McIntosh opens 2015 with Hangover victory

To say that the 5th annual Hangover was a success would be a drastic understatement. Despite freezing cold temperatures over 120 of the best drivers from all around literally packed Tennessee’s action track to the rim. 2015 opened with a bang with the Super Late Models making their much anticipated return.Up first on the docket was a 20 lap Street Stock feature. A huge field of drivers signed in looking to put their name in record books by becoming the first winner of the 2015 season. Coming off a great 2014 season Chris Rickett put his #36 machine on the pole via a win in his heat race. Along side him was Shannon Emery who also found victory lane this past season. Chaos struck early as a multi car crash happened on the very first lap. Jeff Ferguson, Jerry Hux and Willie Busler were among those involved. Despite suffering heavy damage Hux would return to the track. Once the green waved again Rickett and Emery battled for the lead with Rickett taking over the top spot. Brad Davis wasn’t wasting any time as he put pressure on Jeff McLEmore for the 3rd spot. The troubles would continue for Hux who went for a spin on lap 3 bringing out the caution. The strong run Emery had going came to an end with what looked like a blown engine. With his nearest competitor falling by the wayside, Rickett pulled away on scored the first win of 2015.1: #36 Chris Rickett
2: #3 Michael Boyd
3: #1 David Price
4: #J3 Jeff McLemore
5: #88 Brad Davis
6: #38 Preston Crisp
7: #22 Michael Milsap
8: #18 Duke Bare
9: #01 Jerry Hux
10: #411 Rodney Murphy
11: #07 Tony Spoon
12: #45 Austin Lawson
13: #24 Jeff Ferguson
14: #M2 Shannon Emery
15: #3 Bret Banks
16: #31B Willie Busler
17: #96 Chuck Kilian
18: #G2 Austin Kneely
DNS: #33 Rocky Nichols
DNS: #29 Kenneth William
DNS: #121 Lynn Burchfield
DNS: #27 Charlie Bates

Up next was the always exciting Sportsman feature. Big wrecks on the start of the race seemed to be the popular thing as just like the Street race it happened again. This time it would be Kenny Ford who got the worst as his machine suffered heavy damage and his night was over before it got started. Back under green Justin Beeler jumped out front and showed the way with Overholt and Kerr in chase. A quick caution on lap two put the field right on the back of Beeler. Eric Register made his moves early on getting past overholt and into the second spot. The action was slowed as Gary Blanken lost an engine and made contact with the outside retaining wall on lap three. Register attacked as soon as the race went back green moving past Beeler into the lead. Clyde Overholt took a look inside Beller for the runner up spot as they chased Register. After having to race his way in via a B main, Rex Coffey was on a charge. After several laps he was already working on a top five position. Down the backstretch Coffey made an incredible move going three wide and into the 4th spot. Register had begun to pull away until a caution waved on lap 11. Now closed in on the leader Coffey again made his presence felt and moved into the second spot just past halfway. With a handful of laps left Coffey moved past Register into the lead however a lap wasn’t completed before the caution waved. Register regained the lead and held off Coffey to pick up the victory.

1: #12 Eric Register
2: #3 Rex Coffey
3: #4 Clyde Overholt
4: #99 Tom Collini
5: #97 Zack Dunsmore
6: #25 Justin Beeler
7: #14 David Kerr
8: #2 Steve Smith
9: #28 Jesse Helton
10: #50 Charles Devine
11: #119 Josh Evans
12: #007 Marvin Romines
13: #30 Taylor Coffman
14: #50 Adam Mitchell
15: #c11 Clyde Stanton
16: #14w Chris Whitted
17: #05 Gary Blanken
18: #98 Jed Emert
19: #0 Kenny Ford
DNS: #99 Brian Cooper
DNS: #74 Dalton King
DNS: #41 Shorty Ledford
DNS: #c7 Colt Deverell
DNS: #14 Austin Atkins
DNS: #26 Ed Eschmann
DNS: #5 James Cole
DNS: #169 Nick Barnard
DNS: #71 Brian Courtney
DNS: #27 Nick Jones
DNS: #15 Andy Standridge
DNS: #L4 Logan Walston
DNS: #J1 Kevin Fisher
DNS: #35 Matt Tharp

Next up was the 40 lap $4,000 to win Super Late Model feature. Over 40 cars signed in to do battle in front of the jam packed crowd. Blunt Motorspots driver Donald McIntosh was fast in qualifying and started his #7 machine on point after a win in the fast dash. Alongside him was the driver who was fastest in qualifying and shattered the track record, Cory Hedgeccok. After a quick caution on the opening lap the green waved and McIntosh set sail with Hedgecock in his tire tracks. Stephen Breeding got up out of the groove and lost several spots in the opening laps. Walker Arthur was headed in the right direction as he moved into the third spot in pursuit of Hedgecock and McIntosh. A caution on lap 5 erased the gap McIntosh had built up. Pierce McCarter wanted everyone to know his name was in the mix and he powered past the 2014 NeSmith Champion Ryan King and into the 4th spot. The strong run ended for Hedgecock as a flat tire sent him pit-side ending his hopes of the win. After slipping back on the start, Breeding regained the ground he lost and moved back into the third spot. Up front it was all McIntosh as he had pulled out to a full straight away lead by lap 23. The night came to an end for Ryan King as he pulled into the infield. By the final flag McIntosh had drove away to a half track lead.

1: #7 Donald McIntosh
2: #87 Walker Arthur
3: #5 Stephen Breeding
4: #51 Pierce McCarter
5: #5H Jeremy Hines
6: #53 Ray Cook
7: #29b Rusty Ballenger
8: #9 Dusty Carver
9: #11 Ryan Law
10: #61 Caleb Ashby
11: #30 Ryan King
12: #23 Cory Hedgecock
13: #10 Chad Ogle
14: #29 Jason Welshan
15: #21c Benji Cole
16: #R1 Riley Hickman
17: #1cj Mike Marlar
18: #7 Brian Smith
19: #93 Charles Zimmerman
20: #98 Eric Hickerson
21: #81 Aaron Riddle
22: #8 Joe Leavell
DNS: #11H Larry Henderson
DNS: #66 Billy Ogle JR
DNS: #3X Bo Eaten
DNS: #1P Ross White
DNS: #47 Brad Hall
DNS: #27P Charlie Parker
DNS: #747 Tyler Adams
DNS: #27 Joe Denby
DNS: #21 Mario Gresham
DNS: #13 Jim Bolen
DNS: #1G Jordon Horton
DNS: #24H Phil Helton
DNS: #26 Jarrod Breeding
DNS: #93B Donald Bradsher
DNS: #7 William Overbey
DNS: #16 Brandon Gardner
DNS: #1 Matthew Summers
DNS: #31 Brad Seagle
DNS: #16D Jerry Denson
DNS: #4 Mark Sturgil
DNS: #19A Ronnie Johnson
DNS: #J8 Jadon Frame

The final race of the night would be the Mini Stock feature. After winning their heats John Byers and Kyle Courtney would lead the field to the green. After two cautions finally the race got going and John Byers powered past Courtney into the lead. However he wasn’t about to drive away as Courtney was all over his back bumper. The top three quickly began to driver away from the rest of the pack. On lap 10 Courtney moved past Byers taking over the lead. With lap traffic coming into play, Byers kept Courtney in his sights. Going into turn one the two bounced off one another in a terrific fight for the top spot. A debris caution on lap 17 allowed the drivers and fans to catch their breath. With just 3 laps left Courtney held off a furious charge from Byers to pick up the win.

1: #171 Kyle Courtney
2: #7 John Byers
3: #21 Jason Gregory
4: #51 Rocky McNabb
5: #88 Randy Powell
6: #5 Mike Townsend
7: #23 Travis Smith
8: #93 Nathan Adams
9: #95 Jo McKinney
10: #8 Anthony Raper
11: #88 Shannon Riley
12: #94 Luke Fox
13: #2 Bryan Idles
14: #13 Max Stout
15: #D2 Danny Tate
16: #4 Clifford Sands
17: #22 Adam Gregory
18: #90 Nick Adams
19: #25 Derik Duggan
20: #26 Kaleb Lee
21: #c9 Chris Johnston
22: #2 Billy Duty
DNS: #0 Brandon McClure
DNS #5 Mitchell Fox
DNS: #B01 Shawn Henry
DNS: #83 Alan Betts
DNS: #1 Jacob Sharp
DNS: #1 Jack Sharp