Cherokee Speedway
Franklin gets Southern Nat'ls win at Cherokee
From series reports
Dennis Franklin earned $3,500. (George "Big Mack" Missita)
GAFFNEY, S.C. (July 15) — Hometown driver Dennis "Rambo" Franklin raced from his fifth starting spot at Cherokee Speedway to grab a victory in the second leg of the O'Reilly Southern Nationals Series. Franklin, who finished second in the previous night's series opener near Wytheville, Va., earned $3,500 for his second career series victory and first since the 2006 opener. | Slideshow | Madden captures opener
Casey Roberts of Toccoa, Ga., who started outside the front row, finished second at Cherokee's shortened 3/8-mile oval while Furman Parton of Union Mills, S.C., rallied from his 10th starting spot to finish third. Tony Knowles of Tyrone, Ga., and polesitter Chris Madden of Gray Court, S.C., winner of the series opener and leader of the first 17 laps at Cherokee, rounded out the top five in a 35-lapper slowed by four cautions.
Notes: Franklin, who led the last half of the race after overtaking Madden, drives the Barry Wright house car with Clements power. ... Franklin is the first series points leader besides Madden since 2006. He has 296 points to lead Madden (29) and Brandon Kinzer (282). ... The PPM Racing Products Hard Charger of the Race was D.J. Myers� of Greencastle, Pa., for his 21st-to-12th run. ... The series format calls for the top 10 qualifiers to be locked into the first five rows of the feature lineup; other drivers run consolation races to fill the rest of the field. ... Ricky Boahn scratched from his consolation race, but he was able to tag the tail of the feature. ... After a night off, the series runs a $3,500-to-win event on Thursday, July 17, at Hartwell (Ga.) Speedway. The track hosts the fourth-year series for the first time.
Southern Nationals @ Cherokee: (1) Dennis Franklin, (2) Casey Roberts, (3) Furman Parton, (4) Tony Knowles, (5) Chris Madden, (6) Brandon Kinzer, (7) Eric Jacobsen, (8) Johnny Pursley, (9) John Pursley, (10) Chris Ferguson, (11) Mike Duvall, (12) D.J. Myers, (13) Tommy Kerr, (14) Shon Flanary, (15) Ethan Hunter, (16) Brian Booze, (17) Shawn Beasley, (18) Brent Dixon, (19) Daniel Baggerly, (20) Petey Ivey, (21) Jeff Smith, (22) Kelly Hacker, (23) Ricky Boahn, (24) Scott Jones, (25) Ronny Lee Hollingsworth. Fast qualifier (among 25 cars): Madden, 15.546 seconds. Consolation race winners: Dixon, John Pursley.
