Perfect. That is how to describe Darrell Lanigan’s weekend at the Possum Town Grand Prix at Magnolia Motor Speedway in Columbus, MS, after he set fast time and won his heat race to capture the pole on Friday and then scored a lap-to-lap victory in Saturday's feature.

Lanigan brought the car to the Mag to shake it down and find a buyer for the brand-new machine. He left the racetrack with a check for $10,000 of the purse and sold his car the day before the race.

But for all his seeming dominance, Lanigan did not completely run away from the field. A bobble on lap 99 allowed Ronnie Johnson to get on the back bumper. Johnson dove to the basement; Lanigan twisted the wheel back in line and held the Tennessee Hall of Fame inductee at bay.

"This is pretty cool," Lanigan said. "I came down here last year with Grant Garrison, and this year, we built him a new car for next year, so I said I'd come down and try it out. We sold this car yesterday, so we'll go back to the shop and build him another one. This place is awesome. This is the reason we came back down here to race. The Golden Helmet NeSmith trophy is pretty different, so that will have a place in my trophy case back in Union."

To challenge for the lead, the 11th-starting Johnson benefited from a mid-race caution. In the Delaware-style restart, Johnson was pushed to the outside as the third-place starter. That allowed him to settle immediately on the cushion and rocket around the track. Finding the high line proved to be a boon as he kept Lanigan in sight from lap 56 until the end.

The lap-56 caution waved over Lanigan’s young protégé Grant Garrison who stalled on the frontstretch while running comfortably in the top five. The rookie contender finished 15th.

Evan Ellis mounted a late-race charge to complete the podium after starting fifth, while Jamey Boland finished fourth from fourth. Fifth went to Walker Arthur after starting 13th, but the hard charger of the race narrowly missed the top five.

The rookie of the race honors went to Colton Horner, who charged from 20th to sixth — not bad for a driver barely in his teens. The 14-year-old from Katy, Texas, outran his closest freshman competitor, Andy Pickelsimer, by seven positions. Pickelsimer stalled his car on lap 42 to bring out the second caution of the night and slow the field.

Top 10 Finishers 1. Darrell Lanigan 2. Ronnie Johnson 3. Evan Ellis 4. Jamey Boland 5. Walker Arthur 6. Colton Horner 7. Matt Henderson 8. Grant Pearl 9. Spencer Hughes 10. Cale Finley