Luke Roffers Wins Clash At Fayetteville Motor Speedway.

Luke Roffers Continues His Winning Ways At Fayetteville Motor Speedway.

Luke Roffers continued his winning ways Saturday night at Fayetteville Motor Speedway with his third victory of the season. With the win, Roffers was able to close within 7 points of the current Carolina Clash point's leader, Dennis Franklin.

The current Klotz Lubricants Rookie of the Year point's leader Chad Paxton set fast time during XS Power Racing Batteries Qualifying. The pole was Paxton's first of the year with the Carolina Clash.

Paxton got the jump on the 24 car starting field electing the inside line on the start. A five car breakaway would ensue with Craig Shuffield pulling out all the stops attempting to pass Paxton on the inside during the first nine laps of the feature event. The first caution waved on lap 9 when a crush panel from one of the cars came off in turn 2.

The same five car breakaway would ensue yet again with Luke Roffers making some daring moves passing cars on the inside making his way to the front. On lap 21 Roffers made his move passing Paxton on the inside in turn 3 taking over the top spot. In just three laps, Roffers had pulled out to nearly a half straightaway lead over second place Paxton.

Lap 21 saw Travis Hair coming to a stop in turn 4 bringing out another caution with Roffers leading, Paxton in second, Dustin Mitchell in third, Mike Gault in fourth, and Craig Shuffield in fifth.

On the restart, Jeff Smith would spin on the backstretch in a dust storm bringing out the caution. Then just two short laps later, GR Smith and Shawn Beasley would make contact spinning in turn 1. Both were unable to continue.

Chad Paxton's night began on a very positive note would end on a horrible note. On a lap 27 restart, Paxton would spin collecting Jeff Smith, Mike Parker, and Jay Sessoms. On the restart, Dale Hammond would get sideways and Smith would drive over his front-end sending Smith air-born and over the turn 2 banking. Smith was okay after the incident.

On the restart Dustin Mitchell was able to get around Gault for the second position and set his eyes on Roffers. Mitchell caught Roffers on lap 31 and would begin to apply heavy pressure until a very scary lap 37 caution. Kenny Compton Jr. began smoking on lap 35 and as he came out of turn four on lap 37, his Clements power plant blew up engulfing his Bloomquist Chassis in a massive fire ball. The Carolina Clash safety crew was there and had the fire out within seconds and Compton Jr. was okay after the incident.

On the restart, a massive pileup on the backstretch took out Paxton who slammed the inside wall head on collecting Gary Mabe, Mike Parker, and Michael Mason. All four were brought in on the hook.

On the restart Roffers and Mitchell would break away from the field as Gault who was running the third position began to get a right-rear flat. Gault was able to hold on and finish the race but went from third to sixth in the last three laps with the flat tire.

Roffers was able to hold off the hard charging Mitchell for the win. Scott Autry passed seven cars in route to a third place finish. Klotz Rookie of the Year Contender, Travis Yow had his best ever finish with the Carolina Clash crossing the line in the fourth position along with his first Top-5 qualifying run of the year. Craig Shuffield who had has best ever qualifying run with the Carolina Clash starting on the outside pole for the feature, raced his way to a fifth place finish which was able his best finish with the Clash in 2011.

With the win, Roffers was able to close the gap to within 7 points of Dennis Franklin as Franklin would struggle with a seventh place finish. Mike Gault and Kenny Compton Jr. swapped the third position in points again as Gault holds onto a 20 point advantage. Compton Jr. is just 77 points behind the 2011 Carolina Clash point's leader in Franklin. Jeff Smith still sits in the fifth position.

Even with the horrific wreck, Chad Paxton still leads the Klotz Lubricants Rookie of the Year standings by 81 points over Travis Yow.

After seven events in the regular season, there are still 18 Carolina Clash competitors eligible for the "Chase for the Cup" at the end of the season.

1-Luke Roffers
2-Dustin Mitchell
3-Scott Autry
4-Travis Yow
5-Craig Shuffield
6-Mike Gault
7-Dennis Franklin
8-David Taylor
9-Justin Labonte
10-Jay Sessoms
11-Michael Mason
12-Kenny Compton Jr.
13-Gary Mabe
14-Chad Paxton
15-Mike Parker
16-Chris Blackwell
17-Ray Tucker
18-Dale Hammond
19-Jeff Smith
20-Shawn Beasley
21-G.R. Smith
22-Travis Hair
23-Greg Clark
24-Jim Shuffield

Hard Charger of the Race - (10 pts bonus) Jay Sessoms

Lap Leaders - Chad Paxton (1-17) Luke Roffers (18-40)

Fastest Qualifier - Chad Paxton 18.295

XS Power Racing Batteries Fastest Qualifier - Chad Paxton

First Man out Award - Chris Blackwell

Comp Cams Feature Winner - Luke Roffers

JE Pistons / Roush Yates Performance Feature Winner - Luke Roffers

Keizer Wheels Runner-Up Award - Dustin Mitchell

Shell Racing Solutions 3rd Place - Scott Autry

ATL Fuel Cells 4th Place - Travis Yow

Cool Shirts Top 5 - Luke Roffers, Dustin Mitchell, Scott Autry, Travis Yow, Craig Shuffield

RF Composites 6th Place - Mike Gault

NTI 10th Place - Jay Sessoms

Klotz Lubricants 15th Place - Mike Parker

Ohlins Shocks Last but not Least - Jim Shuffield

Safety Kleen Hard Charger - Jay Sessoms

Klotz Lubricants Hard Luck Award - Shawn Beasley

Klotz Lubricants Rookie of the Race - Travis Yow

The Carolina Clash would like to thank the following sponsors for their contributions to the series in 2011: American Racer Tire, Heintz Brothers Performance, VP Racing Fuels, Comp Cams, Keizer Aluminum Wheels, Shell Racing Solutions, ATL Racing Fuel Cells, Shafer Enterprises' Cool Shirts, NASCAR Technical Institute, Safety Kleen, R2C Performance, XS Power Racing Batteries, Next Level Graphics, Collins Signs, www.lockoutforums.com , Performance Tee's, Racing Electronics, Mike's Custom Tanks, Lincoln Electric, Ohlins Advanced Suspension Technology, Klotz Synthetic Lubricants, RF Composites, Keizer Wheelhouse South, Collins Trophies, Firethorn Marketing, Raceiver, JE Pistons/Roush Yates Performance Parts, Sisco Fire & Safety, Luvracin.com , and Wylie X Sunglasses.