Suffolk’s Prillaman drives to two top finishes

Published 4:00 pm Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Jordan Wood moved into the lead on lap 34 and held on to win the 50-lap Top Dog race, the featured event of Saturday’s Arena Racing Hampton Roads program at the Hampton Coliseum. The victory was Wood’s first in a Top Dog event and his second overall.

Aaron Leach started on the pole and edged ahead off Turn 2 to take the lead on lap 1. As the leaders were beginning lap 2, Brittany Bangas overturned off Turn 4 to bring out the first yellow flag.

The race got off to a rocky start with two more caution flags on lap 2. The first caution came for a seven-car pileup in the middle of Turns 3 and 4 and the second for an unsatisfactory restart.

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On the ensuing double-file restart, Scott Prillaman, who was starting to the outside of Leach, nosed ahead to take over the top spot. Wood followed Prillaman’s cue and snagged second from Leach.

By lap 13, Prillaman had opened a four-length advantage over Wood and Wall. On lap 19, though, he headed into slower traffic and Wood closed in.

The fifth caution flag flew on lap 24 for debris on the backstretch. On the restart, Prillaman again chose the outside lane. This time, though, Wood held tough on his inside flank and finally eased ahead on lap 34.

The eighth, and final, caution flag waved on lap 46 as Landon Florian went around in Turn 4.

Facing a four-lap sprint to the checkers, Wood cleared Prillaman as they reached Turn 1 on lap 47. Charlie Green drove to the inside of Prillaman in a bid for second. The duel for second worked in Wood’s favor, allowing him to pad his lead.

At the finish, Wood was the winner by three lengths over Green, who edged ahead of Prillaman on lap 48. Prillaman was third, followed by Travis Wall and Adam Florian.

Scott Prillaman grabbed the top spot on lap 6 and held sway to the checkers, picking up his second feature win in the 50-lap A Main.

Charlie Green took the lead on lap 9 and showed the way to his second victory in the 50-lap B Main.

Matt Leach moved out front on lap 2 and sailed to his second feature win of the season in the 50-lap C Main.