McCaskill drives to SoBo victory

By Abe Nelson

Published: July 4, 2008

SOUTH BOSTON — When Deac McCaskill saw the small trail of smoke floating back from Philip Morris’ car, he knew it was time to hit the gas.

“It was, ‘Uh oh. Here we go. This is my chance to take the lead,” McCaskill said.

And that’s just what he did. And he never let it go.

After three straight second-place finishes, McCaskill finally found his way to the winner’s circle on Thursday night at South Boston Speedway. And he picked a heck of a time to nab his first win of the season too — beating out three former Late Model track champions in the Bailey’s 200 (including one former national champion in Morris) and a stocked field to do it. C.E. Falk III took second and Jonathan Cash finished third, while Morris fell off heavily after his car started smoking and was relegated to 13th.

“The cream of the crop was here tonight and we came out on top. It was pretty awesome,” McCaskill said. “I feel like when we unloaded out of the trailer that we were the car to beat. Just a lot of confidence.”

That confidence and a consistent car worked wonders for McCaskill who overcame what had previously been his Achilles heel — qualifying — and started third behind Falk and the pole sitter, Morris.

For once, McCaskill didn’t have to fight through the pack to get to the front. And he ended up with a lot more car under him in the end because of it. Not that it was easy getting there.

Morris got off to his typical hot start and cruised up front for nearly 150 laps without a challenge. But McCaskill, on the other hand, settled into a back-and-forth battle with Falk for second. Both traded paint, and neither was willing to give an inch for the longest time.

“I was trying not to get freight-trained. I knew he was faster than me the whole time,” Falk said. “I was just trying to give a good show for the fans in the stands who paid a lot of money to be here.”

McCaskill took his shots at Falk both high and low, but it took a shove on Lap 86 to get him by Falk. And even then it was only briefly at that. Falk retook second place on the following lap with a bit of contact of his own — holding onto the spot until Lap 125 when he finally decided to give McCaskill a chance to run down Morris.

“(Falk) actually let me by a bit,” McCaskill said. “He knew I was the faster car and he let me by him in (Turns) 3 and 4.”

Free to catch Morris if he could, McCaskill didn’t seem to have a shot until those wisps of smoke started flowing from the back of Morris’ No. 26.

“The wire to the alternator came off. It killed the battery and the engine wouldn’t pull,” Morris said. “It was almost like you cut the switch off at the end of the straightaway.”

And if that wire didn’t come loose on the No. 26?

“I don’t think it was going to get beat,” Morris said.

But once his alternator went, so did Morris. The 2006 national Late Model champ lost his comfortable lead over McCaskill within a lap, and then he surrendered first place, too, on Lap 154.

Morris fell off fast after that, dropping behind car after car even as McCaskill extended his lead over the pack. By Lap 167, McCaskill had lapped Morris.

McCaskill went on to cruise to a 3.622-second victory over Falk and the rest of the field. And, after entering the race seventh in points, he will get a nice boost in the standings as well. Division leader Justin Johnson was caught up in an early wreck and finished 18th in the 28-car field. Wayne Ramsey, who entered second in the Late Model standings, finished fourth.

“I just wish we could have started off the year like this,” McCaskill said.

Limited Sportsman: 100 laps

Lady Luck is a fickle mistress, and few learned that lesson harder on Thursday than Bruce Anderson, who came into the day as the division’s points leader, but ended up seeing both sides of that coin.

After benefiting from Tommy Peregoy’s car malfunction halfway through the race, Anderson suffered his own mechanical problems and lost the lead with two laps to go – allowing Wesley Falk to go on to victory. Lee Pulliam, running on a brand new car that he had built overnight, finished second and Danny Willis Jr. came in third.

Pulliam, who entered the race only four points back from Anderson, will take over the first place in the standings.

“I hate it for Bruce,” Pulliam said. “But it could have happened to me.”

Anderson had started on the pole, and battled Peregoy early for the lead. It was a fight that Anderson lost on Lap 10, but the back-to-back division champion seemed to settle into second place well enough, and was still cruising there when back luck befell Peregoy under caution flag shortly after Brian Pembleton spun out on Lap 50.

Peregoy’s car seemed to stall out in Turn 1 while under yellow, and he was pushed to the back of the pack because of it, handing the lead to Anderson.

And for the next 40 laps all was well in Anderson’s world. Or at least it was until Lap 99.

With just two laps to go, Anderson’s No. 9 car slowed to a crawl along the back straightaway and nearly half of the 18-car field sped past him – led by Falk, and with Pulliam in tow.

Anderson was able to recover well enough to finish ninth.

Pure Stock: 50 laps

When race leader Quain Moore was spun early in Turn 4, Pure Stock points leader Joe Allred was ready to take advantage.

Granted first place after Moore’s spin, Allred finished there too, on a day when he missed a good friend’s funeral to make the race.

“I gave the car all I had,” Allred said.

Courtney Crosby took second, while Moore recovered to finish third.