311 Motor Speedway
Franklin claims third straight Clash win at 311
By Mark Huey
Carolina Clash Super Late Model SeriesMADISON, N.C. (Sept. 8) — Claiming his third straight series victory, Dennis Franklin of Gaffney, S.C., led every lap of Saturday night’s Carolina Clash Super Late Model Series feature at 311 Motor Speedway to earn a $4,000 payday in the first race of the tour’s Chase for Championship.
Starting from the pole, Franklin survived a series of restarts in the race’s first 15 laps and pulled away from runner-up finisher Tim Allen of Kannapolis, N.C., in traffic during the closing laps. Scott Autry of Fayetteville, NC., finished third with Jeff Smith of Dallas, N.C., and Ricky Weeks of Rutherford, N.C., rounding out the top five.
"The track was really racey tonight. There were many grooves as I could run my car high, low or in the middle,” said Franklin. “It got a little crazy with the traffic late in the race. These chase races are so important because you can't fall out of any of them. It's gonna be a matter of who attends all of them and who finishes all of them.”
Outside polesitter Chris Ferguson of Mount Holly, N.C., fell out of contention on the opening lap with rear-end issues.
Luke Roffers of Concord, N.C., entered the race as the series points leader but had problems on lap 20 and pitted. He battled back to seventh to salvage what would have been a disastrous night.
Billy Hicks of Mount Airy, N.C., finished sixth from the 19th starting spot to earn the Safety-Kleen Hard Charger of the Race.
Notes: Franklin’s Barry Wright Race Car is powered by a Clements Racing Engine and sponsored by AES Racing. … All of Franklin’s victories on this year’s Carolina Clash tour have come in the past three races. … Saturday’s victory was the 23rd of Franklin’s career on the series. He’s third on the tour’s all-time wins list, behind Ricky Weeks (35) and Jeff Smith (26). … The series next competes Sept. 22 at Wythe Raceway in Rural Retreat, Va.
Carolina Clash @ 311: (1) Dennis Franklin, (2) Tim Allen, (3) Scott Autry, (4) Jeff Smith, (5) Ricky Weeks, (6) Billy Hicks, (7) Travis Yow, (8) Steve Blackburn, (9) Jimmy McCormick, (10) Mike Gault, (11) Gary Mabe, (12) Bubba McGee, (13) Raymond Brown, (14) Jay Sessoms, (15) Michael Marlowe, (16) Randy Harmon, (17) Wayne Hughes, (18) Johnny Pursley, (19) Luke Roffers, (20) Chuck Smith, (21) Doug Sanders, (22) Kyle Pierce, (23) Kevin Wilson, (24) Dustin Mitchell, (25) Ross Bailes, (26) Chris Ferguson. Fast qualifier (among 26 cars): Frankin, 15.987 seconds.
