Story by: Langley Austin ~ langley@RACE22.com

Radford, VA(August 16, 2009) -- "It really puts us in our game; I can't describe it, but it plays in our favor," Philip Morris said following his sixth win of the 2009 season when reflecting on the drama of the past week and that pretty much describes the twists and turns in the championship battle with just two races to go.

Frank Deiny didn't appreciate the bump that Morris gave him last week, that enabled Morris to edge Deiny for the win by inches, but this week despite many verbal jabs by Deiny the twin races went off practically without a hitch. Deiny never really got close enough to Morris to carry out his threat last week to "make sure he never won another race even if he had to wreck him", though many people throughout the pits doubted that he would do it even if he was given the chance.

The story of tonights race though was Davin Scites and Morris' victories in the twin 75-lap events, for Scites it was his first win of the 2009 season after spending much of the season on the sidelines due to the economy. However the veteran driver used tonight to tune up for the big race season, where he's excelled in the past starting on the pole of the last two Bailey's 300 races at Martinsville Speedway and being competitive in them all.

Morris set the pace in practice in his Dean Motorsports entry owned by Jim Dean, who also owned the cars of Denny Hamlin and Mark McFarland several years back before they both moved up the racing ladder. Morris looked to be an easy pick for the pole, but just like in the last two Bailey's 300's at Martinsville Speedway he was knocked off by Scites.

Others turning in a great qualifying effort included championship point contender, Chad Harris in third and Richard Boswell in fourth, who usually qualified toward the middle of the pack, but was a contender by the end of nearly every race. Ryan Wilson, who was making his first ever start at Motor Mile Speedway turned in a solid 10th place qualifying effort and looked to be poised for a top ten finish.

A single caution slowed the first of the twin 75-lap races as a fierce battle for the lead ensued between Scites and Morris. Morris jumped out to the early lead, but Scites had his sights set on taking over the top position and after battling side by side with Morris he took over the position and held Morris off all the way to the end. After the early battle for the lead Morris found himself under fire for the second position as well as Jerame Donley had come to race.

Donley and Morris battled hard to the finish, but Morris held him off with the help of some lapped traffic and some good driving. The race throughout the field was a little uneventful, not much happening as the field was stringing out a bit, but there were a few battles brewing. One of those was among "friends" as Brandon Dean and Tommy Lemons, Jr. rubbed and bumped throughout the race as the two battled for the seventh and eighth finishing positions.

Dean eventually won out in this battle, but when "friends" battle, beating and banging all the way it can ruin relationships and create rivalries. This time however the two were able to settle their differences in a civil manner in which neither driver got their car tore up and both of these guys will be hanging out together at the track in the future.

Boswell, who said that he tried out a different shock package for qualifying that worked getting him his fourth place start, but those same shocks would keep the young driver from being able to work his way up closer to challenge for the lead. Deiny, who had all intentions of being a strong competitor seemed to miss it with the setup and found himself qualifying outside the top five and then squeaking in to a fifth place finish in race one. Chad Harris kept his hopes of a championship alive in race one hanging to Deiny's back bumper for a sixth place effort.

After a couple hours of a break and time enough to let the sun set on the 4/10 mile track, the second of the twins would complete a great night of racing and the drivers would be ready to give the fans the show they came to see. With Scites victory he would have to redraw for position and would start third behind Donley and Morris, but the hungry driver would show early he was wanting to win both races.

Morris would get the jump from the start as he did in the first race, but Donley was ready to challenge and he was back up on the wheel and looking for the lead. The young driver schooled the veteran and cracked the whip grabbing the top spot from the two-time NASCAR Whelen All-American Series National Champion. Donley's lead didn't last too long as Morris wasn't about to let another race slip through his fingers and that's when the two made contact sending Donley up the track and back to fourth.

Donley remained poised to get back to the lead as he quickly picked up third from Deiny and began looking to pass Scites for second. Donley wouldn't be able to get second back until late in the race and never got a caution once he got the position, but the young driver was hoping to get back there.

"Maybe he wanted to lead worse than I did, I feel a little bad maybe I should have returned the favor in the first race when I raced him side by side cleanly for 25-laps," said Donley after the race. "We were coming back there towards the end, I just wish there had been a caution it might have been interesting. It may not happen anytime soon, but we're going to be racing each other for a long time and when the time is right we'll take care of it, I'm sure."

Morris' take on the incident was quite a bit different than Donley's as he didn't even think they had made contact.

"I didn't even feel like I touched him, he pinched me off in that corner and I didn't think it was anything, but good racing," said Morris. "Anyone who saw the race saw him get into me two or three times, I knew he was mad at me though as run into the back of me after the race, but I thought it was just racing."

Of course Morris' new found nemesis, Deiny had an opinion and wasn't afraid to share it.

"The good thing is my fellow competitors figured out it wasn't me as we've got Davin(Scites) and Jerame Donley mad at the 26 now," said Deiny with a smile from his third place finish. "Atleast it wasn't me; The good part about it is those two have nothing to lose, their not in any points battle. So they'll probably come back, I guess that's all good as long as I can stay pretty close."

Needless to say Morris isn't making any friends and while he won't come out and say it seems like maybe that's part of the plan.

"Honestly I don't know why all that stuff happens, but when we have all that it really puts us in our game," said Morris. "When we have all that stuff going on the dynamic changes and I don't know why, but it does something for us."

While Deiny was still as sharp as ever with his comments, Morris was still taking the high road and even said he thought Deiny was on that same road with him.

"I think he took the high road too, tonight I think he did the same thing too," continued Morris. "I think we came back from that and he realized it was just racing and I'm sure he's going to race me the same way, I expect it."

Deiny, who felt like he was a little off tonight and said he needed to get back to Motor Mile and test before the next race came home third behind Morris and Donley with Lemons finishing fourth after another race long battle with his friend and competitor, Dean who finished sixth behind Scites, who faded to fifth late.

Boswell, who thought he might have a better car in the second race looked strong in the early laps, but as he attempted to make the pass on Scites for third, the two made contact getting Boswell sideways. Boswell gathered up the car, but the contact had done it's damage and he wasn't a factor any longer and finished seventh ahead of Caleb Holman. Holman struggled with his built engine, which he thought would be better than the crate engine he raced with earlier in the season and finished third, but that wasn't to be.

Coming down for the finish of the race a battle had been brewing between Ryan Wilson and Jordan Pennington and coming around back to the checkered flag the two made contact and both spun putting them 18th and 19th in the unofficial rundown instead of a top ten finish for one of them. Travis Hurt inherited a tenth place finish after the incident and this young driver keeps looking better and better after only a handful of Late Model Stock Car races.

The biggest disappointment in race number two was when points contender, Chad Harris fell out of the race with a broken rocker arm, pretty much destroying his chances of winning the championship and dropping him to fourth in the points.

The race didn't live up to the hype, it wasn't the barn-burner that everyone was hoping for, but in the end it was another exciting night of racing and more storylines were added to the story as the season winds down to the final two races of the season and for Morris this should advance his lead in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series National points, but the veteran is looking for more.

"We're just going to keep on working hard like we have all year," explained Morris. "We went through a drought for what, the last two months and didn't make it to victory lane, so now we're going to ride it to the end. We've got three races left, two here and one at South Boston and I'm expecting to win all three. That's just my expectations and we're going to work toward that end and we're not going to take it lightly."

Big expectations, but if anyone has proved they can accomplish exactly what they have set out to do, it's Morris and his team, but with Donley, Scites and Deiny charging at him in these final races it could certainly get more interesting.
 

Race #1:
1) Davin Scites #06
2) Philip Morris #26
3) Jerame Donley #51
4) Richard Boswell #88
5) Frank Deiny #4
6) Chad Harris #3
7) Brandon Dean #5
8) Tommy Lemons, Jr. #27
9) Rusty Skewes #41
10) Mike Looney #47
11) Ryan Wilson #12
12) Derrick Lancaster #25
13) Kenny Brooks #54
14) Caleb Holman #74
15) Andrew Thomas #69
16) Kres VanDyke #31
17) Jamie Byrd #15
18) Danielle McDermott #44
19) Zeke Shell #97
20) Craig Stallerd #36
21) Bob Davis #19
22) Adam Long #20
23) Burton Martin #21
24) Jordan Pennington #24
25) Dewayne Howard #37
26) Gene Kepley #29
27) Travis Hurt #34
28) Wayne Corprew #87
 

Race #2:
1) Philip Morris #26
2) Jearme Donley #51
3) Frank Deiny #4
4) Tommy Lemons, Jr. #27
5) Davin Scites #06
6) Brandon Dean #5
7) Richard Boswell #88
8) Caleb Holman #74
9) Kenny Brooks #54
10) Travis Hurt #34
11) Mike Looney #47
12) Danielle McDermott #44
13) Adam Long #20
14) Jamie Byrd #15
15) Rusty Skewes #41
16) Zeke Shell #97
17) Kres VanDyke #31
18) Jordan Pennington #24
19) Ryan Wilson #12
20) Bob Davis #19
21) Derrick Lancaster #25
22) Wayne Corprew #87
23) Chad Harris #3
24) Gene Kepley #29
25) Burton Martin #21
26) Dewayne Howard #37
27) Andrew Thomas #69
28) Craig Stallard #36

For more on the races check out our "At the TRACK" LIVE Coverage on Replay by CLICKING HERE