Winter took its hold on Richmond, Virginia Saturday night with temperatures in the high teen’s, but inside the Richmond Coliseum the Arena Racing League action was just as hot as ever as defending series champion Cody Carlton returned from his one-race suspension stemming from an altercation at the Scouts 200 back in January. Carlton is now fifth in points trails points leader Camden Testerman by 36 points.
Carlton was forced to the b-main after failing tech before the third practice session, the session that determines whether a driver will be in the a or b main. Officials found that Carlton’s car sat too low which was grounds to send him to the back of the b-main.
Out of the cars that did turn a qualifying time during final practice the top five lined up like this:
- Garrett Manes 7.831 seconds
- Conner Medeiros 7.887 seconds
- Robbie Allison 7.945 seconds
- Howie DiSavino 7.950 seconds
- Larry Murphy 7.965 seconds
The a-main field was set; Garrett Manes in the #1 and Howie DiSavino in the #55 drew starting spots one and two with the rest of the field behind them; #28 Robbie Allison, #11 Conner Medeiros, #17t Camden Testerman, #04 Larry Murphy, #71 Savannah Nickens and #18 Branden Sanders.
Howie DiSavino led the first lap but cautions came early as Savannah Nickens and Branden Sanders tangled up, in turn, two on lap two, causing Sanders to spin and Nickens to lose a piece of her front bumper.
On the restart, DiSavino chose to lineup outside of Garrett Manes but they only turned a lap under green before Nickens and Sanders spun out once again with DiSavino spinning also and going to the rear from third place.
When the race resumed, Manes led Medeiros, Allison, Testerman and Murphy with Medeiros choosing to line up on the outside of Manes. The field finally got a few clean laps and as of lap 10, the top five was identical to the top five on the restart with Manes and Medeiros racing together for first and a .830 second gap back to Robbie Allison. Howie DiSavino ended his a-main when he brought his #55 to the infield on lap 15. From here on out, the race was uneventful and dominated by young Garrett Manes who picked up his first Pro Series victory in Arena Racing in only his 4th Pro Series race after winning multiple Youth Series titles.
The final top five of the a-main was:
- #1-Garrett Manes
- #17t-Camden Testerman
- #11-Conner Medeiros
- #28-Robbie Allison
- #04-Larry Murphy
Next up was the b-main with the obvious storyline of Cody Carlton trying to weave his way through the field into the top six to advance to the Top Dog race. The b-main, comprised of the 8 slower cars in final practice was made up of #91- John Alford, #27-Cullen Roberts, #74-Jim Grady Jr, #21-Johnny Shonk, #54-Matt Sanders, #07-Shane Zupo, #94-Cody Carlton and #17-John Nickens
Cullen Roberts led the first lap but by lap four, Carlton had already moved up to third. By the time the field worked lap five, Roberts had opened up a .841 second lead over John Alford. Cody Carlton continued weaving his way through the field and took the lead from Roberts on lap 14, only three laps before John Alford and John Nickens spun, in turn, two to bring out the first caution of the b-main.
The field restarted with Carlton leading Roberts, Jim Grady Jr, John Alford and Johnny Shonk who lined up outside of Carlton in the #94. At the halfway point, Carlton had opened up a 2.343-second gap over Roberts and began to lap cars just one lap, later on, lap 26. The field was green until lap 32 when Nickens and Matt Sanders got together, causing Sanders to flip on the backstretch. During this caution, Alford took his car into the infield, ending his night after making contact with the wall a few laps earlier.
The field restarted with Carlton once again leading Roberts, followed by Jim Grady Jr, Johnny Shonk and John Nickens with both Roberts and Shonk electing to line up on the outside. The field stayed green for 10 laps until a caution for debris on lap 40 led to the third caution and negating Carlton’s 2 second lead over Roberts.
The field lined up for the restart, led by Cody Carlton with Cullen Robert, Jim Grady Jr, Johnny Shonk and John Nickens with Roberts, Shonk, and Nickens lining up on the outside. Just four laps later, the fourth and final caution occurred when Shonk and Zupo collided, in turn, three, with Shonk being forced to retire from the race due to his car stalling, in turn, three.
For the final restart, Carlton led Roberts, Grady Jr, Nickens and Sanders with Roberts and Nickens once again opting to line up on the outside. Cody Carlton amassed a 1.706 second lead over Roberts and cruised to another win with 3.825 second separating the entire top five, with all six remaining cars moving on to the Top Dog race
- Cody Carlton
- Cullen Roberts
- John Nickens
- Jim Grady Jr
- Matt Sanders
- Shane Zupo
#27-Cullen Roberts and #11-Conner Medeiros lined up first and second for the Top Dog race, followed by #18-Branden Sanders, #28-Robbie Allison, #54-Matt Sanders, #1-Garrett Manes, #74-Jim Grady Jr, #07-Shane Zupo, #17-John Nickens, #71-Savannah Nickens, #94-Cody Carlton, #04-Larry Murphy, #17t-Camden Testerman, rounded out by the #55-Howie DiSavino.
Cautions came early and quick with the first one being on lap two for debris on the backstretch. The field bunched back up and leader Conner Medeiros took the outside, followed by Cullen Roberts, Robbie Allison, Jason Manes and Branden Sanders. Almost as soon as the field went back racing they were stopped when Jim Grady Jr lost the ability to turn his car, hitting the safety barrier and ending his night.
When they restarted, Cody Carlton had already advanced to sixth behind Conner Medeiros, Cullen Roberts, Garrett Manes, Robbie Allison and Branden Sanders. Once again, the green flag wasn’t out for long when, on lap seven, Robbie Allison bounced off of Cullen Roberts on the backstretch, sending Allison into Branden Sanders and causing Sanders to flip forcing Allison and Sanders but not Roberts to go to the back of the field. Arena Racing rules state that if you are involved in a caution you restart in the rear but the officials ruled that Cullen Roberts was not involved so he kept his position. Robbie Allison was running third at the crash and Branden Sanders was fifth. Camden Testerman was also sent to the rear from sixth.
When the field resumed, Conner Medeiros led Cullen Roberts, and Garrett Manes on lap six when the trio attempted to go three wide in turns three and four. When Garrett pulled back up onto the track, the field behind him piled up and Howie DiSavino, after being hit from behind by Robbie Allison who also flipped when Cody Carlton hit ran under him, ended both DiSavino and Allison’s nights. Manes did pull back up onto the track from the pavement, but the fault does not 100% lie with Garrett as there was simply no room behind him for when he did move back up. 90% of people knew he would have to or possibly be black flagged.
The restart following this caution would not be the final one of the night. By time lap 24 came around there was another caution, this time for a spin involving Camden Testerman and Savannah Nickens. Nickens had been holding off Testerman and doing a good job of it but she hit Testerman and spun him, in turn, two causing the final caution of the night.
When the field restarted, Garrett Manes appeared to jump the gun but was pushed from behind causing him to get ahead of leader Conner Medeiros. The officials judged that Manes did jump the gun, causing him to go the rear and killing his chances at his first Pro Series Top Dog win.
In the end, Cody Carlton once again reigned supreme and was the Top Dog for the fourth time this season
- Cody Carlton
- Conner Medeiros
- Camden Testerman
- Cullen Roberts
- Larry Murphy
- Branden Sanders
- Garrett Manes
- John Nickens
- Savannah Nickens
- Matt Sanders
- Robbie Allison
- Howie DiSavino
- Shane Zupo
- Jim Grady Jr
After the race, I caught up with Cody and asked him how he won from the back of the pack twice in one night. Carlton responded, “I wasn’t really sure what to make of it, being in the b-main but I just made the best of it and worked my way up to the front without hitting anybody and got a pretty easy win there.” When asked about the Top Dog, Cody said, “I drew like I’ve been drawing all year for the Top Dog. I just kinda went into the Top Dog with the same mindset as I did for the b-main and it worked out pretty well and got the win and that’s what I wanted to do and hopefully we will keep it going.” Cody credits patience with how he was able to come from the back of the pack a plethora of times in the same night. “I don’t try to force anything, I know there’s going be wrecks, I know there’s going to be people getting sent to the rear so I just kinda be patient and once I get up to the top three I really start pushing the issue and if I have to force a move then I’ll force it.”
Beyond The Grandstand 