Casey Roderick has staked his claim to victory lane in Pro Late Model action at 5 Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Florida.
On Friday night, the Lawrenceville, Georgia speedster drove to his sixth consecutive PLM points victory at the half-mile asphalt raceway.
He took the lead from Perry Patino exactly at the halfway point and finished with a seven second margin of victory over Patino. Third place went to New York driver Giovanni Bromante, who worked his way up after starting 20th in the 23-car field because of a pre-race technical infraction.
“It’s pretty good here,” Roderick said of his car in victory lane. “There was something funny happening in the front end, but we’ll shake that out once when get it back to the shop.
“It was good enough to bring it home in victory lane tonight. It’s pretty awesome to maintain this level of racing.”
Roderick started on the pole despite not having the best time. That honor belonged to Cole Anderson with Roderick a close second. But a two-car invert moved Roderick to top spot.
Anderson made early work of Roderick on lap 4, as he took the lead and pack of three more cars freight trained Roderick to push him back to fifth in the early stages.
“They were better at the beginning,” Roderick said. “It just came to us. They fell off and we got better late in the race. It’s a dream come true for me just to be able to race. Otherwise I’d be sitting at home, not knowing what to do with my life.”
Connor Okrzesik led almost 40 laps before Patino passed him on the inside, which also brought Roderick by Okrzesik.
Roderick quickly began stalking Patino for the lead, and reclaimed the point as the field completed 50 laps.
“We’ve gotta keep tweaking on it to stay with Casey,” Patino said. “It’s fun racing with these guys and not tear anything up.”
Bromante’s night that began as a nightmare quickly turned into a dream that became a reality, as he chewed up most of the field in making his mad dash to a podium result.
“It was a fun race,” the teenager said. “We started from the back, and I can’t thank everyone for giving me a great piece.”
In other action, Stuart Dutton was flagged the winner of the Faith Chapel Outlaw Stocks feature, but when he and second place finisher Bubba Winslow failed to pass post-race inspection, Kody Brusso was moved to the win. It marked his first career win at 5 Flags.
“You always think tonight’s gonna be the night,” Brusso said. “The car is a lot better than it was. There’s still kinks to work out. But we’ll get there. We’re coming, we’re fast.”
The reshuffling meant Jeremy Pate was officially second and Conner Sutton was third.
This Friday night wasn’t as easy as some of Mark Barnhill’s recent triumphs at Five Flags Speedway.
He battled close friend Jason Huffmaster for much of the 30-lap The Dock on Pensacola Beach Sportsmen feature.
Huffmaster led for most of the night until some beating and banging opened up just enough room for Barnhill to storm to the front. Barnhill took the lead from Huffmaster on lap 18 and never had to sweat for his third consecutive Sportsmen victory at the famed half-mile asphalt oval.
“I didn’t think I was gonna be able to get around (Huffmaster),” Barnhill said. “That’s my buddy there. And he had a pretty good car. I was loose trying to get under him.”
Lee Reynolds finished in second, with Shanna Ard in third.
Robert Loper became the Lloyd’s Glass Pure Stocks divisions’ fourth different winner this season by taking the lead from Robert Balkum on lap 6 and never relinquishing it.
“It was a great car,” said Loper. “We’ve been fighting this thing. We had to rebuild it and show all of y’all that this thing can still run.”
Balkum finished second, with Caleb Burkett in third.
5 Flags Speedway – Pensacola, FL
Race Results – July 6, 2018
Pro Late Models
1. Casey Roderick
2. Perry Patino
3. Giovanni Bromante
4. Connor Okrzesik
5. Cole Anderson
6. Chris Davidson
7. Derrick Griffin
8. Cole Daffron
9. Kadon Honeycutt
10. Roy Hayes
11. Ryan Worsham
12. Taylor Jorgensen
13. Ryan Paul
14. Dustin Smith
15. Ryan Herbert #21H
16. David Pritchett
17. Jordan McCallum
18. Troy Grisaffi
19. Memphis Villarreal
20. Sterling Marlin
Outlaw Stock
1. Kody Brusso
2. Jeremy Pate
3. Conner Sutton
4. Donald Crocker
5. Kevin Chase
6. Jason Furrow
7. Ron McDonald
8. Todd Jones
9. Stuart Dutton
10. Bubba Winslow
Sportsman
1. Mark Barnhill
2. Lee Reynolds
3. Shanna Ard
4. Jason Huffmaster
5. Jimmy Goodwin
6. Jim Pokrant
7. Jimbo Walker
8. Raymond Ray
9. Johnny McNair
10. Dayton Sidner
11. Hunter Lambert
Pure Stock
1. Robert Loper
2. Robert Balkum
3. Caleb Burkett
4. Daryl McDonald III
5. Charles Barber
6. Sarah Dority
7. Cameron Leytham
8. Brandin Sidner
9. Chance Imel
10. Jay Whalen
11. Robert Riley
