RACE REPORTS FOR OCTOBER 12, 2019
(All photos by Gary Chopik)
Wow! What a weekend we had for Race 2 Include…and one week later we reconvened to learn just what had been wrought…a grand total of no less than $22,118.58 was raised for DSAMT! AMAZING! That we should be blessed thus with such gorgeous weather for the next race night was only appropriate…well, to be fair, it WAS sunny, but as that sun went down, so did the temperature…it seems Mother Nature finally figured out that it really WAS Autumn and she was making up for lost time! Our general response to that sort of thing is, well, that’s okay…just put on more clothes and come out and enjoy the racing…and the folks that did were treated to some fine action and a slew of brand new faces in Victory Lane…including one that was WAY overdue!
PEST DOCTOR RIDGE RUNNERS
All right, full disclosure: the Pest Doctor Ridge Runners event was strictly the Jesse Litchford show. There’s really no other way to put it. He was fast qualifier (by three tenths!), heat race winner, and in dominating the feature Jesse executed a clean sweep of the night’s events and but for a slight handling issue that slowed him in the late going he might’ve lapped up to third place! Josh Harrell pursued gamely but didn’t have anything for the flying 58. Moonshiner 50 winner Steve Akey ran third, with Justin Dickens fourth and Marc Deist fifth.
Pest Doctor Ridge Runners Feature Race Finish
1. Jesse Litchford (58) 25 laps
2. Josh Harrell (411) 25 laps
3. Steve Akey (99) 25 laps
4. Justin Dickens (73) 25 laps
5. Marc Deist (423) 24 laps
Other finishers: 6. Tony Chambers (43) 24 laps, 7. Lance Steele (10) 24 laps. DNS: Ricky Calkins (413).
Pest Doctor Ridge Runners Heat Race Top Five
1. Jesse Litchford (58) 10 laps
2. Josh Harrell (411) 10 laps
3. Steve Akey (99) 10 laps
4. Justin Dickens (73) 10 laps
5. Marc Deist (423) 10 laps
Fast qualifier: Jesse Litchford (58) 15.147 59.418 mph
ROAD WARRIORS
AT LAST! Kasey Williams FINALLY broke through and won his first ever feature in a race that saw seven or eight cars circulating in close company throughout…several of which had X flags looming over them. Amazingly though, the second half of the race was run with NO X flags, every lap being turned a tenth of a second above the 17 second breakout time. It was an amazing display of precision driving that had to be seen to be believed. In the end it came down to a shootout between ten time winner and points leader David Lassiter and Williams, with Williams half a car length to the good at the line. Lassiter settled for second, with Jerry Langston third, David Ray Bates fourth, and Derrick Bissinger fifth (minus a good portion of the passenger side bodywork!) Justin Doney took his first-ever VMR checkered flag in the heat race, while fast qualifier Aaron Porter claimed the victory in the trophy dash, edging Scott Conner at the line in a thrilling photo finish!
Road Warriors Feature Race Finish
1. Kasey Williams (K3) 20 laps
2. David Lassiter (6) 20 laps
3. Jerry Langston (3) 20 laps
4. David Ray Bates (88) 20 laps
5. Derrick Bissinger (469) 20 laps
Other finishers: 6. Tony Chambers (43) 20 laps, 7. Justin Doney (7) 14 laps, 8. Lynn Newcomb (55) 14 laps, 9. Scott Conner (07) 12 laps, 10. Aaron Porter (04) 10 laps, 11. Nate Allen (01) 6 laps. DNS: Austin Jacobs (95).
Road Warriors Heat Race Top Five
1. Justin Doney (7) 10 laps
2. David Lassiter (6) 10 laps
3. Kasey Williams (K3) 10 laps
4. Scott Conner (07) 10 laps
5. Derrick Bissinger (469) 10 laps
Road Warriors Non-Winners Trophy Dash Finish
1. Aaron Porter (04) 10 laps
2. Scott Conner (7) 10 laps
3. Chase Allen (07) 10 laps
4. Lynn Newcomb (55) 10 laps
Fast qualifier: Aaron Porter (04) 17.027 52.857 mph
LEGENDS
Another first time winner? Why not TWO wins? With a stout field of Legends, this feat didn’t come easy for Bryson Shaffer, but we finally got to see his face in Victory Lane, not just once but twice as the 12 car topped both the heat race and the main. In the feature the youngster from Jackson had to hold off a determined Hunter Wright, the two dicing furiously through lapped traffic and ultimately having to avoid the car of Paul Jones sitting sideways in the fourth turn on the last lap…a hair-raising moment that both handled with aplomb. Oliver Cordell ran strongly in third, just ahead of Justin Maxwell, while Kouts, Indiana’s Ben Fidone took fifth. Wright was the night’s fast qualifier, and both his and Maxwell’s next stop are the INEX Asphalt Nationals in Swansboro, North Carolina.
Legends Feature Race Finish
1. Bryson Shaffer (12) 25 laps
2. Hunter Wright (12) 25 laps
3. Oliver Cordell (17) 25 laps
4. Justin Maxwell (20) laps
5. Ben Fidone (3) 25 laps
Other finishers: 6. Galen Clark (38) 24 laps, 7. Greg Gresham (11) 24 laps, 8. Paul Jones (36) 23 laps, 9. Scott Henderson (75) 23 laps, 10. Rod Nelson (35) 23 laps.
Legends Heat Race Top Five
1. Bryson Shaffer (12) 10 laps
2. Oliver Cordell (17) 10 laps
3. Justin Maxwell (29) 10 laps
4. Greg Gresham (11) 10 laps
5. Galen Clark (38) 10 laps
Fast qualifier: Hunter Wright (29) 14.350 62.718 mph
PURE STOCKS
There was a lot of sheet metal wrinkled in Pure Stocks on this night, and young Jackson McLerran had his best weekend of the season with a win in the heat race—his first ever—and a third in the feature. But the feature win belonged to Ronnie Upchurch…or at least it did once he finally muscled his way past leader Josh Hood with one lap to go. It took a while to get this one underway, with Michael Pannell pranging the wall off turn four on the initial green and bringing out a red flag, but once we finally did get going, Upchurch began steadily working his way up through the pack with some thrilling three-wide racing. Fast qualifier Michael Williams battled for the lead for the lead with Hood before a sideways moment eventually dropped him to fourth, and Landin Dickens came back from an extra-crunchy sorta crash in the heat to claim fifth.
Pure Stocks Feature Race Finish
1. Ronnie Upchurch (08) 30 laps
2. Josh Hood (08X) 30 laps
3. Jackson McLerran (7) 30 laps
4. Michael Williams (91) 30 laps
5. Landin Dickens (331) 30 laps
Other finishers: 6. James Webb (27) 30 laps, 7. Cameron Choate (82) 30 laps, 8. Brandon Webb (40) 13 laps, 9. Michael Pannell (80) 0 laps. DNS: Danny Johnson (39), Bubba Turner (62).
Pure Stocks Heat Race Top Five
1. Jackson McLerran (7) 10 laps
2. Brandon Ladd (40) 10 laps
3. James Webb (27) 10 laps
4. Ronnie Upchurch (08)
5. Michael Williams (91)
Fast qualifier: Michael Williams (91) 14.919 60.326 mph
LATE MODEL SPORTSMAN
Coulda, woulda, shoulda…did! This Sportsman go could’ve been an epic event…we would’ve had eight really competitive machines, but for the issues Dillon Hoover had just before the green…then Chuck Adcock gave the turn 3 wall an almighty smack after a mechanical failure of some sort. Chuck was okay but the car was done. At this point we STILL should’ve had a terrific six way battle for the win and it looked pretty good from the get-go, with Bradley Arms giving the 3 car a spirited run before finally giving way to Thomas Pannell. While that was happening, Jeff Belt was quietly climbing into contention in the Climer Bonding 05, and when Arms had a sideways moment just before the halfway point, Belt darted past into second. A moment later, Arms and the 8 of Tre Ashworth came together, sending Arms skidding down the backstretch and bringing out the caution. This turned out to be the pivotal moment of the event, as on the restart Belt skidded up the hill in turn 2 and lost second to Arms. He would eventually get it back, but by that time Pannell was gone, and with fast time and the heat race already in his pocket, Thomas got out the broom and completed the clean sweep…the second of the night. Afterward, Pannell issued a Victory Lane challenge to all the absent area Sportsman drivers: “Open invitation to anybody that runs at Nashville…you want some, come get some…” Sounds like a throw down…!
Late Model Sportsman Feature Race Finish
1. Thomas Pannell (8T) 30 laps
2. Jeff Belt (05) 30 laps
3. Bradley Arms (3) 30 laps
4. Tre Ashworth (8) 30 laps
5. Wayne White (00) 30 laps
Other finishers: 6. Taylor Ryman (90) 30 laps, 7. Chuck Adcock (0) 1 lap, 8. Dillon Hoover (37) 0 laps.
Late Model Sportsman Heat Race Top Five
1. Thomas Pannell (8T) 10 laps
2. Bradley Arms (3) 10 laps
3. Wayne White (00) 10 laps
4. Taylor Ryman (90) 10 laps
5. Chuck Adcock (0) 10 laps
Fast qualifier: Thomas Pannell (8T) 13.921 64.651 mph
POWDER PUFF
BUT WAIT! THERE’S MORE! For then there came the ladies…ten laps to determine the fastest distaff driver at Veterans Motorplex. It could’ve been good too, with six cars lined up…but after turn one, lap one, we were down to four, as Laurie Langston and Ragan Johnson made contact, pitching the 43 HIGH into the air and back down hard…poor Kelli Cunningham had nowhere to go and got collected. Langston and Cunningham retired on the spot; amazingly, the 43, which SHOULD have been terminal, continued…at least to the halfway mark and the caution for the invert, at which point it was finally discovered that the 43 had in fact sustained severe suspension damage and had to be withdrawn. Going placidly amid the noise and haste was Page Ryman, who sailed on to the win, invert or no invert! Mindy Hughes and Beverly Deist fought it out for second and third, with Hughes eventually prevailing.
Powder Puff Feature Race Finish
1. Page Ryman (2) 10 laps
2. Mindy Hughes (07) 10 laps
3. Beverly Deist (423) 10 laps
4. Ragan Johnson (43) 5 laps
5. Kelli Cunningham (88) 0 laps
Other finishers: 6. Lauren Langston (3) 0 laps
THIS WEEKEND AT THE RIM: It’s PULL-A-PART NIGHT featuring the Southern 100 for the Pull-A-Part Pro 8 Late Models! The Pest Doctor Ridge Runners will be a back for a 50 lap event, and they’ll be joined by the Baby Grands, Pure Stocks, an encore appearance for the Pro 4 Asphalt Series, and…of course…the Road Warriors! All this, plus a chance to take home a 55 inch color TV, only at VETERANS MOTORPLEX at the RIM…where FAMILY FRIENDLY ACTION is the ATTRACTION!