Kyle Courtney becomes youngest-ever feature winner
By Markus Hankins
May 27th, 2014
Seymour, TN – It was another beautiful day in East Tennessee, as fans and drivers alike came out to the 411 Motor Speedway by the numbers. A total of 54 cars signed in. Kicking the night off was Adam Beeler taking fast qualifier honors for the NeSmith Late Model division. He would draw a 3, placing him in the 3rd starting spot for the dash. Rusty Ballenger, last year’s Limited Late Model champion, took the checkers, and $100, in the Fast 4 Dash. Thunder & Lightning was the first feature, with Chase King taking his 4th win of the season. Next was Sportsman, where Wayne Rader would claim his 4th checkers of the season. Street Stock was the next feature, with Jerry Hux getting win #2. Mini Stock was won by 13-year-old Kyle Courtney, as he became the youngest-ever winner at 411 Motor Speedway. Closing the night out was Rusty Ballenger claiming the checkers in NeSmith Late Model.
Join us again this Saturday May 31st as we welcome back the cars & stars of the Limited Late Model division for a special event. They’ll race for $1,000, as will the NeSmith Late Model division. Also in action will be Sportsman, Street Stock, and Mini Stock. Thunder & Lightning will have a night off. Adult Grandstand admission will be $10, kids 12 & under free with paying adult in the grandstands. Adult Pit Passes are $25, with kids 11 & under $15 with signed minor release. All gates will open at 3:00p ET, with the drivers meeting slated for 6:00p ET, hotlaps 6:15p ET, and NeSmith Qualifying at 7:00p ET. See you Saturday!
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Thunder & Lightning
Kicking the night off was the Thunder & Lightning division, where Chase King won the heat race to secure the pole position. Jeffrey Wood would start on the outside. At the drop of the checkers on lap 15, it was King taking the win over Wood and Steve Owens Jr.
Cautions: None
Leaders: 1 – 44-King (1-15)
Sportsman
Terry Poore and Lee Merritt led the field to the green flag in Sportsman. Controversey however would overshadow this feature, as contact between Sawyer and Poore in turn 2, led to Sawyer going around on the backstretch and almost into the wall. This resulted in Poore being sent to the rear and receiving a rough driving warning, and Sawyer being sent to the infield, done for the night due to damage. The field would make 2 more attempts to settle down and get some green flag racing in, and they did just that as Rader would show the way. Poore would work his way up through the field, when contact between Poore and Merritt resulted in Merritt slamming into the outside wall in turn 3 on lap 13. This would end Merritt’s night as Poore continued. At the checkers, it was Rader taking the win over Poore and Joey Standridge.
Cautions: 4 – (Laps 1, 1, 1, 13)
Leaders: 1 – 01-Rader (1-15)
Street Stock
Bradley Lewelling and Justin French would lead the Street Stock field to the green flag. At the drop of the flag, Lewelling would snatch the lead while French would drop to 4th. Lewelling would lead the first 7 circuits, when the caution would fly, bunching the field back up. On the restart, Jerry Hux made little work of Lewelling as he blasted around for the lead, and never looked back as he took the win over Lewelling, with last year’s champion David Price rounding out the top 3.
Cautions: 1 – (Lap 7)
Leaders: 2 – 1B-Lewelling (1-7); 01-Hux (8-20)
Mini Stock
The Mini Stock field would be led to the green by Mike Townsend and Rocky McNabb. Michael Courtney would find himself with a dead-last starting spot as he’s won multiple features in a row, and per track rules, must start in the rear after 4 consecutive points-paying race wins in a row. At the drop of the green flag, Michael Courtney would go to work, as would McNabb, who stole the lead. Kyle Courtney, nephew of Michael Courtney and son of Brian Courtney, would drop to 5th for the first few laps, but would begin reeling the field back in. By lap 14, Kyle Courtney had pulled to within a half car length behind McNabb. Kyle Courtney would roll up his sleeves and dig a little deeper, when on lap 18, he would steal the race lead from McNabb. At this time, Michael Courtney had moved to within a car length of McNabb. Caution would fly, which was likely the last thing any of the Courtney’s wanted to see, as Brian Courtney watched from inside his race car in the staging area. At the drop of the green flag, Kyle Courtney drove like a veteran, muscling his machine around the speedway for the final 2 laps to his first-career big-car win. He was followed to the line by Uncle Michael Courtney and Rocky McNabb. Kyle Courtney would pull to the flagstand and climb from his car, where Brian Courtney pulled onto the race track to celebrate. Uncle Michael also came to the celebration, as he wiped tears from his eyes. Oh, and did we mention, Kyle Courtney just recently turned 13 years old? WOW!
Cautions: 3 – (Laps 0, 4, 18)
Leaders: 2 – 51-McNabb (1-16); 171-Kyle Courtney (17-20)
NeSmith Late Model
The NeSmith portion of the night got kicked off with Adam Beeler setting fast time in NeSmith Late Model Qualifying with his lap of 14.239. He would head to the pit area, where he drew a 3 to invert the Top 4 qualifiers for the Fast Car Dash. Rusty Ballenger would be the new polesitter after the Dash win (and $100 paycheck already). Joining him on the outside would be Brian Courtney. At the drop of the green flag, Ballenger charged into the race lead. The first caution flew on lap 7 as things got tight off turn 4 as Ryan King was in the middle 3-wide with Chad Beeler to his outside and Courtney to his inside. Incidental contact between Courtney and King would result in King’s night being concluded. Ballenger went back to work over the final 23 laps to claim the NeSmith Late Model win over Adam Beeler and Courtney.
Cautions: 1 – (Lap 7)
Leaders: 1 – 29-Ballenger (1-30)