Milliken Scores FUEL Victory At County Line Raceway
(Elm City, NC) Exorcising the Elm City demons that have notoriously haunted him in the past, Willie Milliken led flag to flag Saturday night at County Line Raceway to pick up $3000 and his first FUEL Racing Series victory of the 2019 season. It was an emotional win for the Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina driver who held off 2018 CLR “Race For The Kids” Champion Michael Rouse in a 40 Lap feature that was slowed by only one caution flag.
Milliken kicked off the evening by edging out Michael Batten in Renegade Racing Fuel-Ford’s Fuel South East Master Distributor Time Trials with a lap of 14.589 seconds. Milliken continued his momentum with a victory in PRO FABrication, Inc Heat Race #1 which also saw Steve Banal experience misfortune that would unfortunately sideline the championship leader for the rest of the evening. Daniel Baggerly made an impressive return to the series by capturing SRI Dirt & Drag Heat Race #2 as Batten experienced mechanical failure that ended his night prematurely.
Milliken and Baggerly paced the field to start the Rick Hendrick City Chevrolet Main Event with the rest of the field in tow. Looking for a clean sweep of the night, Milliken powered to the lead as the side by side action intensified behind him. Rouse quickly moved into the runner-up spot as Baggerly, Robbie Emory, Shaun Harrell, and others jockeyed for track position. A brief caution flag emerged on Lap 5 and when the ensuing green flag dropped, Milliken reestablished his control of the race. As Milliken and Rouse separated themselves from the field, Baggerly held onto 3rd while Emory and Harrell charged towards the front in hopes of gaining valuable championship points. Emory would eventually slide by Baggerly as he and the rest of the field kept their fingers crossed for a late race caution that would allow them to challenge the lead duo. That caution flag never came as the last 35 laps were completed consecutively under green flag conditions. Milliken gained his first series victory at the 3/8 mile oval and was followed by Rouse, Emory, Baggerly, and Harrell.
Up next for FUEL is a doubleheader weekend on Friday, June 28th at Carolina Speedway and Saturday, June 29th at Cherokee Speedway.
For more information about FUEL you can visit the website (
www.fuelracingseries.com ), find us on Facebook (FUEL Racing Series), and follow us on Twitter (@FuelLateModels)
Partners of the FUEL Racing Series include: Chevrolet Performance, Rick Hendrick City Chevrolet, Hoosier Tire South Dirt Oval, Renegade Racing Fuel-Ford's Fuel South East Master Distributor, FK Rod Ends, Velocita, SRI Dirt & Drag, PRO FABrication Inc, Elk Outdoors LLC, Ntense Graphics, and Thomas Clarke Performance.
County Line Raceway 6/1/19
City Chevrolet Main Event Results
(Pending Lab Test Results)
1) Willie Milliken #1
2) Michael Rouse #23R
3) Robbie Emory #9E
4) Daniel Baggerly #16
5) Shaun Harrell #3
6) Matthew Bissette #23B
7) Gary Dillon #82
8) Ethan Wilson #32
9) Christian Joyner #C9
10) Spencer Liggon #18L
11) Cy Nelms Jr #91
12) John Eller #5E
13) Mason Price #8
14) Chris Radford #69
15) Roger Lucas #79
16) Dykes Maynard #7
17) Damon Kotke #02
DNS - Steve Banal #8B
DNS - Trevor Peoples #47P
DNS - Michael Batten #21