7/2/2022
Five Flags Speedway
BOYETT DOES IT AGAIN...WINS 2 FEATURES IN ONE NIGHT.
Boyett Sweeps Again, Wins Outlaws and Pro Trucks Features in Same Night at 5 Flags
By Chuck Corder
Logan Boyett still surprises himself.
Two months ago, the veteran Pensacola short-track driver made Five Flags Speedway his personal playground with a pair of wins in one night. Boyett captured feature victories in both the Faith Chapel Outlaws and Zoom Equipment Pro Trucks series that evening.
He repeated that monumental feat Friday night at the famed half-mile asphalt oval. Boyett first scored the Outlaws 35-lap feature victory and followed it up by winning the Pro Trucks 25-lap feature. A gobsmacked Boyett was amazed fortune shined on him once again.
“I can’t believe it,” he said. “I’ve loved racing at this place love I started coming out here.”
Boyett’s long love affair with Five Flags only grew deeper Friday. He took control of the Outlaws 35 lapper from Bubba Winslow midway through the race and wasn’t challenged the rest of the way. Boyett held off a hard-charging Seth Christensen for the Pro Trucks win.
“This thing was on a rail,” Boyett said of his Outlaws ride. “Give me a car like that, and I’ll take it to the top every day.”
It was quite the bounce back after the No. 1 struggled during the Outlaws 50 lapper last month.
“All the stuff that happened to us at the SRX race,” Boyett said, “This team put this car back together. We put an entire brand-new rear end on this car.”
Timothy Watson, who has three wins this year, finished runner-up and Bubba Winslow came home third in the Outlaws feature.
“Logan was really hooked up tonight,” Watson said. “We were a little more free than we wanted to be. We gotta take it home and do some work now.”
Seth Christensen, who owns a Pro Trucks win earlier this season, and veteran Okie Mason finished second and third, respectively.
“It’s definitely tough, especially when Logan got off to a good start,” Christensen said. “It was quite the drive coming from the back of the pack. I knew we’d be running hard to run him down.”
The Dock on Pensacola Beach Sportsmen
It’s always a family affair when the Langham family comes to Five Flags Speedway.
From the patriarch, Howard, down to his sons, Jonathan and Maddox, the Langhams have put down as many collective laps at the famed half-mile asphalt oval as any other racing family.
While it was young Maddox Langham in the spotlight Friday night at Pensacola’s high banks, his father and older brother played integral parts in the Victory Lane celebration.
Langham pulled off a phenomenal bump-and-run on Kevin Mitchell on the final lap to win his second The Dock on Pensacola Beach Sportsmen 25-lap feature of the season. Howard Langham was right there when Maddox got out of the No. 1 to hug his boy’s neck after he set him up for victory Friday. Jonathan Langham was on the radio all night, spotting for his kid brother.
“It feels so good, especially when I have a great spotter like my brother,” Maddox said. “Everyone helps gets this car on track. It all makes it worth it when we put this thing in Victory Lane.
“I’m mad at myself that I got into (Mitchell), but a win is a win. I didn’t do it intentionally.”
Mitchell had his best finish with his runner-up result. The dirt tracker was crushed, though, that he couldn’t finish the deal after leading since Lap 7.
“I could cry right now,” Mitchell said, half-joking. “We were really good in qualifying. If y’all only knew how much we worked. That’s a heckuva wheel man (Maddox and a great young man.”
Series points lead Brannon Fowler had an off night for his standards, but still finished third.
Lloyd’s Glass Pure Stocks
Robert Loper returned to Victory Lane with his heart heavy Friday night at Five Flags Speedway.
Loper cruised to his fourth Lloyd’s Glass Pure Stocks win of 2022 with a dominating performance. On a night where the division’s top contenders struggled mightily with mechanical issues, the series points leader was perfect.
Loper dedicated the 20-lap feature win to his son, Eli, who continues to battle health problems.
“I hope we keep them coming,” he said. “The car’s holding together for us.”
Newcomers Colby McDonald and Mason Johnston—the grandson of Five Flags legend Okie Mason—rounded out the podium in second and third, respectively.
Cameron Leytham—the only Pure Stocks driver not named Robert Loper to score a win this season—was off the pace early and stumbled home to post his first finish outside the top five.
Robert Barber was the first challenger to Loper to fall by the wayside. Running second halfway through the 20 lapper, Barber suddenly fell off the pace and parked it in the pits for the rest of the night. A lap later it was Caleb Burkett, positioned third, dropping to the apron and hitting pit road.
“It was a hard-fought day,” McDonald said.
Johnston posted his best finish of his young career at Five Flags on the same evening where his grandfather, ol’ “Okie Dokie,” had his own third-place finish in the Zoom Equipment Pro Trucks feature.
“I’m having the time of my life out here,” Johnston said.
