MILTON — Some games come down to mere inches. Saturday at Southern Raceway, Carl Dodson found out just how valuable a few inches could be.
Dodson tried everything he could in the final laps of the Pure Stock feature to get around Jesse James. It seemed like he might get a better chance, as debris brought out a caution on lap 17.
James was on the point due of the Delaware Restart, with Carl Dodson and Jessica Donaldson making up row two.
When the green flag waived, James took off, and Dodson was right on his back bumper.
Both drivers stayed that way until the white flag lap, when James took a high line off turn four while Dodson yanked his steering wheel hard to the left and tried the more direct route to the checkered flag.
When both drivers got to the finish line side by side, James’ car was ahead of Dodson’s by about 3 inches.
Rounding out the top five were Jessica Donaldson, Mike Emmons and Lane Heaton, who battled his way back from a spin on lap three in turn four.
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The Bay Area Modified drivers proved you cannot win a race going into turn one, but you can tear up or bend a lot of race cars.
Jason Barnhill won the Bay Area Modified feature as all of the action happened behind him, and most of it occurred trying to restart lap nine on five occasions.
The first major pileup occurred in turn two and involved several strong cars.
As Russell Welch led the field to the restart, a couple of drivers made contact and ended with a spin that collected six drivers.
When the dust settled, six drivers — Jesse Barnhill, Josh Goodwin, Jamie Brooks, Pebo Rogers, Dale Peaden and Thumper Grice — were collected in the melee.
As they attempted to restart the race, cars were scrambling once again, and four cars ended up spinning in the aftermath with Peaden, Jason Lockwood, Jamie Brooks and Jesse Barnhill once again being collected.
While track officials were busy working on the second pile-up, Welch’s car broke and had to be taken to the pits, giving the lead to Jason Barnhill, which he held on to the end.
Rounding out the top five behind Jason Barnhill were Kyle Rutowski, Jason Messick, Peaden and Brooks.
Rutowski got some redemption in a six-pack shootout for the Bay Area Modifieds as he finished ahead of Jason Barnhill followed by Russ Harris, Peaden and Brooks.
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Kevin Mitchell dominated the NeSmith Street Stock feature as he held off a field of stiff challengers.
At one point, Sean Goodwin, Larry Faulk, Steven Jernigan and Stuart Wilson all made their presence felt, but they could not get past Goodwin’s car.
Rounding out the top five at the end of the feature were Goodwin, Faulk, Jernigan and Wilson.
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The Vintage race seemed more like an episode of “Survivor” as breakdowns in the heat race eliminated two of the six-car field.
Blake Martin was on his game and drove away from the field to claim the win.
Wesley Riddles worked his way up to second followed by Jamie Mozingo and Aleck Alford, who brought out the only caution of the night with a spin on lap three.
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NeSmith Street Stock Heat 1
1. Kevin Mitchell
2. Sean Goodwin
3. Larry Faulk
4. J.C. Wilson
5. Brandon Kilpatrick
NeSmith Street Stock Heat 2
1. Steven Jernigan
2. Stuart Wilson
3. Bo Bailey
4. Kyle Kichler
5. Branden Harris
Vintage Heat
1. Blake Martin
2. Jamie Mozingo
3. Aleck Alford
4. Robin Christensen
5. Donald Hall
Bay Area Modified Heat 1
1. Russell Welch
2. Kyle Rutowski
3. Josh Goodwin
4. Russ Harris
5. Dale Peaden
Bay Area Modified Heat 2
1. Jesse Barnhill
2. Jamie Brooks
3. Jimmy McDaniel
4. Thumper Grice
5. Michael Rogers
Bay Area Modified Heat 3
1. Jason Barnhill
2. Jason Lockwood
3. Jason Messick
4. Pebo Rogers
5. Duanne Lewis
Pure Stock Heat 1
1. Jesse James
2. Bubba Fletcher
3. Carl Dodson
4. Henry Bailey
5. Mike Emmons
Pure Stock Heat 2
1. Lane Heaton
2. Jessica Donaldson
3. Ronnie Hardy
4. Troy Williams
5. Jonathon Carpenter
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: SOUTHERN RACEWAY: Outlaw Jesse James edges Dodson for Pure Stock win