Ford, Sawyer, Rickett, Emery, Merritt, Coffey visit victory lane at Volunteer Speedway

Ford, Sawyer, Rickett, Emery, Merritt, Coffey visit victory lane at Volunteer Speedway By Robert Walden Volunteer Speedway – Media/Public Relations BULLS GAP, Tenn. (June 30, 2018) — There’s an old saying when the weather is warm in summer about it being “Hotter than the Fourth of July.” Well, let’s see what the middle of next week produces on Independence Day because the final day of June in East Tennessee saw the National Weather Service document temperatures in the mid-90s, with the heat index making it feel a little over 100 degrees. But nonetheless a good crowd gathered Saturday night at Volunteer Speedway for an exciting five division racing program, and they were treated to great action on the high banks. Jensen Ford of Jonesborough captured the Crate Late Model victory, while Kip Sawyer of Knoxville recorded the Sportsman Late Model win. Chris Rickett and Shannon Emery, both of Morristown, visited victory lane in Modified Street twin action, while Lee Merritt of Knoxville recorded the Classic win, with Rex Coffey of Morristown taking the 602 Street victory. First up for the Crate Late Model division was a six-lap, $200-to-win Dash For Cash among the top six qualifiers. Rusty Ballenger recorded the win over Jensen Ford, Tim Byrd, Tyler Smith, Andy Ogle and Trevor Sise. Smith and Byrd brought the 19-car field to the green flag from the front row, but completing the opening lap Ford led Smith, Byrd, Ogle and Sise back around at the start-finish line. Caution waved on lap 3 for an incident involving Josh Henry, Bobby Mays, Chris Chandler and others between turns three and four, and while the action was slowed fast qualifier Smith pulled into the turn four pit opening. Off the ensuing double-file restart Ford powered back out ahead over Byrd, Ogle, Sise and Ballenger. Sise passed Ogle for third racing off the second corner on lap 5. Good racing just outside the top five involved Jason Welshan, Gary Crittenden, Adam Tolliver, Josh Fields and Pierce McCarter. With the race running clean-and-green, Byrd stayed right with Ford up front hoping the leader might make a mistake opening the door to allow him to make pass. But Ford never missed a beat and went on to capture his second win on the season over Byrd, Ballenger, Welshan and Sise. Kip Sawyer jumped out into the lead at start of the Sportsman Late Model feature over Zach Sise, Jed Emert, Brad Seagle and James Parrott. The first of what would be two cautions involving Clay Coghlan waved on lap 8 for a spin between turns one and two. With Coghlan restarting from rear of the field, back up to speed things quickly went from bad to worse for him, as his car violently slammed the big truck tire at the turn one pit entrance after he and Joe Bray got together. The red flag waved for emergency personnel to check on Coghlan, who thankfully was OK – but same couldn’t be said for a badly damaged race...