Doug Barnes wins the Triple Memorial 200 on Dominion Raceway's 'Night at the Races'
A week removed from a viral ride into the Cordele Motor Speedway melon patch during a CARS Tour race, Barnes returned to his home track to complete a three-peat.
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Previously titled the Dickie Boswell 200, the Triple Memorial 200 was renamed to honor the late Boswell, Roy Hendrick and Blake Morris on one special night. As the winner of both the inaugural and second annual race, Barnes' win Saturday night was his third in the three-year history of the event.
'It means a lot to win this race. I have a lot of respect for all three guys we are racing for,' Barnes said from Bugsy Auto Repair Victory Lane. 'I was feeling pretty confident when I saw there was no watermelon patch here.'
AirDoug qualified on the pole, beating last year's Dominion Raceway late model track champion Landon Pembelton by a mere two hundredths of a second. However, it was Pembelton who dominated the early stages of the race.
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The No. 0 of Pembelton led the first 87 laps before Mason Bailey passed him for the lead. Bailey was the halfway leader, but when the cars restarted after the Lap 100 break, Pembelton regained the lead.
On Lap 125, Barnes passed Bailey for second, and on Lap 147, calamity struck for Pembelton. The No. 0 cut a right-front tire in Turn 3 while leading and slammed the wall, ending his night.
'I am not sure if I was able to chase Landon down; I don't know if I would have had enough time. He definitely had the car to beat,' Barnes said. 'I would never wish misfortune on someone like that, especially a hard contact like that, because I've hit this wall before, and it is hard.'
With the dominant car on the tow truck, the adventure was just beginning for Barnes and the other competitors.
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On Lap 161, the No. 88 also had a right front tire issue and pulled to a stop on the backstretch, bringing out a caution. Barnes' team changed the tire, and Conner Weddell assumed the lead in his late model debut.
On the subsequent restart, Trenton Kilgore passed Weddell, but while jockeying for the lead, Weddell and Kilgore made heavy contact. Weddell's car was destroyed, and
Kilgore's car was spun in the other direction.
Doug Barnes Jr.
When the dust settled, Cameron Burke was the leader, and Barnes needed seven laps to chase him down. With 17 to go, Barnes took the lead for good.
'Right when I thought it might've been easy, I cut my own right front,' Barnes said. 'I came in, and they docked me a lap, and then Conner and the white car got into it, and we got the lap right back, but then we didn't get to start in the front, because we are the lucky dog and had to run the leader down by a straightaway. It was probably one of the weirdest wins I've ever had.
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'The previous two years, we had the car to beat, and our strategy played out the way we needed. Tonight we were thrown one hundred curve balls, and we hit the right one.'
Barnes will return to Dominion when the CARS Tour runs the Mini's Mission 225 on June 14. He is currently tied for fourth in points for the CARS Tour late model standings, and they are heading into the part of the schedule where they visit tracks he has prior experience racing.
'We are hitting the summer stretch and going to tracks that I have personally been to before like Orange County this weekend and then Ace and North Wilkesboro,' Barnes said.
While he may get his first CARS Tour win in the Lee Pulliam Performance machine beforehand, Barnes has his return to Dominion Raceway circled.
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'When it comes to coming back here, we will be on the F45 Stars, so I don't know how that is gonna go. That's probably gonna be all out for 225 laps,' he said. 'This is a good confidence booster after driving it into the watermelon patch last week.
'We are gonna get on it; I am excited to come back with Lee [Pulliam] and everybody.'
In other Advance Auto Parts Night at the Races racing action, Penelope Carlisle got her first home-track win in the Bandos, while Miles Murray and Charlie Beals split INEX Legends wins.
Richard Powers got his first win of the season on the Dominion Stocks, and the Any Cars race saw James Johnson win in the 6cyl class and Michael Pifer in the 8cyl class.
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