Florence Speedway
Notes: Surprise winner in NALMS tour opener
By Bryan Ault
Special to DirtonDirt
Justin Rattliff in victory lane. (facebook.com/jrrmotosports)
UNION, Ky. (March 21) — There was nothing about Florence Speedway’s annual Spring 50 that heralded Justin Rattliff as a favorite.
He was kicking off his season against some of Dirt Late Model racing’s top racers, some who’ve logged many laps in 2026 national touring events. He was facing three-time Spring 50 winner Josh Rice of Crittenden, Ky., at the pedal-smasher’s home track was a challenge, too. Those facts combined with the unknowns of a new surface at the half-mile oval in northern Kentucky, it was too much to expect a part-time racer to reach victory lane, right? | RaceWire
No one should’ve counted Rattliff out.
Charging from his 14th starting position, Rattliff grabbed a $10,000 payday in the Northern Allstars Late Model Series event, sneaking past his JRR Motorsports teammate Rice and former national touring champ Mike Marlar of Winfield, Tenn., for the checkered flag.
“Man, we had a good race car,” the 38-year-old Rattliff said in victory lane.“That was a hell of a race with Josh. I’ll tell you what, he did a good job. The track was just awesome. You could go all over it.”
Outrunning Rice — the Florence fan favorite and current Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series rookie — proved difficult. Rice led the first five laps, briefly ceding the top spot to Devin Gilpin for laps 6-7 amid a tight battle, before taking control again on lap eight and building a lead as large as six seconds.
While Gilpin and Camaron Marlar battled Rice early, and Marlar’s older brother Mike was charging from deep in the field, Rattliff quietly moved into contention. He meandered his way to the front via timely cautions and good track position.
“It was a good race. (I) started in the back and just kind of picked our way through there, and the cautions fell right, and we had the right tires on and just all went our way,” Rattliff said. “We had different tires on, but just the cautions fell right, and then the top (groove) kind of slowed down and I just kept getting better and better.”
What followed in the closing four laps was a thrilling finish as Rice, Rattliff and the elder Marlar battled for the lead. Ratliff went under Rice on lap 47 to take the lead with Rice and Marlar in pursuit around the cushion. With two laps to go, Rice struck a hole in turn two, giving Marlar clean air and a shot at Rattliff on the final circuit. Rounding turns three and four, Marlar got too high and into the fence, stunting his momentum and allowing Rattliff to win the race to the checkered flag.
“I just knew if I had a couple more cautions, I maybe could get it done, and then we had just all the cautions fell right, and our car was good,” Rattliff said, whose JRR team includes Rice and Jason Jameson, who was scheduled to start on the front row but had mechanical problems that left him in the infield when the green flag flew. “I'm a little more conservative than the other two guys that race for us. I moved up to the middle for a while, but I was just really good right on the bottom.”
Rattliff’s first career Northern Allstars also marked his first Super Late Model victory in nearly 10 years. As usual, because of family obligations, Rattliff plans to race on a limited basis, but starting off his season on such a high note was a big deal for the former Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Rookie of the Year, who won his first five-figure payday on that national circuit in 2007 at La Salle (Ill.) Speedway.
“It's huge,” said Rattliff, who dedicated the victory to team manager Tim Tungate, who is hospitalized with health issues. “We haven't raced since, I guess, October or something, and I only race here and there now. I've got kids and we work all the time, so it's a big win for us.
“We're all always working or something else, so I just pick and choose and go where I can. It's a good night here with all your teammates here. I have to thank all my sponsors and all the crew help, and thank Jason and Josh, they helped me out a lot. They race a lot more than me, so it's good to have them all around.”
Vibration dooms Rice
Josh Rice emerged from his Longhorn Chassis and headed straight for the hauler, requiring some help from his crew. The vibration caused by mud clogged into his right-rear wheel cover after bouncing out of the hole made the closing laps challenging for the upstart, who limped home to a fourth-place run.
“I couldn't even see with how it was vibrating so bad, but I tried like hell to hang on,” Rice said. “That was crazy. I literally couldn't see. Like, I was just trying to hold on and probably should have pulled off, to be honest with you. I was a little shook up. I don't even know how to describe it. Like, just violent — violent as you can imagine.”
Despite falling short of his first victory since joining the JRR team, the three-time Northern Allstars champion feels confident heading into the upcoming Lucas Oil Series doubleheader at Atomic Speedway in Waverly, Ohio, and Brownstown (Ind.) Speedway. Rice struggled throughout Speedweeks, and feels returning to more familiar territory could right the ship. Rice finished second at last year’s Buckeye Spring 50 and fifth at Brownstown's Indiana Icebreaker.
“We've struggled a lot, and I feel like we definitely have something to work with now,” said Rice, who added that he’s receiving advice from shock specialist Vinny Guiliani on how to fine-tune his machine. “I mean, we haven't showed speed in two months, so I'm very tickled with that. I really wish we could go redo (Speedweeks), really, just knowing what starting point we have now. I don't we'd set the world on fire or anything, but I think we'd at least be a lot more consistent than what we were. We weren't very good at all. But we got Vinny on board now and I think that was huge for us. And obviously I can't thank him enough. I think we're going to be all right.”
Conley’s crew boost
Rod Conley, the 63-year-old veteran running with the Northern Allstars and Valvoline American Late Model Iron-Man Series in the twilight of his career, has struggled to run up front against some of the regional tour’s heavy hitters.
But finishing third against a stout field of 35 cars was a pleasant surprise for the Wheelersburg, Ohio, racer, who credited his third-place finish to Brent Chance from Afterburner Performance for his success.
“My shock guy showed up,” Conley said with a grin. “It feels really good for the first night out of the year. There's a lot of good cars here. I had a couple of lucky breaks, but still, my car was good all night.”
Like Rattliff, the seventh-starting Conley used in the track’s lower groove, preferring that line over the rugged cushion. The 56-year-old Chance from Mansfield, Ohio admired the veteran’s podium finish against a stout field of competitors.
“For an old guy, not bad,” Chance said with a laugh. “I told him he should have been in the gym a little more, but, you know, he did cut back on the (Michelob) Ultras a little bit, so it was a good night. Car’s in one piece, good first night, really looking forward to helping him on the Iron-Man this year. It should be a good year, I think.”
