Dexter Canipe Jr. was thrilled with a fourth-place finish Saturday in the big Late Model race at Martinsville Speedway, the Virginia is for Racing Lovers 300.
Canipe, a regular Late Model driver at Hickory Motor Speedway, got to race in his third attempt at qualifying for the race.
“It was a big relief just to make the race, but to finish fourth was very exciting,” said Canipe, who had to rally from a spin early in the race.
Canipe said he could see the exciting last lap in which Lee Pulliam made a bumping pass of leader Matt McCall on the last lap, and McCall spun Pulliam out on the cool-down lap. McCall was the 2004 track champion at Hickory.
“I loved it,” Canipe said. “I was hoping they'd all wreck in front of us.”
Canipe was one of four Hickory drivers to attempt to make the race, but Ashley Huffman, Matt Piercy and Austin McDaniel didn’t get through qualifying.
“It was the biggest race I've ever been in,” Canipe said. “It was a lot of fun. I just had a blast. I told my dad, ‘I don't care if I race next year, I’d just like to race this race again.’ I can see why people go back and race that race again and again. You can actually do some racing.”
Martinsville Speedway is shaped like a giant paper clip, with long straightaways and short, tight turns.
“You have to be doing 115 (mph) down the straightaway, and you jam on the brakes and hope it turns,” Canipe said with a smile in his voice. “The track looks small on the outside, but you get in car and you’re racing, and there’s a lot of room to race.”
Canipe says he’ll run in the Dwight Huffman Memorial race this weekend.
Next year? “I’ll probably run Hickory again,” he said. “We’ll go to the first couple of races and see how we’re doing. If we run strong early, we’ll continue to run at Hickory.”
• LAST WEEK: A.J. Frank of Bluffton, S.C., won the 200-lap CARS Pro Cup race Saturday at Hickory. Tennessean Blake Jones was second and Jeff Agnew of Copper Hill, Va., was third.
• CHARITIES: The Dwight Huffman Memorial race weekend is Saturday and Sunday. Audrey Huffman, the widow of Dwight Huffman, says that money will be raised for the Eastern Burke County Christian Ministries, the South Caldwell County Christian Ministries and the Eastern Catawba County Christian Ministries. The Rutherford College Lions Club will be collecting eyeglasses and selling items from their club, enabling them to provide camps for the seeing impaired. Also, the N.C. Eye Bank will have information on what being a donor could mean and sign-up forms for becoming an eye donor.
Dwight Huffman was an eye donor, and you can read Audrey Huffman’s words here on the N.C. Eye Bank web site.
• UPCOMING: On Saturday, Oct. 15, practice starts at 10 a.m., with qualifying at 3 and racing (U-Cars, Street Stocks and Renegades) at 4. On Sunday, pit sign-in starts at 10, with grandstands opening at noon. There will be an autograph session at 1:15, pre-race at 2:15 and the 4th Dwight Huffman Memorial race for Charity at 2:35.
PASS South will race at Hickory on Oct. 29.
• PAINT JOB: For the Huffman race, Canipe says he is painting his car yellow, with the same decals, as the car Dexter Canipe Sr. drove to the 1997 national championship.
• BANQUET: HMS will hold its championship banquet on Saturday, Nov. 26, 2011, at the Newton Expo at the Pin Station in Newton. Tickets will be on sale at the speedway office weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., beginning Nov. 4. The phone number is 828-464-3655.
• CONTACT: Tom Gillispie, the author of “Angel in Black: Remembering Dale Earnhardt Sr.,” can be reached at nc3022@yahoo.com.
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