After setting idle for well over a month, 411 Motor Speedway was back in action with the second annual Frostbuster. Nearly 130 of the best drivers were on hand to do battle in front of a packed crowd with some big money on the line.
Jason Manley would put his #32 machine on pole for the $1,500 to win Crate Late Model feature. A stacked field followed him to the green with outside pole sitter Cory Hedgecock using the high line off turn two and powering into the lead. There wasn’t a spot that wasn’t up for grabs as Josh Henry and Jesse Lowe battled it out for a spot in the top five. The top four began pulling away from the pack until a caution for James Cole who went for a spin in turn one. Rusty Ballenger was racing a brand new car and it was fast as he worked the low line under Manley for the second position. Manley began to eat away at the lead Hedgeock had built up as they two closed in on lap traffic. Jason Welshan started back in the 11th spot but had picked his way up through the pack and into the top five. Lap traffic was the theme of the day as the leaders had to carefully pick their way through them allowing Ballenger to close in from the third spot. Josh Henry had a top five run going but crashed hard into the turn one wall ending his night. Cory Hedgeock would hold on to pick up the first win of 2017.
1: #23 Cory Hedgecock
2: #32 Jason Manley
3: #29 Rusty Ballenger
4: #101 Forrest Trent
5: #5J Jesse Lowe
6: #29 Jason Welshan
7: #75 Gill Remmington
8: #144 Chris Barton
9: #29 Christian Hanger
10: #5 Mike Combs
11: #k37 Drew Kennedy
12: #17 Logan Roberson
13: #32 Greg Husky
14: #23 Ahnna Parkhurst
15: #12 Drew Deaver
16: #41 Jim Couch
17: #50 Adam Mitchell
18: #C11 Michael Courtney
19: #B00 Josh Henry
20: #5J Ronnie Johnson
21: #Z1 Zach Shannon
22: #18 James Cole
23: #1M Conner Meade
2: #32 Jason Manley
3: #29 Rusty Ballenger
4: #101 Forrest Trent
5: #5J Jesse Lowe
6: #29 Jason Welshan
7: #75 Gill Remmington
8: #144 Chris Barton
9: #29 Christian Hanger
10: #5 Mike Combs
11: #k37 Drew Kennedy
12: #17 Logan Roberson
13: #32 Greg Husky
14: #23 Ahnna Parkhurst
15: #12 Drew Deaver
16: #41 Jim Couch
17: #50 Adam Mitchell
18: #C11 Michael Courtney
19: #B00 Josh Henry
20: #5J Ronnie Johnson
21: #Z1 Zach Shannon
22: #18 James Cole
23: #1M Conner Meade
Up next was the 20 lap Mini Stock feature. John Byers would put his #83 on the pole after setting fast time in qualifying, being the only car under the 18 second mark. Trouble would strike early as Ryan Wade got tangled up on the first lap and had heavy damage on the drivers side of his car. After a lengthy cleanup the green was back out with Byers taking control ahead of Dylan Duggan and Thomas Clark. Mark Holbert would go for a spin off turn two but was able to keep it going and we stayed green. As the early laps ticked off, Clark had the heat turned up to full blast on Duggan as they battle for the runner up spot behind Byers. With Byers inching away out front a great battle for fifth between Joe Frells, Paul Teachout and Derik Duggan thrilled the fans as they went three wide down the back. Unfortunately the night would come to an early end for Teachout as he pulled off track and retired short of the finish. The caution waved again this time for Tain Ross who made contact with the outside wall in turn one. The smoke had been trailing behind the #14 machine of Duggan almost all race long and finally it let go as he had to pull off track while running in the third spot. John Byers would go on to cross the finish line first however he failed to report to the scales post was and was disqualified giving the win to Derik Duggan.
1: #25 Derik Duggan
2: #46 James Sharp
3: #7 Mark Holbert
4: #32 Franklin Burk
5: #5x Joe Frells
6: #22 Shawn Stillwell
7: #00 Steve Miller
8: #14 Dylan Duggan
9: #43 Tain Ross
10: #222 Paul Teachout
11: #54 Sam Fox
12: #18 No Name Listed
13: #11 Ryan Wade
DNS: #17 Shal Ritenour
DQ: #41 Thomas Clark(Not reporting to the scales post race)
DQ: #83 John Byers(Not reporting to the scales post race)
2: #46 James Sharp
3: #7 Mark Holbert
4: #32 Franklin Burk
5: #5x Joe Frells
6: #22 Shawn Stillwell
7: #00 Steve Miller
8: #14 Dylan Duggan
9: #43 Tain Ross
10: #222 Paul Teachout
11: #54 Sam Fox
12: #18 No Name Listed
13: #11 Ryan Wade
DNS: #17 Shal Ritenour
DQ: #41 Thomas Clark(Not reporting to the scales post race)
DQ: #83 John Byers(Not reporting to the scales post race)
Up next was a very wild Classic Car race. Earlier in the day Logan Dukes put his #19 on pole in qualifying being one of only 5 cars to break the 19 second mark. After a couple quick restarts in the beginning the green was out and Dukes put himself atop the leader board with Adam Pressley, Ritchie Overholser and Lee Merritt in chase. It wouldn’t take Pressley long to work his way around Dukes for the lead. The top four pulled away from the rest of the pack until a caution for Dukes spinning slowed the pace. Dukes had been running in the second spot but had to restart in the rear and quickly began working his way back up. John Stevens and Adam Pressley made contact off turn four but both continued on as they fought for position. However that wasn’t the end of the story as they again hit coming off turn two resulting in Stevens spinning and getting heavy damaged. The incident resulted in both Stevens and Pressley being doing for the day. After his up and down day, Logan Dukes found himself back in the lead and held on to pick up the win.
1: #19 Logan Dukes
2: #8 Eli Keck
3: #501 Tony Trent
4: #9 Lee Merritt
5: #7 John Stevens
6: #18 Richie Overholser
7: #2 Bradley Hutchinson
8: #1 Josh Chesney
9: #52 Eric Fisher
DNS: #07 Bobby Pressley
DQ: #22 Adam Pressley
2: #8 Eli Keck
3: #501 Tony Trent
4: #9 Lee Merritt
5: #7 John Stevens
6: #18 Richie Overholser
7: #2 Bradley Hutchinson
8: #1 Josh Chesney
9: #52 Eric Fisher
DNS: #07 Bobby Pressley
DQ: #22 Adam Pressley
Up next was the #3,500 to win Frostbuster 40 Super Late Model event. Defending Frostbuster Champion Cory Hedgecock was back in town but it was Jason Welshan who put the #29 on top of the scoring sheet in qualifying earning the pole. The green waved and Welshan took command of the stacked field ahead of Hedgecock, John Ownbey, Donald McIntosh and Mike Weeks who rounded out the top five spots. One of the battles that seemed to go on the entire race was between Steve Smith and Stacy Boles who seemed to run door to door all event long. McIntosh would make his way around Ownbey and take over the third spot in the early laps. Welshan was on a rail out front as he put a half straightaway on Hedgeock who held down second. Mike Weeks was also headed forward moving past Ownbey and into the fourth spot just behind the leaders. Lap traffic was a constant in this one as Welshan and Hedgeock found themselves surrounded by them. The lead was all gone as Hedgecock was right on the rear bumper of the #29 as they carefully picked their way around the slower traffic. This also allowed McIntosh to reel them in making it a three way battle for the lead. Trouble for Billy Ogle Jr who went for a spin bringing out the caution and slowing things down. On the restart McIntosh pounced and took the second spot away setting his sights on Welshan for the lead. McIntosh dove low going into turn one and took the lead away but pushed up the track off two opening the door for Welshan to take it right back. After running top three all day, Cory Hedgeock would pull off track late in the event with mechanical issues. Welshan would inch away in the closing laps and picked up the big win.
1: #29 Jason Welshan
2: #7 Donald McIntosh
3: #K37 Mike Weeks
4: #97 Michael Chilton
5: #A19 John Ownbey
6: #69 Carder Miller
7: #3 Steve Smith
8: #11b Stacy Boles
9: #50 Shannon Buckingham
10: #30 Ryan King
11: #201 Billy Ogle Jr
12: #17 Matt Henderson
13: #7 Brian Smith
14: #19 James Williamson
15: #21 Robby Moses
16: #2 Mitchell Childress
17: #87 Andrew Littleton
18: #102 Turner Clayton
19: #3 Floyd Self
20: #23 Cory Hedgecock
21: #31 Dakotah Knuckles
22: #1a Levi Ashby
DNS: #117 Jimmy Smith
DNS: #7G Craig Greer
DNS: #7Y Derrick York
DNS: #1 Shane Bailey
$1,000 was on the line for the winner of the Modified Street feature. #119 Eddie Stewart would set quick time in qualifying with a 17.399 second lap. A huge field of cars were on hand to do battle and unfortunately the yellow flag was the theme of the race. Multiple cautions kept this one from every really getting going. Stewart took the lead on the start ahead of Shannon Emery, Austin Atkins and Brad Davis. Atkins had a strong start but went for a spin early on in turn two and didn’t return to the track after. Shannon Emery had his own issues as he went for a spin. Stewart seemed to have the car to beat as he pulled away on the restart. Unfortunately the green never stayed out very long and the race had to be cut short.
1: #119 Eddie Stewart
2: #27 Dennis Roberson
3: #24s Trae Soper
4: #X Brandon Hutchinson
5: #17b Josh Brock
6: #84 Jason Savage
7: #10 Dave Smith
8: #00 Canaan Cranford
9: #k5 Blake Kelly
10: #17 Tony Reed
11: #00 Brandon Crawford
12: #8x Travis Coggins
13: #12 JJ Green
14: #59 Bryan McDaniel
15: #M2 Shannon Emery
16: #T2 Daniel Raimondi
17: #oz John Cook
18: #88 Brad Davis
19: #T11 Tim Kilby
20: #5 Gary Blanken
21: #14 Austin Atkins
22: #21 Brandon Ramsey
DNS: #74 Freddy Hillard
DQ: #4 Wilbur Hawkins
2: #27 Dennis Roberson
3: #24s Trae Soper
4: #X Brandon Hutchinson
5: #17b Josh Brock
6: #84 Jason Savage
7: #10 Dave Smith
8: #00 Canaan Cranford
9: #k5 Blake Kelly
10: #17 Tony Reed
11: #00 Brandon Crawford
12: #8x Travis Coggins
13: #12 JJ Green
14: #59 Bryan McDaniel
15: #M2 Shannon Emery
16: #T2 Daniel Raimondi
17: #oz John Cook
18: #88 Brad Davis
19: #T11 Tim Kilby
20: #5 Gary Blanken
21: #14 Austin Atkins
22: #21 Brandon Ramsey
DNS: #74 Freddy Hillard
DQ: #4 Wilbur Hawkins
Up next was the Open Wheel feature. It was Mike Marlar who put his #1 on pole in qualifying. A very strong field was on hand as all of the top 8 cars were tight in time trails. Marlar took control on the start ahead of Ernie Gingerich, Jody Puckett and Brad Hall. Hall was on the move from the get go as he turned up the pressure on Puckett for the third spot. Jimmy Dalton and Brad Dyer had their own battle going in the back half of the top five as the early laps ticked off. Amos Bunch would pull off early retiring from the event. Once again lap traffic was an issue as Marlar saw his lead shrink with Gingerich closed in. After racing hard since the start Dalton was able to move past Dyer and take the spot away. Brad Hall had used the slower traffic to help him reel in the top two. Now all the top four were in a pack putting on a great show for the lead. Marlar would hold off a late charge from Gingerich and Brad Hall to pick up the win in a race that went caution free.
1: #1 Mike Marlar
2: #9G Ernie Gingerich
3: #B1 Brad Hall
4: #J3 Jody Puckett
5: #2 Jimmy Dalton
6: #20 Brad Dyer
7: #6 Skylar Marlar
8: #11 Austin Francis
9: #70 AJ Gerber
10: #J4 Wayne James
11: #312 Greg Brown
12: #92 Billy Palmer
13: #69 Tim Patrick
14: #61 Eric Hill
15: #1k Logan Kirkman
16: #F5 Richard Clew
17: #50 Amos Bunch
DNS: #98 Shon Flanary
2: #9G Ernie Gingerich
3: #B1 Brad Hall
4: #J3 Jody Puckett
5: #2 Jimmy Dalton
6: #20 Brad Dyer
7: #6 Skylar Marlar
8: #11 Austin Francis
9: #70 AJ Gerber
10: #J4 Wayne James
11: #312 Greg Brown
12: #92 Billy Palmer
13: #69 Tim Patrick
14: #61 Eric Hill
15: #1k Logan Kirkman
16: #F5 Richard Clew
17: #50 Amos Bunch
DNS: #98 Shon Flanary
With so many Crate drivers on hand the ones who didn’t make the A main got to have their own race. Kenny Ford and Warren McMahan would start on row 1. Ford took the lead on the start ahead of McMahan, Kyle Courtney, Dustin Nobbe and Cameron Skinner. Ford seemed to have everything under control from the start as he pulled away quickly but the battle was on between McMahan and Kyle Courtney for the runner up spot. They raced hard allowed Nobbe to reel them both and make the pass. Kenny Ford was never challenged as he went on to pick up the win.
1: #61 Kenny Ford
2: #9N Dustin Nobbe
3: #33 Warren McMahan
4: #171 Kyle Courtney
5: #33x Cameron Skinner
6: #52 Dale Reed
2: #9N Dustin Nobbe
3: #33 Warren McMahan
4: #171 Kyle Courtney
5: #33x Cameron Skinner
6: #52 Dale Reed
[Best_Wordpress_Gallery id=”3″ gal_title=”Frostbuster – 2/25/17″]