Austin Reeves, Bubba Winslow Claim Baby Bear Trophies at Montgomery

One week before the 62nd Annual Alabama 200, Montgomery Motor Speedway welcomed racers and fans for its Baby Bear Races for Crown Stocks and Outlaws. Austin Reeves and Bubba Winslow scored dominant victories in the feature races on Saturday.

Reeves bounced back from a disappointing showing last month at Montgomery to take the Hometown Automotive Solutions Crown Stocks victory. During the Crown Stock Spectacular on New Year's weekend, Reeves' race ended early with a crash.

On Saturday night, Reeves returned with a vengeance, leading every lap to take the win.

"Last time we were here, I made love with the turn two wall," said Reeves in victory lane. "We had to rebuild it. It's amazing to have a good group of guys behind you to help you rebuild something you tore up and come out here and win the next race.

"Thanks to Spencer [Bragg]. Without him, we wouldn't be doing this, and I wouldn't be having this much fun. I can't believe we won the first one, I've never done that before."

Reeves' car may not have had an elaborate design. In fact, his number six was hastily taped onto the doors. However, No. 6 was plenty fast on Saturday night.

"We ain't winning a damn beauty contest, but damn, it's fast."

Chris Mitchell finished second to Reeves, happy to put together a complete race in a car that has troubled him of late.

"Tonight was the best the car has been since I got it. I sold my other one to Popeye. This was my buddy Austin's car, and we built it for him. Been chasing a bunch of gremlins in it, stupid stuff over and over again. Tonight, it was pretty good, so now we can get to work on it now that it's running properly."

Meanwhile, Justin Cruise enjoyed a busy but successful Saturday night. Not only did he win the Non-Winners race to start Saturday night at Montgomery, he earned a podium finish in the feature event to close the night.

This came after he had already finished in the top-five at South Alabama Speedway on Saturday afternoon before heading north to Montgomery.

"Yeah, very good night," said Cruise. "We went to Opp earlier today and finished fifth down there. Won the non-winners and a third [at Montgomery]. Not a bad day, not at all."

In the South Alabama Plumbing & Electric Outlaws, Bubba Winslow led from green flag to checkered flag for the victory. The Cantonment, Florida driver made the trip to Montgomery for the chance at an early-season Outlaws event, and came away with a win.

"First, give glory to God for giving me the ability to still be able to do this," said Winslow in victory lane. "Thanks to my guys, they really busted their butts today. We weren't going to race a week ago. We get in the shop and start moving stuff around, and it's pretty good."

While Winslow scored the victory, he had an eye on last year's Five Flags Speedway Outlaws champion, Timothy Watson. Watson was running third before falling out of the race with an apparent mechanical issue.

"Timothy had us working hard today. That's the guys you shoot to beat. I'm not quite sure what happened with them, but we're glad to get a win here.

"Timothy keeps us honest. We've got to work really hard to stay up there with him. We'll see what we've got in a couple of weeks over in Pensacola. They're always fast. It's fun racing against good competition like that."

Another Pensacola local, Gary Goodwin, finished second, and was pleased to see Winslow score the victory.

"It was a lot of fun getting to race here in February," Goodwin said. "Congratulations to Bubba. If anybody's got to win it, I'm glad it was Bubba. Thanks to my crew that came out today, too."

Dylan Courtney, the third-place finisher in Outlaw points

"We came up here with high hopes," said Courtney. "We finished second here last time, and the other car won. It ain't bad. We kind of fell into third right here, but we'll keep working and getting better and come back."

Next Saturday, March 7, Montgomery Motor Speedway returns to action with the 62nd Annual Alabama 200. Along with the marquee Pro Late Model event, the night will also feature the Rogers-Dabbs Performance Parts Modifieds of Mayhem Tour and the Alabama Auto Racing Pioneers Vintage Cars.

Visit montgomerymotorspeedway.org for more information about next Saturday's Alabama 200, or tune in live on RacingAmerica.TV.

-Photo credit: Montgomery Motor Speedway

Baby Bear Races Unofficial Results

Crown Stocks

Outlaws