Despite a fair amount of chaos behind him, Colin Allman led practically the entire way to win the inaugural Frank Grill Memorial 112 on Saturday at South Alabama Speedway.
The victory was his second in UARA National competition following his initial triumph in the Bigley Memorial Tune-Up at Freedom Factory back in May.
All told, Allman really had to work for this one because his car simply did not fire off the way he would have wanted in a race that required him to do it with a great deal of frequency.
“We’re not supposed to win races like this,” Allman said afterwards.
The team is comprised of just Allman, and his dad, with technical assistance from Toby Nuttleman watching from the other side of the country in Wisconsin.
“I can’t thank Tonb enough,” Allman said. “I mean, him, Ty (Majeski) and Justin (Zmyewski) and Toby Race Products. Man, ever since we put their geometry into this thing, it has flown everywhere.
“It’s crazy to me that Toby can see a clip from 12 hours away, and he’ll call me tell me how I was driving it wrong or what adjustment we needed to make. It’s crazy that he just knows, you know what I mean?”
The winner of numerous Pro Late Model races driving for Ronnie Sanders but still seeking his first Super win behind the wheel of his family owned No. 51, Jake Finch was forced to settle for second again.
“I felt like we had a good car,” said Finch. “Our restarts were pretty good. We were just a little too tight, entry to middle. I’d try to keep it down on the top, but I’d slide just a little too much. I tried a bunch of different things. Luckily enough, we got some good restarts to put ourselves in position. Just couldn’t close it out.
“Maybe if we had a pit stop in the race, we could have adjusted and that would have helped our pace. Nonetheless, it is frustrating to continue finishing second. I think I have 100 seconds. It was a good night overall. It’s good momentum going into next week in Pensacola, and hopefully we can finish a little bit better.”
Behind them was a ferocious battle for third with Rattler 250 winner Michael Atwell fending off Stephen Nasse on the final lap but only after some contact. Atwell held onto his car and claimed a podium.
“We were just tight but Allman was fast and now we know we need to get back to work, back to the drawing board, and find some more speed,” Atwell said. “Super happy with he hard work that my guys put in.
“They busted their tails in the heat and one of these days, we’ll catch a break, and have a little come our way. Disappointing but we’ll come back and try it again.”
It didn’t help that he needed to immediately pit for a flat right rear early in the race too.
The UARA will next race at Mobile International Speedway on October 4 for the Johnny’s RV Backyard Brawl 125. The leads into the season finale Bill Bigley Sr. Memorial 128 at Freedom Factory on November 29.
UARA Frank Grill Memorial 112 South Alabama Speedway September 21 2025
Matt Weaver is the owner and founder of Short Track Scene. Weaver grew up in the sport, having raced himself before becoming a reporter in college at the University of South Alabama. He also has extensive experience covering NASCAR, IndyCar and Dirt Sprint Cars.
