Stickler Wins, Bishop Is Modifieds Of Mayhem Champ

Cody Stickler celebrates in victory lane Friday night at Five Flags Speedway. (Modifieds of Mayhem photo)

PENSACOLA, Fla. – On a night when the Modifieds of Mayhem Tour championship battle lived up to the series’ billing, Cody Stickler made the checkered flag all his own in commanding fashion.

After starting from the pole at Five Flags Speedway but losing the lead to Kaden Honeycutt on the initial green flag, Stickler took control on a lap-five restart – when Honeycutt slowed with engine troubles – and never looked back.

Stickler led the remaining 71 circuits in the 75-lap feature and pulled away to a 1.519-second victory over fellow veteran Kyle Purvis in a late-race runaway through lap traffic.

It marked Stickler’s record fourth straight Modifieds of Mayhem win during Snowball Derby week, a record for any division during Pensacola’s most prestigious stretch of racing.

“Man, five years back I came here just hoping to get one win, and now to have four of them feels unreal,” said Stickler, whose victory was his 15th series win overall. “Doug and Kim Moff keep this program rolling and give us everything we need to run up front and do what we do. All our guys bust their butts on this car all the time and this is for them.

“They make me look good; I just hold the wheel and take what the car gives me.”

Friday night’s modified feature was every bit as chaotic as the Pro Truck headliner from a night prior, with two red flags and numerous multi-car incidents leading to just 17 of the 31 starters finishing the race.

Honeycutt was gunning for his second win in as many days after taking the Pro Truck laurels, as well as qualifying second for the headlining super late model Snowball Derby, but when the engine went sour aboard his No. 21 Sotex Motorsports modified he pulled to the pits and ended up 26th in the final order.

Later on, the three Modifieds of Mayhem points contenders – Jaxon Bishop, Jeff Letson, and Jeremy Williams – all crashed in back-to-back lap-43 restarts, leaving the championship in chaos as Stickler pulled away down the home stretch for his third series win in three starts this year.

Purvis’ runner-up finish came on the heels of a win in Winchester Speedway’s “Run for the Gun” event, making for a successful part-time campaign for the Ohio driver in 2024.

“We struggle to qualify down here in Pensacola, but we always seem to have a good race piece,” noted Purvis. “We had a good hot rod, just not as good as the one Cody had.”

Kevin Peel, Derrick Griffin, and Brett Hudson finished third through fifth, respectively, followed by Jared Maupin, Timothy Moore, Aaron Timmerman, Zach Stacy, and Dodge Carlbert.

Despite his damage, Letson was in position to wrest the title away from Bishop in the closing stages, holding a top-10 running position while Bishop was out of the race in 20th.

But Letson had to pull pitside under green with 20 to go and lost numerous laps as a result, relegating him to 16th and allowing Bishop to claim his second Modifieds of Mayhem championship by 10 points.

In supporting action, Adam Salter took the lead from Ryan Maxwell on lap three of 25 and went on to win the Crown Stock race at the half-mile oval by a whopping 6.125 seconds.

Braeden Kitchen was the runner-up, ahead of Hunter Lambert, Doug Thorpe, and Maxwell, who faded back to close the top five.

Snowball Derby week at Five Flags Speedway continues Saturday with the Allen Turner Hyundai Snowflake 100 for pro late models, as well as the last chance qualifier for the Snowball Derby cars not yet locked into Sunday’s 300-lap super late model classic.

Every lap from Five Flags Speedway can be streamed live through FloRacing.

The results:

Modifieds of Mayhem A-Main (75 laps) 1. Cody Stickler, 2. Kyle Purvis, 3. Kevin Peel, 4. Derrick Griffin, 5. Brett Hudson, 6. Jared Maupin, 7. Timothy Moore, 8. Aaron Timmerman, 9. Zach Stacy, 10. Dodge Carlbert, 11. Peyton Burba, 12. Donny Matteson Jr., 13. Donnie Hamrac, 14. Jody Anderson, 15. Jason Loveday, 16. Jeff Letson, 17. Hunter Evans, 18. Brad Stell, 19. Alec Manke, 20. Jaxon Bishop, 21. Jeremy Williams, 22. Parker Pugh, 23. Max Calles, 24. Todd Jones, 25. Billy Melvin, 26. Kaden Honeycutt, 27. Blaine Akin, 28. Cody Brake, 29. Jordan Key, 30. Matt Maurer, 31. Shane Jones.

Crown Stock A-Main (25 laps): 1. Adam Salter, 2. Braeden Kitchen, 3. Hunter Lambert, 4. Doug Thorpe, 5. Ryan Maxwell, 6. Okie Mason, 7. Ryan Bleich, 8. Blaise Boykin, 9. Dee Davis, 10. John Taylor, 11. Colton Rutherford, 12. Steve Sidner, 13. Chris Mitchell, 14. Mike Stacy, 15. Garrison Story.