Doug Barnes Jr. didn’t even plan to race the Dickie Bowell 200 at Dominion Raceway and ended up winning the season opening race on Saturday night in Thornsburg, Virginia for the second year in a row.
The familiar No. 88 held off Dustin Thorn and Landon Pembleton on a restart with 15 to go.
“Our deal [for the upcoming season] fell apart, and as of two-and-a-half weeks ago I was planning to watch this race on TV on the couch, but Dustin and Scott (Lang) pushed me to come out here,” said Barnes in a post-race interview. “I had a bad taste in my mouth, but I can’t thank them enough. This means so much. I just want to soak this in.”
He intended to race CARS Tour full-time but funding and crewing didn’t come together.
Scott Lang Racing placed three cars in the top-5, third through fifth with Thorn, Michael Hardin and Davey Callihan.
“It was a long night from my driver’ seat taking care of three cars here, but really our race car was phenomenal today and tonight showed that,” said Storm. “I really couldn’t be happier. I definitely feel we had the best car here tonight at the end. It was nerve-wracking, me and Dougie were nose-to-tail those last 10 laps.”
Lap by lap updates below:
- As the sun began to set, the late models took to the track. Davey Callihan was the polesitter with a lap of 15.226, but he would start third with the qualifying invert. Mason Bailey and defending race winner Doug Barnes Jr. would be on the front row.
- The green flag waved with the #05 of Bailey in the lead until a lap 8 caution for Cameron Burke.
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Callihan, who moved up to second prior to the caution, took the lead on lap 10 after the restart.
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Three laps later, Bailey would nudge the Papa Johns sponsored #41 out of the groove and retake the lead with a deep dive into the corner.
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A little farther back, the #31 of Aaron Donnelly took fourth place from Landon Pembelton and then 2 laps later, he’d take third from Barnes. On lap 25, Donnelly would blaze past Callihan for second.
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The #0 of Pembelton would begin to smoke and he would fall from fourth place by several positions. Due to the extended smoking of the #0 car, a caution came out to check the track for fluids on lap 64.
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One lap into the restart, Chandler Sherman and JD Eversole would get into each other on the front stretch as the barreled into turn one. Both cars suffered significant damage, and were hauled off by the Sullivans Towing tow truck.
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Davey Callihan would lead the restart over Donnelly, with Barnes and Bailey behind. Donnelly would make a clean pass for the lead again on lap 78. Bailey would pass Barnes for third and bring GR Waldrop and Michael Hardin with him, dropping Barnes to sixth.
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On lap 88 Callihan and Donnelly would battle for the lead again late in the race, with Callihan being able to hold on before the halfway point. On lap 100, the caution came out to allow cars to report to the pit lane for midrace adjustments.
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Donnelly would lead as the race resumed and Callihan would drop to fourth as Bailey and Waldrop would get by for second and third. On lap 110 Barnes would clear Hardin and then get a big run on Callihan to take fourth.
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One of the best battles of the night lasted about 10 laps as Bailey went side by side with Donnelly. Both cars went around and around inches apart until a caution came out for Cameron Burke again.
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Donnelly led the lap 131 restart with Bailey, Barnes, Dustin Storm, and Callihan behind. With 58 to-go Bailey would challenge for the lead with Barnes close behind. The move would result with Barnes getting inside position and the two of them would be side-by-side for several laps.
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Barnes would get the best of him six laps later. Storm and Callihan would pass Bailey, as it became apparent Bailey had a tire go down and he had to pit.
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Donnelly would continue to lead Barnes until they came up on the lapped car of Trey Williams.
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The #31 of Donnelly would get loose navigating traffic and Barnes would capitalize while Storm would follow into second. GR Waldrop’s #03 would also have a tire issue from fifth place and the late caution would mean a dramatic restart.
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On the restart, Barnes would get loose coming out of turn 2 on the backstretch. From second place, the #88 would attempt to clear himself, but Callihan was there. The #41 would go right front fender first into the wall. The whole fender would come off onto the track, but luckily no other cars would suffer significant damage.
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The debris meant a restart with 15 to-go. Barnes, Storm, Donnelly, and Callihan with damage would be the top-4. Pembelton would rebound from earlier mechanical issues to be fifth.
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Barnes would lead the restart despite pressure from Storm, who was a teammate in the race.
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Behind them, Pembelton would barge through the top-5 and work his way up to third. The #0 passed Storm on the final lap.
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The checkered flag flew with Doug Barnes Jr. repeating as the winner of the Dickie Boswell 200. Pembelton would finish second, Storm would finish third, Michael Hardin would come home fourth, and Davey Callihan would finish fifth. After fighting for the win most of the night, Aaron Donnelly would finish sixth.
