Fans started lining up early for the season finale at Southside Speedway. With just 20 points separating the top two in the Modified and Champ Kart division, even a pair of fully grown bald eagles stuck around for the action. The Champ Kart division took the track midway through the evening. Points leader Stanley Holmes was sent to the rear early because of a caution. He still had 14 laps to work his way to the front. He flew threw the field to finish fifth and hung on for the title.

The Modified Division took the limelight last night at Southside Speedway as Billy Morris, leading by just 20 points entering the evening, won two of the three 30-lap races. The final race went all but caution-free after the seventh lap, but the last yellow was a heartbreaker for Ryan Boggs. Boggs led most of the way until two laps to go when three cars went sideways in Turn 3. The three were back in the pack with the leaders closing in, and the cars collected Boggs as he came around the corner. Boggs argued that he wasn’t involved, but it was ruled that he had an opportunity to go around the mess. According to Morris, it all happened so fast he was lucky to avoid it himself.

Gary Fox (front) has worked at Southside Speedway for 33 years; Chris Stefi race Late Model cars at the track from 1995 through 2002. Chris Stefi and Gary Fox are co-race directors at Southside Speedway. They handle driver relations, disqualifications and officiate races, among other things. Stefi and Fox are the track’s traffic cops Friday nights. Fox has worked at the track for 33 years. Stefi raced Late Model Stock cars at Southside from 1995 through 2002 when the class was discontinued at the track. Both have held nearly every job at the track.

When J.M. Wilkinson opened a small racetrack in Chesterfield County in 1959, it involved a little whim and a little peer pressure. Fifty years later, his daughters are carrying on in the family operation.

Thomas Stinson had one of the best cars all night at Southside Speedway, but he didn’t get to victory lane until the third of the three Modified feature races. In the first race, Stinson and Ryan Boggs battled for second behind Mike Rudy. While Rudy sailed to the win, Boggs and Stinson went into Lap 13 side-by-side. Stinson tried to take the low line but backed off. On Lap 19, Stinson got the low line on Boggs again and pulled ahead momentarily, but a caution in the second turn sent Stinson back to third because the lineup reverted to the last lap finished.

Thomas Stinson has had things go his way for the past five years at Southside Speedway. He’s been pushed occasionally but never really challenged for the Modified title at this demanding short track. Now, as Stinson looks in his rearview mirror, he can see a number of drivers closing in. However, no one is narrowing the gap as Midlothian’s Billy Morris. A two-time track champion, Morris has pulled to 20 points of Stinson’s lead in what has become one of the most competitive divisions during the track’s 50th season.

LOUDON, N.H. - Kyle Busch finally figured out a way to win again in NASCAR’s Nationwide Series. After two straight frustrating runner-up finishes in the second tier series, Busch passed Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Joey Logano near the end of the Camping World 200 yesterday and held off the precocious 19-year-old to earn the victory at New Hampshire International Speedway.

Billy Morris waited out two short rain delays to win one race and finish runner-up in the other in the Modified Twin 50s at Southside Speedway on Friday night. Thomas Stinson took the checkered flag in the Twin 50 nightcap. Daniel Shelton (Grand Stock), Brad Davis (Champ Kart), and Frank Silva (U-Car) also won their divisions. Modified 50 (first race, top 10): 1, Billy Morris; 2, Chris Johnson; 3, Thomas Stinson; 4, Mike Rudy; 5, Kyle Wood; 6, Alan Purser; 7, Ryan Boggs; 8, Ryan Wilbourne; 9, Ryan Slayton; 10, Chris Holyman

Finally, Jeff Oakley cleared the hurdle that he couldn’t get over the past several years at Southside Speedway. The Prince George resident doubled his pleasure last night. He won his first Late Model Sportsman pole, then clutched his hands around his first checkered flag. Oakley, piloting a Chevrolet Impala, dominated the 100-lap feature over the last 72 laps. After a roll of the dice (in which the top five qualifiers flipped positions) left Oakley in the fifth starting position, Oakley maneuvered his way into the lead on the 28th lap.

Jimmie Wayne Patterson, a former race car champion at several Central Virginia short tracks, died early Wednesday morning in a single-vehicle crash in Nottoway County. He was thrown from the pickup truck he was driving and pronounced dead at the scene, according to Virginia State Police. He was traveling westbound on U.S. 360 when he lost control of the truck at the intersection with state Route 615.

The fans at Southside Speedway were greeted with something special as the racetrack celebrated the beginning of its 50th anniversary last night. For the first time in years, the season opener featured Modifieds and Late Models. The fans, too, were welcomed back with another daring performance by five-time defending Modified champion Thomas Stinson. The winner of more races and championships than any driver at Southside this decade, Stinson convincingly captured his fifth consecutive season-opening race.

Thomas Stinson began racing at Southside in the Street Stock class. When he started racing 20 years ago, Thomas Stinson told anyone who would listen that by the time he finished racing at Southside Speedway his name would be etched on one of the racetrack’s concrete walls. Stinson was wrong. Already, the racetrack has honored him by putting his name on its wall. Stinson is a living legend at the Midlothian racetrack where he’s won five consecutive Modified championships.

A few local short tracks will start gearing up for their upcoming seasons today as drivers participate in testing and practice sesssions. Thomas Stinson, who has won five consecutive points titles, is expected to be among the drivers at Southside Speedway in Midlothian, which begins its 50th season April 10. Richmonders Scott Adams and Gene Snow are among a competitive class of Late Model drivers looking to reacquaint themselves with the dirt track at Virginia Motor Speedway in Jamaica, celebrating its 40th anniversary.