It was the first race of fall 2017 but with temps near 90 Summer made one last go of it as the fans filled the 411 Motor Speedway for a packed night of racing action.
Brad Davis earned the pole for the 20 lap Modified Street feature by setting fast time in qualifying earlier in the day. It would be outside pole sitter Shannon Emery who put his #M2 on top of the scoreboard early as Davis got loose going into turn four on the opening lap. Wayne Rader started a little farther back than he’s used to and had his work cut out for him as he did battle early on with Jon Cook for the fourth spot. Emery had the lead out front but had some mechanical issues and slowed on lap 4 handing the lead over to Brad Davis. The top three drivers were the class of the field as they put distance on Wayne Rader who had gotten past Jon Cook. Chris Rickett was now in the second spot as he worked the low line under the lead. Rickett seemed to have a slight push in his #36 as he had trouble getting off turn two. Davis would hold on and pick up the win in a wild race.
1: #88 Brad Davis
2: #36 Chris Rickett
3: #01 Wayne Rader
4: #0Z Jon Cook
5: #6M RJ Mays
6: #10 Dave Smith
7: #6 Ben Sexton
8: #9 Chris Hickman
9: #M2 Shannon Emery
10: #66 Michael Woods
11: #20 Scott Atkins
12: #74 Freddy Hillard
DNS: #01 Jerry Hux
2: #36 Chris Rickett
3: #01 Wayne Rader
4: #0Z Jon Cook
5: #6M RJ Mays
6: #10 Dave Smith
7: #6 Ben Sexton
8: #9 Chris Hickman
9: #M2 Shannon Emery
10: #66 Michael Woods
11: #20 Scott Atkins
12: #74 Freddy Hillard
DNS: #01 Jerry Hux
Next up was the 20 lap Sportsman feature. The soon to be crowned 2017 track Champion Zach Sise earned another pole in qualifying. The green waved and it would be outside pole sitter Brad Seagle who used the high line to take the lead ahead of Sise, Heath Alvey, Floyd Self and Josh Sneed. Sise was driving his #9 to it’s limit as he scrapped the outside wall trying to run down the leader. Sneed would pull of track early with mechanical issues leaving just 5 cars on track. The top three had ran away from Self who held onto the fourth spot. Sise began to eat into the lead as he was running a higher line on the track. However he would run out of time as Seagle went onto pick up the win in a caution free race.
1: #31 Brad Seagle
2: #9 Zach Sise
3: #7 Heath Alvey
4: #3 Floyd Self
5: #50 Adam Mitchell
6: #79 Josh Sneed
2: #9 Zach Sise
3: #7 Heath Alvey
4: #3 Floyd Self
5: #50 Adam Mitchell
6: #79 Josh Sneed
Next up was the always exciting Classic Car feature. Joe Keck came into the night with the point lead and he got things off to a good start by taking the lead on the green ahead of Scott Lacy, Eli Keck, Lee Merritt and Shaun Sise your top five drivers. Lacy had his hands full from lap one as Eli Keck was all over him for the runner up spot. Lee Merritt also had a stout run going in the fourth spot but had to pull off early with mechanical problems. The returning Bobby Pressley also had to pull off early with issues. The top two began to pull away as it was a father son battle up front between Joe and Eli Keck for the race lead. Eli would work the low line but couldn’t get past as Joe Keck went on to pick up another win.
1: #78 Joe Keck
2: #8 Eli Keck
3: #24 Scott Lacy
4: #59 Shaun Sise
5: #77 Charlie Bates
6: #18 Chris Nix
7: #14 Lee Merritt
8: #22 Bobby Pressley
2: #8 Eli Keck
3: #24 Scott Lacy
4: #59 Shaun Sise
5: #77 Charlie Bates
6: #18 Chris Nix
7: #14 Lee Merritt
8: #22 Bobby Pressley
Mini Stock point leader John Byers had mechanical issues in his heat race and would not be able to start the A main. With Byers on the trailer earlier that opened the door for a new winner and what a thrilling mini stock race we saw. Marty Phillips won one of the heat races earlier in the day and would take the lead on the start ahead of 2016 Champ Thomas Clark, Steve Owens jr, Tommy Newton and Marcus Thompson the top five drivers. Owens Jr was on the move early as he did battle with Clark for the second spot. No one had any breathing room as the top five drivers were under a blanket the entire race. Clark, Thompson and Newton would put on a thrilling show for the fans as they somehow went 3 wide down the back and everyone made it out the other end. An amazing display of driving by everyone involved. Steve Owens Jr would hold on to win in what might be the best Mini Stock race I’ve every personally seen.
1: #17 Steve Owens JR
2: #T2 Tommy Newton
3: #78 Marcus Thompson
4: #3 Marty Phillips
5: #41 Thomas Clark
6: #T7 Danny Tullock
7: #77 Larry Hickman
8: #16 Brett Ledford
9: #R5 Chuck Ledford
10: #71 Brandon Herrell
DNS: #83 John Byers
DNS: #F2 Mike Ledford
2: #T2 Tommy Newton
3: #78 Marcus Thompson
4: #3 Marty Phillips
5: #41 Thomas Clark
6: #T7 Danny Tullock
7: #77 Larry Hickman
8: #16 Brett Ledford
9: #R5 Chuck Ledford
10: #71 Brandon Herrell
DNS: #83 John Byers
DNS: #F2 Mike Ledford
Next up would be the 30 lap Steelhead Late Model feature. Jadon Frame was making his debut appearance of the 2017 season in Steelhead as he set fast time in qualifying. However using the outside line on the start would give Trevor Sise the lead ahead of Frame, the “Dirty White Boy” Anthony White, Austin Neely and Jason Cardwell the top five on the start. The top three would pull away early but the race was slowed by a violent crash in turn four as Mitchell Childress and Jerry Green crashed hard. Both drivers would be okay but were done for the night with heavy damage. Back under green White would make his move on the restart getting into the second spot past Frame. Jason Cardwell didn’t have the best qualifying lap but seemed to have made the right changes on his machine as he began to move up getting past Layne Clifton and then Austin Dillon moving himself up into the third spot. A caution for debris would slow the pace again on lap 12. White would look under the leader on the restart but had to fall back in line to protect his position from Cardwell. Up front the #73 was on rails as he pulled away the second half of the race to pick up the win.
1: #73 Trevor Sise
2: #2X Anthony White
3: #07 Jason Cardwell
4: #34 Ellery Leake
5: #3 Austin Neely
6: #44 Chase King
7: #23 Layne Clifton
8: #29 Rusty Ballenger
9: #33X Cameron Skinner
10: #B00 Josh Henry
11: #C11 Michael Courtney
12: #44 Caleb Marcum
13: #66 Jordan Rodabaugh
14: #J8 Jadon Frame
15: #44 Chris Marcum
16: #2 Mitchell Childress
17: #G2 Jerry Green
2: #2X Anthony White
3: #07 Jason Cardwell
4: #34 Ellery Leake
5: #3 Austin Neely
6: #44 Chase King
7: #23 Layne Clifton
8: #29 Rusty Ballenger
9: #33X Cameron Skinner
10: #B00 Josh Henry
11: #C11 Michael Courtney
12: #44 Caleb Marcum
13: #66 Jordan Rodabaugh
14: #J8 Jadon Frame
15: #44 Chris Marcum
16: #2 Mitchell Childress
17: #G2 Jerry Green
Chris Brady would lead the 602 feature from start to finish to pick up his first win of the season.
1: #77 Chris Brady
2: #C5 Shaun Henry
3: #J5 Brandon Johnson
DNS: #99 Chad McLemore
2: #C5 Shaun Henry
3: #J5 Brandon Johnson
DNS: #99 Chad McLemore
[Best_Wordpress_Gallery id=”19″ gal_title=”September 23, 2017″]