over 3A south Brunswick. On the way to the lopsided win, QB, Soph. Denym McKeithan passed for 117 yards, with three TDs. Sr WR Wilkerson Monte’ caught two of the TD passes, and accounted for 71 total yards. Soph TE Corey Newton caught the other scoring strike, and Jr. RB L McLean ran for 115 yards on 18 carries and a score. The Defense was devilish, too, adding a touchdown on Sr Safety Bobby McCrea’s 38-yard return of an interception – one of four total picks.
The Raiders will, of course want to play the way they did abut ½ the time during last week’s game against Bartlett-Yancey. The 30-22 Overtime win to end Southern’s 16-game losing streak seemed miraculous, in light of the numerous dropped passes score-erasing penalties and other errors committed by the Raiders, but they player and their first year coach hung in an drew power from the memory of a deceased teammate to come out on top. This is a clear improvement over last year, when the Raiders had a big problem coming back from behind. If they can cut down on enough penalties to keep the touchdowns they score and hang a bit tougher on defense, Southern Vance may have a shot against the Devils – also a young team with a new head coach, but one that scored 75 points in one game last year and 33 points in their season opener last week.
Northern Vance
The Vikings travel to Durham tonight to take on a new opponent – the Pirates of Riverside, led by former Vikings coach Cory Lea. Over the past four years, Northern Vance received some of their worst thrashings at the hands of Southern Durham, so the Vikings may not be anxious to go back to the Bull City, but Riverside is no Southern Durham, and tonight’s contest looks pretty even on paper. The Pirates finished near the bottom of their 4A conference the past two years – 4-7 overall in 2016, with a 2-4 league record, and only 3-8 overall in 2015. Records like these made it necessary for Riverside to seek out a new head coach, and Coach Lea, who started pulling Northern Vance out of their doldrums with back-to-back 5-6 seasons during 2015 and 2016, made an attractive candidate. Coach Lea was an assistant at Riverside before taking his first few head coaching positions, and found it impossible to pass up a chance to go back to Durham, even though he would probably agree that his work with the Vikings was not finished.
Coach Lea has inherited a similar challenge at Riverside to the one he had here in Henderson: his new team only scored 15 points a game last year, while allowing 18; The Vikings wee a bit tougher last year, scoring an average of 18 points per game and allowing 18. Last week’s opener was tough on the Vikings, ending in a 12-0 shut out to Franklinton, while the Pirates opener against Chapel Hill had to be finished on Monday for bad weather, but ended in a hard-fought 22-14 win for Riverside. Riverside showed to dame kinds of first-game problem that Northern did : fumbles, interceptions and penalties, and Chapel Hill scored once on a 95-yard fumble run-back. But the Pirates won the game through the air: Sr. QB Cole Infinito hit Sr. WR C.J. Bell, Jr. for 2 TDs of 30 and 57 yards. Sr. DB Ryan Odom returned a punt to the Tiger O yd Line, but the Pirates could to cross the goal line on that possession. The Pirate defense held when it counted, forcing the Chapel Hill into a 4th and 10 on its final drive and sacking the Tiger QB to ice the game.
With only one game to go by, its hard to tell, but it appears that Riverside relies on the pass for its offensive production, but can be rattled by a good pass rush. Last year, with the same starting QB, the Pirates only passed for 45 yards per game and rushed for 125. Last year’s leading receiver graduated; but last year’s leading rusher, Jr. Kaligah Murrell, with 80 yards per game, does not appear on the roster this year. The Pirate defense is capable of causing fumbles and interceptions, but so is Northern Vance, and if the Vikings can keep their heads and pressure the Pirate backfield, this could be a close game.
Vance County Friday Night Football On-Air Schedule
WIZS will provide double coverage of tonight’s Vance County Friday Night Football matchups.
Both the Raiders and the Vikings are at home this week. Southern takes on Bartlett Yancey High School out of Caswell County. Northern defends home against an old southern rival in Franklinton.
The pregame broadcast begins at 6:45 with the kickoff of both games set for 7:00. WIZS provides the broadcast over the airwaves of 1450 AM, as well as online at WIZS.com and the free TuneIn Radio App.
This season’s broadcast schedule is below. Please tell a friend, like and share on Facebook and re-tweet on Twitter! The links to share on social media are just below the schedule.
Oxford Prep Women’s Golf participates in Inaugural Match
The OPS Griffins Women’s golf team began their inaugural season yesterday 8/17 with a conference match at Henderson Country Club. Conference schools in attendance were Oxford Prep, Falls Lake, Voyager Academy, East Wake Academy and Franklin Academy. Kerr-Vance Academy also joined the NCAC for yesterdays match.
In team competition for the match KVA took 1st with a 161, followed by Falls Lake in second with 181, and East Wake Academy in 3rd with 188.
Hannah Brewer was the top scorer for OPS with a 66, followed by Jadyn Cooper with a 70. Rorie Brewer and Jordan Jones both had a 72.
Rick Kenner, M.A.A.Ed.
SSG (Ret), US Army
NIAAA Registered Athletic Administrator
NFHS Certified Interscholastic Coach
Visual Art Instructor
Oxford Preparatory School
6041 Landis Rd
Oxford, NC, 27565
Steven Wallace and Deac McCaskill take home Mid-Atlantic Classic
ROUGEMONT, NC (July 23, 2017) – Steve Wallace made the most of a late-race restart to muscle Bubba Pollard out of the way and fend off Matt Craig’s aggressive advances in the final two laps of Saturday night’s inaugural Mid-Atlantic Classic at Orange County Speedway, a $10,000-to-win event which drew a near-capacity crowd to the track outside of Durham, N.C., despite heat indexes above 100 degrees. Deac McCaskill dominated the late model stock portion of the event, a 100-lap dash to checkered which preceded the super late model feature.
LATE MODEL STOCK RECAP
Josh Berry blistered the Orange County Speedway for yet another Hedgecock Racing Pole Award and earned the right to lead the field to the green flag for the 100-lap late model stock car race.
No sooner than the race began, chaos ensued when Stefan Parsons and Tommy Lemons, Jr., got together in turn three on lap 8, bringing out the first caution of the night. Parsons and Lemons continued while Terry Dease was eliminated from the race due to crash damage.
Six laps later, a multi-car incident in turn three sparked by contact between Chris Denny and Ryan Repko eliminated Denny and Chris Davis while damaging the ride of Brandon Grosso.
After the last early-race restart, McCaskill motored around Berry and began to pull away from the field. During the mid-race run, Ronald Hill clawed his way to the front in the best run of his CARS Tour career and began to close in on McCaskill for the race lead.
McCaskill began to pull away from the field until lap 91 when Stefan Parsons and Ty Gibbs were involved in the scariest incident of the night. The pair made contact on the exit of turn two while racing inside the top ten and the aftermath sent Gibbs onto his roof, sliding the length of the backstretch in a shower of sparks and ultimately bursting into flames once the car came to a stop. Gibbs emerged from the accident unscathed. 
With nine laps to go, McCaskill was forced to fend off Ronald Hill on a restart, a task he handled with precision. As he pulled away to his fourth career CARS Late Model Stock Tour win, Hill dealt handily with Berry, Jared Fryar and Layne Riggs as he led them across the line to complete the top five.
“We had such a great racecar, and it kept getting better,” a clearly exhausted McCaskill said in Edelbrock Victory Lane. “It started to get a little tight in one and two, but I just had to back my corner up. We just had killer drive off tonight. I just can’t thank my guys for all their hard work yesterday when we got the car driving good, but it seemed like we worked on it more today to try to get the drive off the corner and it paid off. We’ve been working our butts off on this car, and we’ve been off and I haven’t been my normal self, but this race is special. I grew up racing here and learned from a lot of those guys. I think it’s been 2003 since I’ve won a late model stock race here.
“Ronald’s a tough guy and he’s hungry, he’s definitely hungry for a win” he continued when asked about his earlier days where he raced Hill and his father, among others, during weekly shows at the track. “We were up there talking about our age earlier, but this was a good run for him here with his hometown crowd, and he needed this living just a few miles from here. We really appreciate the CARS Tour and all these fans coming out, what a great turnout with all this hot weather.”
SUPER LATE MODEL RECAP
After winning his first career super late model race at Orange County a month ago, Cole Rouse picked up where he left off by winning the Mahle Pistons Pole Award in qualifying, placing him on the front row with Brandon Setzer for the start of the super late model race. In a new, unique format to super late model racing, the event was scheduled with four varying-length stages with breaks in between for adjustments and pit stops.
Rouse easily led the opening 35-lap segment from start to finish, but his Kyle Busch Motorsports teammate Christopher Bell was not so lucky. Racing with Brandon Setzer for third, Bell and Setzer made minor contact in turn three, sending Bell’s No. 4 into a spin which resulted in contact with the outside wall. Though able to continue, he was not a factor the rest of the night.
Rouse shot out to the lead once again in stage two until Stephen Nasse lost control of his car on the frontstretch and pounded the outside wall. On the ensuring restart, Rouse spun the tires and stacked up the field, giving Bubba Pollard the opportunity to lead for the first time on the night. Pollard held the top spot until the lap 100 break, earning an extra $500 for the mid-race stage win.
The vast majority of the field took tires during the lap 100 break to prepare them for the 50-lap dash to the finish. Those who took fewer tires started ahead of those who more, leaving Jeff Batten (none) and Tate Fogleman (two) on the front row. Chase Purdy and Brandon Setzer took three tires and restarted in row two ahead of a plethora of others who bolted on four sticker Hoosiers.
Fogleman quickly rocketed to the lead but it was short-lived when Bubba Pollard reeled in the No. 8 Ford and reassumed command of the race on lap 110. Pollard continued to set the pace handily over Steve Wallace who finished the penultimate stage in second prior to the final break on lap 135.
On the restart, Pollard nearly missed his turn-in point in the first corner, allowing Wallace and others to challenge for the lead, but he quickly gathered himself to begin pulling away for what appeared to be a $10,000 payday until a last-lap caution slowed the field prior to the checkered flag. Per CARS Tour rules, the entire field must take the white flag for the race to complete and a small handful of cars had not when Kodie Conner and Lucas Jones tangled in turn one to facilitate the final caution period of the night.
With two laps remaining, Pollard gave Steve Wallace the bottom lane into turn one and Wallace took full advantage of it. Pollard turned into the first turn early, making minor contact with Wallace, sending Pollard’s car up the hill and opening the door for Wallace, Matt Craig and others to shuffle around the Georgian as the field came to the white flag. Craig made a last-corner desperation attempt to steal the lead in turn three, door-slamming Wallace and sending both cars into a slide, but the No. 66 Ford of Wallace won the drag race to the checkered flag and the richest payday in CARS Tour history ahead of Craig, Rouse, Spencer Davis and Pollard.
“That was good, hard racing, man,” an exhausted and overheated Steve Wallace said in Edelbrock Victory Lane. “Me and Bubba have raced really hard over the last few years, but it is what it is, it’s a big win, we’re racing for 10,000 bucks right here. It just feels good to win. These Jet Tools guys work so hard, and it’s just me at the race shop, and we dig as hard as we can. All these boys come in and work their tails off for me, and we couldn’t do it without Jeff Fultz and Fury Racecars, they built me one hell of a machine. I’ve raced my whole life and never been this hot. It was scorching out there, but we won the race, and we sure as hell are going to win the party, I’ll promise you that. 
“I like Bubba, he’s a really good friend of mine, but I came here with all the friends I need and I’m going home with ’em too and I ain’t worried about it,” he continued when asked about recent scuttlebutt from Pollard on the way he has been raced across the country. “That’s just racing, man. All these fans paid a good amount of money to come see this race and I feel like we gave ’em one hell of a show tonight.”
The CARS Tour visits Hickory Motor Speedway for the inaugural Throwback 276 on August 5, an event featuring over two dozen throwback-themed paint schemes and at least a half-dozen NASCAR legends including Ned Jarrett, Waddell Wilson, Harry Gant, Robert Pressley, Robert Huffman and Jack Ingram. Fans are encouraged to don their own throwback attire for the race, a tribute to short track racing’s past by the stars of the future.
For more information on the CARS Tour, visit their website at www.carsracingtour.com. Fresh content and updates can also be found on the series Facebook page (@carstour), Twitter (@carstour), Instagram (@cars_tour), Snapchat (@carstour) and YouTube channel (/carstour). The series Roku app is also available for installation to see live and on-demand events by following the instructions available at www.carstour.tv.
NOTES OF INTEREST:
– How popular was the race at Orange County in its inaugural format? Series officials pushed the start of the event back 15 minutes to accommodate the exceptionally long line at the ticket gate. Fans continued to fill the facility even after the green flag, reiterating the quality show they have come to expect from the series at Orange County.
– With only three races remaining, the late model stock title fight drew even closer at Orange County. Unofficially, Layne Riggs, Anthony Alfredo and Josh Berry are separated by a mere 6 point margin heading into the Throwback 276. Alfredo won both duels at Hickory earlier this season despite a dominant performance by teammate Berry early.
– The upcoming Throwback 276 has already had a number of schemes revealed including liveries paying tribute to the early careers of Dale Earnhardt, Rusty Wallace, Dale Jarrett, Richard Petty, Alan Kulwicki and more. A number of other regionally and nationally-famous schemes will be unveiled in the weeks leading up to the event.
THE FINISHES:
CARS Late Model Stock Tour
Mid-Atlantic Classic
Orange County Speedway – July 22, 2017
POS NUM DRIVER LAPS REASON OUT
1. 08 Deac McCaskill 100
2. 74 Ronald Hill 100
3. 88b Josh Berry 100
4. 81 Jared Fryar 100
5. 99 Layne Riggs 100
6. 8 Anthony Alfredo 100
7. 14 Ryan Repko 100
8. 32 Brandon Grosso 100
9. 28 Chris Hudspeth 100
10. 2 Myatt Snider 100
11. 98 Stefan Parsons 91 Accident
12. 18 Ty Gibbs 91 Accident
13. 44 Justin Johnson 60 Mechanical
14. 61 Justin Hicks 53 Mechanical
15. 42 Tommy Lemons 53 Mechanical
16. 1 Craig Moore 16 Mechanical
17. 2d Chris Denny 14 Accident
18. 88 Chris Davis 14 Accident
19. 06 Terry Dease 8 Accident
CARS Super Late Model Tour
Mid-Atlantic Classic
Orange County Speedway – July 22, 2017
POS NUM DRIVER LAPS REASON OUT
1. 66 Steve Wallace 151
2. 54 Matt Craig 151
3. 51 Cole Rouse 151
4. 55 Spencer Davis 151
5. 26 Bubba Pollard 151
6. 8 Tate Fogleman 151
7. 97 Chase Purdy 151
8. 6W Matt Wallace 151
9. 99 Raphael Lessard 151
10. 49 Jeff Batten 151
11. 34 Nolan Pope 151
12. 4 Christopher Bell 151
13. 37 Mike Speeney 151
14. 16 Lucas Jones 149 Accident
15. 45 Kodie Conner 149 Accident
16. 5 Trevor Noles 147 Mechanical
17. 6 Brandon Setzer 131 Mechanical
18. 51N Stephen Nasse 74 Accident
19. 118 Bradley McCaskill 61 Mechanical
20. 98 Jody Measmer 56 Mechanical
21. 28 Jared Irvan 10 Engine
Article Via CarsRacingTour.com
Photos by Jeremy Tyndall
Florida State Leads ACC Football Preseason Poll
GREENSBORO, N.C. (theACC.com) – Florida State is the preseason favorite to claim the Atlantic Coast Conference football championship, according to a poll of 167 media members held in conjunction with last week’s 2017 ACC Football Kickoff.
The Seminoles, who posted a 10-3 overall record last season and defeated Michigan in the Capital One Orange Bowl, are also picked to capture the Atlantic Division, while Miami received the nod as the likely Coastal Division winner.
Reigning Heisman Trophy winner Lamar Jackson of Louisville was chosen to repeat as ACC Player of the Year after a record-setting 2016 campaign in which he averaged 393.4 yards per game of total offense and accounted for 51 touchdowns, both ACC single-season records. His 1,571 rushing yards and 21 rushing touchdowns were also ACC records for a quarterback.
Jackson, a rising junior from Pompano Beach, Florida, who is the youngest player to win the Heisman Trophy, also was named the 2016 National College Football Player of the Year by the Maxwell Award, Walter Camp, the Sporting News and CBS Sports.
Florida State was named the likely 2017 ACC champions on 118 ballots, followed by defending national champion and two-time defending ACC champion Clemson with 35 votes. Louisville received seven votes, followed by Virginia Tech and Miami with three each and Duke with one.
In the Atlantic Division preseason voting, Florida State led the way with 121 first-place votes and 1,108 total points. Clemson followed with 37 first-place votes and 1,007 points, while Louisville received nine first-place votes and checked in with 843 total points.
NC State (658 total points) was tabbed for a fourth-place Atlantic Division finish, followed by Wake Forest (415), Syracuse (362) and Boston College (283).
Miami, beginning its second season under head coach Mark Richt, was selected the likely Coastal Division winner by 103 voters and amassed 1,065 total points. Defending division champion Virginia Tech followed with 40 first-place votes and 932 points. Georgia Tech placed third with nine first-place votes and 708 points.
Pitt (seven first-place votes) totaled 673 points, followed by North Carolina (four first-place votes) at 606, Duke (four first-place votes) at 473 and Virginia at 219.
The Atlantic and Coastal Division winners will meet in the 2017 Dr Pepper ACC Football Championship Game on Saturday, December 2, at Charlotte’s Bank of America Stadium. If this year’s media predictions prove correct, it will be a first-ever title game matchup of teams from the Sunshine State and a rematch of an early regular-season showdown. The Seminoles and Hurricanes meet in Tallahassee on September 16.
Florida State owns 15 ACC championships since joining the league in 1992, just behind leader Clemson’s 16 conference crowns. Head coach Jimbo Fisher will welcome back 20 starters this season, including talented sophomore quarterback Deondre Francois and a deep defensive secondary led by Tavarus McFadden, Nate Andrews and Derwin James, a redshirt sophomore who returns after being sidelined by a knee injury in the second game of last season.
Louisville’s Jackson led the preseason ACC Player of the Year balloting with 113 votes, while Florida State’s Francois was listed on 23 ballots and Clemson defensive tackle Christian Wilkins on 11.
Boston College defensive end Harold Landry received eight ACC Preseason Player of the Year votes, followed by NC State all-purpose standout Jaylen Samuels with seven and Syracuse quarterback Eric Dungey with two. Miami linebacker Shaquille Quarterman, Miami wide receiver Ahmmon Richards and Duke quarterback Daniel Jones each received one vote.
ACC Championship
- Florida State – 118
- Clemson – 35
- Louisville – 7
4-t. Virginia Tech – 3
4-t. Miami – 3
- Duke – 1
Atlantic Division
(First place votes in parenthesis)
- Florida State (121) – 1,108
- Clemson (37) – 1,007
- Louisville (9) – 843
- NC State – 658
- Wake Forest – 415
- Syracuse – 362
- Boston College – 283
Coastal Division
(First place votes in parenthesis)
- Miami (103) – 1,065
- Virginia Tech (40) – 932
- Georgia Tech (9) – 708
- Pitt (7) – 673
- North Carolina (4) – 606
- Duke (4) -473
- Virginia -219
ACC Player of the Year
- Lamar Jackson, QB, Louisville – 113
- Deondre Francois, QB, Florida State – 23
- Christian Wilkins, DT, Clemson – 11
- Harold Landry, DE, Boston College – 8
- Jaylen Samuels, AP, NC State – 7
- Eric Dungey, QB, Syracuse – 2
7-t. Shaquille Quarterman, LB, Miami – 1
7-t. Ahmmon Richards, WR, Miami – 1
7-t. Daniel Jones, QB, Duke – 1
Gullie slips as Dease goes back to back at Orange County
by Jim Cribbs
Photos by Jeremy Tyndall
Kid’s Bike Race Night, Orange County Speedway, July 8 & 9
Thanks to the weather, Kid’s Bike Race Night on Saturday became a two-day affair, concluding Sunday afternoon. Only the Grand American Modifieds (and the kids on bicycles) completed their scheduled racing, thus did not return on Sunday. The remaining divisions, minus a few drivers on day 2, competed both days.
The Late Model Stock two-day 75 lap race was a heartbreaker for more than one driver. But for Terry Dease it was a welcome, but somewhat surprising, second consecutive win. Camden Gullie, who had the lead in front of Dease with four laps remaining, appeared to be headed to his first ever OCS win. His car suddenly got sideways out of turn four, letting Dease out front for good, and leaving a disappointed Gullie with a second place finish. Daniel Moss settled for third. 
Another victim of hard luck, but hard racing, Chuck Lawson took the fourth place spot, almost forty laps in arrears. The cars of Chris Denny, Saturday’s pole winner, (94.937 mph, 14.220 sec) and newcomer Brad Kurth were unable to return on Sunday but were credited with a fifth and sixth place finish respectively, with only twelve laps completed.
When the rain put a stop to Late Model Stock competition, Lawson held the lead, having stolen it from Denny at the start of the race. Kurth was in second after a daring pass by Denny while Dease held the fourth place spot. When the green flag fell for the Sunday restart, it was Lawson, Dease, Moss and Gullie first through fourth in that order. After more than 20 laps of intense side by side racing between Lawson and Dease, not to mention Moss and Gullie, Lawson’s luck turned on him. Coming out of turn four, determined to keep Dease behind him, Lawson slammed up against the front stretch wall, putting him out of the race thirty-six laps in. The rest, as they say, is history.
In the first of twin 20 lap races for the Limited Sportsman drivers, Boo Boo Dalton, truly the class of the field, ran uncontested green to checkered to take the win. Daryl Carver, winner of three consecutive races, was the top qualifier but his repeated success relegated him to a 6th place start per race officials. 
Carver still worked his way back to third at the finish with the car of Gary Young Jr sandwiched between those two for second. Brent Evans took the fourth spot and Richard Hayden ended up fifth.
On day 2, race 2 for Limiteds, Dalton was required to draw his starting position, having won race 1. That unlucky pick landed him way back in sixth for the green flag. Not a problem for the 2016 Limited division champ. Lining up first through fifth were the cars of Hayden, Evans, Carver, Austin Purnell and Corey Purnell. Tracey Chambers started behind Dalton in seventh. A dizzy second lap saw Chambers lose control and spin her car out of turn four while Hayden and Carver did their own pirouette out of one, bringing out the caution. By that time, Dalton had worked his way to second and, at the restart, proceeded to dominate the race for his second consecutive win. 
Evans collected second, followed by Carver in third and Hayden in fourth. Chambers took a hard-fought fifth place finish from Corey Purnell. Austin Purnell finished behind those two in seventh.
Pure Stock cars competed in twin 15 lappers with pole-sitter Danny Winstead leading from start to finish for the win in the first one. Despite missing the last few races, Chase Sandefur qualified second and finished there. Bobby Clayton, after taking the green in fifth, took the third finishing spot while Brandon Watson piloted his machine to fourth, right where he qualified. Trevor Winstead, son of 2016 division winner Danny, occupied fifth at the checkered. Finishing sixth through ninth in the mainly single file event were the cars of Jamie Kerr, Taylor Tolar, Lonnie Glosson and Thomas Penny in that order.
Per track rules, the winner of race one was required to draw for starting position in race two, placing Danny Winstead in the fourth place spot at the green flag. Inverted from the first race, Brandon Watson started out front, Clayton beside him and Sandefur beside Danny in the second row. At the start, something broke in Clayton’s right front suspension, putting him out of the race and bringing out the caution. On the next restart, the car of Glosson inexplicably slammed the inside turn one wall, ending his day and bringing out another caution. 
On the ensuing restart, recently married Sandefur held the top spot with Watson to his outside. Trevor lined up beside his dad Danny in row two. At the checkered, it was Watson taking the win, Sandefur finishing second once again and Trevor beating dad for third. Danny, apparently having used up his car a little the night before, held on for a fourth-place finish. Jared Gillis, absent from race one, took fifth, followed by the cars of Kerr, Penny, Glosson and Clayton, sixth through ninth.
No surprise, John Comstock was the fastest qualifier as usual for the Hill’s Complete Carpet Care Super Mini-Trucks 20 lap race. However, he did not finish there. Outnumbered by the rest of the field, who all happened to have the last name Martin, Comstock had to settle for third at the checkered. Jeffrey Martin outdueled second place finisher Kiser Martin for the win. 
Another Martin, Wesley came home in fourth with family members Dalton and Scott occupying fifth and sixth respectively. Comstock’s finish was the result of a missed shift on the restart and a bump from the truck of Wesley Martin. That sent Comstock’s truck for a spin down the front stretch half way through the race.
Quality Collision Solutions of Graham Grand American Modified division planned to run 35 laps but it was not to be. A big pile-up on lap 15 resulted in only two cars out of seven running at the end of the shortened 18 lap race. Todd Massey took the photo finish win from points leader Richard Thomas. 
Remarkably, Massey was able to restart his car after being involved in the turn two crash that appeared to leave only the car of Thomas on track and ready to finish the race. Finishing third through fifth three laps down, victims of the turn two crash, were Dillon Harville, winner of the last race, John Barilka and Michael Roney. One lap behind the crash victims, and apparently the cause of the crash after a radiator hose blew, was OCS first-timer, Eddie Gibson. Another OCS newbie, Rich Kilmarchuk, completed five laps and finished seventh.
Kenneth Smith grabbed his second consecutive win in the Carolina Collector Auto Fest Vintage Sportsman race.
Mike Bledsole Mechanical Heating & Air Late Model Stock 75 laps
1) Terry Dease
2) Camden Gullie
3) Daniel Moss
4) Chuck Lawson
5) Chris Denny
6) Brad Kurth
Limited Sportsman 20 laps, Race 1
1) Ross “Boo Boo” Dalton
2) Gary Young Jr.
3) Daryl Carver
4) Brent Evans
5) Richard Hayden
6) Gage Painter
7) Holden Kurth
8) Austin Purnell
9) Corey Purnell
10) Tracey Chambers
11) Jerry Hinesley
Limited Sportsman 20 laps, Race 2
1) Ross “Boo Boo” Dalton
2) Brent Evans Jr.
3) Daryl Carver
4) Richard Hayden
5) Tracey Chambers
6) Corey Purnell
7) Austin Purnell
Pure Stock 15 laps, Race 1
1) Danny Winstead
2) Chase Sandefur
3) Bobby Clayton
4) Brandon Watson
5) Trevor Winstead
6) Jamie Kerr
7) Taylor Tolar
8) Lonnie Glosson
9) Thomas Penny
Pure Stock 15 laps, Race 2
1) Brandon Watson
2) Chase Sandefur
3) Trevor Winstead
4) Danny Winstead
5) Jared Gillis
6) Jamie Kerr
7) Thomas Penny
8) Lonnie Glosson
9) Bobby Clayton
Hill’s Complete Carpet Care Super Mini-Trucks 20 laps
1) Jeffrey Martin
2) Kiser Martin
3) John Comstock
4) Wesley Martin
6) Dalton Martin
7) Scott Martin
Quality Collision Solutions Grand American Modifieds 16 laps
1) Todd Massey
2) Richard Thomas
3) Dillon Harville
4) John Barilka
5) Michael Roney
Carolina Collector Auto Fest Vintage Sportsman, 10 laps
1) Kenneth Smith
2) Jacob Clayton
3) Paul Blalock
Cars Tour Gearing up for visits to Orange County Speedway
Mooresville, NC 6/13/17- Just prior to the CARS Tour first race of 2017 at Orange County Speedway on June 24th, the series is proud to announce the format for the $10,000 to win Mid Atlantic Classic on July 22nd. The major event at North Carolina’s fastest 3/8th mile track will feature 100 green flag laps for Late Model Stocks and 150 green flag laps with four different segments for the Super Late Models. The first three segments will pay $500 to win with the final segment paying $10,000.
The inaugural Puryear Tank Lines-Thrifty Tire Centers “Mid Atlantic Classic” pres. by The Grilling Store will award $10,000 to the winner and a minimum of $1,000 to each competitor taking the green flag. Along the way each segment will pay $500 to win on lap 35, 100, and 135. The eight tire optional race will allow competitors a choice to change zero, one, two, three, or four tires under a five minute break period, before being lined up in position based on their strategic tire change choice. In addition, the winners of each segment will be awarded a guaranteed top eight starting position in the final fifteen lap segment to the finish, with the exact positioning to be determined by tires taken.
“I love this format and how it creates strategy and choice for the race teams. It’s very similar to what they use to do at SpeedFest, down in Cordele, for those that were familiar with that format. The only difference is we are creating the opportunity to make that tire change at the conclusion of each segment,” explained Chris Ragle, CARS Tour Series Director. “I think this format creates hard racing early rather than just at the end. A driver could easily win the first segment settle in and make a strategic tire move to battle for the win. The winning move could be winning that first segment. Another plus for Super Late Model competitors is the only thing that increased is the entry by $50, that’s it. Everything else is the same as a normal event. If that’s not value, and big money bang for your buck I don’t know what is!”
The CARS Tour will host a 150 lap tune up race at Orange County Speedway on Saturday June 24th in Rougemont, North Carolina for Late Model Stock and Super Late Models leading up to the big event. Entry forms, event schedule, and advance ticket purchase for the Puryear Tank Lines-Thrifty Tire Centers “Mid Atlantic Classic” pres. by The Grilling Store are available at www.carsracingtour.com. Tickets are $17 in advance and $25 at the gate for this major event.