Zack VenderBeek picked up the victory for the Young Guns Modifieds. (OSP photo)

POOLER, Ga. -- The shining stars of tomorrow’s stock car racing scene gathered for the first Coca-Cola Young Guns Shoot-Out at Oglethorpe Speedway Park near Savannah, Georgia. NASCAR race team representatives and national media used the event to scout and watch some of the emerging talent in dirt late model and open wheel modified racing. Drivers under the age of twenty-one gathered at the historic half mile for a night of competition and the opportunity to showcase their talent.

“You have to be seen, heard about and written about for things to happen,” said Beek VanderBeek from Iowa, who’s son was running in the open wheel mods race. “We thought this would be the last year we could run this event (Zack VanderBeek is 20). So we thought we would come to the show. It was everything that we were told it would be.”

Bodine Massengill winner of the Coca-Cola Young Guns Late Models. (OSP photo)

Seventeen drivers signed in for the Coca-Cola Young Guns Late Model race. Florida’s Bodine Massengill made the early statement of being the driver to beat. Massengill was one of only three drivers to crack the 20-second mark in qualifying. Kentucky’s Jordan Bland and Indiana’s Zach Carney were the others and three lined up in the first two rows for the 25-lap main event.

Massengill and Bland charged into the first turn with Massengill having the preferred low line. Bland dropped into second keeping the super late model hot shoe from the Carolina Clash Tour within striking distance. Carney hung on to third waiting for a chance to move past Bland. That opportunity came on lap six when Bland slid to the high side of the tricky and very fast half mile oval.

“This is one of the fastest tracks we have ever been to before,” said Jordan Bland’s father Jeff Bland. “Jordan has not been on a track this big.”

Alabama’s Dallas Cooper moved up to third on lap eleven with Georgia’s AJ Watson jumped to fourth and Maryland’s Ray Love Jr. to fifth. Watson was using a GM Performance crate engine while Love was running a steel head late model against some wide open super late model engines.

Only four cautions slowed the first time event and that good for Massengill who led flag to flag winning the $2,000 top prize and the large trophy. Zach Carney ran second only to be disqualified later for being fifteen pounds light at the scales. Georgia’s Matt Smith came home second with Tennessee’s Matt Henderson third. Kentucky’s Dylan Thompson hooked up late in the race to snare fourth followed by OSP local hot shoe Branden Yawn.

“I was really impressed with all the drivers within the late model feature,” said NASCAR scout Tyler Illiers. “They ran a good race. A few struggled with the track. But, the ones that impressed me the most were the ones that struggled for the first part of the race and then came on at the end. They adjusted and overcame their nervousness.”

In the Coca-Cola Young Guns Modified race it was wild and wide open for the first ten laps of their 25-lap main event. Mississippi’s Chase Cooper was the race’s first leader with Kentucky’s Trent Young and Indiana’s Jeff Bland chasing him down.

The race’s first caution came out when Young and Bland tangled coming out of turn four and slamming into the front stretch wall near the flagstand. Bland’s car was severly damaged in the crash ending any hopes of the first year title. Young also had to exit into the pit area and retired for the night.

Cooper led until the next lap when Iowa’s Zack VanderBeek made the move to the inside of turn four and shot past Cooper to snare the lead. Cooper’s slide continued as Adam Martin from Kentucky shot past a lap later.

VanderBeek led the field the rest of the way through two more cautions including one with two laps remaining. Martin would come home second while Craig Shuffield who ran both the late model and the modified races was third. Jeremy Ratliff and Cooper rounded out the top five in the Open Wheel Modifieds.

“The track is a lot like the Oskaloosa, Iowa track that we race at,” said VanderBeek afterwards. “We kind of new a good set-up and went for it.”

A total of 32 drivers competed in the late models and open wheel modifieds at the inaugural event for the Coca-Cola Young Guns Shoot-Out at OSP.

“We want to continue to support this event,” said Savannah Coca-Cola’s Randy Johnson. “This was exciting to see all these young drivers. They can really race and what an opportunity to showcase their talents.”

“I was totally impressed by all of these young drivers,” said an anonymous representative from a Mooresville race shop. “This event can only get bigger. I know we will be back. This is a great idea for racing.”

The Coca-Cola Young Guns Shoot-Out will return to Oglethorpe Speedway Park during next year’s 5th Annual Winternationals. Speedway officials will determine the weekend dates and format within the next couple of weeks. Announcements will be made through the speedway website at www.ospracing.net.

RESULTS

Official Results from Coca-Cola Young Guns Shoot-Out on Saturday, February 5, 2005

LATE MODELS
(feature): 1-Bodine Massengill, Fernandina Beach, FL 2-Matt Smith, Powder Springs, GA 3-Matt Henderson, Loudon, TN 4-Dylan Thompson, Paducah, KY 5-Branden Yawn, Rincon, GA 6-Jonathan Joiner, Milton, FL 7-AJ Watson, Loganville, GA 8-Jordan Bland, Cambellsville, KY 9-Craig Shuffield, Fayetteville, NC 10-Matt Hubbard, Seaford, DE 11-Casey Barrow, Bloomingdale, GA 12-Steven Howard, Bloomingdale, GA 13-Ray Love, Jr., Faulkner, MD 14-Dallas Cooper, Talladega, AL 15-Jack Daughtry, Greenville, AL 16-Matthew Daniels, Woodruff, SC DQ-Zach Carney, Mooresville, IN

OPEN WHEEL MODIFIEDS
(feature): 1-Zack VanderBeek, New Sharon, IA 2-Adam Martin, Ada, OK 3-Craig Shuffield, Fayetteville, NC 4-Jeremy Rayburn, Lucamville, OH 5-Chase Cooper, Gulfport, MS 6-Aaron Higgins 7-Derek Kopp, Montrose, CO 8-Porter Smith, Aztec, NM 9-Justin Ratliff, Cambellsville, KY 10-Anthony Slusher, Lucasville, OH 11-Morgan Bagley 12-Jared Bailey, Bedford, IN 13-Jason Sivils, Marshall, MO 14-Jeff Bland, Jr., Bloomington, IN 15-Trent Young, Crofton, KY