From SouthernProChallenge.com
Saturday night's racing at Lanier National Speedway was wild and furious as newcomers to this series are getting more and more competitive. However the second year veteran, Anderson Bowen, showed his composure and took the checkered flag for his third win in a row. But not without stiff competition from the likes of Grant Crane and Nick Hazelwood.
While starting second row outside in the heat race Bowen bided his time and let the field spread out before making his move. With the 10 truck of Crane and the 18 of Jesse Hoek leading the way, Bowen waited until timing was right to take over the second position. Not wanting to push the issue he settled for second which gave him a good starting spot for the feature.
With the 97 car of Evan Bell taking the second 8-lap heat, the front row was set for the 25-lap feature. Thus leaving Crane and Bell to start the race. The drop of the green saw Crane maintain his position and lead the field until lap 5 when Bowen managed to get a nose underneath and take over the top spot leaving Crane to do battle with Bell and Hazelwood. However, with Hazelwood trying to take the 3rd spot from Bell he pinched his car down low and spun out on his own bringing out the first of 4 cautions. The restart had Bowen leading the way with Crane, Bell and Austin Raines following close behind. But on lap 13 Raines lost it going into turn three bringing out another caution. The drop of the green, again, had Bowen leading with Crane, Bell and Hazelwood following close behind. When Bell's car wouldn't shift at the start it allowed Hazelwood to get by with John Morgan Tullis and Raines following putting Bell in a come back mode to try and regain his lost positions on the track. While getting by Raines for the spot he was hit going into turn 3 thus bringing out yet another caution. Once racing resumed Bowen was still leading the way but hard restarts from the 10 of Crane and 11 of Hazelwood put Bowen in a defensive mode trying to protect his position. However with Bowen being spun at the start of lap 23, while taking the green, created maylay at the start/finish line bringing Austin Raines night to an end with extensive damage. Bowen was given his position back due to the situation and went on to take the victory in a hard fought battle. Which goes to show his experience and the troublesome times he's been through in the past has paid off and now he's come to be the one to beat week in and week out.
