COCHRAN, Ga. (April 1) — With a little assistance from an old friend, Kyle Bronson of Brandon, Fla., visited another old friend—Cochran Motor Speedway—and posted a $10,000 victory in the 50-lap No Foolin’ Foray as the Newsome Raceway Parts Crate Racin’ USA Dirt Late Model Series opened its 24-race campaign at the 3/8-mile oval.
Like most race car drivers in the early months of the current rain-plagued season, Bronson has been mostly inactive in the past month as inclement weather plays havoc with racing schedules across the land. His intentions to race elsewhere were sidetracked, and the weekend was scheduled to be an open one on his schedule.
No stranger to the 3/8-mile oval in his career and a multiple-time winner of the prestigious Crate Racin’ USA World Championship at the Chis and Joni Martin-owned facility, Bronson wasn’t planning to attend the event that also served as the season opener for the E-Z-GO $100,000+ Challenge, which is a collection of races that each pay at least $10,000 to win, and carries a separate points fund from the regular touring series.
That’s when fellow competitor and longtime friend Mark Whitener stepped in and offered the use of a motor to Bronson, who had a car sitting in the corner of his own shop that had not been raced in well over a year. Bronson’s team picked up the motor three days before the event, and Bronson did the rest with a flag-to-flag victory over Trynt Lloyd, Cody Overton, Parker Martin and Blake Craft.
“The car hasn’t been raced in at least a year and and half because we had two new cars delivered, and that one was put in a corner until tonight,” Bronson said. “Mark [Whitener] called me early last week and told me he had a motor ready and waiting, and to come get it. It’s always been a good car for us, and it was really good tonight.”
An about-to-be-lapped car slipped sideways in front of Bronson in turn four later in the race, but the race leader pulled off a quickly-maneuvered dive to the bottom of the racetrack and toward the inside wall, barely squeezing past the incident without contact. The lightning-fast reflexes paid off for the eventual winner, who continued with the lead and went on to secure the victory without additional scares en route to the checkered flag.
“That was a tough one there,” Bronson said, recalling the incident. “I’m not sure even which car it was that got sideways in front of me, but that was definitely a close one. We definitely barely escaped that one.”
Young Lloyd Starts with a Second
Grady Lloyd is fielding a two-car team on the circuit featuring drivers Hunter Peacock and Trynt Lloyd. Peacock has been brought aboard in part to help with the younger Lloyd’s development, and according to the 17-year-old youngster has already made a huge difference in his learning curve.
“It’s been a huge help to me once Hunter [Peacock] came in here to assist,” Lloyd said. “He’s a really good race car driver, and I’ve already learned a lot working closely with him. We ran the crate Late Model races at Golden Isles Speedway [Waynesville, Ga.] during Florida Speedweeks, and the night he won a race, I finished second that night. We’re hoping to do the whole series this year with Crate Racin’ USA.”
Lloyd has shown flashes of brilliance during his career, but has occasionally lacked consistency. He lacked very little in the event that served as the track’s season opener, and used a mid-race restart to steal the runner-up slot away from Cody Overton on the 28th of 50 circuits. Meanwhile, Peacock finished 10th after contact with another vehicle sent him into a spin on the frontstretch.
“Hunter [Peacock] had a little trouble out there tonight, but we’ve picked up major since he started running as my teammate,” said Lloyd, who started his racing career in Micro-Sprints at 11 years old and spent almost three seasons in those machines. “I’m really looking forward to working with him the rest of this season.”
Overton Laments Restart Lane Choice
Cody Overton raced door to door for the lead in the early laps with eventual winner Kyle Bronson, and actually took the lead before a caution appeared for Lucas Ruark’s spin that sent him into a dusty loop towards the top of the fourth corner.
Since the entire field had not yet completed a lap, the start was called back and Bronson got the jump on Overton during the second attempt to start the race.
“I guess we led the first start, but the second time they started the race I spun the tires on the green flag, and Kyle [Bronson] got the lead,” Overton said. “Then it got too late, and we ran out of time late in the race. We’ll get another win on this series one of these days.”
Overton was regretting a lane choice he made on a lap-28 restart, which Lloyd used to move into the second spot. The position exchange forced Overton to settle for a third-place finish.
“That decision made to use the bottom on that restart actually helped me a lot, because we got a good jump on the restart,” Lloyd said. “Kyle [Bronson] was slipping off turn two a little bit, and we kinda closed on him a little bit, I think. Running close behind him took the air out from underneath my car, and we started running hot. It reached 260 degrees and I had to drop back to cool it down and make it to the finish rather than take a chance on blowing it up in the first race of the season.”
Sponsors and Schedules
Bronson’s car carried sponsorship from Borcher’s Equipment, Integra Shocks, Racecar Engineering, J&M Refrigeration, VP Racing Fuels, Angry Elephant Tattoo and Piercing and Lucas Oil.
The next event on the touring series schedule is expected to be a popular one among fans and competitors as Rome Speedway cranks back into action April 15 with a $10,000-to-win show for the regular touring series, which will also award points towards the third-year E-Z-GO $100,000+ Challenge championship that carries a separate points fund from the regular touring series.
The track’s long-awaited reopening follows the passing over the winter of family matriarch Martha Swims, who together with her husband Mickey Swims had spent many years at the helm of both Dixie Speedway and the Rome facility. The family is a much-respected one in the short track racing industry, and interest in the event is extremely high as the track makes its return to action.
The next event after the stop at Rome will be a $10,000-to-win contest inked April 28-29 at Deep South Speedway in Loxley, Ala., which is the third of 24 scheduled races for the regular touring series, and the third E-Z-GO $100,000+ Challenge event in a row. That event will pay $10,000 to the winner.
No Fooling’ Foray: 1. Kyle Bronson, 2. Trynt Lloyd, 3. Cody Overton, 4. Parker Martin, 5. Blake Craft, 6. Wil Herrington, 7. Mark Whitener, 8. Jason Welshan, 9. Cody Haskins, 10. Hunter Peacock, 11. Clay Harris, 12. Jeremy Steele, 13. Jimmy Thomas, 14. Mario Gresham, 15. Hayden Cardwell, 16. Jimmy Sharpe Jr., 17. Jake Knowles, 18. Matthew Brocato, 19. Lucas Ruark, 20. Mark Underwood Jr., 21. Caleb Guy, 22. Colton Truille, 23. Shane Riner, 24. Ricky McClain, 25. Jason Markewitz.
Entries: 44
Fast qualifier: Jeremy Steele, 14.886 seconds.
Lap leaders: Kyle Bronson 1-50.
Cautions: 3
Margin of victory: 2.584 seconds
Heat race winners: Cody Overton, Lucas Ruark, Kyle Bronson, Blake Craft.
B-main winners: Mark Underwood Jr., Wil Herrington.
Crate Racin’ USA Dirt Late Model Series (current points): 1. Kyle Bronson, 100; 2. Trynt Lloyd, 96; 3. Cody Overton, 94; 4. Parker Martin, 92; 5. Blake Craft, 90; 6. Wil Herrington, 88; 7. Mark Whitener, 86; 8. Jason Welshan, 84; 9. Cody Haskins, 82; 10. Hunter Peacock, 80.
E-Z-GO $100,000+ Challenge (current points): 1. Kyle Bronson, 100 points; 2. Trynt Lloyd, 96; 3. Cody Overton, 94; 4. Parker Martin, 92; 5. Blake Craft, 90; 6. Wil Herrington, 88; 7. Mark Whitener, 86; 8. Jason Welshan, 84; 9. Cody Haskins, 82; 10. Hunter Peacock, 80.