Buckingham, Stanton, Rader, Palmer, Stevens, Driskill visit victory lane on ‘Championship Night’ at Volunteer Speedway

Buckingham, Stanton, Rader, Palmer, Stevens, Driskill visit victory lane on ‘Championship Night’ at Volunteer Speedway BULLS GAP, Tenn. (Oct. 21, 2018) — With rain falling overnight Friday through mid-afternoon on Saturday leaving track conditions unsuitable for racing, “Championship Night” at Volunteer Speedway was rescheduled to Sunday afternoon. Championship Night at “The Gap” is always a special event because it’s the culmination of hard-fought battles among competitors’ all throughout the season to see who will earn track titles. Also, with October being Breast Cancer Awareness Month, theme for the Championship Points Racing finale was “Think Pink 2.0 – Pink Out” with competitors encouraged to display pink graphics on their race cars. Shanon Buckingham of Morristown led flag-to-flag in winning the Crate Late Model feature, while Clyde Stanton of Knoxville captured his first-ever Sportsman Late Model victory on the high banks. Wayne Rader of Parrottsville captured his first Modified Street victory of the season, while Billy Palmer of Knoxville won his first Open Wheel Modified feature. John Stevens of Wallins Creek, Kentucky, sped to his first Classic victory, with Josh Driskill of Newport recording his third 602 Street Stock win. The Sise brothers, Trevor and Zach Sise of Knoxville, entered the point finale holding insurmountable advantages to already secure the Crate Late Model (Trevor Sise) and Sportsman Late Model (Zach Sise) track championships. During the season older brother Trevor recorded three Crate Late Model feature wins, while 18-year-old Zach visited victory lane on five occasions in Sportsman Late Model action. Gary Blanken of Russellville recorded four feature wins and consistently finished in the top five throughout the season to win the Modified Street track championship. The Classic division belonged to “Lightnin’” Lee Merritt of Knoxville this season, as he put together a phenomenal campaign by winning eight features to catapult him to the track championship. Josh Driskill of Newport held a commanding point lead entering the finale to already wrap up the 602 Street Stock title. Nobody had to give Shannon Buckingham directions to find victory lane, after all he’d visited that location many times in the past with several Crate Late Model wins to his credit. But with Buckingham out on the road running Super Late Model events around the country over the past several years, he decided to return to his home-track and run a topless Crate Late Model show. Buckingham, Rusty Ballenger and Cory Hedgecock battled for the lead on the start before Buckingham took the position. Behind the front-running trio Mack McCarter, Jesse Lowe, Tim Maupin, Josh Henry, Trevor Sise, Austin Neely, Jackie Hughes, Andy Ogle and Tim Byrd jockeyed for real estate. With the race reaching the halfway distance, Buckingham had begun to put some distance between himself, Ballenger and Hedgecock. Buckingham went on to capture the win over Ballenger, Hedgecock, McCarter and Lowe. Brad Seagle and Brad Dyer battled for the lead in the early laps of the Sportsman Late Model feature, with Clyde Stanton and Zach Sise in close pursuit. Racing down the backstretch into...