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Garvey Completes Hat Trick, Holds off Pollard for Third Allen Turner PLM Win of 2012

By Chuck Corder

Mike Garvey looked like he was on a lazy, Sunday drive.

Instead, his night quickly transformed into a Friday afternoon gridlock.

Through all the ebbs and flows of the Allen Turner 100 on Friday at Five Flags Speedway, Garvey kept his No. 1 out front and captured his third Pro Late Model victory of 2012.

Garvey watched his 7-plus second lead diminish when the first of three consecutive cautions came out at Lap 95.

He was able to hold off Bubba Pollard on each restart and rocketed away.

“You really have to be careful here to save something for the end,� said Garvey, who has a commanding series points lead thanks to three wins and a second in the four PLM races. “We were just riding around and then those cautions came out at the end.�

Pollard was the night’s fast qualifier at 17.045 seconds, but started 10th after the invert.

After biding his time early in the middle of the 19-car field, he began to pounce as the race crossed the halfway point.

Pollard’s only problem was he was driving with two of his cylinders missing, causing snapping and popping sounds to echo from his engine.

“If we would’ve had all eight cylinders, this race would’ve been ours,� said Pollard, who was driving a new car with a big-name sponsor in Jegs Auto Parts. “I’m not one to be cocky, but I believe it.

“If that wouldn’t have happened, we would’ve had a (darn) good racecar.�

He would’ve been hard pressed to get by Garvey.

The veteran with NASCAR Nextel Cup Series experience seemed to be loose early as he battled Brandon Bendele for the lead, but he regained the handle and owned the lead by Lap 56.

While Garvey shot away in clean air, plenty of action was going on in his rear-view mirror.

Augie Grill had his hands full with young Zachary Hausler.

The 17-year-old Houstonian was the story of the night, navigating his way through lapped traffic to eventually earn a third-place finish.

Unfortunately, technical inspection officials deemed the front end on Hausler’s No. 91 did not meet the height requirement. That handed the final podium spot to Grill.

Grill has been the only man to top Garvey in the PLM series at Five Flags this year, edging him out in the 100 lapper last month.

Not on this night, though.

“We’ve been pretty good, but you never can tell with this class,� Garvey said. “Nothing’s handed to you. We’ll keep making the car better.

“This was a great field and a precursor to what we’ll see for the Snowflake and Derby.

 

Sportsmen

Steve Buttrick has done plenty right this season.

On Friday, he did most things right Friday in his seventh win of the year and second feature in a row.

But Buttrick was kicking himself in Victory Lane for some overly aggressive driving early on that nearly cost Randy Thompson his night.

“I apologize to Randy Thompson and the 42 crew,� a remorseful Buttrick said. “I got him in the back in (Turn 1) over here. I hadn’t made a mistake like that in a long time. I don’t like driving that way, and I didn’t do it intentionally.�

Buttrick wasn’t alone. The 25 lapper was quite the adventure from start to finish.

There was plenty of theater around the famed half-mile, asphalt oval. Most notably, Shanna Ard and Marty White tangled on several occasions, culminating on Lap 22 when Ard appeared to directly drive into White coming out of Turn 2.

Brannon Fowler has watched his comfortable points lead evaporate to Buttrick these last two weeks. He nearly gave it all up Friday, but managed to avoid a crash under the flag stand.

Fowler fell like a rock, momentarily, but regained momentum to post a third-place finish behind runner-up James Patrick.

Not only was there plenty of drama on the track, but there was even more in technical inspection.

Thompson originally finished third, but was disqualified for lost weight. That bumped Jimmy Goodwin, but he too, was tossed out for a locked rear end.

 

Bombers

Southeastern Conference football has Alabama-Auburn. NCAA basketball has North Carolina-Duke.

The Butler U-Pull-It Bombers have Brandon Burks vs. Gary Goodwin.

The rivals were once again the class of the field, as this time Burks got the better of Goodwin in the 20-lap, caution-plagued feature Friday night.

“That’s the hardest race I think I’ve ever had to race in,� Burks said. “I’m thankful I got the win.�

Burks started on the pole, always an ideal position. It proved invaluable Friday with Goodwin starting all the way back in 12th.

Goodwin quickly began chewing up the rest of the field, leaping from sixth to third in less than a straightaway on Lap 3. It was quite the sight to behold, but Goodwin was still looking up at Burks when it was all said and done.

“It was little tough coming up from 12th, but congrats to Brandon,� Goodwin said.

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