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With Targets on Their Backs, Defending Local Track Champions Eager to Get Season Under Way

By Chuck Corder

Brannon Fowler and Bubba Winslow have wasted little time in picking up where their championship seasons of 2011 left off.

While the Five Flags Speedway season opens Friday night, both Fowler and Winslow have already pulled their rides into Victory Lane this year.

Both Pensacola-area drivers captured feature races at Mobile International Speedway last weekend.

This week, Fowler and Winslow are both ready to defend their Sportsmen and Super Stocks track titles, respectively, when the green flag drops at America’s Favorite Home Track.

“We’re more excited than ever than to defend our title,� said Winslow, who won the Super Stocks crown as a rookie last year. “Everybody’s looking at us. On the other hand, we’ve gotta step it up, because they are gunning for us. I feel like we’re pretty prepared. I think we’ll have the car to beat Friday.�

Fowler added: “This is our home track and with the history of the Snowball Derby, certainly winning a championship means a lot. You get a lotta of your family and friends, especially your sponsors, to come out and watch and support us.�

Gary Goodwin is the reigning track champ in the Bombers class, the other local division that will see action Friday.

Defending Snowball champion Chase Elliott makes his triumphant return in his No. 9 Super Late Model for the Pepsi Next 100 when the Buddy’s Blizzard Series gets under way on Opening Night.

The grandstands open at 5 p.m. Friday with the pits open at 1 p.m. Grandstand admission is as follows: $15 adults, $14 seniors, $12 military, $12 ages 12 thru 17, $5 children ages 6 to 11 and free for kids under 6. Pit passes are $25.

There will be an autograph session scheduled for 7:30 p.m. and fans are surely to be giddy for the signatures of local drivers, such as Fowler and Winslow, just as much as Elliott and his Blizzard mates.

“It certainly means a lot to race in Pensacola, especially with the Sportsmen,� Fowler said. “It’s one of the most, if not the most competitive class out there. Everybody is pretty equal. It’s just a matter of who’s got the best set up and it really shows on Friday night.�

Fowler won three times at Five Flags in 2011 and twice in Mobile during his breakout season.

He has carried over that success to 2012 in his familiar No. 00 with sponsors, such as Deering’s Custom Cabinets, Uptown Tans, Sugar Sands Cleaning Service and Tim Massey Construction along the side.

“One thing about us, me and my dad (Glenn) and my team, we’ll keep trying,� Fowler said. “We try new things, explore new ideas. If something doesn’t work for us, we’ll go back to what we had. We never stop tinkering with the car.�

Winslow shares a similar itch.

The 21 year old took a few weeks off from working on his car after finishing second to Regan Baker in the Super Stocks Snowball last December.

That was all he could take before getting back into the shop.

“It’s in your DNA, and you don’t know what to do,� Winslow said. “You start one thing, and the next thing comes around and before you know it, it’s time to start racing again.�

Winslow enters the season, driving with a heavy heart.

He lost a crew member in the winter. Terry Snelson was a key cog that helped turn wrenches on the No. 44 that’s sponsored by Insurance Land, Anchor Pest Control, Kid’s Dentist and Panhandle Motorsports to name a few.

It was the reason his win in Mobile last week was bittersweet.

“I felt like somebody was riding with me,� Winslow said. “(Snelson) helped us out a ton. Winning is one way to help heal, that’s for sure.�

He hopes the healing continues Friday night.

 

Looking Back

Here are the top five in points from 2011 for the Super Stocks, Sportsmen and Bombers — the three local classes that will compete Friday night:

 

Super Stocks

1. Bubba Winslow 353

2. Darin Matthews 312

3. Randy Thompson 276

4. Joe Mahuron 274

5. Jessie Reid 250

 

Sportsmen

1. Brannon Fowler 710

2. Steve Buttrick 620

3. Jim Pokrant 585

4. Randy Thompson 578

5. Marty White 523

 

Bombers

1. Gary Goodwin 744

2. Brandon Burks 728

3. Robert Balkum 571

4. Tracy Soles 547

5. Leonard Craig Jr. 526

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