Late Model Turkey Shootout 100 at Thunder Bowl Speedway: Report and Results
1 December 1997
JACK GOBBLES 'EM UP IN TURKEY SHOOTOUT Valdosta, GA - Jack Pennington of Winston, GA was in the right place at the right time in his Barry Wright/Clements/Partain & Ward One Stop Racing Chevrolet Monte Carlo to take the win and the $10,000 first place check in the ninth annual Turkey Shootout at Thunderbowl Speedway in Valdosta, GA. The win, the first for Pennington in the new Barry Wright built Monte Carlo came at the expense of early leaders Ed Basey and Kenny Merchant. Basey, of Evans, GA, the fast qualifier in Friday evening time trials in the in the Barry Wright/Clements/Thomas Automotive Chevrolet, took the lead on the drop of the green and quickly began to open a gap between himself and Merchant in the Warrior/Clements/J.D. Caver Ford Mustang. Pennington rode in third with Ronnie Johnson fourth and Earl Pearson Jr. fifth as the first of fourteen caution flags flew on just the second lap. Basey soon reopened the lead to almost a straightaway by lap 9 as he began to lap slower cars. Back in the pack Mike Head was making a move towards the front as he went inside Mickey Rose. Basey almost spun in turn two on lap ten as he was lapping a backmarker, but such was his lead that he was able to recover without any challenge being made. On lap 11 Pearson jumped inside Johnson to take fourth in turn three but otherwise the top five remained the same with Basey continuing to open the lead. On lap 26 Pearson slipped inside Pennington on the backstretch and took over third as the two cars entered turn three. Cautions continued to fly with regularity, but on each restart Basey quickly jumped out to big lead. By the halfway point of the 100 lap event Basey was still leading with Merchant second, Pearson third followed by Pennington and Johnson. On lap 62 Mark Miner and Mike Head got together coming out of turn four with Miner spinning to bring out yet another yellow. By this point only nine cars were left on the lead lap, such was the pace being set by leader Basey. On the restart as the cars came around to complete the 63rd lap, Pennington swung low out of turn four and powered past Pearson to regain the third spot. Although Pearson tried to retake third on the next two restarts he was unable to complete the pass and settled back into fourth. On lap 79, on a restart Basey suddenly slowed in turn two with a flat right rear tire. As officials had already decided that due to 83 laps being run under caution at this point to refuel the cars, Basey was able to change the tire, refuel and rejoin the race in eighth place, the last car on the lead lap. Merchant now inherited the lead, and he set a torrid pace, opening a 5 car length gap between himself and Pennington in just two laps after the restart. Then on lap 90 a large cloud of smoke emerged from the flying Ford, and Merchant was forced to the pits and out of the race with a blown engine. Pennington now took over the point and he too found the front to be the fastest position as he was able to pick his own line around the track without any lapped traffic in the way and he soon had a three car length lead over Pearson, who was up to second. Johnson was running in third with Dennis Franklin having moved into fourth and Basey moving up to fifth on the restart. Pennington led the remaining laps to take the win, with Earl Pearson Jr finishing second and Ronnie Johnson third. Franklin took fourth at the checkers with Basey fifth, Leland Prewitt sixth and Mike Head coming home seventh, the final car on the lead lap. "The car was tight at the start of the race," Pennington commented later. "I hated to lose third to Earl (Pearson) but then as the race went on the track came to me and I was able to get back by him. I was just in the right place at the right time when the two others fell out." There were 26 Late Models on hand for the event, which suffered through a 24 hour rain delay, with heat wins going to Basey, Merchant and Pennington. The race took 2 hours and ten minutes to complete with 14 cautions for a total of 88 laps run under the yellow. TURKEY SHOOTOUT 100 FINISH (Top 10) Pos Car Driver Hometown Laps 1. 01 Jack Pennington Winston, GA 100 2. 7 Earl Pearson Jr Jacksonville, FL 100 3. 5 Ronnie Johnson Chattanooga, TN 100 4. 2 Dennis Franklin Gaffney, SC 100 5. 4 Ed Basey Evans, GA 100 6. 11 Leland Prewitt Savannah, GA 100 7. 54 Mike Head Ellenberg, GA 100 8. 81 Lonnie Roberts Sparks, GA 99 9. 98 Pete Broughton Wimauma, FL 99 10. 32 Larry Blankenship Mooresville, NC 98 John Kaiser -- The Auto Channel