Locals Aim for Wins, Points as They Enter Home Stretch of 2023 Season at Five Flags

July 7th

By Chuck Corder
5flagsspeedway.com reporter

Here’s a crazy stat for you, race fans: There are only seven more nights left in Five Flags Speedway’s regular season slate.
The season-opening weekend with the ASA STARS National Tour feels like it was last week. Instead, Pensacola’s high banks are approaching the crucial stretch run of 2023 before preparing the famed half-mile asphalt oval for the 56th annual Snowball Derby in December.

Four local divisions share the Five Flags marquee Friday night. The Faith Chapel Outlaws (40 laps), The Dock on Pensacola Beach Sportsmen (25), Lloyd’s Glass Pure Stocks (20) and Story & Bleich Crown Stocks (15) only have a handful of races left in their respective seasons. Each point gained in a qualifying lap along with heat race and feature finishes are vital for overall positioning in the standings.

The grandstands open at 4 p.m. Friday with racing set for 8. Admission is $15 for adults; $12 for seniors, military, students; $5 for children ages 6-11; and free for kids younger than 6.

While this season has seen its share of parity and first-time winners, there is zero question where the closest battle among all divisions is playing out. It’s a two-car “Alabama Slammer” in the Pure Stocks standings. Eight Mile’s Mason Johnston and Mobile’s Robert Barber are tied atop with 258 points each and 60 clear of Colby McDonald, their closest competitor who has two wins. Johnston would claim the title if the season ended today thanks to a pair of checkered flags of his own. But Barber has shown he knows how to get it done with a victory on May 19.

Mobile’s Chad Robinson carries a narrow lead into Friday night’s 25-lap feature for the Sportsmen. Fellow Mobile hotshoe Maddox Langham is just nine points shy of Robinson’s 245. Both drivers have won twice this season. Milton driver and 2021 track champion Jim Pokrant sits fifth but only 40 points back, proving once again that the Sportsmen are among the most popular and edge-of-your-seat divisions at Five Flags.

The Crown Stocks, the track’s inaugural class, has rounded into form and also become can’t-miss action each Friday they unload. Pensacola’s Ryan Bleich Sr., series namesake, owns two wins in six races. His lead is only 15, though, over another Pensacola driver. Tyler Young sits second with 289 points after scoring top-five finishes in each feature this season. Four other drivers, including Pensacola’s Ryan Maxwell and Cantonment’s Dave Nolen, have victories demonstrating the division’s balance.

The Outlaws is yet another series with a razor-thin margin as they enter the track championship chase. Defending champ Timothy Watson has won back-to-back features since May and leads the standings once again with 210 points. The Panama City driver brings a 16-point advantage against Cantonment’s Bubba Winslow into Friday night’s 40 lapper. Winslow, a former Outlaws king himself, has a win and Cameron Henderson has the lone other win. Conner Sutton is only 19 back in third and Henderson is fourth, just 26 behind Watson’s pace.

If the first few months of 2023 are any indication, the outcome for these local divisions will hang in the balance all the way to their Night of Champions on Sept. 9.

Article Credit: Chuck Corder

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