Jarrett Milam holds off father en route to winning SoBo race

SOUTH BOSTON — Jack Milam did all he could to hold off his son Jarrett as the laps were winding down in the second 30-lap Pure Stock race at South Boston Speedway early Saturday night.

Running both the inside and outside lanes, Jack was keeping the car out front and his son was staying right behind him, hoping the two would be able to speed away from the rest of the field.

Instead, Courtney Crosby made things interesting, forcing Jarrett to pass his father with five laps to go and allowing the Ringgold native a chance to pull away and win his second race of the night at SoBo, giving his father a Father’s Day gift he won’t forget for a long time.

“It sure is. It’s a wonderful Father’s Day gift,” Jack Milam said. “I’m glad my son won both of them and I’m proud with a top-3 finish in both races.”

Jack had to settle for his second third-place finish of the night despite leading 11 laps in the second race. Jarrett led 28 laps in the first race and had to battle to lead the final five laps to secure his fourth win of the season and third consecutive trip to Victory Lane.

Crosby, who drove Jimmy Wade’s car in the second race, followed up his fifth-place finish in the first race with a second in race No. 2. Wade finished ninth in the first race.

“Well, we run the first race. Pulled it in and it looked like the fuel rail was cracked and it was spraying fuel pretty bad. Didn’t feel safe enough to run the second race,” Crosby said. “Jimmy offered me his car and we took it just to make some points. Turned out to be an awesome race car and come all the way to second with it. Couldn’t be happier.”

The final race was a quick one as the caution flag did not come out, making Crosby’s run more remarkable after he started the second race in 10th position.

Randy Hupp, who led the first 14 laps, finished fourth and Chris Crosby came home fifth after finishing second in the first race.

Points leader Mickey Cassidy finished sixth in both races.

“At the end of the race, I was giving daddy everything he could to get him a win, especially on Father’s Day. That would have meant so much to him,” Jarrett Milam said. “I saw that Courtney was coming, so I had to step it up a notch. I knew if Courtney would have got up under me, it would be hard getting past him, but I wasn’t trying to put the block on him. I knew if he was that fast, I was going to start and go on and make a move around my dad.”

The younger Milam dominated the first race and easily pulled away from Chris Crosby after getting around him on lap 3. Hupp finished fourth and Courtney Crosby came home fifth.

The first race featured three cautions — two spins and a freak accident where Nathan Crews lost his left front tire on the backstretch on lap 12.

“I had a better car than he did tonight,” Jack Milam said of Chris Crosby’s car. “He drove well tonight, but like I said, we had one heck of a car to win both races tonight.”

—Contact Sordelett at or (434) 791-7998.