Road Ringer Clifton Cockrell Dominates At The Glen!!

The driver count was down this week as several chose not to brave the road course known as “The Glen!” Those that did choose to brave it, put on a very good spectacle for the fans. There were plenty of gaps in the field. However, there were battles at every spot except the lead! The #29 Thrustmaster sponsored Chevrolet of Clifton Cockrell led 34 of the 41 circuits and getting the fastest lap also!

The first bit of action was on lap 2 exiting the carousel. The #071 of Dean Viney pushed up and got into the #85 of Trevor Malone, causing him to spin. Malone didn’t hit anything, but Viney had some serious left front damage including an over cambered left front wheel. The next 8 laps were uneventful, as Cockrell made no mistakes and just kept opening up his lead. The #51 of Paul “Buzz” Cohen had a slight issue into the bus stop on lap 10. Heading into the bus stop, Cohen downshifted too far, and the rear end wheel hopped causing him to lose control getting into the guardrail.

Malone would start the short pitting fad, if it wasn’t for the fact he pitted too soon. Malone apparently thought he could make it the rest of the way on fuel. (Spoiler Alert) He didn’t. The bus stop seemed to be the Achilles heel to many, as it would again bite another driver just two laps later. The #55 Summit Sports Ford Fusion of Points Leader Thomas Christ got busted cutting the entry. As a result he had to slow down for 1 second allowing eventual 2nd place finisher Justin Anderson by. But, Christ being notified he had cleared the 1 second penalty got back on it and raced Anderson to reclaim his spot. Meanwhile, Cockrell just kept gapping the field increasing his lead!

Once again the bus stop was the hot spot, as Mark Arthur stepped out to challenge Anderson under braking. Anderson seemed a little surprised by this due to the distance the two had before that section. Anderson reacts and gets it squirrelly as to not lose it, or take Arthur out. Lap 15 is the real short pitting craze. Anderson in his #77 Raybestos Ford Fusion, is the first to partake of the pits. Getting that all precious tankful of fuel and four fresh Goodyear’s. Brasfield, followed by Arthur were the next suitors for the pit stop treatment. Then lap 20 sees Cockrell pitting, deciding to split the race up in half, instead of short pitting. This would be the winning decision. This would give the lead to Christ, to get that ever important 1 point for leading a lap, that up until that point, Brasfield didn’t have. Although, he might have stayed out a lap too long, as the cars that pitted were eating up his times being on fresh rubber. Thus evaporating his lead. Christ had to concede his lead to pit.

For the next 4 laps, Brasfield would be in a battle with his beaten up Noritz Chevrolet with Cockrell for the lead. Cockrell would just methodically push Brasfield enough to make a mistake, but not hit him. That mistake would come out of the last turn. Brasfield would start to lose it and gather it back up for an instant. Then he lost complete control. While this was happening Cockrell had no place to go. He slowed up and hit Brasfield when he came back up. Cockrell hit him and sent him back the other way. Brasfield would get back going, but at a huge time loss to Cockrell. Brasfield’s damage was quite a bit more extensive than at first believed, as he lost it coming up out of the esses incurring even more damage. Then disaster almost struck as Brasfield got up on the track to get going. Christ was coming with a whole head of steam as Brasfield re-entered the track. The problem was Christ almost collected him in the process. Christ maneuvered out of the way in the nick of time, to avoid catastrophic title implications.

On lap 34 exiting turn 1, the #12 of Mark Arthur would lose it getting into the wall and coming to a stop on the track, allowing Christ to get 3rd. The top 3 would finish the race this way. The rest of the field however would be fighting tooth and nail for every little inch! Lap 38 saw the #46 have a complete electrical shutdown needing to be removed by the hauler. All in all it was a very good race! But in the end it was all Clifton Cockrell as he dominated the competition! Congratulations to the #29 time on their victory! Also a shout out needs to go out to the #33 of Mark Koschik. Mark had a fantastic race! He just maintained a safe pace, and kept his nose out of trouble to bring it home in 5th place. Way to go Mark!

Here are the top 5:

1st: Clifton Cockrell

2nd: Justin Anderson

3rd: Thomas Christ

4th: Dennis Brasfield

5th: Mark Koschik

Congratulations to the top 5! We will see you all next week at Michigan International Speedway for The Days Of Thunder 100!