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FRIDAY RACE WINNERS

Youngsters Pedal to Glory; Watson Regaining’22 Form, Notches Back-to-Back Outlaws Wins

By Chuck Corder
5flagsspeedway.com reporter
Drivers swarmed Five Flags Speedway on Friday night. They trickled onto the asphalt by the dozens, each dreaming of their imminent destiny at the famed half-mile oval. Crew chiefs and spotters held the hands of drivers, who wore helmets with spikes and had two wheels underneath them.
Five Flags’ annual children bicycle races never disappoint. This year’s edition was no exception. Century’s Hudson Faircloth captured the 5-and-under division and the hearts of many when he delivered the line of the night. When announcer Bill Roth asked young Hudson where he was from, the precocious little guy replied, “a farm.” He wasn’t wrong.
Neither were Pensacola’s Colton Murphy and Preston Pratt of Daphne, Ala., who won the 6-to-9 and 10-12 age divisions, respectively.

Faith Chapel Outlaws
The champ is back.
Timothy Watson left rivals and fields in wakes that looked like tidal waves during last year’s run to the Faith Chapel Outlaws track championship. The 19-year-old Panama City driver won six times last year at Five Flags Speedway.
Getting to Victory Lane hadn’t been easy in 2023. That was until a few weeks ago. Watson got his first win May 19 and made it two in a row Friday night at Five Flags.
“We’ve got it back where we need it,” he said. “It was unbelievable how fast this thing was tonight.”
Bad news for the rest of the 15-car field. Bubba Winslow, who has a victory this season, took home runner-up accolades and Conner Sutton hustled home for third.
Watson, the fast qualifier (17.466 seconds), started sixth but moved up to fourth without an official lap being completed. The caution flag came out just after the opening green was dropped. During the yellow, Korey Ruble, who owned the fourth spot, came to the pits and did not return. That moved Watson up from the third to second row.
Good drivers with good luck are tough to beat. Watson bided his time in the top-three until finally sliding under Winslow on Lap 32.
“Timothy’s a good racer,” Winslow said. “We tried something tonight. It didn’t work out. He had the faster car than we did tonight. Second’s great, but we want the bigger trophy.”
Watson and his team went to work after last month’s win to see if they squeeze more greatness out of their No. 28 machine. Friday left a resounding yes.
“We were happy with it, but just not completely happy with it,” Watson said. “You have to stay ahead of the competition in this sport.”

The Dock on Pensacola Beach Sportsmen
James Patrick appeared to have ended a three-year drought at Five Flags Speedway on Friday night.
He won The Dock on Pensacola Beach Sportsmen 25-lapper on the track, but the victory was tossed in technical inspection because of a carburetor issue. Patrick’s disqualification boosted Chad Robinson to the official victory, giving the Mobile driver two consecutive Sportsmen feature wins at Pensacola’s high banks.
Patrick and Robinson battled cleanly all night. They swapped the lead a couple times and did it free of frustrations. The same could not be said of Jonathan Langham and Jim Pokrant. The two mixed it up down the stretch before tensions boiled over in the infield after the race until the drivers and their teams were eventually separated.

Lloyd’s Glass Pure Stocks
Colby McDonald was a man on a mission to reignite his season Friday at Five Flags Speedway.
He started 2023 hotter than a pistol. The Mobile driver snagged a win and a runner-up in March and seemed to be a contender for the Lloyd’s Glass Pure Stocks track championship. But April brought struggles and confusion over a claimed motor. McDonald retreated, regrouped and returned better than ever Friday.
He won the Pure Stocks 20-lap feature in convincing fashion, taking control from the drop of the green flag and never yielding control to his competition.
“It surprised me,” McDonald said. “I didn’t think I was gonna have anything for anybody tonight. We parked it for a while. Though about selling it. There have been a lotta ups and downs, but I think we’ll stick it out and see how it goes.”
And why wouldn’t he after Friday’s performance. McDonald started third but took the lead from Mason Johnston on the opening lap with some nifty maneuvering through as the first three rows battled for clean air early.
“That’s just good, hard short-track racing,” McDonald said of the door-to-door competition.
He broke away from the pack and withstood one caution to record his second win of the year, which ties him with Johnston for most victories this season.
Robert Barber claimed runner-up honors to continue his streak of podium finishes in every 2023 feature. Johnston rallied from mid-race struggles with a Wiffle ball in his gas tank—a story for another day—to finish third.
“Colby, he had a hot rod,” said Barber, the fast qualifier (21.804 seconds). “Coming from sixth is a pain in the butt. You really gotta drive these cars some nights.”

Story & Bleich Crown Stocks
Dave Nolen is a fast learner.
The veteran wheelman from Cantonment knows how to get around the high banks of Five Flags Speedway. After racing in several different classes over the years, Nolen has now added Five Flags’ new Story & Bleich Crown Stocks Series to his repertoire.
He didn’t waste any time settling in. Nolen captured the 15-lap feature Friday at the famed half-mile asphalt oval despite not being fully comfortable with his No. 9’s handling just yet.
“It’s really heavy, it is slow on the control and it feels like you’re driving a boat,” Nolen said.
Nolen led every lap en route to his first Crown Stocks victory, holding off two-time winner Ryan Bleich Sr. Bleich did everything he could to get around Nolen, but settled for runner-up honors. Tyler Young rounded out the podium.
“We had a good run tonight,” Bleich said. “We’ll just keep coming back and continue to give it all we got."

Order of Finish for June 2nd.

Faith Chapel Outlaw 40 laps:

1 28 Timothy Watson, Panama City, FL
2 92 Bubba Winslow, Cantonment, FL
3 54 Conner Sutton, Pensacola, FL
4 792 Cameron Henderson, Dothan, AL
5 15 Kevin Chase, Gulf Breeze, FL
6 38 Chopper Stagner, Chunchula, AL
7 9 Bill Tutchtone, Pensacola, FL
8 923 Carter Taylor, Lucedale, MS
9 5 J.C. Cleckler, Clanton, AL
10 211 Jason Farrow, Thomasville, GA
11 77 Brandon Shifflett Milton, FL
12 22 Dylan Courtney, Citronelle, AL
13 23 Gary Goodwin, Pensacola, FL
14 66 Korey Ruble, Dothan, AL
15 97 Hunter Lambert, Pensacola, FL

Dock on Pensacola Beach Sportsmen 25:
1 32 Chad Robinson, Mobile, AL
2 8 B J Leytham, Mobile, AL
3 29 Parker McDonald, Theodore, AL
4 7 Jim Pokrant, Milton, FL
5 19 Daryl McDonald III, Theodore, AL
6 51 Jonathan Langham, Theodore, AL
7 60 Jimmy Goodwin, Pensacola, FL
8 9 Michael Bodin, Irvington, AL
9 1 Maddox Langham, Irvington, AL
10 55 Butch Harvell, Mobile, AL
11 15 Howard Langham, Irvington, AL
12 0 Brannon Fowler, Molino, FL
dq 11 James Patrick, Mobile, AL

Lloyd’s Glass Pure Stock 20:

1 26 Colby McDonald, Mobile, AL
2 97 Robert Barber, Irvington, AL
3 6 Mason Johnston, Eight Mile, AL
4 24 Wayne Burkett, Pensacola, FL
5 8 Cameron Leytham, Mobile, AL
6 80 Zack Jordan,
7 21 Butch Harvell, Eight Mile, AL
8 88 Geno Denmark, Dauphin Island, AL

Story & Bleich Crown Stock 15:

1 9 Dave Nolen,
2 17 Ryan Bleich, Pensacola, FL
3 44 Tyler Young, Pensacola, FL
4 26 Blaise Boykin, Pensacola, FL
5 10 Daniel Lofton, Creola, AL
6 18 Devin Robinson,
7 1776 Hollywood Sidner, Pensacola, FL
8 19 Garrison Story, Pensacola, FL
9 55 Matt Connell,
10 10 Adrian Bridges, Gulf Breeze, FL
11 15 Marcus Michles, Pensacola Beach, FL
12 1 Wayne Butts, Chumuckla, FL
13 850 Heath Haul,

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