Jake Garcia made it two wins in a row in Pro Late Model competition at Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Florida on Friday night.
The 16-year-old from Monroe, Georgia shredded the 21-car field the third Allen Turner PLM 100 feature of the season. He passed Jett Noland on lap 51 and put a stranglehold on his rivals by quickly opening a comfortable lead.
Garcia has now won three straight Late Model races, including his first career Southern Super Series Super Late Model race in Cordele, Georgia, last week.
“It feels good,” Garcia said in victory lane. “Three in a row doesn’t happen often. I’m proud of our guys. Every week, getting the car better and working on stuff. Hopefully, we can keep improving and getting some more wins.”
Defending PLM track champion Chris Davidson finished an impressive runner-up after restarting at the tail end of the field with 49 laps completed. John Bolen enjoyed an impressive run to finish third.
It appeared as if Mother Nature was going to be the big winner earlier Friday. After officials successfully finished drying the track, another band of showers came through. It see-sawed all night, delaying not only the start of the race but qualifying for close to three hours.
Qualifying was eventually scratched because of the rain and the field was set using practice times from Friday afternoon. Those hot laps came on old tires, though. Each team got fresh ones for the race and Garcia made the most with his.
“The car was really good,” Davidson said. “We had some problems, but it was fun. Lotta green flag laps makes it fun.”
The Dock on Pensacola Beach Sportsmen
Brannon Fowler’s roller-coaster season is back on track and he is ascending toward the top again.
Fowler won five consecutive The Dock on Pensacola Beach Sportsmen features to start the year at Five Flags Speedway. But it had been nearly three months since he had celebrated in victory lane.
That drought ended Friday. Fowler took the lead on lap 4 and dominated the 25-lap feature to capture the win.
“We’re getting there,” Fowler said of returning to his early-season form. “We’ve been working hard this past month. We had a few hiccups along the way, but it was good tonight. I’m proud of the way it drove on these old tires.”
Jim Pokrant and Maddox Langham rounded out the podium in second and third, respectively.
Lloyd’s Glass Pure Stocks
Parker McDonald has enjoyed an impressive rookie season in the Lloyd’s Glass Pure Stocks division.
He had finished in the top five in more than half of the 10 features this season, including a string of podium performances, coming into Friday night. The young driver seemed destined to earn his first career win sometime soon. But, no one would have predicted the route McDonald took to reach victory lane at the famed half-mile asphalt oval.
McDonald took over the lead midway through the 20-lap feature when Caleb Burkett and Robert Loper, the leaders at the time, crashed in front of the rest of the field. McDonald moved to first and didn’t have to break a sweat in claiming his first Five Flags win.
“I’m shocked,” said an excited and exhausted McDonald, who celebrated by standing on the roof and stage diving into the arms of friends and family. “This took a lotta hard work from everybody who works on this car, and I’m glad I got here.”
Cameron Leytham finished second and Loper rallied after the incident with Burkett to finish third.
While Loper bounced back, Burkett wasn’t as lucky. It was a two-car breakaway with Burkett holding a slim lead against Loper when things took a dramatic turn. The pair entered turn 4 nose-to-tail when a tire came off Burkett’s car and catapulted his No. 24 in the air when it rolled underneath it. A frustrated Burkett, who was looking for his second straight victory, was able to walk back to his pit while his car was put on the hook.
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Five Flags Speedway – Pensacola, FL
Race Results – August 20, 2021
Pro Late Models
1. Jake Garcia
2. Chris Davidson
3. John Bolen
4. Connor Okrzesik
5. Augie Grill
6. Blaine Rocha
7. Christopher Tullis
8. William Sawalich
9. Hudson Halder
10. Justin Bonnett
11. Dylan Fetcho
12. Colt Hensley
13. Steven Chunn
14. Jett Noland
15. Brandon Brilliant
16. Stacey Crain
17. Bryson Shaffer
18. Zach Johnson
19. Charlie Keeven
20. Matt Craig
21. Kyle Plott
Sportsman
1. Brannon Fowler
2. Jim Pokrant
3. Maddox Langham
4. Howard Langham
5. Tommie Blocker
6. Gary Ledbetter
Pure Stock
1. Parker McDonald
2. Cameron Leytham
3. Robert Loper
4. Ben Cranford
5. Ryan Bleich, Sr.
6. Chris Brown
7. Caleb Burkett
