Hamner adds two checkered flags

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Winning consecutive days on separate tracks some 250 miles apart is not unheard of, just rare. However Chelsea&8217;s Josh Hamner did just that the second weekend in June for his first wins of the season.

After riding out an afternoon rain shower on June 8 at Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Fla., Hamner quickly took the lead at the drop of the green flag and held on for his first victory of the season in the Pro Late Model series.

&8220;I&8217;ve been waiting three years to cross the finish line first,&8221; Hamner told track promoters following the victory. &8220;I consider this my home away from home. It&8217;s about time.&8221;

The win was Hamner&8217;s first true victory at Five Flags after numerous second place finishes and a first-place win last year after the top car was disqualified.

The next stop for Hamner was Mobile. However, with storms moving in Saturday afternoon, the race was called off, cutting the Gulf Coast weekend short. Or so his race team thought.

After finding out the Mobile race was rained out, a crew member jokingly mentioned Birmingham. Hamner checked the time on his cell phone, 4:30 p.m. That was just enough time to run fast up Interstate 65 and make start time at the Birmingham International Speedway.

He reached his home track at the Alabama Fairgrounds around 7:55, just in time to position himself at the back of the pack. Within 16 laps, Hamner moved his way past half the field and positioned himself into second place 30 laps later. In the 60th lap, Hamner slid into the lead and held on for the rare last-to-first win with the help of a few caution flags.

&8220;I really wasn&8217;t worried about starting at the tail end of the field, because that&8217;s where I learned how to race. I thought I&8217;d come out of there. Lady Luck has a lot to do with it,&8221; Hamner said.

He is now 11th in points with 320 in the Birmingham Super Series and fifth at Five Flags with 265 points, 10 points out of the lead.

It was his first race at BIR since finishing eighth in the 13th annual Davey Allison Memorial 100 in April.

He is scheduled to return to the fairgrounds on July 3 to race the Independence 100, the next installment of the Super Series