Kyle Busch found a great way to pre-celebrate his 23rd birthday Thursday, May 1. He worked his way up from 7th, ran in the top two for most of the night and picked off local favorite Chris Hopkins for a trip to victory lane at Southside Speedway in the inaugural Denny Hamlin 175. It wasn’t such a great night for all of the superstars however.
Busch, Hamlin and Curtis Markham took on top Southside Speedway contenders in the Late Model Division to kick off Hamlin’s foundation benefiting Cystic Fibrosis, and on hand to kick off the action was Bobby Allison, formerly of the Alabama Gang which dominated racing in the 60s, 70s and 80s. Allison rode four laps as the Grand Marshal, but says he wasn’t quite ready to get behind the wheel again.
“I remember I won a race here back in 1960. That’s pretty good. It’s a little bigger now but it’s pretty much the same,” Allison said. “I go through moments where I watch these young guys like Denny Hamlin and these other hot shoes and I say ‘I ain’t sure I’d do it exactly like that’ … I’m going to tell you what, they do a great job and I had a lot of good times and I’m OK where I am.”
As racing got underway, it appeared that the two Sprint Cup stars didn’t need too much advice though.
Hamlin and Busch started sixth and seventh, respectively, thanks to an inverted start of the top seven qualifiers and both quickly worked their way to the top of the pack.
By the 36th lap, Busch had taken second and was on the tail of Hopkins. The two stayed bumper to bumper through lap 100 when Busch took the inside line in turns three and four and took a slim lead, but Hopkins got back to the top position three laps later when Busch got caught in lapped traffic as he again tried to take the low line. Hopkins sped ahead but Busch grabbed a solid lead by lap 116 and would stay three to four car-lengths ahead for the rest of the race.
“Really to be honest I didn’t talk to anybody about how to get around this place,” Busch said. “I just figured out for myself what I needed to do. I ran in practice then got out of my car and watched Denny, watched Curtis to see what they were doing. Seemed to be pretty close, then I followed a couple guys in practice.
“I might have got lucky, I’m not really sure I know what I’m doing,” Busch continued about being the pole sitter. “I’ll go out tonight and if I look like an idiot, I don’t know what I’m doing. If I look smart, then certainly, I know what I’m doing.”
Hamlin worked up to fourth in the first two laps and was in third by the fourth lap battling Billy Morris for the second position. The two ran 2-3 for 31 laps before Hamlin became his own racing nemesis. After drafting and sometimes bumping the no. 5 car, Hamlin got under Morris in turn one of lap 36 and sent him spinning into the wall. Morris kept control and avoided connecting with concrete but race officials sent Hamlin to the back of the pack for the maneuver because he had gained an advantage.
Hamlin came back but could never fully recover. He finished fourth behind Busch, Hopkins and Eddie Johnson.
Fans also got a reminder of why they aren’t allowed at the track fence during races in lap 50 on a crash in the front straightaway. Mike Greathouse in the no. 77 car found himself in the middle of a pack and then unexpectedly in the air. A car behind him got under his car and sent him flying. His right side came up and rode the concrete barrier next to the grandstand fence, flattening both tires and sending him to the garage for the rest of the evening. The car stayed right side up and Greathouse was unharmed.
Also damaged in the crash was the no. 17 car of Alan Porser.
The Grand Stocks got things started in a thrilling 50-lap race. Chris Hott continued his winning ways with a dominant performance in the late laps.
From the get-go, the battle established between Hott, Ruggles, Fred Key, Bill Nixon, Jason Beck and Daniel Shelton and the top-five changed multiple times throughout the race. However, Hott took the lead for good by lap 39 and appeared to have the car of the night.
In six separate caution incidents in the final 10 laps, Hott rocketed out of the restarts and kept at least a ¼ lap between him and the rest of the pack.
But it was Cystic Fibrosis research that was the real winner for the evening. $50,000 was raised through ticket sales and various auctions including that of the bumper of the No. 11 car driven by Hamlin and signed by Hamlin, Busch, Allison and Markham.
“It feels good for me, especially for Bobby to come to this. It means a lot to me to kick off our foundation. Hopefully we’ve raised a lot of awareness for Cystic Fibrosis,” Hamlin said before the race. “Hopefully we’ll [get a win] here tonight, but either way we’re hitting a homerun for Cystic Fibrosis with all these people that showed up to this race tonight.”
Allison and Hamlin both have family affected by Cystic Fibrosis.
By Sara Page, sports@midlothianexchange.com
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