Johnson wins Chevrolet Performance thriller

The Street Stock class took to the track in front of a jam packed crowd. After picking up two wins last weekend Chris Rickett was looking for three in a row. He had some tough competition on this night. Rickett jumped out to the lead with points leader Dale Watson and Shannon Emery in chase. Gary Blanken had to start at the rear of the field because of mechanical issues in qualifying. He showed they don’t pay by the hour as he began to pick off cars and moved his way up into the top 5 after just a handful of laps. The charge would end early for Blanken as he lost an engine and brought out the caution. With Watson hot on his heels, Rickett powered off the turn and put the nose of his machine into the wind. Pete Wright, a newcomer to 411 motor speedway caught the attention of everyone as he made some impressive moves and worked his way up into the 2nd position. After having a strong run going earlier in the race, Dale Watson pulled his machine into the pit area and retired for the night. Up front it was all Rickett as he went on to pick up another win.

#36 Chris Rickett
#51 Pete Wright
#M2 Shannon Emery
#01 Jerry Hux
#88 Brad Davis
#1 David Price
#69 Nick Barnard
#27 Dwayne Fox
#3 Bret Banks
#11 Dale Watson
#G2 Cody Thompson
#5 Gary Blanken
#00 Isaac Boring

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The Classic cars made their first appearance of the season. Fresh off a win last weekend at Tazewell Speedway, Philip Thompson took the lead as the green waved over the 20 lap feature. It didn’t last long as a crash on lap 3 brought out the red flag. Josh Chesney made hard contact with the turn 4 wall ending his night. When the green waved Thompson took off and quickly began to pull away from the rest of the pack. Joe Keck had a strong run going early on but pulled into the pit area. After a couple quick cautions, Bart Baxter was able to pull along side Thompson for the lead. It wasn’t meant to be however as Thompson pulled away in the closing laps to pick up the win.

#24 Philip Thompson
#7 Bart Baxter
#88 Ritchie Overholser
#99 Justin Overton
#59 Charles Tharp
#07A Adam Pressley
#2 Chris Evans
#8 Joe Keck
#18 Eli Keck
#07 Bobby Pressley
#XXX Josh Chesney

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Terry Poore started the 20 lap Sportsman feature from the pole. The night would quickly go south for Poore as he spun while leading, sending him to the back of the pack. That handed the lead over to Justin Beeler. Jordon Horton didn’t record a qualifying lap and had to start at the back. He didn’t waste any time working his way up through the pack. One by one Horton picked them off until he had worked his way inside the top 5. As the laps ticked off, Horton was able to move his 1G machine into the 3rd spot in chase of Beeler and Stanton. Stanton put the pressure on Beeler as they raced for the lead. The top 3 cars broke away from the rest of the field as they settled the race for the win amongst themselves. Stanton and Horton stayed in the tire tracks of the leader but the night belonged to Beeler.

#66 Justin Beeler
#C11 Clyde Stanton
#1G Jordon Horton
#18 Anthony Burchett
#01 Wayne Rader
#51 Dalton King
#14 Hershel Hyatt
#34 Jason Varner
#14 David Kerr
#2 Terry Poore
#15 Wade Howerton
#14 Lee Merritt
#7G Chris Barton
#7C Colt Deverell
#50 Adam Mitchell
#18 Corey Summers
#77 Jimmy Calloway
#74 Freddy Hillard

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Up next was the 50 lap $3,000 to win feature for the Chevrolet Performance Late Models. Brandon Williams and Pierce McCarter started the race from row one. After a false start, Williams took the early advantage with McCater hot on his heels. The top 2 quickly began to inch away from the rest of the competitors. Tim Busha and Pierce McCarter raced hard for the 2nd spot with Busha eventually coming out on top. After a caution on lap 12, Busha began to close in on the back of Williams for the lead. Ronnie Johnson was able to make an impressive move to get past McCarter and take over the 4th spot. After another caution, Johnson continued his charge and moved into the 3rd spot with a pass on McCarter. The top three cars pulled away and began to catch lap traffic. Johnson, a hall of fame driver used his experience to navigate the lap traffic perfectly and with just a handful of laps left took over the top spot. He held on the final few circuits and picked up a win in an amazing race.

#5 Ronnie Johnson
#95 Brandon Williams
#15 Tim Busha
#66 Jake Knowles
#51 Pierce McCarter
#47 Tyler Crowder
#99G Jacob Grizzle
#38 Dillon Tidmore
#33 David Brannon
#3 Brad Hall
#29 Rusty Ballenger
#8J Jadon Frame
#79 Marty Calloway
#30 Ryan King
#44 Chase King
#110 Brent Barrett
#31 Brad Seagle
#33 Warren McMahan
#7 Dillion Overbey
#101 Forrest Trent
#B00 Josh Henry
#1 Matthew Summers
#88 Mark Dowdy

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The final race of the night would be the Mini Stock division. Chuck McMahan, who has won many races at Tazewell Speedway this season was on hand for this one. He started his #99 machine on the front row alongside Kyle Courtney. Courtney took the early lead but spun his machine out just a couple laps into the race. Michael Courtney quickly made his move and was in the top 5 after just a handful of laps. He got past Tommy Metler and moved himself into the 3rd spot. After a caution, the battle of front heated up big time. McMahan, Courtney and John Byers thrilled the fans as they fought three wide for the lead. McMahan would hold on to inch out Courtney in a photo finish. However, a protest would be filed, resulting in a disqualification for McMahon and a win for Courtney.

#41 Michael Courtney
#J7 John Byers
#29 Mike Townsend
#44 Tommy Metler
#12 Jack Teffeteller
#7 Brian McMahan
#4 Clifford Sands
#171 Kyle Courtney
#99 Chuck McMahan(DQ)

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