There’s nothing like a first time winner. Just ask James Justice.
The Clarkesville, Georgia driver scored his first career victory in Saturday night’s Toccoa Pro Truck feature at Georgia’s Toccoa Raceway.
Justice, in his first year of racing trucks, started dead last in the field and worked his way his way up to second in the first five laps of the 10 lap feature. Leader Terry Calhoun made contact with the wall on lap 8 in turn 3 and suffered damage that left him limping around the track for the final one and a half. Justice inherited the lead and held on for the win.
Preston Nicholson finished in second, with Bill Pulliam, who had won all previous seven truck races this season, in third.
In other action, Frankie Beard scored the win in the Midsouth Cage Equipment 604 Pro Late Models. Beard set fast time in qualifying and led the entire race, but he came under fire from Drew Collins. Collins tried a high maneuver in turn two to get around Beard in the waning laps, but found the wall instead and knocked off his right side rear spoiler. Collins was able to hang on for second, with Sylvan Schuette in third.
The Safety Plus 602 Sportsman feature saw pole sitter and race leader Crandall Turner get caught up in lapped traffic, suffering damage that took him out of the race. Lap traffic also resulted in Nick Sellers being passed by eventual winner Ricky Smith. Sellers finished second with Chris Woods in third.
The Modified Street feature was one of the most hotly contested of the night. Sterling Helm started on the pole with Billy Buffington on the outside. Buffington drove hard into turn one and escaped with the lead off turn two. Helm gave chase Buffington, with the two battling for the spot throughout the feature. Buffington went on to score his second straight win, while Helm Mitchell Godfrey for second by just a few feet.
At this point in the night, Mother Nature decided to make a surprise visit and cancel the remainder of the night’s activities.
Toccoa Raceway returns to action on Saturday, June 29, as the speedway hosts the
Monster Mini Stock Association for the first time in three years. For more information, visit ToccoaRaceway.com.
Toccoa Raceway – Toccoa, GA
Race Results – June 22, 2019
Toccoa Pro Trucks
1. James Justice
2. Preston Nickolson
3. Bill Pulliam
4. Terry Calhoun
FASTRAK Pro Late Models
1. Frankie Beard
2. Drew Collins
3. Sylvan Schuette
4. David McCoy
5. Derrick Harvey
DNS: Larry Waters
Hobby/602
1. Ricky Smith
2. Nick Sellers
3. Chris Woods
4. John Howard
5. Cody Smith
6. James Nash
7. Parris Simmons
8. Jake Anderson
9. Dillon Daves
10. Crandall Turner
11. Joseph “Booman” Galloway
12. Wayne Wilborn
DNS: Trae Kirk
Modified Street
1. Billy Buffington
2. Sterling Helm
3. Mitchell Godfrey
4. Calvin Miller
5. Sammy Calhoun
6. Jake Delong
7. Mack English
8. Chris Nickerson
9. Clay Bryson
10. Josh Thurmond
11. Tracey Addison
