Super Bee Speedway
Robinson edges Bagley for victory at Chatham
By Bryan Wimberley
DirtonDirt.com correspondent
CHATHAM, La. (May 21) — On a weekend when rain washed out his original plans, B.J. Robinson made the best of a bad situation. The Blanchard, La., driver headed to Jones Motor Speedway and collected $1,000 for a 20-lap Super Late Model victory, edging Morgan Bagley of Longview, Texas, by four lengths in an unsanctioned event.
Both Robinson and Bagley salvaged the weekend by bringing their open-competition engine cars to Jones after Batesville (Ark.) Motor Speedway's Bad Boy 98, a Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series event, was rained out. | Slideshow
Robinson's victory continues a streak of his best three outings of the season that includes a second place finish at Boothill Speedway on the O'Reilly SUPR tour two weeks earlier.
"That is what this team has been needing," Robinson said later in a phone interview. After a slow start to the season, Robinson has reeled off four straight top-10 finishes, three in regional series action and the victory at Chatham.
Robinson took the lead from the pole at the outset and led fellow front-row starter Timothy Culp, Bagley, Nicholas Brown and Jay Brunson. Culp immediately went high to try and overtake Robinson on the fourth circuit, but Robinson held his ground, even after a bump from Culp on the backstretch as Bagley moved up to enter the fray.
After a caution for the fourth-running Brown's spin, Bagley inched by Culp on the restart to briefly take second, but former track champ Raymond Taylor spun into the infield mud.
Under way once again, Culp's right rear tagged the turn-two wall, and another yellow appears for Taylor, who was black-flagged. Culp also headed for the pits.
Bagley tried the cushion on the restart, then stayed within striking distance the rest of the way, but Robinson stayed in control for his first victory since joining Childress Racing late last season. Brown ended up third followed by Darin Patrick and Butch Patton.
Notes: Robinson's Victory Circle by Stuckey race car is powered by a Jay Dickens Performance Engine and sponsored by Childress Fishing Rental, Stuckey Enterprises Racing, X-Treme Graphics, TWM, Outpace and Childress Inspection Service. ... Robinson's teammate Josh Danzy has been out of action with a back injury. While car owner Raymond Childress has put substitute drivers Jody Prince and Billy Moyer Jr. behind the wheel of the No. F5, he kept the car out of action at Chatham. He's saving it for the NASCAR charity all-star race Prelude to the Dream on June 8 at Ohio's Eldora Speedway, where Justin Allgaier will pilot the car. ... Jones drew 107 race cars for seven divisions. ... Besides periodic Super Late Model events, Jones has a pair of O'Reilly SUPR events (June 11, Aug. 20) on the schedule, along with its $5,000-to-win Deuces Wild on Oct. 7-8. ... The track made a few key changes in the off-season, working on the embankment of one set of turns and moving the flagstand to the other side of the speedway. ... "We moved the flagstand to the other side because we thought it would help out the scorekeepers and fans most of all," said Mistie Parnell Caples, the track's public relations and marketing director. "Even though the press box is on the opposite side, it is visually better to see the cars. When the cars ran up so close to the wall (on the former frontstretch), you could not tell which racers it was because of the proximity of the wall in accordance of the location of the grandstands and press box area. So far it has worked out well for us."
Jones Motor Speedway: (1) B.J. Robinson, (2) Morgan Bagley, (3) Nicholas Brown, (4) Darin Patrick, (5) Butch Patton, (6) Jay Brunson, (7) Eddie Taylor, (8) Keith Strother, (9) Timothy Culp, (10) Raymond Taylor. Heat race winners (among 10 cars): Culp, Robinson.
