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Johnston Wins 6th Straight Pure Stock race, Jaxon Bishop Takes Mod 50, Thorpe in Crowns, Davis wins Sportsmen; Don Meyer Wins Demo Derby..

Back To School Bash, August 8.

Meyer’s Purple Caddy Collects $1,500 Demo Derby Prize; Davis Scores First 5 Flags

By Chuck Corder
5flagsspeedway.com reporter

The purple-and-gold, beat-up Cadillac lumbered into its starting spot on the slick asphalt.
Inspired by either Grimace or Crown Royal, and straight out of Huggy Bear’s garage, the mid-1980s-or-earlier beast struck an imposing figure lined up against the 10 others for the annual Demolition Derby on Friday at Five Flags Speedway.
A standing-room-only crowd roared with jubilation and approval as the junkyard specials smashed into each other, sprinkling sheet metal and rubber across the front stretch. One went airbone under the flagstand following a three-car collision at one point. Another car lost a whole tire from its wheel.
Don Meyer’s “Caddy” reigned supreme, befitting its royal colors, when the billowing clouds of smoke and engines settled. The Pensacola native outlasted 2024 Demo Dery champion Joshua Dennis on Michles & Booth Back 2 School Bash at Five Flags.
Meyer was forced to climb out the passenger window to accept his checkered flag and $1,500 winner’s purse.
“A lotta work and praying,” Meyer said, describing what it took to build his big, American, winning machine.

Modifieds of Mayhem
Jaxon Bishop’s maiden voyage took him to Victory Lane at Five Flags Speedway.
Debuting a brand-new Modifieds of Mayhem car, Bishop was lightning fast all day. He was top of the charts in qualifying (17.641 seconds) and took the lead 11 laps into the 50-lapper. He started fourth following the die-roll invert.
“This was our first race and the best car I’ve driven,” Bishop said. “We do everything in house. We’ve worked hard to come up with some different ideas lately. They’re all starting to come together. Gotta do something to get faster and compete with the (No.) 46.”
The 46 refers to Cody Stickler, who has four career Mods Snowball Derby wins. Stickler wasn’t in Pensacola on Friday, but he continues to be the standard other drivers chase.
“We’re not happy with winning regular (season) races,” Bishop said. “We wanna win the Derby and other big races.”
Brad Bowman finished runner-up and Bubba VanDevender rounded out the podium.
“We would’ve been something if we had all eight cylinders firing,” Bowman said.

The Dock on Pensacola Beach Sportsmen
Charles Davis, who turns 65 in a matter of days, got an early birthday present on Friday.
The Lapine, Ala., driver took home his first career win at Five Flags Speedway with his victory in The Dock on Pensacola Beach Sportsmen 25-lap feature.
Chad Robinson made a valiant charge down the stretch, only to finish second. Daryl McDonald III came home third.
“What the hell just happened?!” an overjoyed Davis said. “I’ve been chasing this dream for a long time. You don’t ever give up on chasing.”
Davis took the lead on Lap 14, passing Darvin Lyons, and Robinson followed close behind to assume second. But Robinson could never reach Davis’ back bumper to make a charge to add to his three other victories at Five Flags.
“I wanna thank Chad for driving me clean,” Davis said. “We kinda showed out, didn’t we?”
Robinson added: “I’ve got nothing bad to say about Mr. Charles. He’s a really good man and I feel good running second to him.”

Lloyd’s Glass Pure Stocks
Mason Johnston showed no cracks in his armor Friday night.
Johnston wasn’t bothered one bit at Five Flags Speedway with a $300 bounty placed on him by track officials after a perfect start to 2025.
He ran his winning streak to four this season with a commanding performance in the Lloyd’s Glass Pure Stocks 25-lap feature. Johnston now has six victories in a row overall, dating back to last year. The last time he lost at Five Flags was Aug. 4, 2024.
“Paw Paw to told me not worry about championships, just worry about wins,” Johnston said of his grandfather, Okie Mason—the Gulf Coast short-track icon who once won six championships across two divisions. “Championships will take care of themselves.”
The defending Pure Stocks Derby champion is well on his way to a track title after a couple of near-misses in recent years.
Connor Odom finished runner-up and Sean Barnes was third.

Story & Bleich Roofing Crown Stocks
The night was doubly sweet for Doug Thorpe Jr.
The 60-something returned to Victory Lane for the first time since April at Five Flags Speedway when he held on for the Story and Bleich Roofing Crown Stock 25-lap feature.
He got a boost in his quest to defend his track title when series points leader Adam Salter inexplicably broke midway through the feature. What was once a 70-point lead is now down to 31 against Thorpe.
“For a man in my 60s, I’m having a blast,” Thorpe said. “There’s some hope for us old men. I hate that it wasn’t a lot of crashing and banging for fans, but that was a lot of fun.”
Chris Salter, Adam’s brother, finished second and Chris Mitchell was third.

Story and Bleigh Roofing Crowns 10 for Previous Non-winners
5 Jason Lang, Warner Robbins, GA 1
8 Jonathan Johnson, Enterprise, AL 2
11 Zach Abdelwahed, Pensacola, FL 3
51 Kody Howard, Ponchatoula, LA 4
1 James Oneal, Wilmer, AL 5
5 Andrew Farmer, Ft. Valley, GA 6
1776 Steve Sidner, Pensacola, FL 7
68 Caleb Sanford, Coden, AL 8
75 Colton Rutherford, Cantonment, FL 9
29 Tyler Landis, 10
27 Michael Chadwick, Ozark, AL 11

Lloyd’s Glass Pure Stock 25

1 6 Mason Johnston, Eight Mile, AL
2 2 Connor Odom, Pensacola, FL
3 14 Sean Barnes, Pensacola, FL
4 24 Caleb Burkett, Pensacola, FL
5 16 Rocky Boyd, Pensacola, FL
6 28 Dayton Sidner, Pensacola, FL
8 24 Robert Barber, Irvington, AL
9 98 Payton Guy, Pace , FL

Modifieds of Mayhem 50
1 2 Jaxon Bishop, Toney, AL
2 2 Brad Bowman, Clearwater, FL
3 86 Bubba VanDevender N. Ft. Myers, FL
4 68 Matt Martin, Sumiton, AL
5 18 Kevin Peel, Chipley, FL
6 79 Joe Aramendia, Seguin, TX
7 91 Ander Jackson, Punta Gorda, FL
8 81 Jeremy Williams, Dora, AL
9 57 Tim Moore, St. Petersburg, FL
10 31 Brad Stell, New Market, AL
11 62 Buddy Anderson, Athens, AL
12 48 Hunter Evans, Jasper, AL
13 8 Steven Davis, Mobile, AL
14 7 Ryan Price, Dora, AL
15 51 Tre Huff, Toney, AL
16 88 Larry Hughes, Deatsville, AL
17 10 Todd Jones, Pace, FL
18 32 Malcom Spears, Baker, FL

Story and Bleich Roofng 25 Crowns
1 62 Doug Thorpe, Jr. Pensacola, FL
2 8 Chris Salter, Andalusia, AL
3 22 Chris Mitchell, Mt. Olive, AL
4 5 Jason Lang, Jr. Warner Robbins, GA
5 8 Austin Reeves, Enterprize, AL
6 10 Braden Kitchen, Pensacola, FL
7 8 Jonathan Johnson, Enterprise, AL
8 44 Tyler Young, Pensacola, FL
9 68 Caleb Sanford, Coden, AL
10 12 Dee Davis, Walnut Hill, AL
11 5 Andrew Farmer, Ft. Valley, GA
12 1 James Oneal, Wilmer, AL
13 51 Kody Howard, Ponchatoula, LA
14 5 Jason Lang, Warner Robbins, GA
15 75 Colton Rutherford, Cantonment, FL
16 97 Hunter Lambert, Pensacola, FL
17 1776 Steve Sidner, Pensacola, FL
18 11 Zach Abdelwahed, Pensacola, FL
19 6 Adam Salter, Andalusia, AL

Dock on Pensacola Beach Sportsmen 25
1 6 Charles Davis, LaPine, AL
2 32 Chad Robinson, Mobile, AL
3 19 Daryl McDonald, III, Theodore, AL
4 29 Parker McDonald, Theodore, AL
5 10 Darvin Lyons, Irvington, AL
6 7 Jim Pokrant Pensacola, FL
7 56 Bubba Deaton, Millbrook, AL

Demolition Derby
Don Meyer of Pensacola in a Cadillac.

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