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Rogers Claims Pro-Cup Title & Willis Wins Limiteds
ROGERS CLINCHES PROCUP TITLE WITH WIN, WILLIS TAKES LIMITED LATE MODELS AT SOBO
Story by: Chris Romano/Contributor to RACE22.com
Photos by: Kathy Bond/USARacing Pro-Cup Series
South Boston, VA(November 1, 2009) -- Fighting rain all weekend the USAR Procup series finished their first season with Clay Rogers securing the win and the championship at the final champions series race at South Boston Speedway.
The first yellow of the Strutmasters.com 250 came on the pace lap when Mike Hennessy pounded the inside wall on the backstretch. The 20 car field then took the green with Rogers jumping into the lead followed closely by former South Boston Late Model standout Drew Herring. The yellow flew again for a multicar crash on lap eight involving Rusty Skewes, Lucas Ransone, and Matt Lofton.
Herring finally nosed under Rogers on lap 61, and when the yellow flew three laps later for debris Rogers and third place Jeff Agnew made their first pit stops. Herring led on the restart through lap 83 when the caution flew once more and he pitted. The restart put Rogers and Agnew back at the front, followed by Brandon Ward.
Another yellow on lap 97 saw Herring pit again, followed by J.P. Morgan, who was sitting second in points to Rogers coming into the race.
As the race moved beyond the halfway point the guy to watch was Derek Kale who moved from fifth to second in twenty five laps. When the yellow came out for debris on lap 160 Kale moved to the lead when Rogers made his last pit stop. Agnew and Ward also came in on the yellow.
The pit stop shuffle moved Herring to second followed by Morgan. Kale and Herring dueled until a yellow on lap 200, when Herring took the lead on the restart and Rogers picked his way through the field to take second. By lap 210 Rogers was back in front and wouldn't be challenged. The final caution came on lap 226 for a spin by Allen Purkhiser but they guy who got his heart broken was Kale, who was black flagged for a badly smoking machine. Kale pitted but was only able to return to action for a few laps before retiring.
Rogers dominated the remaining laps so the race to watch was between Herring and Ward, with the latter taking second spot with six laps to go. Jeff Agnew remained consistent with a fourth place finish followed by perennial ProCup competitor Bobby Gill. J.P. Morgan was sixth, which was good enough to clinch second place in the championship over Herring.
Third in the race and points Herring was happy to have the weekend over with. "It was a long weekend. Mother Nature wasn't very kind with us but luckily she let us get it in today. Yesterday we had an incident in turn two in practice, got into the wall with the right front and messed up the whole suspension on the right side. The guys put everything back together but we didn't get any practice laps yesterday, we really didn't know what we had. We put it on the outside pole, led some laps, brought it home third. It's been a long year for us. We've had good cars every week, we just haven't been able to finish, so it's nice to finish one up front today."
Ward was happy with second. "First, congratulations to Clay, he's been the car to beat all year. We were real tight at the beginning of the race. We were really good yesterday in practice. The racetrack got tight on us today and yesterday we really worked on running the bottom but today it was so wet we couldn't get down there so we got up the hill and we couldn't turn in the center. We made three adjustments during the race and that really helped it and there at the end it was as good as it ever was. I felt like we were running him down but he was the car to beat, I don't know if we had anything for him."
The day and the year belonged to Rogers, who clinched his third ProCup title and won three of the four Championship Series races. "At the start of the race there wasn't any rubber on the racetrack and what was there was Hoosier rubber so I was pretty free on the start of the race and Drew got by us there, I actually slipped in a little bit of water in turn three and opened up the inside lane. Once the track started to rubber up a little bit it tightened our car up and it really came into its own. I knew as long as we didn't beat ourselves we'd have a chance to win the race. The main thing coming in was to win the championship, but to top off the season we've had this year with a win at South Boston is awesome."
Lucas Ransone won the ProCup Rookie of the Year title.
Twenty-one Limited Late Models took the green for their 100 lap event with Justin Snow and Danny Willis, Jr. on the front row and staying side by side for the first three laps before Snow got the lead. On lap six a pile up in turn two stacked up six cars, resulting in the first yellow of the day. On the restart Snow and Willis resumed their battle, joined by Orange County Speedway regular Joey Throckmorton. On lap 30 Snow's race fell apart as Willis and Throckmorton got by, along with Tom Peregoy. Snow eventually worked his way back to third on lap 36. Eleven laps later the race was stopped for a grinding crash between Jeb Burton and George Spencer entering turn three. Neither driver was injured but the cleanup took a while.
The herd was now thinned to thirteen cars and the race resumed with the top three staying in position to the checkers. Throckmorton was happy in second, admitting he really didn't have much for Willis. "It was tight in the center, but he looked a little free off the corners. We haven't raced here all year so to come here and finish second, that says a lot. He had a good car, but we're gonna be good next year so they better watch out."
Willis, who finished second in the South Boston Late Model championship, won his fifth race of the season. "My car was little off but I guess we were a little better than anyone else. I was kind of worried. We tested the other day and it was pretty decent, but after everyone else tested they were right there with us so I knew it was going to be a good, tight race. I think we just had a tick better car than Joey. We weren't perfect, but I'll take it."
Jeff Oleen, a development driver for FDJ Motorsports continues to impress the Late Model world as in only his fourth asphalt Late Model start in the big Limited Late Model race, he finished fifth.
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