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Battle Across the Bay: Pensacola Bomber Drivers Try to Wrestle Back Control of Five Flags from Mobile Rivals

By Chuck Corder

Pensacola’s Bombers are out to take back their track.

What was once a red-hot rivalry became significantly one-sided last year at Five Flags Speedway.

When it came to the Butler U-Pull-It Bombers division in 2015, Mobile-area drivers crossed Mobile Bay and dominated their counterparts in the Panhandle drivers’ backyard.

Geno Denmark, a 22-year-old hotshoe from Dauphin Island, Ala., won an eye-popping seven features en route to as easy of a track championship a driver could dream for.

Robert Loper, the Irvington, Ala., native who turned 30 recently, hoisted four checkered flags, including the biggest one of them all when he won the Bombers Snowball Derby last December.

In fact, Pensacola drivers went winless the entire season. They posted plenty of podium finishes, as John Kevin Merritt and Robert Balkum tied for second in the season points race, but nary a checkered flag to show for all of their toils and troubles.

“I’m really not sure what the answer is,� Loper said. “I guess they didn’t do their homework. They have the same abilities as we do. I don’t know what it is. I know we’re not scared to driver our cars. I’m not saying Pensacola drivers are, but they just haven’t found the setup.�

Pensacola drivers will see if they have narrowed the gap on the Alabama Gang when the Butler U-Pull-It Bombers help usher in the 2016 season at Five Flags Speedway on Friday night.

The Beef “O� Brady’s Pro Trucks class will race 50 laps and the Dock on Pensacola Beach Sportsmen also get their season underway on Opening Night.

The gates open at 4 p.m. Friday with racing slated for approximately 8. And, much to the delight of Five Flags’ loyal legions, admission is only $5 for ALL fans except for children ages 5 and under, which get in for free.

“I’m looking to move forward one more spot,� said Merritt, who operates his own plumbing business in Pensacola. “I did a little work on the car in the offseason, so I hope to have something for those (Mobile) guys.�

Merritt believes the trick is finding the right combination between the driver, the motor and a gear in the rear end. He believes it has been the Mobile drivers’ recipe for success.

“They couldn’t find that they were doing anything wrong, so that’s gotta be it,� Merritt joked.

“I hope to figure that out. We’ll see in the first two or three races. If it needs to be changed, I’m gonna change it.�

Whatever the right formula for victory is, Merritt agrees he and the rest of the Pensacola boys need to get back in their respective labs and discover it.

There wasn’t always this monopoly that currently exists. As recent as 2014, Pensacola drivers were among the cream of the crop among the Bombers.

That September, the track championship came down to Balkum and Michael Nelson, a Cantonment driver, as the pair entered the last race of the year tied in points. Nelson finished ahead of Balkum in the season finale and celebrated his second straight track title.

The tide began to shift toward Mobile that same night, though, as B.J. Leytham won the feature and Denmark finished second. Leytham continued the trend a few months later when he won the Bombers Snowball Derby,

Merritt hopes the tidal wave of wins the Mobile drivers created last season shifts back to the “Upside of Florida,� as Pensacola likes to call itself.

While Merritt certainly wants to wrestle those checkered flags away, he, by no means, begrudges the success Denmark, Loper and the rest of the Mobile Bombers have enjoyed.

“Just good sportsmanship is what I like to see,� Merritt said.

Similarly, Loper wants the division to have balance, especially if that means he has to chase down Pensacola-area drivers for wins.

He remains skeptical, though.

“I really hope to see them competing for wins,� Loper said of the Pensacola Posse. “Over here, we work on our cars day and night, every day and every night. People don’t realize how much work goes into it. It doesn’t seem like the Pensacola guys have the will and the drive that we do.�

Nothing like some good bulletin board material to fuel a rivalry.

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