Gary Daughtrey
Special to the News-Herald

Cody Carlton moved out front on lap 6 and held on at the finish to post the win in the 50-lap Machinery Movers and Erectors Top Dog race, the featured event of Saturday evening’s Greater Richmond Chamber 200 for Arena Racing USA’s Pro Series at the Richmond Coliseum.

The victory was Carlton’s third of the season in Top Dog competition, his fifth overall and his second of the night, as he completed the Top Dog/A Main sweep.

Jason Styron started from the pole. Due to starting on the outside of Row 1, Josh Thomas opted to drop to the rear of the 14-car field. Austin Jefferson, fourth on the original grid, also retreated to the back, allowing Carlton to move up to the front row.

As the race got under way, Styron and Carlton dueled

door-to-door until they reached Turn 4. Heading back to the flagstand to complete lap 1, Styron surged ahead. Carlton settled into second, followed by Robbie Davis, Jordan Wood and Tyler Hughes.

Carlton rode in Styron’s tire tracks until lap 6, when he drove underneath the leader in Turn 2. He drew even along the backstretch and took over the top spot as they exited Turn 4.

Wood and Suffolk’s Scott Prillaman worked the top side until lap 14, when Prillaman changed lanes and slipped underneath Wood, picking up the third spot.

Over the closing circuits, Carlton managed to keep Prillaman at arm’s length and won by a car-length. Prillaman was second, followed by Hughes, Wall and Wood.

Weddell headed up the second five, in sixth. Jefferson, wheeling the Bethel High School-fielded entry, was seventh, the last driver on the lead lap. Matt Midgett was eighth, while Davis and Jason Manes completed the top 10. Lin O’Neill, Joe McGrath, Thomas and Styron were 11th through 14th, respectively.

 

Cody Carlton assumed the lead on the 34th circuit and rolled to his fourth victory of the season in the 50-lap Insurance Doctor A Main. It was his second straight A Main win.

At the finish, Carlton was the runaway winner, crossing the stripe a full straightaway ahead of Prillaman, who grabbed second from Jason Styron on lap 46. Styron was third, followed by Wood and Wall.

Weddell was sixth, while Robbie Davis and Austin Jefferson came home in seventh and eighth, in that order, snagging the final Top Dog transfer spots. Cole Amsden, Creech and Tommy Jackson Jr. failed to gain Top Dog positions.

Tyler Hughes, an INEX Legends standout at Old Dominion Speedway, picked up his first Arena Racing USA win in the Pete Rose Landscape Products B Main, a caution-filled 50-lapper.

At the checkers, Hughes was the winner by a straightaway over Midgett. O’Neill was third, followed by McGrath and Manes. The top five, along with sixth-place Josh Thomas, advanced to the evening’s Top Dog finale. Missing out on Top Dog starting spots were Cayton Hornberger, Allen, Daniel Thomas and Nathan Thomas.

Shut out of Victory Lane since Dec. 30, Macy Causey broke her five-race winless streak in the 30-lap Youth Series feature, leading all the way for her fourth victory of the season.

By the finish, Causey had widened her winning margin to better than a full straightaway over Savannah Cook. Thurston was third, followed by Valdes, Courtney and Gummy Cook.

 

Scott Prillaman led the charge in late afternoon Pro Series qualifying, bagging his sixth pole award of the season with a lap in 7.783 seconds. Travis Wall was second-fastest, 52-thousandths of a second off Prillaman’s pace. Cody Carlton, Tommy Jackson Jr. and Jordan Wood completed the top five. Austin Jefferson and Robbie Davis were sixth- and seventh-quickest, respectively. Like the top five, they also dipped beneath the eight-second barrier.

Macy Causey extended her perfect record in Youth Series time trials, circling the tenth-mile oval in 8.209 seconds for her 10th pole award in 10 tries. Savannah Cook was second, 0.118-second behind, followed by Tripp Thurston, Jordan Valdes, Gummy Cook and Devon Courtney.