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Rusty Ballenger cruises to NeSmith win as David Miley captures first Sportsman win
By Markus Hankins
July 14th, 2014
Seymour, TN – Another beautiful afternoon graced the 411 Motor Speedway on Saturday afternoon, where the night got kicked off with NeSmith Qualifying. Adam Beeler would eclipse the previous fastest time with his blistering lap of 14.065. Rusty Ballenger was not far behind as the 2nd place qualifier, who turned in a lap of 14.076. Next was Sportsman, where David Miley would take fast qualifier honors and start on the pole for the Sportsman feature with his lap of 14.514 which was good enough to earn him the Sportsman division qualifying record. When feature time rolled around, Thunder & Lightning was first, where Chase King took win #5 on the season. Sportsman was next, where we saw a record 11 cautions and the feature shortened because of time to 20 laps. Jordon Horton took the win, but was light on the scales, handing the win over to David Miley. Next was Street Stock, where Chris Rickett took win #2 and 2 in a row. Nick Perry took win #3 in Mini Stock, and capping off the night was Rusty Ballenger, also collecting win #3.
As announced several times on Saturday night, 411 Motor Speedway will sit idle on Saturday July 19th as we take care of the racing surface for our first hosting of the Schaeffer’s Oil Southern Nationals series on Tuesday July 22nd. In support of the Schaeffer’s Oil Souther Nationals Super Late Models will be Sportsman, Street Stock, and Mini Stock.
On Tuesday July 22nd, the gates will swing open at 3:00p ET, with the drivers meeting scheduled for 6:45p ET and hotlaps at 7:00p ET. We would like to remind all competitors at this time that the 411 Motor Speedway is under a strict 11:00p curfew, so all drivers need to make sure they know when they need to be in staging and must be lined up promptly.
Admission pricing for July 22nd will be Adult Grandstands $18 (if you kept your ticket stub from Saturday July 12th, present it at the ticket booth for $2 off), kids 12 & under still free with paid adult. Adult Pit Passes $30, kids 12 & under $15 with signed minor release. We hope to see a packed house as we welcome for the first time the Schaeffer’s Oil Southern Nationals to Tennessee’s Action Track! Who will take home the top prize? Will the Super Late Model and overall track record be broken?! Be there to find out!
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Thunder & Lightning
The first feature of the evening saw the return of the Thunder & Lightning division to the program. The front row was made up of Rocky Ogle and Charles Devine. At the drop of the green flag, it was Rocky Ogle taking the lead. He would lead until lap 5 when Chase King would roar to the race lead. He would lead the remaining 14 circuits on his way to his 5th win in his 8 starts on the season. Coming home 2nd was Devine as he recorded his first top-3 finish of the season. Rounding out the top 3 was Ogle, besting his previous best finish of 7th.
Cautions: 2
Leaders: 9-Ogle (1-5); 44-King (6-20)
Sportsman
The front row was made up of David Miley and Rex Coffey. At the drop of the green flag, it was all Miley as he blasted off to the race lead. He would lead the first two circuits, until Jordon Horton would power into the race lead on lap 2. He would lead from lap 3 and through the next 8 cautions to take the win. David Miley would tie for the 3rd time his season-best finish of 2nd. 3rd would go to Lee Merritt, besting his best finish of 5th, which he accomplished twice this season. However, celebration was short-lived for Horton, as the scales would show his machine was light, resulting in his disqualification. This made the new winner David Miley, as he would pick up his first win in Sportsman. Merritt would improve on his best finish with his 2nd place effort. Coming home 3rd was Wayne Rader, who has 5 wins on the season.
Cautions: 11 (Laps 1, 1, 2, 4, 11, 12, 14, 17, 17, 18)
Leaders: 71-Miley (1-2); 56H-Horton (3-20)
Fast Qualifier: 71-David Miley (14.514)
Street Stock
The front row for Street Stock had last-week’s winner Chris Rickett on the pole, with Dale Watson on the outside. Both drivers were looking for win #2 on the season. At the drop of the green flag, Rickett would power into the race lead, with Watson on his heels. However, trouble would strike Watson as he would be forced to the infield for the night a few laps later. Rickett would lead all 20 laps on his way to his 2nd win of the season and 2nd consecutive win. Travis Reno was in the 2nd spot, who also has a win to his credit. He would attempt to lodge a protest against Rickett on the scales, however the protest was disallowed as Reno did not have the associated fees to turn in before leaving the scales, per track rules. Coming in 3rd was Brady Lee, bettering his previous best finish of 8th.
Cautions: None
Leaders: 36-Rickett (1-20)
Mini Stock
The front row for Mini Stock showed Mike Townsend (0 wins) on the pole, with Nick Perry (2 wins) outside. At the drop of the green flag, Townsend would get the jump off 2, but caution would quickly fly, resulting in a complete restart. With Townsend and Perry still your front row, they would mash the loud pedal off 4 for the 2nd attempt, but this time Perry got the jump off 2. The win would not be easy for Perry, as Michael Courtney quickly rocketed from his 11th place starting spot to battle the top 2. Kyle Courtney would make several advances, pulling alongside Perry several times but never could complete the pass. Finally, he would make a last-ditch effort later on in the feature, which opened the door for his uncle, Michael Courtney, to pull into the 2nd spot. Michael Courtney would hound Perry for the win, also pulling alongside, but it was all Perry as he drove to victory. Perry, who won his heat race, did have a scare following his heat. Coming off turn 2 after taking the checkers, his left-rear wheel chose to leave the car and bounce into the hotpit area. Luckily, nobody was around. Perry picks up win #3 on the season, capping his weekend sweep as he took the checkers at Smoky Mountain on Friday. There was also a bounty on Michael Courtney, in which Perry took home an extra $100 for his effort. Michael Courtney would finish up in 2nd, one position short of win #11. In 3rd was Kyle Courtney with his win total standing at 1.
Cautions: 4 (Laps 0, 2, 9, 10)
Leaders: 19-Perry (1-20)
NeSmith Late Model
NeSmith was up next, with the front row having Rusty Ballenger (2 wins) on the pole, with Greg Martin (1 win) on the outside. Fast qualfier Adam Beeler started in the 4th spot as he finished 4th in the Fast Car Dash. Beeler’s time of 14.065 eclipsed the previous fastest qualifying time for the season, set a week ago by Beeler himself, which was 14.080. At the drop of the green flag, Ballenger muscled into the lead off 2. He would hold onto the lead through the race’s 5 cautions to pick up his 3rd win of the season. Coming home in 2nd was Ryan King, whose win total stands at 3, and Adam Beeler rounded out the top 3, also with 3 wins. So there you have it, 9 wins in 11 races by the top 3 finishers. King and Beeler are both in good contention for the NeSmith Weekly Racing Series national championship. Roby Helm of NeSmith says that this pair of drivers will be a pair to keep an eye on as the season unfolds in the home stretch.
Cautions: 5 (Laps 2, 4, 7, 23, 27)
Leaders: 29-Ballenger (1-30)
Fast Qualifier: 66-Adam Beeler (14.065)
Fast Car Dash Winner: 29-Rusty Ballenger
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