Beau knows BIR: Beau Slocumb scored a mark in the W column in the American Speed Association Late Model Series Southern Division Presented by GM Performance Parts Alabama 125 at Birmingham International Raceway Saturday evening. It was the fourth 2007 series win for the Macon, GA, speedster, who missed the series championship by just 29 points.
The Alabama 125 was the season finale for the Lexington, MI, based touring series. The crowning of Series Champion and Rookie of the Year, Jeff Choquette, concluded the evening. Entering the 78.125-mile event, three drivers, Choquette, Slocumb, and Brandon Johnson, all had a shot at the Overall title and Choquette and Johnson were vying for Rookie honors.
Bartow, FL, racer Travis Wilson, picked up his first ARP Bodies/Aluminum Racing Products Fast Qualifier Award with a trip around the relatively flat 5/8-mile oval at 20.074 sec/112.085 mph. He drew a seven-car inversion, putting Auckland, New Zealand native Michael Pickens on the pole. Pickens demonstrated mastery of the second-oldest continually operating track in the USA by holding the lead for over 80% of the 125 laps.
The first caution came out on the 20th lap when Bob Varney hit the number two wall hard, ending his first visit to BIR unpleasantly. A second caution was shown on lap 33 when Jimmy Lang hit the wall. Pickens made BIR look like easy pickings, with his jackrabbit starts working to his advantage. Slocumb made several challenges to Choquette, almost taking the second spot on lap 56. His car bobbled coming off the fourth corner and he fell back. Meanwhile, Pickens maintained his unchallenged lead. With three title-chasers in the top five, Johnson’s chances took a serious turn for the worse when his car appeared unstable. On the 62nd lap he spun out on the front stretch after having problems in turn four. This third caution sent him to the pits and to the rear of the field. The rest of the night was playing catch-up.
At the halfway point, lap 63, six Ford Fusions held the top six running positions. Led by Pickens, Choquette, Slocumb, Chris Fontaine, Michael Seeright, and John Wes Townley followed. On the 78th lap, Michael Seeright, while running a solid fourth, smacked the third turn wall. It was the end of what had been a good run for him. On the 83rd lap the fifth caution came out when Fontaine and Wilson got together in turn four. Wilson’s first career ARP Bodies Fast Qualifier Award put him way back in the start and then he wall put him further back. It would prove to be too much from which to recover to give the talented driver a top five finish.
Slocumb re-mounted his charge on the restart, took over second from Choquette, and set his sights on Pickens. An 85th lap caution bunched up the field as did the final caution when Gerstner got into the turn one wall. On the 93rd lap Slocumb was inside Pickens on the front stretch and side-by-side on the backstretch. Lapped traffic spoiled the takeover. On the 103 lap, Slocumb unseated Pickens from the lead. Choquette, knowing he had to finish eighth or better to seal his titles, seemed to make the wise decision to look at the Big Picture. He paced himself, stayed near the front, and relinquished his position and ran fourth. When the 125th race lap and final lap of the 2007 ASALMS-Southern division was complete, Slocumb was the winner, with teammate John Wes Townley next, having moved into second in the closing laps. Pickens held on to finish third, with Choquette and Johnson following. Johnson had picked up 10 positions after his problems on lap 62. Rounding out the top ten were Fontaine, Brent Seeley, Wilson, Lang, and Jeremy Gerstner. The route Slocumb took in winning the Alabama 125 was much like the one he took when he won the Crimson 125 at BIR on July 14th. In the earlier race, he took the lead from Johnson on the 100th lap. In the Alabama 125, he took the lead on the 103rd lap. Likewise, Choquette knew the series title would be greater for him than taking risks and going for the race win.
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