Dublin Motor Speedway
Franklin takes Clash points lead at Dublin
Dennis Franklin enjoys his second Carolina Clash victory of the season. (focusedonracing.com)
DUBLIN, N.C. (Sept. 24) — Dennis Franklin's flag-to-flag, 40-lap victory Saturday at Dubline Motor Speedway paid $4,000 and boosted him into the lead on the Countdown to the Cup, the playoff-style title on the Carolina Clash Super Late Model Series. | Notebook | Slideshow
Franklin's second series victory of the season gave him an eight-point margin of race runner-up Kenny Compton Jr. of Bland, Va., with two races remaining, Oct. 8 at 311 Motor Speedway in Madison, N.C., and Oct. 15 at Fayetteville (N.C.) Motor Speedway. Franklin brought a brand new Barry Wright Race Car to Dublin.
"We was off last week at Wytheville, track was so fast, couldn't pass," Franklin said. "Told (the crew) when we come to a flat track or track can maneuver on, I think we'll be real good. Tonight our car was balanced perfect. Car was just maneuverable. Just a different car.
"My hat's off to Barry, my crew, my daddy — all the people that work on this car. We went back to the drawing board. ... I'm anxious to race some more. It's going to come down to who has a flat or who has trouble, and may the best man win."
Franklin cruised at Dublin in a race where many of his competitors ran into trouble. There was so much mechanical failure and crash damage that only seven of the 24 cars that started the race were rolling at the conclusion.
One of the early cautions was a backbreaker for title contender Luke Roffers of Concord, N.C., who led the series points much of the season. On a lap-five restart, Compton slid into Roffers' driver-side door and forced him into the frontstretch guardrail.
A multicar pileup ensued, and Roffers, a four-time winner this season who began the night only 23 points behind Compton for the series lead, finished 19th and fell 92 points behind.
That wasn't the end of the excitement for Compton. With five laps to go, Compton, Scott Autry and Mike Gault caught the lapped cars of Travis Yow and Kerry King. With the Clash race director warning both of the slower drivers to stay low and out of the way, Compton moved into a higher groove — and when he did, King followed suit. Compton spun because of the contact, and Autry and Gault were caught up in the aftermath. Running third and fourth, respectively, at the time, Autry and Gault had to settle for sixth and seventh.
Carolina Clash @ Dublin: (1) Dennis Franklin, (2) Kenny Compton Jr., (3) Jeff Smith, (4) Dean Bowen, (5) Chuck Smith, (6) Scott Autry, (7) Mike Gault, (8) Kerry King, (9) Travis Yow, (10) Dale Hammond, (11) Chris Miller, (12) Dustin Mitchell, (13) David Taylor, (14) Jay Sessoms, (15) Greg Clark, (16) Craig Shuffield, (17) Daulton Wilson, (18) Brett Dysart, (19) Luke Roffers, (20) Tim Allen, (21) Ray Tucker, (22) Travis Hair, (23) Chris Blackwell, (24) Mike Parker. Fast qualifier (among 24 cars): Roffers, 15.935 seconds.
