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Pressley Wins BIM 200
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Newton, NC ~ It was a beautiful day at one of the most famous short-tracks in the country, and it was all on the line at the 32nd annual running of the Bobby Isaac Memorial. All eyes were on the two Matt's, Matt McCall and Matt DiBenedetto, but in the end Coleman Pressley showed the field why he is also one of the hottest drivers in the nation.
Twenty-three Late-Models took time for the 200 lap event, with Hickory hotshoe Andy Mercer taking the pole with a time of 15.210. Pressley, DiBenedetto and Hickory points leader Andy Loden made up the top 4. I only went to 4 because 5th place was unusual in this position. Matt McCall had been absolutely dominant in his new Pistone LTO, taking the only two races ran in it by a landslide each time. Could this be the race the #23 gets toppled?
At the green Mercer takes off and tries to get away, but it wouldn't last long as Pressley would claim the top spot on lap 10. Behind them a storm was brewing and it was named McCall. Matt wastes no time getting by Loden for 4th, and on lap 12 he dives deep into turn 3 and makes contact with DiBenedetto, knocking the #44 machine up the track and taking over the 3rd spot, then getting by. The Loden ride is backing up as he drops back to the 8th spot, but that situation would change later in the day.
Pressley looks to be in control, but the black #23 of McCall starts to stalk. As McCall makes his move to the
Photos by: Langley Austin
Coleman Pressley could do nothing short of smiling after capturing his first Bobby Isaac Memorial 200 trophy at Hickory Motor Speedway. It was the biggest win of the young drivers career.
outside of Pressley, Lucas Ransone gets into the back of Rob Fuller and spins the #17 around on the backstretch, and fuller is not pleased. Now with the restart McCall jumps to the inside of Pressley, but can't make the pass and DiBenedetto shows his muscle and takes 2nd away form McCall on the outside. For the next 12 laps McCall works to the inside of DiBenedetto, and finally makes the pass for 2nd on lap 72.
Meanwhile, the day for the pole sitter Mercer has began to fall apart. He drops back slightly, but now something is obviously wrong. The car is sideways at slow speeds and he
Mark Green, former NASCAR Nationwide Series competitor, turns the wrenches on his son, Tyler's NASCAR Late Model Stock Car during a caution in the Bobby Isaac Memorial 200.
finally parks it 4 laps before halfway. Rear-end problems ends the #10 cars day, as a pin breaks causing the Mercer ride to only have one wheel pulling. It was definitely one ill-handling car. The battle for the lead did heat up again before halfway, as McCall takes the top spot in traffic on lap 96 before the mandatory 10 minute break.
Halfway 1.McCall 2.Pressley 3.DiBenedetto 4.Loden 5.Kyle Grissom 6.Ransone 7.James Goff 8.Anthony Anders 9.David Roberts 10.Rob Fuller.........and another winner was Andy Loden's 3 year-old son, Nick in the powerwheels race at halftime, and it was a heck of a race in itself.
Jarit Johnson(J7), brother of reigning two-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champion, Jimmy Johnson, gets into the side of fellow competitor, Chris Lawson(51) as the two battle for positon. Johnson let him straighten the car up and both drivers raced on in the Bobby Isaac Memorial 200 at Hickory.
While the first half was about the top 3 cars, as the second segment started it was all Rob Fuller. Hickory has many different grooves, but it's still hard to pass, but Fuller made it look easy. He got 9th on lap 101, 8th on lap 105, 7th on lap 108, 6th on lap 111.....you get the idea, he was flying. Fuller makes it back up to 4th, but by then the top 3 are gone into the distance.
The top 3 are all over each other, but on lap 137 Matt DiBenedetto's luck takes a change for the worse. The 44 machine drops off the pace and comes to a stop at the bottom of turn 4. He makes it to pit road after the caution is thrown, but the team goes 3 laps down before he can get back on track. A broken swing arm joint ruins his day, and he was just as fast when he returned, but as evident on his fathers face, it wasn't what they were looking for, bad luck has really gotten this team since he started the season off red-hot with 3 wins at 3 different tracks.
Now it was the Coleman and Matt show, and both cars looked to be even with one another, they had been all day. The two put on a show as they race side by side lap after lap, Pressley down low and McCall up high, until Pressley gets by after a great 12 lap battle. Loden has
Nick Loden(right), son of two-time Hickory Motor Speedway track champion, Andy Loden recieves a high-five from his father after winning the first ever Kid's "PowerWheels" race. The younger Loden at only three years old collected his first victory, which may just be the birth of the next generation of drivers at the famous Hickory Motor Speedway.
found his groove again as he gets by Ransone for 4th, and Fuller tries to walk down McCall.
When Pressley got by McCall for the lead, we all expected MCall to regroup and go back after him, they had been pretty even all day. But her never got the chance. Pressley checks out, and pulls a full straightaway on McCall be the time the checkered flag falls. We didn't see that chain of events coming at all.
Coleman Pressley is in the middle of a tight points battle for the National championship, and is slated to run the season next year in the Truck series. He will undoubtedly have many more trophies to add to his mantle, but in
Coleman Pressley(59) and Matt McCall(23) race hard for the lead late in the Bobby Isaac Memorial 200. Pressley eventaully took the lead away and drove off into the sunset against a driver, McCall and a car, his new 2009 Pistone LTO chassis that had been previously unbeaten in two races.
the middle of them he will have one that few have, a crystal Bobby Isaac Memorial trophy.
A special thanks goes out to Sherry Clifton and all her staff at Hickory Motor Speedway, if every track in America had their hospitality and desire, racing would be alive and well across the board.
David Mercer(left) a part-time crew member on Lucas Ransone's car and full-time crew chief of his brother, Andy Mercer's car talks with chassis builder, Greg Marlowe(center) and former NASCAR Nationwide Series driver, Shane Huffman(right) about the performance of Lucas Ransone's car. Ransone had a great run finishing up in fifth position.
Rob Fuller climbs from his Draco Springs car after recovering from an early spin to finish third in the Bobby Isaac Memorial. Fuller drove a great race and had the cautions fell late, he may have had something to race with Pressley.
Race Results:
59 Coleman Pressley
23 Matt McCall
17 Rob Fuller
29 Andy Loden
00 Lucas Ransone
32 Kyle Grissom
57 Grant Wimbish
36 Anthony Anders
33 James Goff
18 David Roberts
7 Jarit Johnson
42 Todd Goble
77 Ryan Fischer
47 Patrick Molesworth
44 Matt DiBenedetto
20 Tyler Green
95 Michael Buckner
92 Candace Muzny
10 Andy Mercer
11 Chase Austin
51 Chris Lawson
43 Jesse Lefevers
8 Jamie Yelton