April 7, 2024

The local racing divisions at Five Flags Speedway on Friday, April 5th were stricken with controversy throughout the evening. From drivers’ disagreements over officiating to fisticuffs in the pits, there was no shortage of confusing, questionable, and heated moments.

Outlaw Drivers Heated with Officials over Qualifying Debacle

The Outlaw division had drama unfold after only two cars made it to the staging area known as “stop-and-go” in time for qualifying, therefore only allowing two cars to set lap times, with the rest of the field having to hold a random draw for position.

The coalition of drivers, primarily led by Logan Boyett and Bubba Winslow, voiced their displeasure to officials after being called to the tech shed for the qualifying draw. Boyett was possibly the most livid, as he passionately conveyed his argument that the remaining outlaw drivers were held up in line and could therefore not make it to stop-and-go.

Other drivers insisted that at the time of the holdup, they were all on their way to qualify anyways, which should still hold some merit. The rule, however, has been a hard line in the sand according to officals, with even more enforcement on this particular rule being promised in drivers meetings as of late.

“At 6:30 there were zero cars in the qualifying line. We gave them a few minutes and there were two who came down there,” stated race director Nicholas Rogers. “The rest of the cars had made their way a little ways [down pit road] but then they all stopped. They said they were blocked by one car, but nobody made a move to get around them. And if I had seen anybody make a movement and try to head that way, we would have went with it.”

It had been stated that there was no specific qualifying order, so drivers who stayed in that line could have pulled around that car and gone to stop-and-go at any point they’d want to. Rogers further illustrated his view that drivers were being too lax in getting to stop-and-go in the first place.

“When the first car went on the race track [to qualify], there were a couple drivers outside their car in their pit stall. And with a short field, you don’t have a lot of time to buckle in and get ready. There was no urgency to get down there and qualify, and there was a warning given to them at the last race. We’re just trying to keep the show moving.”

Despite some drivers insisting that they would back out of the race, all drivers went on to run the feature event, with Carter Taylor taking the victory over Logan Boyett and Cameron Henderson.

Sportsman Race Highlighted by On-Track Incident/Off-Track Brawl

During the Sportsman portion of Friday night’s events, contact between James Patrick and Maddox Langham resulted in Langham’s race being ended 17 laps into the 25 lap feature, as he was spun and made contact with the outside wall in turn 4. As a result of the contact, James Patrick was shown the black flag and forced to retire from the race.

While being shown the black flag, Howard Langham, Maddox’s father, went on track, yelling and signalling his displeasure to Patrick. Upon parking in his pit, Patrick was met by Howard Langham, which resulted in the first of two scuffles on pit road.

Shortly after Howard was taken away by security, Jonathan Langham charged at Patrick, reaching for Patrick’s neck before also being taken away by security. Both Howard and Jonathan Langham were reportedly taken outside of the track to calm down.

“The on-track stuff with Maddox, I guess came from the 98 (Payton Guy) and me. We caught [Guy] to put him a second lap down, and I felt like he was blocking the inside, so when I went to the outside of [Guy], he just parked it. Got himself spun out.” stated James Patrick.

“On the pace laps, Maddox just starts dooring me on the right side for no reason, trying to get to the lead when I was already the lead car when we took the caution.” said Patrick. “On the restart, he drove over the right-front of me to get in front of me, jumped the start, and I just wasn’t going to take it.”

Patrick also spoke about the following altercations with Howard and Jonathan Langham.

“I was still on the track on the pace laps, and Howard was in 3 and 4 flipping me off, cussing me, whatever. And then Jonathan was on the fronstretch doing the same, throwing a beer at me. Actually hit the windshield, pretty good aim. Howard and Jonathan wanted to come over and get in my face and fight. Just tired of dealing with them. Hopefully they learn a lesson from this.”

Race Director Nicholas Rogers gave his point of view of this incident as well.

“I’m not sure what really started the issue between the two,” said Rogers. “Once they went green, it just looked like the 11 (James Patrick) never lifted, just run down in there and intentionally wrecked [Maddox Langham]. I can’t see [someone] just intentionally wrecking somebody and then letting them continue.”

After the drama unfolded and the Sportsman feature resumed, it would be Parker McDonald scoring the win over Daryl McDonald and Jim Pokrant.

To read our recap of Friday night’s Allen Turner Pro Late Model season opener, click here.

Cover photo: Daniel Vining/DanielVining.com