It was an absolutely picture perfect day for racing at East Tennessee’s Action Track. The Chevrolet Performance Super Late Models made their return in front of a packed crowd and they did not disappoint.
With a 14.838 in qualifying, youngster Kyle Courtney set fast time in the Sportsman division alongside Jed Emert. 20 laps were on the the docket and Emery took the top spot on the the start with Courtney, Michael Courtney and Zach Sise in chase. The top two didn’t waste any time turning up the heat as Kyle Courtney looked low under Emert for the lead coming off turn two. With Michael Courtney closing the gap on the two leaders it became a three car battle for the lead in the opening laps. It wasn’t just the leaders who were fighting it out as Adam Mitchell pressuring Brad Seagle for a top five position. Just past halfway and the top two had drove away from the pack. Michael Courtney had a strong third place run going but pulled off track with just a handful of laps left. Courtney would keep the pressure on but Emert held on and picked up the win.
1: #98 Jed Emert
2: #171 Kyle Courtney
3: #9 Zach Sise
4: #31 Brad Seagle
5: #50 Adam Mitchell
6: #01 Wayne Rader
7: #3 Wesley Ball
8: #50 Chad Spradlin
9: #c11 Clyde Stanton
10: #89 Brandon Miller
11: #18 James Cole
12: #77 Jimmy Calloway
13: #169 Nick Barnard
14: #c11 Michael Courtney
A 16.390 second lap in qualifying was enough to earn Rocky Ogle the top spot for the 25 lap Street Stock feature. With the green in the air Ogle and Hux set sail ahead of Dale Watson and Jeff McLemore. Lee Merritt quickly bagan working over Jon Cook for the fifth spot early on. After spinning in qualifying, Tracy Wolfe had to start in the rear of the field but had already picked up several spots by lap five. Hux was all over Ogle for the lead as the two had pulled out to a 10 car length lead over Watson. The first caution of the night would wave on lap 5 as Scotty Atkins and Mike Williams spun in turn four. The battle between Merritt and Cook would continue on the restart as neither driver was willing to back down and give up a spot. Trouble would find Dale Watson as his #11 machine went up in flames coming off turn four sliding down into the infield. Watson would be uninjured but his night was over. On the final restart Ogle would pull away and cruise to his first win of 2016.
1: #9 Rocky Ogle
2: #01 Jerry Hux
3: #J3 Jeff McLemore
4: #14 Lee Merritt
5: #11 Tracy Wolfe
6: #35 Jason West
7: #119 Mike Williams
8: #94 Randy Randy Frasvre
9: #4 David Price
10: #11 Dale Watson
11: #0z Jon Cook
12: #20 Scotty Atkins
DNS: #t11 Tim Kilby
Last weekend John Byers dominated the Mini Stock feature for his first win of the season. It would be business as usual for Byers as he picked up the win in the heat race earning the pole for the 20 lap feature. Byers took control of the race immediately with Metler, Clark and Myers in his tire tracks. A couple laps in and Cindy Poore made her move past Joe Myers and into a top five spot. The first caution of the race came on lap 7 as Dakota King and Stephen Russell got hooked together on the front stretch. Russell would spin down into the infield but didn’t appear to have any significant damage. On the restart it was Tommy Metler who made the move this time passing Thomas Clark and taking over the runner up spot. Myers, Owens JR and Poore put on a great show for the fans with a three wide battle for position down the backstretch. Up front it was all Byers who cruised to his second straight win.
1: #83 John Byers
2: #44 Tommy Metler
3: #41 Thomas Clark
4: #17 Steve Owens JR
5: #T6 Cindy Poore
6: #25 Joe Myers
7: #77 Stephen Russell
8: #1 Dakota King
DNS: #10 Hobie Arrwood
Up next was the 20 lap Classic Car feature. Earlier in the day Richie Overholser earned the pole for the feature by winning the heat race. 2015 Champion Justin Overton started on the outside pole but took the lead when the race began ahead of Overholser, Eli Keck and Chris Evans. It didn’t take Overton very long to began to start inching away with the lead as the laps ticked off. After just a handful of laps he had pulled away to a full straight lead over the rest of the field. The battle was on for third with Chris Evans closing in on Keck. Overton had no issues on the night and dominated the rest of the race.
1: #98 Justin Overton
2: #88 Ritchie Overholser
3: #8 Eli Keck
4: #2 Chris Evans
5: #18 Rusty Welch
6: #1 Rick Overholser
DNS: 65 Michael Maiden
The final race of the night was the 50 lap $3,000 to win Chevy Performance Super Late Model feature. Cory Hedgecock set fast time in time trails with a 14. 525 second lap. Keeping him company on the front row would be Ryan King. Despite being the fastest car in qualifying it would be King who took the lead when the green waved. “The Chattanooga Flash” Ronnie Johnson was running the high line trying to use his experience to find the best line for his #5 machine. King had his #30 on a rail out front and he pulled away ahead of Hedgeock and Crowder. A caution on lap 7 erased Kings lead and put everyone back on his back bumper. Tim Busha picked up a Chevy Performance win at 411 last season and was on the move again as he looked on the inside of Crowder for the third spot. 10 laps in the books and the top three had put some distance between themselves and the rest of the pack. Jake Knowles was also on the move and he slipped by Johnson putting himself into the top five. King was rim riding the track but Hedgeock was eating away at his lead as the two had pulled away from Busha who still held down third.
A caution on lap 16 once again erased the lead and bunched up the field for the final 34 laps. Knowles continued his drive to the front by passing Busha and moving into fourth. Ryan King had been picking his way through the heavy lap traffic perfectly but his luck ran out on lap 44. Coing off turn 4 King got tangled up with a slower car and had a scary spin down into the infield. He would be okay but his night was over just 8 laps away from victory. Hedgecock would assume the lead and hold on the remain circuits to pick up the win.
1: #23 Cory Hedgecock
2: #47C Tyler Crowder
3: #66 Jake Knowles
4: #15 Tim Busha
5: #5 Ronnie Johnson
6: #47M Adam Martin
7: #47 Martin Ross
8: #03 Oliver Gentry
9: #8j Jadon Frame
10: #29 Rusty Ballenger
11: #0 Ross White
12: #84 Austin Smith
13: #55 Ryan King
14: #21 Mario Gresham
15: #24 Barry Goodman
16: #23 Barry Anderson
17: #30 Ryan King
18: #32 Chad Wallace
19: #44 Colby Kilgore
