Fireworks fly on-and-off the track in Jack Henderson Memorial 35
By Markus Hankins
July 7th, 2014
Seymour, TN – On a beautiful Saturday afternoon under a blanket of blue skies, we would host the Jack Henderson Memorial 35 as we honored the memory of Jack Henderson. To help us commemorate the legacy of Jack Henderson properly, we enlisted the help of a familiar face, one Ray Dedrick, to share his words. When feature time rolled around, it was Chris Rickett taking the checkers in Street Stock. Sportsman was won by David Kerr as he picked up his 2nd win this season at 411, and first in Sportsman. NeSmith was up next, where Adam Beeler was the winner in the caution-free feature. Mini Stock was next, where John Byers crossed the line first, but was protested, refused teardown, and disqualified, making Michael Courtney the winner. Capping the night off was Limited Late Model, where the pace was slowed 9 times, but in the end, Jason Welshan was your winner, with Jason Manley coming home in 2nd.
Join us this Saturday July 12th as we welcome back the Thunder & Lightning division in hopes of having a strong car count in this division. We will also host the Sportsman Summer Sizzler 25, where the Sportsman drivers will qualify and feature race in this $600-to-win, $70-to-start, 25-lap feature event. Also in action will be NeSmith Late Model, Thunder & Lightning as we mentioned, Sportsman as mentioned, as well as Street Stock and Mini Stock. Regular event pricing will apply and can be seen on the Admission Pricing page under “The 4-1-1.” All gates open at 3:00p ET, with drivers meeting at 6:00p ET and hotlaps 6:15p ET.
Note to Sportsman competitors: If you want your hometown and sponsors mentioned during qualifying (the only real opportunity for us to do so), and you haven’t already (on or before July 5th) filled out an information sheet at the track or submitted an information form on the website, please do so as soon as possible. We want to make sure we mention who you are, where you’re from, and who supports you. So please take a few minutes to fill out an information form on our website before this Saturday (again, if you haven’t already turned in a sheet or submitted a form on or before July 5th) so that we may have information on you. Any information forms or sheets collected on Saturday July 12th, will not be received until following the features, so any information form or sheet turned in at any time on July 12th will not be used, regardless of if they’re turned in at the track or submitted online. You can find the form right here: http://411motorspeedway.net/links/driver-information-form.
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Street Stock
The front row consisted of Chris Rickett on the pole and Gary Blanken on the outside front row. At the drop of the green flag, Blanken would blast out to the race lead. Caution quickly flew however, slowing the pace and resetting the lineup as no laps were complete. Green would wave once again, and Blanken would jump to the lead. However, on lap 2, he would hand the lead over to Rickett, who led the field through the final 2 cautions en-route to his first win at 411. Coming home in 2nd was Blanken, with Jeff McLemore rounding out the top 3.
Cautions: 3 (Laps 0, 6, 7)
Leaders: 5-Blanken (1-2); 36-Rickett (3-20)
Sportsman
Josh Driskill and David Kerr led the field to the green flag, where Kerr got the early jump. Caution would quickly fly however, resulting in the lineup being reset. Once the field got lined back up, Kerr jumped out to the lead once again, and would lead through a series of cautions. On lap 18, caution would fly, but the field would have another chance to make a challenge. When the green flag flew however, caution would come out once again. With the time expired, the decision was made by track officials to drop the checkered flag under caution, handing Kerr his first career win in Sportsman, and his 2nd this season at 411. His other win came in the Thunder & Lightning division. Coming in 2nd was David Miley, with Wayne Rader rounding out the top 3.
Cautions: 5 (Laps 0, 3, 9, 18, 18)
Leaders: 14-Kerr (1-18)
NeSmith Late Model
Adam Beeler and Justin Summers led the field to the green flag in NeSmith, but Beeler would quickly jump to the lead. However the battle was on for the 2nd position as Matt Henderson would move from his 4th place starting spot to the 2nd spot about the midway point. He and Anthony White would make contact a couple times while racing hard for the 2nd spot, but it would end abruptly when White would make contact with the left-rear tire on the Henderson machine, resulting in a flat tire, ending Henderson’s night prematurely. After the dust settled, it was Beeler coming home with the win in this caution-free feature, followed by White in the 2nd spot and 3rd went to Rusty Ballenger.
Cautions: None
Leaders: 66-Beeler (1-30)
Mini Stock
Tommy Metler and John Byers were the front row for Mini Stock. Immediately at the drop of the green flag, Byers would stretch the lead to several car lengths. Caution would slow the pace until lap 4. After the 2nd attempt to get past lap 4, track officials looked at the clock and unfortunately, were forced to shorten this feature to just 5 laps. At the green, Byers jumped again to the race lead, motoring to the win over the “Mini Stock Dominator” Michael Courtney. But, the race wasn’t over yet as Courtney would lodge a technical protest against Byers. Byers would be consulted by track officials and would quickly refuse teardown, resulting in Byers’ disqualification. Courtney was the new winner over Bryant Idles and William Tallent.
Cautions: 5 (Laps 1, 2, 4, 4, 4)
Leaders: J7-Byers (1-5)
Jack Henderson Memorial 35
The Limited Late Model division returned to the banks of Tennessee’s Action Track, as it was the final feature before our big fireworks show. Now, we had a fireworks show planned for after this feature, but we didn’t expect to have TWO fireworks shows, more on that a little later. The front row was made up of a pair of Jason’s, with Jason Cardwell being your polesitter and Jason Welshan being outside. At the drop of the green flag, Welshan would power to the race lead. He would lead through the first 6 cautions, until Brad Lowe would power around the outside on Welshan after several attempts to his inside. Lowe would lead the field through 3 more cautions, when Welshan was blast to the inside on Lowe. Contact was made, and after the checkered flag flew, there were cars all over the place in turn 4, with Welshan taking the win. Cory Hedgecock slid into the 2nd spot as Lowe spun after the contact, but Hedgecock would spin in turn 4, kicking up a cloud of dust. At the end and once everything sorted out, there were several torn up race cars, but it was Welshan standing in victory lane as he was the first car across the line. Jason Manley and Chris Wilson being your 2nd and 3rd place finisher. Oh, remember the fireworks we mentioned before? Fireworks flew as Hedgecock would exit his car in an attempt to speak to one of the drivers involved. He would make contact with a track official, but because he had exited his car, per track rules, he was disqualified from the event. After all the dust settled and the victory lane celebrations were ongoing, the Sevier County Rescue Squad lit up the fireworks on the backstretch and treat our wonderful fans to an excellent fireworks display.
Cautions: 9 (Laps 5, 8, 9, 9, 11, 12, 18, 21, 28)
Leaders: 29-Welshan (1-13, 35); 16-Lowe (14-34)