It took the wildest, damnedest scenario imaginable, but Seth Christensen emerged victorious in the 59th Alabama 200 in just his second ever appearance in a Pro Late Model.
Driving the No. 35 for Ricky Turner, the 15-year-old knew he would be capable of scoring a top-five if he simply did his part. By the closing laps, he had done just that when a series of chaotic circumstances catapulted him into the mix for the win.
https://twitter.com/RacingAmerica/status/1632255471523356672
Most notably, leader Christopher Tullis spun from contact by Carson Brown, the result of hard racing and gamesmanship between the two. Then, Chase Spradlin took Gavin Graham and Johnny Aramendia three-wide on the next restart — resulting in another caution and shuffling of the deck.
That gave Christensen and John Bolen the front row. And facing a half-dozen runner-ups in the Alabama 200, Bolen resisted any urge to use the bumper and Christensen drove away to a really big win extremely early in his career. He immediately couldn’t believe it.
“I never,” Christensen said before a pause. “Our goal was to just get a top-10. It’s been an amazing car all weekend. With it being my first time here, I just wanted to bring the car home in one piece with a respectable position.
“I got nervous because a bunch of guys pitted on Lap 130, and by Lap 150 that’s when I was getting worried, but we got a bunch of cautions and we were able to take our tires too.”
That helped, but so did Bolen, who seemingly could have driven deeper into the corners over the final two laps if that’s what he wanted to do to finally win the Hunt for the Bear. Bolen isn’t that driver and wasn’t on Saturday night either.
“That’s not how we race,” Bolen said. “We finished second in this race so many dang times that I didn’t want to win it that way. We had a good car but was just tight all night. Tony (Eury Jr.) and all the guys have kept working and digging.
“We got it close there at the end. I thought we had a better long run car if we could run true laps and not get chopped off so many times with the cautions.”
John Bolen finishes second AGAIN in the Alabama 200, a race he's yet to win and has come close to a lot over the past two decades.
He ran Seth Christensen very clean late despite appearing to be a little faster.
"I've come close so many times that I didn't want to win that way" pic.twitter.com/GyjuY0k0Py
— Matt Weaver (@MattWeaverRA) March 5, 2023
But again, the most decisive moment of the race was arguably the incident between Tullis and Brown. Tullis had pitted earlier than Brown and suspected he would be a sitting duck.
One restart was called back and then the two contenders raced each other hard and close. Tullis went around and placed blame squarely on the Rackley WAR development driver
“You want me to be blatantly honest with you,” Tullis asked.
Yes.
“Punk ass money kid used us up and wrecked us,” Tullis said. “Used me up every chance we got. He had fresher tires, right? He was clearly going to drive by us, but we were going to make him earn it. Laps were counting down, and I get it.
“But you door me every time into 1 on the restart and I somehow managed to stay even with you down the back and you just washed us both out. I didn’t quite understand it.”
The race director sent Brown to the rear for the contact, something he didn’t agree with, nor did he agree with Tullis, who shared his frustrations in person after the race.
It’s an assessment Brown didn’t agree with, in person, or after their meeting.
“Everyone has their own opinions,” Brown said. “He was definitely racing me hard. He knew I was on better tires. I think he was in the wrong but I don’t know.”
"Everyone has their own opinion. He was definitely racing me hard, knew I was on better tires. I think he was in the wrong there but I dunno."
Carson Brown responds to Christopher Tullis but also expresses gratitude for the continued speed brought by Rackley WAR. pic.twitter.com/Ib7W62DtAf
— Matt Weaver (@MattWeaverRA) March 5, 2023
There was so much tomfoolery and chaos by the end that Augie Grill found himself back in contention over 100 laps after a hard crash into the Turn 3 wall with Dylan Fetcho. The crash began when Fetcho broke an axle and got hit from behind into the two-time Snowball Derby winner.
The incident crumpled the right side of his No. 43. It maintained good drive but was aerodynamically hurt by the body damage.
But still, Grill actually believes he should have taken the final restart from the outside front row, something the race needed to be red flagged with three laps remaining to sort out.
“The car was really good, the damage just took all the air off the right side of the spoiler,” Grill said. “It was sideways in the corner but manageable at the end on fresher tires. I just couldn’t get around the corner the way I needed to.
“I didn’t have anything for those top two but wish I had gotten a different call on the lineup at the end, might have had a shot at it. All in all, third place is a good day and this damage was just cosmetic, so we’ll take it and move on.”
And through each wild moment, Christensen gained and gained and gained spots until he restarted with the lead and remarkably held off a 20 year veteran in Bolen, to get the job done.
“First, thank you John Bolen, I am so grateful for how you raced me,” Christensen said. “But this is all unbelievable. I figured at the end, I was going to have to work my way through the top-5 on our tires. We got a lot of luck with the wrecks and guys getting into each other and I snuck right on By.
“I can’t believe I found myself in that position to just get it done. I’m so happy!”
Of note: The race ended before it truly began for the second fastest qualifer of the night, Dawson Sutton, who was spun into the wall at the start finish line and was unable to continue. The crash set the ton for the remainder of a race that featured at least two dozen cautions.
https://twitter.com/RacingAmerica/status/1632215277772460035
59th Alabama 200
Montgomery Motor Speedway
March 4 2023
- Seth Christensen
- John Bolen
- Augie Grill
- Dustin Smith
- Bryson Shaffer
- Carson Brown
- Johnny Aramendia
- Gavin Graham
- Chase Spradlin
- Steven Chunn
- Gage Rodgers
- Christopher Tullis
- Stacey Crain
- Jim Wall
- Chase Johnson
- Jojo Wilkinson
- Dylan Fetcho
- Frankie Martin
- Boston Oliver
- Cale Hall
- Ryan Reuse
- Dawson Sutton
If you like what you read here, become a Short Track Scene Patreon and support short track journalism!
Read more Short Track Scene:
Super Late Models
Bubba Pollard signs Platinum Agreement to run full ASA STARS season
Southern Super Series
Chase Elliott opens 2025 with Speedfest Cordele start
CARS Late Model Stock Tour
Landon Huffman, Brandon Pierce have chips on the shoulder for 2025 CARS season
Uncategorized
World Series of Asphalt has a new look schedule in 2025
