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ARENA RACING USA

ARENA RACING USA at Richmond (Va.) Coliseum
Dominion Payroll Services 200
Race Report

RICHMOND, Va. (Feb. 15) -- Robbie Davis of Chesapeake, Va., assumed the lead on lap 39 and stormed to his third Pro Series victory of the season in the 50-lap Top Dog race, the featured event of Friday evening's Dominion Payroll Services 200 for Arena Racing USA at the Richmond Coliseum. Friday's meet kicked off a doubleheader weekend for the series, which will conclude on Saturday night. A Main winner Cody Carlton drew the pole for the Top Dog show, sharing the front row with Davis. Cayton Hornberger and Tripp Thurston made up Row 2, while Dystany Spurlock and Jason Manes launched from Row 3. On the initial start, Thurston failed to come up to speed, causing a brief logjam in Turn 4. He was pushed to the infield with mechanical problems as the rest of the field bunched for another attempt at a start. The next two tries also went awry, though, prompting two more caution flags before the first lap was in the books. The fourth go-'round proved to be the charm as Carlton snagged the early lead from Davis through Turns 1 and 2 on the opening circuit. Davis settled into second, followed by Hornberger, Manes and Spurlock. On lap 3, Spurlock swiped fourth from Manes. Her stay in that position didn't last long, however, as points leader Scott Prillaman slipped past on lap 4. By lap 10, Carlton had built a half-straightaway advantage over Davis. The leader was dealing with slower traffic, though, giving Davis an opportunity to narrow the gap. Meanwhile, Prillaman was on the move again, scooting around Hornberger for third. The fourth caution flag waved on lap 21 when John Alford and Dylan Loving plowed into the inside barrier along the frontstretch. On the double-file restart, Carlton cleared Davis through Turns 1 and 2 and left the inside lane open for Prillaman, who moved up to second place. Within a couple of laps, Prillaman had closed in on the leader's rear bumper and was hunting for an opening. Taking care to protect his inside flank, Carlton held Prillaman at bay until lap 38. Working off Turn 2, amidst a gaggle of lapped machines, Carlton checked up for an instant and Prillaman sent him spinning. The incident prompted the fifth, and final, caution flag and propelled Davis to the lead as Carlton and Prillaman retreated to the back of the pack. On the last restart, Davis went door-to-door with new second-place runner Jason Styron until they reached Turn 3. Through the third and fourth corners, Davis pulled ahead and was on his way to the victory as Spurlock moved up to challenge Styron for second. At the finish, Davis was the winner by 2.054 seconds -- a full straightaway -- over Styron. Carlton and Prillaman rallied from the rear of the field to take third and fourth, while Spurlock hung on for fifth. Hornberger was sixth, followed by Manes, Pete Hunt, Tommy Jackson Jr., Alford, Loving and Thurston. Scott Allen and Tyler Daniels qualified for the Top Dog race, but were unable to start. In the Pro Series standings, Prillaman holds a 13-point advantage over teammate Davis, 223-210. Styron is third with 198 points, followed by Hunt with 191 and Manes with 190.

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Chesapeake's Cody Carlton moved out front with a bold, three-wide pass on lap 27 and motored to his first victory of the season in the 50-lap Insurance Doctor A Main. The race was caution-free -- a rarity in Arena Racing circles. Dylan Loving and Tripp Thurston shared the front row for the start and Loving snagged the lead as they rolled into Turns 1 and 2 on the opening circuit. Jason Styron swiped the second spot from Thurston, who found himself trapped on the outside and tumbled down the running order. As the field settled down to business, Loving was the leader, followed by Styron, Carlton, Scott Prillaman and Robbie Davis. Carlton and Prillaman tag-teamed Styron on lap 12 to take over second and third. Davis was right on their heels and soon wrested the fourth spot. Working lap 17, Loving enjoyed a straightaway advantage. Slower traffic loomed ahead, though, and Carlton and Prillaman were ready to capitalize. By lap 23, the front three were nose-to-tail, threading their way through traffic. Carlton followed in Loving's tire tracks until lap 27 when he forced his way underneath Loving and a slower car off Turn 2, taking the lead into Turn 3. On lap 31, Prillaman, the series leader, poked a fender underneath Loving and nosed ahead for second. He cleared Loving on lap 32 and set sail after Carlton, who had pulled away by nearly half a straightaway. In search of his sixth straight A Main win, Prillaman drew to within two lengths of Carlton on lap 47. Exiting Turn 2, however, he tangled briefly with Thurston, who had just been lapped by the leader. The momentary dustup allowed Carlton to pad his lead to half a straightaway. At the finish, Carlton was the winner by 0.618-second over Prillaman, who narrowed the gap to three lengths by the end. Loving was third, while Davis and Styron completed the top five. Pete Hunt, Thurston and Cayton Hornberger were sixth, seventh and eighth, respectively, and claimed the final Top Dog transfer spots. Francis Jarrelle was ninth and missed out on a starting spot for the evening's final event.

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Jason Manes of Powhatan, Va., took the lead on the second circuit and rolled to his second straight win in the 50-lap Pete Rose Landscape Products B Main. John Seward started on the pole and surged ahead of Joey Moore to grab the point as the race got under way. Manes, who started third, tagged along with Seward to take second place, then went after the lead on lap 2. He powered underneath Seward off Turn 2 and pulled ahead off Turn 4. While Seward dropped back, John Alford, Scott Allen, Tyler Daniels and Moore moved into top-five positions behind the leader. The first caution flag waved on lap 13 when Arena Racing newcomer John Nickens spun in Turn 4, just ahead of Manes. The second caution flag followed quickly on the ensuing restart when Moore and Allen locked horns in Turn 2. Back under green, Manes bolted from the pack, while Alford and Dystany Spurlock dueled for the runner-up spot. Tommy Jackson Jr. and Allen soon moved up to enjoy a front-row seat for the second-place battle. On lap 23, Spurlock slipped past Alford and brought Jackson and Allen along with her. The shuffle allowed Manes to extend his already-healthy margin. The last of the race's three caution flags appeared on lap 28 when Nickens fell off the pace on the frontstretch. Though he tried signal his fellow competitors, Nickens still collected Jackson and Allen before the field was brought under control. On the final restart, Manes pulled ahead of Spurlock, who was deployed on his outside flank. Jackson rushed to fill the opening to the inside of Spurlock, initiating a tussle for second. On lap 37, Spurlock used the momentum off the high side of the banking to take second. She immediately took aim at Manes, who was only a car-length ahead. Over the remaining circuits, Manes was able to ease away from Spurlock, winning by 0.941-second -- nearly half a straightaway. Spurlock, whose bid for the win was hampered by a shunt with a slower car on lap 44, came home in second, followed by Jackson, Allen and Alford. The top-five finishers all advanced to the Top Dog finale, along with sixth-place Daniels. Seward, Nickens and Moore were early retirees from the event.

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Camden Testerman of Richmond, Va., took the lead for good on lap 28 and roared to his first Arena Racing victory in a 30-lapper for the Youth Series. Aubrey Hill started out front and set the pace for the first 27 laps. Trying his best to protect the inside groove, Hill nearly gave the lead away on lap 20 when he cut the fourth corner a bit too sharply and got out of shape. Testerman, in second, pounced on the miscue. His pass for the lead, though, was negated by the race's fourth, and final, yellow flag. Back under green, with five laps to go, Testerman tailed Hill for a couple laps, then shot to the point on lap 28. By the checkers, his winning margin had grown to four car-lengths -- 0.880-second, to be exact. Hill was second, followed by Olivia Florian and Autumn Weaver. Timmy Tyrrell, Hunter Taylor and points leader Garrett Manes made premature exits from the event and were shown in fifth, sixth and seventh, in that order. Despite his rough outing, Manes continues to lead the Youth Series title chase. He is nine points ahead of Florian, 203-194. Weaver is third with 183, followed by Taylor with 177. Ryleigh Lemonds missed Friday's event and dropped from second to fifth with 168 points.

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QUALIFYING RESULTS:
Scott Prillaman of Suffolk, Va., grabbed his fifth pole award of the season in late afternoon Pro Series qualifying, circling the tenth-mile oval in 7.817 seconds. His mark was 53-thousandths of a second quicker than the one posted by runner-up Robbie Davis. Cody Carlton, Jason Styron and Pete Hunt rounded out the top five. Sixteen drivers made timed runs with less than a second separating the fastest and slowest.

In Youth Series time trials, Garrett Manes of Powhatan stopped the clock at 8.415 seconds to claim his third pole award. Olivia Florian was second-fastest, 0.164-second off Manes' pace. Camden Testerman, Autumn Weaver, Aubrey Hill and Hunter Taylor completed the rundown.