Cardwell charges to late model victory

Newport Tennessee’s Kurt Owens set fast time in Street Stock qualifying with a 16.26 second lap. The race wouldn’t be green very long as Parker Estes and Cody Thompson would tangle on the very first lap bringing out the caution. After a couple hiccups on the start the race finally got going and outside pole sitter Austin Neely looked inside Jerry Hux for the runner up. After just a couple laps Owens had already pulled out to a 5 car length lead over the field. Trouble found Tim Kilby on lap 6 as he went for a loop on the backstretch bringing out the caution. Dale Watson was in the mix for second but on the restart jumped the cushion in two and fell all the way back to 7th. Just one lap later points champion Tracy Wolfe would also have issues and spun around. After being involved in an accident earlier in the race, things got worse for Jeff Ferguson who lost his left rear tire on the restart ending his night. On the restart Neely used the inside line to drive past Hux and back into second spot. Jeff McLemore had a top 5 run going but it came to and end as he pulled off track with mechanical issues. Back to front came Watson who moved back into the top 5 after his slip up earlier in the race. He looked inside Dwayne Fox as the two raced hard for position in the second half of the race. Hux wasn’t about to give up on his bid for second as he was all over the back of Neely in the closing laps. Up front it was all Owens who dominated.

1: #14 Kurt Owens
2: #3 Austin Neely
3: #01 Jerry Hux
4: #11 Dale Watson
5: #11 12 JJ Green
6: #31 Parker Estes
7: #11 Tracy Wolfe
8: #12 Phil Blackford
9: #0z Jon Cook
10: #55 Dave Myers
11: #27 Dwayne Fox
12: #J3 Jeff McLemore
13: #24 Jeff Ferguson
14: #38 Cody Thompson
15: #T11 Tim Kilby
16: #5 JR Merriman
17: #35 Jason West
18: #2 Steve Hillard
19: #76 Morris Wilson

Chris Griffin and John Byers had a great race last weekend for the Mini Stock win. This night it would once again be Chris Griffin who took the lead on the first lap of the 20 lap feature. Byers started at the back of the pack but had already moved into 4th by the second lap and just one lap later moved past Shannon Raley into third. Fireball Roberts was all over the back of Griffin for the top spot in the early laps. On lap four he took a look inside coming off turn four but had to fall back in line. The #322 was clearly setup just right and he powered past Griffin for the lead just a couple laps later. His lead would be short lived however as he saw Byers drive by and into the top spot. Going into turn three Roberts went for a wild spin bringing out the caution. Heat race winner Shannon Raley saw his night come to an early end making hard contact with the outside wall on lap 13. Byers would hold off a late charge by Griffin to pick up another win.

1: #J7 John Byers
2: #c8 Chris Griffin
3: #322 Fireball Roberts Jr
4: #44 Tommy Metler
5: #31 David Darden
6: #44 Thomas Scenters
7: #88 Shannon Raley
DNS: #41 Randy Lane

Up next was the classic car feature. John Stevens took charge of the 20 lap event when the green waved with teammate Hayston Collet in chase but Stevens would pull off the track after just two laps. Point leader Justin Overton took over the second position with Joe Keck hot on his heels. By lap 6 Overton had closed the gap on the leader. Keck had won three consecutive races coming into the weekend and looked like he might make it four after moving past Joel Wolfenbarger for third. As the field crossed the line for the halfway flag the top two had inched out to a small lead over Keck. The laps ticked off and Overton drew closer and closer on the race lead. A caution on lap 14 for Michael Maiden put Keck back in the mix.The top three ran bumper to bumper with Keck pulling alongside his point rival with just a couple laps left. Both drivers made a run for the lead in the final laps but Hayston Collet held them off to pick up his first win of 2015.

1: #c7 Hayston Collett
2: #98 Justin Overton
3: #78 Joe Keck
4: #13J Joel Wolfenbarger
5: #8 Eli Keck
6: #18 Rusty Welch
7: #c74 Cliff Lane
8: #65 Michael Maiden
9: #46 James Hurst
10: #7 John Stevens
DNS: #88 Ritchie Overholser
DNS: #2 Charles Tharp
DNS #07 Adam Pressley

Cory Hedgeock had won back to back Late Model races but it was Jason Manley who set fast time in qualifying with a 14.253 lap. Sharing the front row with him would be the H2 of Matt Henderson in his Duayne Hommel tribute scheme. With the green in the air Manley put his #32 machine into the lead ahead of Henderson and Hedgecock who raced for the runner up spot. After just five laps Manley looked to have the dominate car and quickly pulled away from the pack but a caution on lap 8 for debris erased his lead. Jason Cardwell wasn’t in the mix for the lead in the early laps but he began to pick up spots on the restart. He pulled off an amazing three wide pass down the back going by Greg Estes and Trevor Sise. Shortly after that he moved past Drew Kennedy and gained another spot putting himself in the top 4. Matt Henderson had found his line and was closing in on the top two as the caution waved on lap 16 for Greg Estes. Hedgecock began working the outside line of Manley who was still protecting the bottom. He dove on the inside for the lead on lap 20 but something broke on his machine sending him into the infield. In all the confusion of what happened to Hedgeock, Jason Cardwell had moved into the runner up spot. Manley kept running the low line but on lap 27 Cardwell used the outside to take the top spot away and lead the final three laps.

1: #07 Jason Cardwell
2: #32 Jason Manley
3: #H2 Matt Henderson
4: #73 Trevor Sise
5: #37k Drew Kennedy
6: #0 Ross White
7: #18 Michael Rutherford
8: #23 Cory Hedgecock
9: #31 Greg Estes
10: #39 Eddie King Jr
11: #18 Gary Crittenden
DNS: #23 Layne Clifton

After a last lap bump and run took the win away from him last week, Jesse Helton set fast time in qualifying with a 15.045 lap. On the start he jumped into the lead ahead of Zach Sise. However trouble would find the outside pole sitter on lap 1 as Sise slowed bringing out the quick caution. The defending Sportsman Champion Wayne Rader put the heat on Helton for the lead on the the restart. The top two began to pull away but the action was intense for fifth with Brandon Gardner getting a spot from Gary Blanken. By lap 8 Rader was all over Helton for the lead. He put his #01 machine about a lane higher than Helton was using and closed ground quickly. With 13 laps in the books it was clearly a 3 car fight as David Kerr had began to close in on the leaders. Rader kept looking high coming off 4 but Helton held him off. He left a little space on the inside going into turn one and Rader drove it in deep and took the top spot away. Helton would make a charge in the closing laps but it wouldn’t be enough.

1: #01 Wayne Rader
2: #57 Jesse Helton
3: #14 David Kerr
4: #07 Bradley Lewelling
5: #05 Gary Blanken
6: #61 Kenny Ford
7: #c11 Clyde Stanton
8: #26 Brandon Gardner
9: #77 Jimmy Calloway
10: #9 Zach Sise