Laurens County Speedway
Roberts overtakes Franklin for Laurens victory
By Kelley Carlton
DirtonDirt.com correspondent
Casey Roberts visits victory lane. (Rusty Carlton)
LAURENS, S.C. (June 9) — Eighth-starting Casey Roberts of Toccoa, Ga., swept around race-long leader Dennis Franklin of Gaffney, S.C., on the 32nd lap Tuesday at Laurens County Speedway to capture the 29th annual Laurens County Shrine Race. Roberts earned $3,000 for his 12th career Southern All Star East Series victory. | Slideshow
Franklin settled for second at the 3/8-mile oval while Jeff Cooke of Spartanburg, S.C., finished third. Mike Ashley of Greenwood, S.C., and Travis Leake of Woodruff, S.C., rounded out the top five finishers in the midweek special. Fast qualifier and series points leader Johnny Pursley of Clover, S.C., was running third on the 24th lap when he spun out of contention; he finished 11th.
Roberts started outside the fourth row and used the inside groove to work his way toward the front, taking second from Pursley on the 23rd lap and setting his sights on Franklin. Roberts lost ground to Franklin on the lap-24 restart, but he reeled in the leader and made a daring outside pass for the winning move.
Notes: Roberts drives a Victory Circle by Moyer Chassis with a Randy Clary Racing Engine and sponsorship from Cushman Paint and Body, Starrette Trucking, Dirtface Racewear, VP Race Fuels, Hoosier Tire South by Brian and Concept Graphics. ... Williams Morgan won the Limited Late Model feature. ... Alan Walker scratched from the feature after a hard crash in qualifying. ... Travis Leake debuted a new Rayburn Race Car. ... Mike Gault, who won the previous Saturday’s Super Late Model feature at Laurens, was running third on the fourth lap when he broke a driveshaft. ... Late arrival John Henderson tagged the tail of the feature. ... Next up for Southern All Star East competitors is the $7,000-to-win Grassy Smith Memorial on June 25 at Cherokee Speedway in Gaffney, S.C.
Laurens County Shrine Race: (1) Casey Roberts, (2) Dennis Franklin, (3) Jeff Cooke, (4) Mike Ashley, (5) Travis Leake, (6) Ethan Hunter, (7) Ross Bailes, (8) Larry Timms, (9) Frank Coates, (10) Colby Cannon, (11) Johnny Pursley, (12) Zach Mitchell, (13) Billy Rushton, (14) John Henderson, (15) Monk Gulledge, (16) Mike Gault, (17) Brandon Ifft. Scratched: Alan Walker. Fast qualifier (among 18 cars): Pursley, 14.389 seconds.
