Weeks scores win on a wild night

On an absolutely perfect day for racing, the fans filled Tennessee’s action track for a night of great racing. Chris Rickett earned the pole position via winning his heat race earlier in the day. Beside him on the front row would be heat number two winner Dale Watson. With the green flag in the air Rickett would take the lead with Watson and Fox in chase. Points leader Tracy Wolfe put pressure on Adam Engel in the opening laps for the third spot.On lap number four, Charles Devine moved past Engel and into the top five. The first caution of the night waved on lap number four for a spin by Michael Millsaps. Back under green, Wolfe would turn up the heat on Fox for the third spot. The two raced side by side for several laps but Wolfe would eventually get the position. Up front Rickett had the race in hand and began to inch away from the pack. Wolfe wasn’t done as he closed in on the back of Watson. By lap fifteen Rickett had pulled away to a big lead. A caution on lap sixteen erased the lead but it wouldn’t make a difference in the outcome. Rickett held on to pick up another victory.

Street Stock
1: #36 Chris Rickett
2: #11 Dale Watson
3: #11 Tracy Wolfe
4: #00 Charles Devine
5: #28 Adam Engel
6: #27 Dwyane Fox
7: #0z John Cook
8: #22 Michael Millsap
9: #30 Jonathan Sims
DNS: #59 Bryan McDaniel
DNS: #14 Steve Hillard

A qualifying lap of 15.022 earned Rex Coffey the pole for the Sportsman feature. Beside him for the 20 lap event with a time of 15.110 was last weeks winner Terry Poore. The race would prove to be chaotic with the yellow flag waving after just one lap with a three car accident involving Tony Lindsay, Mike Moore and Barry Duncan. All cars involved would be able to continue on with just slight damage. Poore picked up where he left off last week taking the lead on the restart from Coffey. Once again the yellow flag waved for a spin by James Cole just a couple laps after the restart. Wayne Rader was running third but pushed up the track coming off turn number four and slipped back to the sixth spot. Brian Courtney was on the move as he moved past Coffey and took over the runner up spot. Another accident on lap three slowed the pace once again. Once the race finally got a few laps going under green Rader began to regain the spots he lost earlier. At the halfway mark he had worked his way back up into the third spot. Up front Courtney had closed the gap on Poore with a little help from slower traffic. Courtney would find trouble a lap later as he spun with a lap car. However, the yellow was already out so he got his spot back. On the restart Courtney wasted no time and powered past Poore and took over the lead just past halfway. The handling looked to be going away on Coffey’s machine and he lost the fourth spot to Kip Sawyer. The action up front was intense and it boiled over on lap seventeen as Poore spun going into turn number two collecting several cars in the process. Poore would go pitside but most everyone else was able to continue on. Courtney held off a hard charging Rader to pick up the win.

Sportsman

1: #71 Brian Courtney
2: #01 Wayne Rader
3: #3 Rex Coffey
4: #57 Jesse Helton
5: #3 Michael Boyd
6: #14 Lee Merritt
7: #1 Chad Beeler
8: #007 Marvin Romines
9: #169 Nick Barnard
10: #14 David Kerr
11: #11 Kip Sawyer
12: #11 William Hux
13: #2 Terry Poore
14:  #12 Eric Register
15: #19 Tony Lindsay
16: #31B Barry Duncan
17: #97 Aaron Guinn
18: #31 Mike Moore
19: #5 James Cole
20: #58 Cody Brake
DNS: #32 Cody Gloyne
DNS: #74 Freddy Hillard

A huge field of 22 Mini Stock cars signed in making it one of the most impressive lineups of Mini Stockers in recent history. John Byers already has a couple wins in the 2015 season and he earned the pole by winning his heat race earlier. Once again chaos showed it’s ugly face as the caution waved before the very first lap was completed. Mitchell Fox had to pull into the pits with heavy front end damage on his machine. On the restart Byers jumped out to the lead with Bryant Idles knocking on the door. Idles was trying to take the lead and protect his spot with Kyle Courtney looking on the outside of him. The strong run for Idles hit a roadblock as he spun on lap five, sending him to the rear. Former track champion Tommy Metler looked very stout and he took over the third spot. Up front the top two had pulled out to half-straight lead. Once again the caution would wave on lap eight as Shannon Raley lost traction and went for a loop. One of the bigger stories of the race came under the caution as points leader Mike Townsend pulled into the pits with a flat tire. Several of the top five drivers ran into trouble throughout the race with Metler spinning on lap seven and Fireball Roberts slowing just a couple laps later. On lap eleven Kyle Courtney and Bryant Idles tangled will battling for the second spot. Courtney would have to retire for the evening with a flat tire. John Byers would pull away in the final eight laps and pick up the win.

Mini Stock
1: #J7 John Byers
2: #88 Shannon Raley
3: #c8 Chris Griffin
4: #44 Tommy Metler
5: #01 Anthony Dixon
6: #11 Colt Thompson
7: #31 David Darden
8: #4 Clifford Sands
9: #75 Alex Squires
10: #1 Brian McMahan
11: #171 Kyle Courtney
12: #77 Stephen Russell
13: #2 Bryant Idles
14: #4 Chuck McMahan
15: #5 Mike Townsend
16: #322 Fireball Roberts
17: #1 Marty King
18: #11 Dallin Horsley
19: #13w Ethan Moneymaker
20: #B01 Shawn Henry
21: #11 Tyler Haynes
22: #5 Mike Townsend
23: 74 Jeremy Teffeteller
DNS: #9 Hunter Webb

Points leader Jason Cardwell set fast time in qualifying with a 14.524 second lap. He inched out Jason Manley who clocked in at a 14.534 lap time. With the top three right on top of each other, the fans knew they were in for a heck of a race. Cardwell took the lead on the start with Manley and Weeks in pursuit. A little further back in the pack saw Drew Kennedy and Brad Coffey fighting for position. Last weeks winner Adam Beeler had his work cut out for him he wanted to score back to back victories. By lap ten, Cardwell had puled out to a decent lead and looked to have things in hand at that point. On that same lap, Weeks moved past Manley into second.  Josh “The Jet” Henry was all over Manley for the third spot as Manley looked to be slipping back. The first caution wouldn’t wave until lap twenty for a car stopped on the track. Back under green Manley spun coming off turn number two sending him to the rear. A big wreck on lap twenty-one slowed the pace again. Several cars were involved with Kennedy, Mays and Coffey receiving damage. With the green back out Henry turned on the burners and took over the third spot. Weeks had been stalking Cardwell and on lap twenty-three he made the move and took the lead away. A late caution with just eight laps left put the field back on the bumper of Weeks. One the final restart Henry dove to the inside of Cardwell for the second spot but had to fall back in line. Brad Hall moved into the top five with just four laps left on the scoreboard. Weeks would hold on and take the $,1500 check and the trip to victory lane.

Late Model
1: #44 Mike Weeks
2: #07 Jason Cardwell
3: #B00 Josh Henry
4: #99 Justin Summers
5: #47 Brad Hall
6: #00 Ruben Mayfield
7: #32 Jason Manley
8: #73 Trevor Sise
9: #9 Heath Hindman
10: #2 Mitchell Childress
11: #23 Layne Clifton
12: #7 William Overybey
13: #11 Raymond Sheperd
14: #66 Adam Beeler
15: #11c Preston Crisp
16: #31 Johnny Ridings
17: #25 Bobby Mays
18: #88 Brad Coffey
19: #31 Brad Seagle
20: #32 Tom Larcher
DQ: #k37 Drew Kennedy