Bo Minor knows Columbus Speedway like the back of his hand.
And when the track is slicked off, hours of seat time at the track and the subsequent notes that factor into setup and tire selection increase his chances of winning, even if he isn’t fast out of the gate.
Minor would use that experience and a nine-lap green flag run to drive his No. 1 Mini Stocks car past Micah Gavin and cruise to his second Kajun Mini Stock Association win of the season Friday at The Bullring.
“This is my home track, and I’ve run here since I was 14,” Minor said. “I pride myself on being there at the end of a race. I was getting better, and I feel like I was faster at the end than I was at the beginning.”
Minor said he struggled entering corners early in the race and needed roughly five laps from the first green flag and after each caution to warm up his right rear tire.
“I had to slow it down and slow it down on corner-entry,” Minor said. “If I drove it in too hot, it’d just wash out. Once that right side sat down, you can pick up the throttle earlier and earlier coming off the corner. I went hard on that right side, and that long run was the best thing that could have happened for us.”
For much of the race, Minor, who started fourth, trailed Batesville, Arkansas native Micah Gavin, who easily navigated the high-line to a two-second lead on the field through the first 10 laps. But Gavin got caught in lap-traffic, slowing to avoid a spin on the front stretch before being rear-ended and damaging the front end of his car.
“Once that happened, I couldn’t get any aero getting into the corner, and it would just push,” Gavin said. “I was just trying to limp it to the end.”
Still, Gavin was able to muscle the car through the corners and maintain his lead over Minor and JJ Garrett, as all three had separated themselves from the second pack of cars. But once the leaders reached lap traffic, Minor maintained his low line and passed Gavin in turn 1.
“Getting into the corners, with the front end all bent up, the toe-end way out on it, I couldn’t get the car to turn,” Gavin said. “I’d have to drive it in so hard, and it upset the chassis so bad, and I lost all momentum getting in and coming off. I figured it’d be a lot worse than what it was – it was bad enough. With these cars, the top six or eight cars are so close, so the slightest things you miss can make a big difference.”
Gavin was trailing Minor on the final lap when he spun in turn 2.
“On that last lap, [Minor] slowed up a little bit getting into (turn 1) – he might not have – but I tried to cut it underneath him, and when I did and saw I was going to hit him hard, so I just hit the brakes real hard and looped it around,” Gavin said. “I want to race good and clean.”
Carroll wins again
For a brief moment, the field was starting to catch Hunter Carroll.
The NeSmith Crate Late Model racer was midway through the feature race Friday when his brother, who was running sticks for him on the back straightway, signaled that his comfortable lead had dissipated.
“That was after I’d kind of calmed down a little bit,” Carroll said. “I started running it hard again and he spaced back up, so then I finally figured I could go under those ruts coming out of four, and get a little faster.”
Whatever challenges the field would offer to Carroll would be short lived, as Carroll would win for the fifth time at Columbus this season and maintain his lead in NeSmith’s weekly racing series points.
Carroll said he’s identified a new shocks package that’s helped him be successful at Columbus.
“The track was awesome tonight,” Carroll said. “I like it when it gets like that (slick). My car, I can run top or bottom – it doesn’t matter. I could run through the center if I had to. A bunch guys don’t like it when the track gets slick, but I don’t have a problem with it. The track was great to me.”
Steve Russell, Ben Brocato, Ryan King and Blake Koenigsberger rounded out the top 5.
In other race action:
n Jason Baker won the Street Stocks feature, his second straight at Columbus and third of the year. Jamie Sudduth, Doug Dodd and Brent Mitchell rounded out the top 4.
n Tony Shelton won the 602 Sportsman feature. Hayden Duncan, Kyle Shaw, John Johnson and Jonathan Pridmore rounded out the top 5.
n Josh Holbrook won the Factory Stocks feature. Tyler Castle, Brandon Whitley, Bill Sudduth and David Westbrook rounded out the top 5.
n Tret Rickman won the Late Model Stocks feature. Daniel Gann, Jack McCool and JP Pennington rounded out the top 4.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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