On a night when mother nature seemed determined to stop anyone from racing, the track crews worked tirelessly to get Tennessee’s Action Track in shape for a great night of racing and it paid off with one of the best races of the year.
Wayne Rader put his #01 on pole in Modified Street qualifying for the second week in a row. With a stacked field on hand, the green waved and Chris Rickett put his “Silver Bullet” on point ahead of Rader, Austin Atkins, Jon Cook and Michael Woods. Atkins destroyed his #14 machine last week when he flipped violently in qualifying but returned stronger than ever as he worked over Rader for the second spot in the opening laps. Rickett was setting a furious pace and was already in lap traffic after just 5 laps. The top three began to pull away from Woods who had taken over the fourth position. A caution on lap 6 for Scotty Atkins who spun slowed the pace erasing Rickett’s lead. On the restart Atkins would make his move and power past Rader into the second position and set his sights on the leader. 12 laps in and Atkins had closed in on the back of the Siler Bullett looking to wrestle the lead away as the two Morristown, Tn natives battled it out. Trouble for the #27 of Nick Jones who went for a spin late in the race bringing out the caution. On the restart Rader repaid the favor to Austin Atkins and took the second spot back on the restart. The final three laps the top three ran bumper to bumper with Rickett holding off Rader by barely one car length at the finish line.
1: #36 Chris Rickett
2: #01 Wayne Rader
3: #14 Austin Atkins
4: #66 Michael Woods
5: #J2 JJ Green
6: #0z Jon Cook
7: #27 Nick Jones
8: #3 Kaleb Trent
9: #35 Jason West
10: #20 Scotty Atkins
11: #84T Justin Turner
12: #T11 Tim Kilby
DNS: #14 Jeremy Wyatt
2: #01 Wayne Rader
3: #14 Austin Atkins
4: #66 Michael Woods
5: #J2 JJ Green
6: #0z Jon Cook
7: #27 Nick Jones
8: #3 Kaleb Trent
9: #35 Jason West
10: #20 Scotty Atkins
11: #84T Justin Turner
12: #T11 Tim Kilby
DNS: #14 Jeremy Wyatt
After missing last weeks race, Jed Emert returned and set fast time in Sportsman qualifying. Emert took control of the strong field of cars on the start with outside pole sitter Richard Bailey, Clyde Stanton, last weekends winner Andy Ogle and Chris Coffey rounding out the top five on the start. Ogle had a rocket on the start as he quickly moved up into the third spot in the opening laps. Michael Courtney didn’t have a very good qualifying lap and had to work his way up from the ninth starting spot. Ogle continued his drive up to the front as he got past Stanton and into the second spot. The caution would wave for Jordan Rodabaugh who came to a stop on exit of turn two. Halfway in and Zach Sise had found something as his #9 was the fastest car on the track as he moved into the third spot. Sise was setting a blistering pace and on lap 16 with just 4 laps left he moved past Ogle and into second spot. Emert had dominated but his #98 machine seemed to be slowing in the closing laps. Sise using the low line had reeled in the leader. Coming to the white flag Sise powered past and into the lead going on to pick up the win in a thrilling race.
1: #9 Zach Sise
2: #98 Jed Emert
3: #68 Andy Ogle
4: #C11 Clyde Stanton
5: #97 Chris Coffey
6: #50 Adam Mitchell
7: #79 Josh Sneed
8: #3 Floyd Self
9: #9 Nicholas Shelton
10: #10 Bubba Long
11: #21 Bryan Howerton
12: #41 Richard Bailey
13: #C11 Michael Courtney
14: #15 Bryan Cooper
15: #1 Michael Millsap
16: #66 Jordan Rodabaugh
17: #1 Brandon Starnes
DNS: #49 Grant Corum
2: #98 Jed Emert
3: #68 Andy Ogle
4: #C11 Clyde Stanton
5: #97 Chris Coffey
6: #50 Adam Mitchell
7: #79 Josh Sneed
8: #3 Floyd Self
9: #9 Nicholas Shelton
10: #10 Bubba Long
11: #21 Bryan Howerton
12: #41 Richard Bailey
13: #C11 Michael Courtney
14: #15 Bryan Cooper
15: #1 Michael Millsap
16: #66 Jordan Rodabaugh
17: #1 Brandon Starnes
DNS: #49 Grant Corum
Next up was the 20 lap Classic Car feature. Lee Merritt would take the lead on the start with Richie Overholser, Will Carey, Joe Keck and Josh Chesney rounding out the top five. Keck was on go from the start as he was already working over Carey for the third spot on the very start of the feature. Overholser looking to pick up his first win of 2017 got a run on the inside of Merritt down the back and took over the lead. Keck had also ran down Merritt as the two battled for the second spot just behind Overholser. Six laps in and Keck had caught the leader and made the move to take the top spot away. Trouble for Eli Keck on lap 7 as he backed his #8 into the turn one wall. The driver was okay but he had to take the ride on the tractor off the track ending his night early. Back under green and Lee Merritt had his hands full with Will Carey for the third spot as Carey worked the low line. Keck began to inch away out front with the lead as the field crossed the halfway point. Just five laps left and Overholser had closed back in on the lead but he ran out of time as Keck picked up the win.
1: #78 Joe Keck
2: #18 Ritchie Overholser
3: #9 Lee Merritt
4: #16 Will Carey
5: #2 Josh Chesney
6: #44 Chris Nix
7: #501 Tony Trent
8: #52 Eric Fisher
9: #8 Eli Keck
10: #3 Chris Worsham
2: #18 Ritchie Overholser
3: #9 Lee Merritt
4: #16 Will Carey
5: #2 Josh Chesney
6: #44 Chris Nix
7: #501 Tony Trent
8: #52 Eric Fisher
9: #8 Eli Keck
10: #3 Chris Worsham
Tommy Newton picked up the win in Mini Stock last weekend and once again earned the pole by winning his heat race earlier in the day. The 2016 Mini Stock Champion Thomas Clark had some sort of mechanical issues on the start as he broke before even completing a single lap. Back under green and Byers took the lead ahead of Newton, Shane Bullock, Steve Owens Jr and Alex Holbert. Chuck McMahan was making his first start of 2017 at 411 but slowed early and pulled off track. Owens jr was looking to move past Bullock for the third spot in the early laps. Byers and Newton had put a huge gap on that battle as the laps ticked away until they found themselves working around slower cars. Nine laps in and Newton saw an opening coming off turn four and dove under Byers making contact sending the #83 for a spin. With Byers now in the rear Newton would take the lead. Owens Jr and Bullock had battled the entire race and it all boiled over late in the race as they made hard contact on the exit of turn four ending both their nights short of the finish. Up front Newton would inch away from John Byers in the closing laps to pick up his second win in a row.
1: #T2 Tommy Newton
2: #83 John Byers
3: #7 Alex Holbert
4: #R9 Sean Trulove
5: #72 Walter Walsh
6: #2B Shane Bullock
7: #17 Steve Owens Jr
8: #25 Joe Myers
9: #99 Chuck McMahan
10: #41 Thomas Clark
2: #83 John Byers
3: #7 Alex Holbert
4: #R9 Sean Trulove
5: #72 Walter Walsh
6: #2B Shane Bullock
7: #17 Steve Owens Jr
8: #25 Joe Myers
9: #99 Chuck McMahan
10: #41 Thomas Clark
After getting crashed out last week while racing for the lead, Jason Cardwell looked for a bit of redemption as he set fast time in Steelhead Late Model qualifying. After a couple false starts, Cardwell took control of the impressive field with Ryan King and Ruben Mayfield in chase. Cardwell had no breathing room out front as Ryan King was all over him, taking a look inside almost every lap on the exit of turn two. Trouble on lap 7 for Josh Henry as he slowed on track bringing out the caution. The red flag would wave for a scary crash involving Brand Miller and Greg Husky. Miller would flip his #89 machine and get caught up in the catch fence in turn two. Neither driver was injured but both were done for the night with heavy damage. The battle between Cardwell and Ryan King was intense as they raced hard for the lead until a caution for Chase King and Mike Weeks slowed the pace. King would continue on but Weeks retired for the night early. Back under green again King worked the inside trying to get the top spot away. They raced bumper to bumper up until the white flag. Coming off turn four to the finish King and Cardwell got together sending Cardwell into the infield. Ruben Mayfield with get through the chaos to beat along back to the finish line.
1: #00 Ruben Mayfield
2: #1G Ryan King
3: #44 Chase King
4: #5J Jesse Lowe
5: #4 Clyde Overholt
6: #07 Jason Cardwell
7: #1 David Clark
8: #54 Mitchell Burke
9: #K37 Mike Weeks
10: #3 Austin Neely
11: #89 Brandon Miller
12: #32 Greg Husky
13: #157 Eddie King Jr
14: #B00 Josh Henry
15: #G2 Gerry Green
2: #1G Ryan King
3: #44 Chase King
4: #5J Jesse Lowe
5: #4 Clyde Overholt
6: #07 Jason Cardwell
7: #1 David Clark
8: #54 Mitchell Burke
9: #K37 Mike Weeks
10: #3 Austin Neely
11: #89 Brandon Miller
12: #32 Greg Husky
13: #157 Eddie King Jr
14: #B00 Josh Henry
15: #G2 Gerry Green
The final event of the night would be the 20 lap Open Wheel feature. #4 Wayne James put himself out front on the start looking to pick up his first win of 2017. James seemed to have the best car in the opening laps but would pull off track early with mechanical issues. With James off track that handed the lead over to point leader Jody Puckett. Puckett wasn’t on easy street as he had last weeks winner Jeff Hamby breathing down his neck as they crossed halfway. Puckett would hold on to pick up the win.
1: #J3 Jody Puckett
2: #2 Jimmy Dalton
3: #15 Jeff Hamby
4: #T92 Billy Palmer
5: #4 Wayne James
2: #2 Jimmy Dalton
3: #15 Jeff Hamby
4: #T92 Billy Palmer
5: #4 Wayne James
[Best_Wordpress_Gallery id=”8″ gal_title=”May 6, 2017″]