Barnes “thrown one hundred curveballs... hit the right one” in Triple Memorial 200 win at Dominion Raceway.

By Cody Sealey

A smashed watermelon that was triumphantly slammed from the roof of his car, an Advance

Auto Parts victory cap, and three separate trophies set a much better scene for Doug Barnes Jr.

at the Triple Memorial 200 at Dominion Raceway.

A week removed from a viral ride into the Cordele Motor Speedway melon patch during a CARS Tour race, Barnes Jr. returned to his hometrack to complete a three-peat.

Previously titled the Dickie Boswell 200, the Triple Memorial 200 was renamed to honor the late Boswell, Roy Hendrick, and Blake Morris during one special night. As the previous winner of the inaugural and 2nd Annual race, Barnes Jr.'s win Saturday night was his third in the three-year history of the event.

“It means a lot to win this race. I have a lot of respect for all three guys we are racing for,” said

Barnes Jr. from Bugsy Auto Repair Victory Lane. “I was feeling pretty confident when I saw

there was no watermelon patch here.”

AirDoug qualified on the pole, beating last year’s Dominion Raceway late model track

champion, Landon Pembelton by a mere two-one-hundredths of a second; however, it was

Pembelton who dominated the early stages of the race.

The #0 of Pembelton led the first 87 laps before Mason Bailey passed for the lead. Bailey would

be the halfway leader, but when the cars restarted after the lap 100 break, Pembelton regained

the lead.

On lap 125, Barnes Jr. passed Bailey for second place, and on lap 147, calamity struck for

Pembelton. The #0 cut a right-front tire in turn 3 while leading and slammed the wall, ending his night.

“I am not sure if I was able to chase Landon down; I don’t know if I would have had enough

time. He definitely had the car to beat,” said Barnes Jr. “I would never wish misfortune on

someone like that, especially a hard contact like that, because I’ve hit this wall before and it is

hard.”

With the dominant car on the tow truck, the adventure was just beginning for Barnes Jr. and the other competitors.

On lap 161, the #88 also had a right front tire issue and pulled to a stop on the backstretch,

bringing out a caution. Barnes’ team would change the tire, and Conner Weddell would assume

the lead in his late model debut.

On the subsequent restart, Trenton Kilgore would pass Weddell, but while jockeying for the

lead, Weddell and Kilgore would make heavy contact: Weddell’s car was destroyed and

Kilgore’s car was spun in the other direction.

When the dust settled, Cameron Burke was the leader, and Barnes Jr. needed seven laps to

chase him down. With 17 to-go, Barnes Jr. took the lead and would be the first to see the

checkered flag, winning the Triple Memorial 200.

“Right when I thought it might’ve been easy, I cut my own right front. I came in and they docked

me a lap, and then Conner and the white car got into it, and we got the lap right back, but then

we didn't get to start in the front, because we are the lucky dog and had to run the leader down

by a straightaway. It was probably one of the weirdest wins I’ve ever had,” said Barnes Jr.

“The previous two years, we had the car to beat and our strategy played out the way we needed

and tonight we were thrown one hundred curve balls and we hit the right one.”

Barnes Jr. will return to DR when the CARS Tour runs the Mini’s Mission 225 on June 14. He is

currently tied for 4th in points for the CARS Tour late model standings, and they are heading into the part of the schedule where they visit tracks he has prior experience racing.

“We are hitting the summer stretch and going to tracks that I have personally been to before like Orange County this weekend and then Ace and North Wilkesboro,” said Barnes Jr.

While he may get his first CARS Tour win in the Lee Pulliam Performance machine beforehand,

Barnes Jr. has his return to Dominion Raceway circled.

“When it comes to coming back here, we will be on the F45 Stars, so I don’t know how that is

gonna go. That’s probably gonna be all out for 225 laps,” said Barnes Jr. “This is a good

confidence booster after driving it into the watermelon patch last week.”

“We are gonna get on it; I am excited to come back with Lee [Pulliam] and everybody.”

In other Advance Auto Parts Night at the Races racing action, Penelope Carlisle got her first

hometrack win in the Bandos, while Miles Murray and Charlie Beals split INEX Legends wins.

Richard Powers got his first win of the season on the Dominion Stocks, and the Any Cars race

saw James Johnson win in the 6cyl class and Michael Pifer in the 8cyl class.