Nick Smith wins his fifth race of the season at SoBo in dominant fashion

SOUTH BOSTON — With a repaired bumper and some momentum lost from his accident in the second 75-lap Late Model Series race last weekend, Nick Smith had some ground to make up from the points he lost to Deac McCaskill.

Smith made up plenty of ground in the tight points race Saturday night, leading 126 laps in a dominating victory in the Embarq Night 150 at South Boston Speedway.

“It’s tough man, these guys are getting tougher and tougher,” Smith said. “I don’t know if it’s that or just the heat tonight. We just had to reclip the car to be able to get it back and come out here and start on the front row.

“I’m glad to bring it to Victory Lane tonight. We win races when we have a lot of fun doing it. I’m really happy where I’m at.”

Smith’s victory, his fifth of the season and fourth in the past five races, pulled him to within 17 points of McCaskill, who had to hold off Justin Johnson for a third-place finish.

David Quackenbush finished second and closed in on Smith during the middle stages of the race when the leaders were beginning to lap the field. Following the race’s lone caution on lap 101 for a single car spin, Smith had the field covered until the checkered flag.

“Second best is right. I mean, they really got that thing dialed in,” Quackenbush said of Smith’s car. “They work hard at it and we’ve just got to work a little harder.”

Quackenbush gained two points on McCaskill and sits six behind in the championship race. Johnson, with his fourth-place finish, lost two points and is five points behind McCaskill.

“I was about a third-place car. Quack looked like he was falling off there at the end, but I don’t know if I could have passed him,” McCaskill said. “It was a good run for us, we’ll take it. You can’t ask for it to be much closer. It’s going to be interesting, that’s all I’ll say. It’s going to be between us four.”

Doug Godsey won the pole and led the first 24 laps of the race before Smith blew past him on the inside of Turn 3 on lap 25. Godsey hung with Smith until his engine overheated on lap 66, ending his day in 18th.

Josh Oakley, fresh off two third-place finishes last week, came home fifth. Brandon Butler held off the charging Eddie Johnson for sixth. Johnson, who replaced his motor prior to the race, started shotgun in the field and rallied for a seventh-place finish.

Lee Pulliam, David Latour and Bruce Anderson rounded out the top 10.

Limited Sportsman

Danny Willis Jr. and Justin Snow split the two 50-lap Limited Sportsman races Saturday night at South Boston Speedway.

Snow’s victory in the second race provided the fireworks as Willis and points leader Brian Pembelton both took a hard lick into the inside frontstretch wall as they were battling for second position on lap 46.

Pembelton, who heatedly ran towards the infield before being escorted into the track ambulance, lost 10 points to Jeb Burton in the points standings. Burton, who won the pole for both races, finished second in the first race after leading a race-high 29 laps and fourth in the second race.

“The car started off a little too free. I couldn’t even turn the car,” Burton said of the first race. “I think it’s good for us and good for the team. I wish we could have gotten a win out of it.”

Willis ran down Burton in the first race after being behind by as much as half of a straightaway. It was Willis’ second consecutive victory.

“We’ve been struggling a lot and to come out here tonight and the last two weeks means a lot to this team,” Willis said.

Snow led all 50 laps of the second race and used the outside line to his advantage as Pembelton failed to get around him on the inside.

“Actually the first time I’ve ever run the high side in my whole life here,” Snow said. “Once I went up there, it felt kind of good and I stayed there.”

Pure Stock

Jarrett Milam led from start to finish and held off a late-race charge from defending Pure Stock champion Joe Allred to win the 30-lap Pure Stock race Saturday night at South Boston Speedway.

“I had a tire going down and it started getting loose with me,” Milam said. “I couldn’t push the car through the corners. A couple more laps and Joe would have won this race, no questions asked.”

Allred did get to the back of Milam’s bumper in the middle of Turns 3 and 4 on the last lap, but was unable to move the Ringgold resident out of the way. It was Milam’s sixth win of the season and fifth in the last six races.

Randy Hupp finished third, Jack Milam came home fourth and points leader Chris Crosby rounded out the top five.

Courtney Crosby, who entered the day second in points, wrecked late in the race and finished 11th. Mickey Cassidy, the third-place runner in the points standings, had something go wrong with his engine and he finished 12th.

- Contact Sordelett at dsordelett@registerbee.com or (434) 791-7998.