Story by: Corey Latham ~ corey@RACE22.com

Radford, VA(September 15, 2009) -- It was Championship night at Motor Mile Speedway, and drama was in the air all day as everyone was on edge. In one of the most anticipated nights of racing in recent history, it was two of the best around, Philip Morris and Frank Deiny Jr., in what was being billed as an "all-out slug-fest".

At the end of the night, it had turned out to be a slug-fest all right, just not between those two drivers. Philip added his 5th consecutive Motor Mile championship, along with his 2009 National Championship, and Frank Deiny just got a bunch more reasons why he doesn't like Philip Morris. Doug Godsey won't be on Frank's Christmas list either, it was rather interesting to say the least. Oh, and by the way, Wayne Ramsey took home his first win at Motor Mile, where should we start?

A stellar field of 30 cars were ready to go to battle, and during the day, the tensions rose as drivers tried to find that extra little bit of speed that would be all too important for the season finale. The two players in the championship, Morris and Deiny were fast all day, and they needed everything they could get as Morris was only 2 points ahead of Deiny, meaning Deiny needed to be two spots ahead of Morris when the checkered flag fell. The two drivers had been in a great rivalry all season, with it coming to a head two races ago when Morris moved Deiny out of the lead on the final lap to take the checkered flag.

Deiny had promised, "Philip(Morris) will NOT be the Motor Mile champion for 2009", would he make good on his word? As practice wound down, both drivers were as cool as could be, but there was a feeling in the air, either it was going to be a single-file affair or fireworks were going to take place, no middle ground was thought of.

Aussie Dane Rudolph paced the field in qualifying to take the pole, with surprise to the outside, Doug Godsey. Godsey has been know in the past for his "rough and tumble" driving style, and just him being in the front added a whole new element to the race. Mike Looney and Kenny Brooks would roll off third and 4th, with the point leader Morris back in 5th. You had to go all the way back to 9th to find Deiny, with Ramsey beside him in 10th. Another big surprise was 3-time winner this year at Motor Mile, Tommy Lemons. Tommy went out of the pits on his qualifying run, with a noticeably sick sounding car. He shut it off going down the backstretch and never even take time, a broken plug wire ending his bid at the pole.

"It wouldn't be so bad if this wasn't the best car I've had here all year long, I was a tenth better than everybody in practice yesterday, just watch me go on the outside," said a dejected Lemons.

The stage was set, and you could actually feel the electricity in the air. Rudolph would take the top spot at the green flag, but the man that was supposed to start in 3rd was nowhere to be found. He was still on the track, but starting in the back, Mike Looney has his night come to an end in two laps as he broke his rear-end on the warm-up laps. Rudolph would have to enjoy his time up front, because Morris was coming.

As they ran in the first 20 laps, Morris easily got by Godsey for second, but behind him Deiny wasn't having it so easy. Forrest Reynolds was driving Philip Morris' backup car on this night, and everyone wondered if their were any "team orders" to be had. It sure looked like it, as Deiny caught the back of Reynolds, he went double-file with Kenny Brooks......and stayed there, lap after lap. Reynolds had the preferred line, but the two cars were running side-by-side lap after lap, holding up Deiny and the rest of the field. Deiny began to press the issue and tried three-wide a few times, and finally Reynolds had to give, but Deiny was quite a ways back from the leaders at this point.

Up Front, Morris had been working the rear bumper of Rudolph foe many laps, and finally he gave him the boot to take the lead. It was his race to lose at this point, but Deiny was coming, and nobody had even noticed Ramsey tearing through the field, at the 30 lap mark he was the fastest car on the track. Deiny had now gone past the fading car of Rudolph, and had his sights set on Godsey. But catching Doug Godsey and passing Godsey are definitely two different things.

Deiny pulls up on the back bumper of Godsey, and tries to get a run off the corners, turn 4 being his best spot. But lap after lap, Godsey slams the door shut, and we all saw it coming, Deiny finally has enough and gives Godsey a tap to get alongside coming off turn 4. The two make contact down the frontstretch, and Deiny takes the spot.......for about 500ft. As they enter turn two, Godsey dives deep into the corner, and looks to never turn left, making hard contact with Deiny and spinning the #4 up to the outside wall.

This was definitely the turning point of the night, and under caution it got even better. Deiny rights his car and tears down the track, looking for the #05 of Godsey. The two make slight contact under caution, and Deiny heads to the pits to check out the damage, with his entire FDJ Motorsports teams in an uproar. As we run endless caution laps, with each of them counting, Godsey stops on-track and waits for Deiny once more.

Godsey gets up beside Deiny and runs his nearly into the crossover gate down the frontstretch, and Deiny retaliates and spins Godsey in turn two nearly taking out Ramsey in the process. The officials step in at this point, and bring Deiny down pit road to "talk" to him. The damage is done though, and Deiny's quest for the championship has come to an end, thanks to the antics of one Doug Godsey.

As we get back to green, people wondered if Deiny had enough to get back to the front. With each harmless spin there was, no less than twelve caution laps were ran at a time, and it became evident that it wasn't going to happen with so little green flag laps. The cautions did benefit a few, including Tommy Lemons and Ramsey, as they both could take positions on each restart, with Lemons breaking into the top 10 on lap 93, and Ramsey working to the rear of Morris for the lead. The biggest slide of the race also happens at this point, as Davin Scites moves Dane Rudolph out of the way for 3rd, sending the Aussie back in line in the 7th spot.

At lap 101 we get more antics from the Godsey car, as he spins Randy Linville off turn 4. Godsey is parked we think by the officials, but as he tells it he parked it himself. As he pulls in, Deiny's girlfriend throws a water bottle at Godsey's car, and we think pit road just might explode with flying bodies. Godsey exits his car and stands there staring down pit road, with a "Get some if you want it look on his face". The authorities had already saw the situation going on, and were in place for a melee. But would tensions fly after the race?

Back on track, Morris had the lead but it was evident that Ramsey was either going to move him or pass him, he was rolling. It was lap 110, and after working Morris over for many laps, Ramsey cleanly gets under Morris off turn 4 and completes the pass a lap later. Morris would try to retake the spot for a few laps after, but he had used his stuff up, Ramsey was the man on this night.

The best battle of the night on he track was for the 4th spot, and it was between two cagey veterans. Chad Harris had quietly made his way into the top 5, and Kelly Kingery had his black #57 humming, having one of his best runs of the season coming from the 13th spot. Both of these guys have raced against each other for a long time, so they know how to lean on one another without wrecking, and they put on a show for the fans for pretty much the last 50 laps of the race. Kingery was better into the corner through the middle, but Harris could pull him off the corner, making it side-by-side, lap after lap. Harris would win the battle to the line just barely, but both drivers did the fans proud, and after the race they both had a smile, racing can be fun.

As the laps clicked off, Ramsey was in total control. Scites had rallied from getting stuck on the outside at the beginning of the race, but was a distant 3rd to Morris. Lemons was another car who had used his stuff up, but for good reason, after starting 29th and to rally for a 7th place finish was nothing to sneeze at. And then there was Deiny, who had motored by some of the field after his incident, but then fell back a few positions near the end to finish in the 10th spot.

It was over, and Ramsey had won the battle but Morris had won the war. But it wasn't quite over yet. Deiny's girlfriend had grabbed up another water battle to show someone her displeasure, but the authorities seized it immediately. Deiny climbed from his car to confront Morris in victory lane but he was intercepted by the Morris crew and others who never let him get the chance to talk to him. Rumor had been going around that Morris had bought tires for Godsey and gave him the invite to come there, a rumor that Morris denies but Deiny swears he knows to be true.

Everyone left with their head up regardless, looking forward to Martinsville, but Deiny did state, "It's OK, I'm glad to know Philip felt he needed to do all that to beat me. We have got the big races coming up, so we'll see each other soon. And the Doug Godsey's of the world are a dime a dozen". Needless to say, these "big" end of season races will be very interesting.

Don't Forget to check out "Doc Love's SoundBITES" for interviews with all the players ... before, during and after the race, they are chalked full of drama goodness.  Also you can check Out a Replay of Our LIVE Coverage of the Race where you read about all the happenings in a raw unpolished version.
 
Results:
1 - Wayne Ramsey #51
2 - Philip Morris #26
3 - Davin Scites #06
4 - Chad Harris #3
5 - Kelly Kingery #57
6 - Brandon Dean #5
7 - Tommy Lemons #27
8 - Dane Rudolph #18
9 - Zeke Shell #97
10 - Frank Deiny #4
11 - John King #21
12 - Rusty Skewes #41
13 - Kenny Brooks #54
14 - Jason Merriman #30
15 - Jordan Pennington #24
16 - Johnathan Barcena #34
17 - Danny O'Quinn #49
18 - Dennis Holdren #2
19 - Danielle McDermott #44
20 - Randy Linville #8
21 - Barry Cash #6
22 - Dewayne Howard #37
23 - Lynn Phoenix #14
24 - Brad Foy #50
25 - Doug Godsey #05
26 - Thomas Hartensveld #36
27 - Sergio Pena #58
28 - Forrest Reynolds #28
29 - Kyle Hall #69
30 - Mike Looney #47