Valentine’s Day may be for lovers, but today it was for racing. The sweetheart race, in honor of the late Scott Sexton took place in front of a freezing crowd of the most loyal race fans around.
Up first was the Street stock class. Chris Rickett fresh off his victory in last months Hangover race on New Years day, picked up where he left off by starting on the pole for the 20 lap feature. Rickett wasted no time taking the lead as the green flag waved. McLemore, was hot on his heels as the two duked it out for the lead. A spin by Bret Banks slowed the pace after just 3 laps. Back under green McLemore dove inside Rickett on the restart but the high line paid off as Rickett powered off turn two to maintain the lead. The action was furious a little further back as Charles Devine, and Jerry Hux went three wide down the back along with Millsap. Devine showed his muscle as he drove his #00 machine into the top three. Up front Rickett was in a league of his own and stretched out a huge lead over the pack. The strong run for McLemore came to an end as he slowed with just 5 laps left. Rickett went on to dominate the remaining laps picking up another victory.
1) #36 Chris Rickett
2) #00 Charles Devine
3) #01 Jerry Hux
4) #22 Michael Millsap
5) #22 Ricky Wagner
6) #J3 Jeff McLemore
7) #3 Bret Banks
8) #30 Jonathan Sims
DNS) #07 Tony Sims
DNS) #5 Tony Simonic
DNS) #0 Andrew Rice
2) #00 Charles Devine
3) #01 Jerry Hux
4) #22 Michael Millsap
5) #22 Ricky Wagner
6) #J3 Jeff McLemore
7) #3 Bret Banks
8) #30 Jonathan Sims
DNS) #07 Tony Sims
DNS) #5 Tony Simonic
DNS) #0 Andrew Rice
Up next was the 35 lap Late Model feature. Aaron Ridley let everyone know he was gonna be a player tonight after he set a blistering fast qualifying lap. When the green waved Ridley rocketed off the turn and into the lead with Welshan and Kennedy in chase. A caution on lap 3 for Tim Ladd brought out the first yellow of the night. Heath Hindman took a look inside Kennedy for the third spot as the laps began to tick off. By lap 7 the top two had inched away from the rest of the field. The drive of the night came from Pierce McCarter who started mid pack but by lap 15 was closing in on the 4th spot. Welshan, who was running second at the time slowed on lap 18 and went into the pits with mechanical issues. McCarter continued his amazing drive as took over the runner up spot with just a couple laps left. Time would run out on his charge as Ridley took the victory.
1) #81 Aaron Ridley
2) #71 Pierce McCarter
3) #9 Heath Hindman
4) #K37 Drew Kennedy
5) #38 John Owenby
6) #00 Ruben Mayfield
7) #11 Ryan Law
8) #7 John Kincaid
9) #10 Michael Meyers
10) #69 David Macklin
11) #29 Jason Welshan
12) #39 Tim Ladd
13) #32 Johnny Ridings
14) #1P Ross White
15) #39 Eddie King Jr
2) #71 Pierce McCarter
3) #9 Heath Hindman
4) #K37 Drew Kennedy
5) #38 John Owenby
6) #00 Ruben Mayfield
7) #11 Ryan Law
8) #7 John Kincaid
9) #10 Michael Meyers
10) #69 David Macklin
11) #29 Jason Welshan
12) #39 Tim Ladd
13) #32 Johnny Ridings
14) #1P Ross White
15) #39 Eddie King Jr
Clyde Overholt with a fresh new paint scheme set fast time to earn the pole for the 20 lap Sportsman feature. He made it very clear that he was the car to beat as he took the lead as soon as the green waved. By lap 3 he had already pulled out to a lead. A great battle between Kip Sawyer and Dalton King delighted the crowd as they fought for the 5th spot. The race ended early for Justin James as he pulled pitside after just a couple laps. Steve Smith turned up the heat on Blanken for the third spot behind OverHolt. A caution on lap 10 erased the big lead and put the pack on the back bumper of the leader. Trouble found Terry Poore as he got loose in turn two collecting Andy Standridge. Poore won 10 races in 2014 but this wouldn’t be his night as he sustained too much damage to continue. Up front it was all Overholt who went flag to flag to pick up the win.
1) #4 Clyde Overholt
2) #2 Steve Smith
3) #05 Gary Blanken
4) #74 Dalton King
5) #50 Adam Mitchell
6) #119 Austin Atkins
7) #15 Andy Standridge
8) #11 William Hux
9) #27 Nick Jones
10) #2 Terry Poore
11) #11 Kip Sawyer
12) #28 Justin James
2) #2 Steve Smith
3) #05 Gary Blanken
4) #74 Dalton King
5) #50 Adam Mitchell
6) #119 Austin Atkins
7) #15 Andy Standridge
8) #11 William Hux
9) #27 Nick Jones
10) #2 Terry Poore
11) #11 Kip Sawyer
12) #28 Justin James
Chaos showed it’s ugly face early on for Josh Driskill as he slammed the wall on the start of the race ending his night. After a quick caution, Todd Morrow put the nose of his machine into the wind. Jason Welshan, who won over 30 late model features in 2014 wasn’t working by the hour. After just 4 laps he had already moved into the runner up spot with his sight set on Morrow. It didn’t take Welshan long as he drove into the lead just 8 laps into the 35 lap event. The battle of the race was between the #29 of Ballenger and the #23 of Hedgecock. The two battled it out for several laps just inside the top 5. Chase King wasn’t gonna give up and on lap 11 he moved past Morrow and took over the second spot. Out front Welshan was in his own zip code as he was half tracking the field just past halfway. Not much would change for Welshan as he dominated the rest of the race.
1) #29 Jason Welshan
2) #44 Chase King
3) #23 Cory Hedgecock
4) #8 Todd Morrow
5) #22 Will Roland
6) #29 Rusty Ballenger
7) #1G Jordon Horton
8) #31 Brad Seagle
9) #32 Tanner Works
10) #11 Josh Fields
11) #16 Jerry Denson
12) #7 William Overbey
13) #25 Chris Fair
14) #99 Justin Summers
15) #39 Jimmy Elliott
16) #25 Josh Driskill
DNS) #3 Jeremy Hicks
2) #44 Chase King
3) #23 Cory Hedgecock
4) #8 Todd Morrow
5) #22 Will Roland
6) #29 Rusty Ballenger
7) #1G Jordon Horton
8) #31 Brad Seagle
9) #32 Tanner Works
10) #11 Josh Fields
11) #16 Jerry Denson
12) #7 William Overbey
13) #25 Chris Fair
14) #99 Justin Summers
15) #39 Jimmy Elliott
16) #25 Josh Driskill
DNS) #3 Jeremy Hicks
The final event of the night was the 20 lap Mini Stock feature. Michael Courtney dominated most all of last season but Courtney wasn’t on hand for this one. Jason Gregory set fast time and started on the pole. Trouble found Shaun Tenpenny early as he was heavily damaged in a stack up on the start. Despite the damage he would be able to continue on. Once the race was underway Gregory picked up where he left off in qualifying and set the pace. John Byers had some issues in qualifying so he had to start at the tail end of the pack. As expected he quickly began to charge through the field. His run hit a roadblock on lap 7 as he and Derik Duggan tangled. The caution was called on Duggan so Byers regained his spot. A caution for debris on lap 17 put Byers right on the back of Gregory with just 3 laps left. The green waved and Byers dove inside the leader in one last attempt to take the top spot. It wasn’t meant to be as Gregory held on to pick up the win.
1) #21 Jason Gregory
2) #J7 John Byers
3) #5 Mike Townsend
4) #08 Chris Griffin
5) #25 Derik Duggan
6) #322 Fireball Roberts
7) #13 Max Stout
8) #49T Shaun Tenpenny
9) #95 Joe McKinney
10) #D2 Danny Tate
11) #5 Mitchell Fox
12) #19 Sam Burgess
13) #41 John Scarbrough
14) #9 Chris Johnson
DNS) #8 Dylan Bradshaw
DNS) #10 Caleb Lee
2) #J7 John Byers
3) #5 Mike Townsend
4) #08 Chris Griffin
5) #25 Derik Duggan
6) #322 Fireball Roberts
7) #13 Max Stout
8) #49T Shaun Tenpenny
9) #95 Joe McKinney
10) #D2 Danny Tate
11) #5 Mitchell Fox
12) #19 Sam Burgess
13) #41 John Scarbrough
14) #9 Chris Johnson
DNS) #8 Dylan Bradshaw
DNS) #10 Caleb Lee
The next event at 411 Motor Speedway will be on Saturday, March 21 when the Chevrolet Performance Super Late Model Series visits for a $3,000 to win race. It will also be the season opener in all regular divisions for 411 Motor Speedway. Make plans to attend our next event.
