Otherwise it was a Buttrick and Fowler

show all the way. Does this mean the begin-ning of a third straight track championship for Fowler or can feature winner and three time Snowball Derby champ Buttrick change that in 2013?

What I’m most proud of though is the

fact that Tracy Soles won his first Bomber feature ever. As I walked to his car in Victory Lane I let his window net down, leaned in the car and told the teary-eyed youngster “Remember last year, I told you if you can learn to settle down you will win races?” His response was “Yes Sir”. Then I said “Now get out and celebrate” and he did just that.

On a chilly and windy Friday night, history

was made at Five Flags Speedway. I’m speaking, about our season opener last Friday, as we kicked off 2013 with the X-Treme Sprint Cars. Brian Gerster of Fishers, Ind. shattered the track record (13.78) with a scorching time of 13.205 seconds. That equates to an average speed of 136.33 MPH as he out qualified a large field of the nation’s best Winged Sprint Car driv-ers. 29 cars were on hand with an unbelievable total of six drivers breaking the old record. (See page 3).

Friday was also the beginning of the

season for the Sportsman and Bombers and as far as the Sportsman divi-sion goes, not much has changed since last year, with the exception of a new track record of 20.520 set by Brannon Fowler.

Brannon Fowler

Tracy Soles

#2 March 29, 2013

Don’t expect any less excitement tonight

as the Modifieds and Super Stocks make their first appearance of the season. A new division will also be on hand and it seems to be getting a lot of interest. That divi-sion is the Pro Trucks class. Five divisions total will be in the pits as the Sportsman and Bombers will return.

We are back in 2 weeks for the return

of NASCAR. The K&N East drivers have taken on Daytona, Bristol, and Greenville-Pickens so far this year. The cars and stars of this popular series bring national attention to Pensacola and 5 Flags. Get your reserved seats now for the NAPA 150.

A great year at Amer-ica’s Favorite Home

Track is expected. Keep up with all of the excite-ment by tuning in to our live radio show on 1450 ESPN Radio Friday at noon, and “In the Groove” on BLAB/TV on Tuesdays at 7:30, or you can go the website at www.snowballderby.com

New Year, New Start, New Faces

Fans Delight:

fifIVE FEATURES

Stillwaitingfortheresults,butfouroutoffivedoctorsbelieve“Chopper” Stagner bleeds fuel.TheotherislikelyturningawrenchononeofStagner’sstockcars.

The Turnerville, Ala. truckdriver, is one of the local short-track scene’s true entertainers.Askhimhisage?“39andholdin’.”Butwhatmakes himmore enter-tainingiswatchingStagnerandhisteampourtheirheartsintoracing.HehasracedinaslewofclasseshereandhishometrackofMobile.

Who better than the manhimself to explain: “Man, I abso-lutelyloveit!”saidStagner,whoserealfirstname isSteve. “Just thelook of truck is different. They’reawhole lotta fun todrive. It feelslikealatemodel,butit’smorefunbecause you’re on 8-inch tires.You can have one guy gone andthe rest are just fightin’ it out.”Needwesaymore,folks.

-Read the rest of Chuck Corder’s story on line at www.5flagsspeedway.com

4/12 Super Stocks, Sportsmen, Bombers4/13 NAPA 150 NASCAR K&N Series4/26 PLM 50, Mods, Sportsmen, Bombers5/24 Blizzard, Mods, Sportsmen, Bombers6/7 PLM 50, Mods, Sportsmen, Bombers6/21 Blizzard, Motorcycles, Sportsmen, Bombers7/12 Mods, Super Stocks, Sportsmen, Bombers7/26 Blizzard, Trucks, Sportsmen, Bombers8/9 DEMO DERBY, Mods, Sportsmen, Bombers8/23 PLM 50, Trucks, Sportsmen, Bombers9/6 Mods, Super Stocks, Sportsmen, Bombers9/20 Blizzard, Super Stocks, Sportsmen, Bombers9/28 NITE OF CHAMPIONS; PLM 100; Mods, Sportsmen, Bombers11/23 Snowball Derby (c) Preview12/4-8 Snowball Derby Note: Buddy’s Blizzard events listed here

Car Photos Tom Wilsie

251-597-4747

Video Ted Baber850-458-2501

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Chopper LovesHis Truck

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Sutton Savors Super Stock Success

Wemeanrealfast...136+mph.Brian GersterisfromFishers,Indi-ana,andwasthefastestof28whotooktheflagattimetrials.5otherseclipsedtheoldrecordsetlastyearwhen the Winged Sprints first vis-itedus. Fast timesbestingtheoldrecordweresetbyBobby Santos, JoJo Helberg, Brian Olson, Dave Steele, and Ryan Litt(whowentontowinthe30lapfeature).Thenewtrack record is 136.33mph,with atimeof13.203setbyGerster. All 28 winged warriors wentfaster than the track record forourSuper LateModels that run in theBuddy’s Blizzard Series. Finally,sometrivia;theirfea-tureis30laps,becauseittakes28gallons of fuel from their 30 gallontanktogo30laps.Yikes!

Fastest Driver Ever Here

Gerster Breaks Speed Record

By Chuck Corder Nearly fourmonths afterhisSnowballwin,GarySutton’swhirl-wind return to stock cars hasbegun to plateau. A win duringshort-track racing’s biggest weektends to have that kind of effect.Sutton, 31, had hung up his firesuit5yearsago,thenclosefriendDustinRowell,camecalling.

When Rowell and 2011 trackchamp Bubba Winslow partedways,Rowellneededalast-minutedriver for his Super Stock Snow-ballentry.Suttonjumpedattheopportunity and made the mostof it, to pull off one of the moreimprobablevictoriesintheDerby.

Luckily,Sutton’soldfriendRowellandMikeWilliamson,werealreadyputtingironsintothefire.Fantasybecame reality, and a smilingSuttonwasposinginVictoryLane.

. With wife Valerie finishing offamaster’s degree and 2 sons totakecareof,Suttonwantstomakethemostofhistracktime.

“That’s not that demanding,”he said of the 10-race slate thisseason between Pensacola andMobile.“Wecandoit.”

1 6    Tracy Soles 1142 03    Michael Nelson 1103 97    Ken Bullard 1054 10    Leonard Craig 1035 12    Adam Jernigan 915 11    David Johnson 917 R7    Ryan Worsham 908 52    John K Merritt 869 1    Hunter Ward 85

10 33    Sam Mellema 82

1 33    Steve Buttrick 1142 00    Brannon Fowler 1123 81    Shanna Ard 1074 42    Randy Thompson 1005 12    Bubba Winslow 986 23    Gary Goodwin 927 31    Johnny Greene 877 07    Jim Pokrant 877 10    Robert Davis 8710 27    Michael Couture 82

1 8    Donnie Hamrac 2892 17    Chris Cotto 2663 7    Scooter Grice 2444 66    Korey Ruble 1795 10    Nathan Ingersoll 1736 99    Brandon Howell 1237 117    Mike Swilley 1588 13    David Beale 1349 14    Mike Maddox 106

10 15    Kevin Chase 76

1 42    Randy Thompson 2272 44    Bubba Winslow 2253 57    Charlie Skipper 2074 2    Darin Matthews 1875 60    Brandon Harris 1796 14    Okie Mason 1707 55    Mike Moore 1638 84    Joe Mahuron 1209 0    John Shuffler 105

10 11    Courtney Rodrigues  81

1 26 2872 112    Augie Grill 2243 71    Kyle Benjamin 1944 1    Mike Garvey 1885 11    Logan Boyett 1666 11    David Rogers 1657 82    Clay Alexander 1458 84    Chris Davidson 1379 2    Donnie Wilson 1339t 41    Jeremy Pate 133

1 1    Mike Garvey 3102 41    Chris Davidson 2123 45    Dwayne Buggay 2074 18    Hunter Robbins 1965 29    Spencer Davis 1726 12    DJ VanderLey 1507 99   Wayne Niedecken 1458 99    Zak Hausler 1369 79    Kyle Bryant 130

10 112    Augie Grill 120

Morning host

Super Modified Legends Visit 5 Flags. Inthepitsforareunionlastracewere:(lefttoright)HughRichards,J.D.Parker,EllisPalacini,JohnnyArdis,TerryBroadus,MickeyCarrier,andAndyAnderson.

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