By DAVID MILLER
Special to The Dispatch
Jamey Boland led every lap of the Super Late Model race Friday at Columbus Speedway and notched his first feature win of the season.
Boland started on the pole and was untouchable during the 25-lap feature, piloting his three-race old TrakStar to monster leads and easy sweeps through lap traffic.
Boland competed in Crates last year and sold that car and motor during the winter. Boland now has a win and two second-place finishes in the new car.
“It was just a good night for us,” Boland said. “The car’s been stuck in the track really good. We’ve been happy with it every time.”
Bill Mahan took second after starting fourth. Sam Norman, Ben Brocato and Shelby Sheedy rounded out the top 5. Brocato made up the most ground in the race after starting ninth.
Still, it proved tough to catch Boland and have a realistic shot at passing him.
“It was more than one lane, but if you got in the bottom, you would’ve had to hit it just right,” Boland said. “There was a pretty good hole in turn 1, so I was trying to drive around it.”
The 15-car turnout for the division was a welcome sight for Rod Taylor, third-year promoter for Columbus Speedway. Taylor’s rules package for shocks and tires is aimed to help lower-budget teams compete in the division.
Taylor said the message is starting to spread.
“I constantly talk with different drivers throughout the week,” Taylor said. “The best way to do it, in my opinion, is to reach out and talk to people and let them know what we got going. Their word of mouth goes to others. There’s not any other way that I’m aware of beyond Facebook and social media. “We had a driver in last night that run second from Huntsville, Alabama and one from Greenville,” he added. “Chad McCool had his new Rocket out there, testing it out. We’re starting to pick up a few of those cars. We’re looking for that program to grow.”
Holbrook wins it late in Factory Stocks
Josh Holbrook struggled to get underneath and clear Johnny Pannell late in the Factory Stocks race Friday, but a key observation and recalibration of strategy helped Holbrook earn his second feature win of the year.
Holbrook, a Hamilton, Alabama native, took second after Scooter Ware broke and exited the race on lap 7. He’d then get quality runs entering the corners but couldn’t muster enough power and traction to clear Pannell without “getting into him or taking myself out.”
“I was right there on [Pannell], and I noticed he was braking quicker than what I needed,” Holbrook said. “So I set up, fell back a little bit, and coming down back stretch, when he choked up, I dove all the way to the bottom and did a slide job up underneath.”
Pannell would take second, while Shane Burns, Justin Comer and Lee Ray rounded out the top 5.
Holbrook now has two wins, two seconds and a third-place finish in five races in 2019.
He credited the win to sponsor Tony Cantrell and car-builder Jason Byrd. Holbrook said he sold his current car to Byrd last year, then bought it back for 2019.
“He’s good at what he does,” Holbrook said of Byrd. “He made some changes to this car, and it’s a good one. I’m going to stick with this one for a while now.”
In other race action, Chace Pennington won the 602 Sportsman feature. Tony Shelton, Morgan Lambert, Corey Pennington and Jamie Pickard rounded out the top 5.
Brandon Barnett won the Mini Stocks feature. Adrian Usliton, Allen Gillreath, Blayne Blenn and Bo Minor rounded out the top 5.
Kody Lane won the Buzz class feature. Shauna Browning, Hailey Wade, Clarence Smith and Brandon Glenn rounded out the top 5.
Laney McCullough won the Outlaw class over Chris Caldwell.
Jamie Sudduth won the Street Stocks race over Dewayne Estes.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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