From Marty Little
PENSACOLA, Fla. – Dude Teate continued his late season win skein as he topped the 30 lap TBARA feature event Friday night at Five Flags Speedway.
Bryan Riddle paced the early laps from his outside front row starting spot but quickly overhauled by Bo Hartley. The first yellow flag waved on lap five for a tangle among Johnny Gilbertson, Stan Butler and Steve Heisler. Heisler was the only one able to continue.
Hartley stayed on the point but David Steele was working his way through traffic and caught Hartley on lap 14 and had just made the leading pass when his No. 91 suffered a broken axle and the slammed the front chute concrete to bring out the event’s only red flag. Steele was uninjured but his car was heavily damaged.
Once again it was Harltey in command, but not for long as Teate pushed his familiar Bio Based No. 0 into the lead on lap 18. One circuit later the final yellow of the evening waved as the cars of Shane Butler and Todd Fayard spun on the backstretch with both able to continue.
Teate was never challenged in the final 10 laps as he sped to his fourth victory of the season and second consecutive in October. Fayard roared back from his spin to claim runner- up money over Shane Butler, Mickey Kempgens and Larry Brazil, Jr. The second five were Shane Miller, Hartley, Riddle, Tim Thrash and Steele.
The Gulf Coast Tour continues with a Saturday night event at Mobile International Speedway in Irvington, Ala.
– 30 –
First heat (8 laps) – 1. David Steele, 2. Shane Butler, 3. Todd Fayard, 4. Bryan Riddle, 5. Shane Miller, 6. Frankie Hurst, 7. Ben Fritz.
Second heat (8 laps) – 1. Dude Teate, 2. Bo Hartley, 3. Steve Heisler, 4. Johnny Gilbertson, 5. Nick Manakis, 6. Ricky Burnett, 7. D.J. Hoezle.
Third heat (8 laps) – 1. Mickey Kempgens, 2. Bobby Rose, 3. Larry Brazil, Jr., 4. Stan Butler, 5. Tim Thrash, 6. Larry Brazil, 7. Skeeter Faulconer.
Feature (30 laps) – 1. Teate, 2. Fayard, 3. Shane Butler, 4. Mickey Kempgens, 5. Brazil, Jr., 6. Miller, 7. Hartley, 8. Riddle, 9. Thrash, 10. Steele, 11. Heisler, 12. Brazil, 13. Rose, 14. Stan Butler, 15. Gilbertson, 16. Burnett, 17. Fritz, 18. Manakis. DNS – Hurst, Hoezle.