Eddie Shoemaker and his crew had been toiling for weeks hurriedly prepping Mobile International Speedway for a mid-year reopening in the middle of July. The only thing hotter than the weather was the racing with Augie Grill taking the first checkered flag of the Shoemaker era.
Hueytown, Alabama native Augie Grill has a racing resume that any racer would kill for, he rolled in to Mobile as the favorite on Saturday night. Every favorite, every Champion has a challenger, for Grill, on Saturday night it was hometown favorite Dustin Smith.
The Grill-Smith match up did not disappoint, the pair swapped the lead back and forth in the 50 lap feature with the veteran getting the best of the young gun from Mobile, this time.
“Dustin is really coming on, he’s going to be great racer,” said Grill. “Really appreciate Elliott Massey letting me drive one of his cars tonight, I had a great time.”
A 25-minute firework show followed the Pro-Late Model Feature and then the fireworks moved to the Speedway.
The Pure Stock class at Mobile always puts on a great show and they didn’t disappoint on Saturday night.
The trio of Jimmy Hollingsworth, Robert Loper and Robert Barber spent the closing laps of the feature side by side, three wide, fender banging styling and profiling to a finish that had the largest crowd since the ARCA Mobile 200 10 years ago to their feet! When the dust settled Hollingsworth emerged as the victor with Loper and Barber second and third respectively.
If you follow racing at Mobile International Speedway you’ll notice some familiar names at the top of the leader boards like, Leytham and Langham in the Sportsman Division. BJ is the matriarch of the Leytham Klan while Maddox is the youngest of the Langham bunch. On Saturday night the old man got the best of the youngster with D3, Daryl McDonald coming in third.
On the Gulf Coast no one has had more success for longer than Pro-Truck Driver Okie Mason. Mason has been racing so long he has a Grandson racing and winning races in the Pure Stock Division. Mason holds the unique distinction of having won races in 6 different decades and 5 Championships in one season, add a dozen or so more titles over the years and it’s no surprise Mason parked his Truck in victory lane on Saturday night. Second was another multi time track Champion Steven Davis followed by Dustin Smith who had already run 50 laps in the Pro-Late Model feature.
In the Legacy Class, youngster Cole Peavy bested the ageless Van Rayburn and former Track Champion Jay Jay Day in a three wide battle to the finish.
In their first appearance at Mobile International Speedway the Crown Stocks had the largest field of cars with 21. The Wild Bunch class is made up of old Crown Vics and Police Interceptors with the windows taken out, roll cage and race seat installed. The Crown Stock are the most inexpensive form of racing with cars selling under $5,000.
In the last race of the night, the Crown Stock Division did not disappoint in their first appearance at Mobile International Speedway. As the checkered flag flew on the finale Kris Rummel from Largo, Florida etched his name into the MIS history books as the first Crown Stock winner at the Speedway. Dave Nolan was 2nd and Tyler Young was 3rd.
The Speedway will be back in action Saturday, July 29th.
-Mobile International Speedway Release
-Photo courtesy of Eddie Richie.