Finchum, VanDyke capture Kingsport Speedway NASCAR victories By Robert Walden Kingsport Speedway – Media/Public Relations KINGSPORT, Tenn. (May 16) — For the second consecutive week Mother Nature threatened to wash out racing at Kingsport Speedway, as a late evening thunderstorm moved over the Model City and soaked “The Concrete Jungle” just after opening rounds of practice had concluded for the Late Model Stock and Street Stock competitors. Even with unseasonably cool temperatures in East Tennessee and Southwest Virginia, track management made the decision to ride the storm out and get Technologies of Southwest Virginia Night at the Races in the books. Once skies cleared following a lengthy rain delay the track drying process began, already well past the scheduled 8 p.m. starting time. Once racing action got underway, with a full moon brightly illuminating the .375-mile banked concrete oval, Chad Finchum of Knoxville and Kres VanDyke of Claypool Hill, Va., each captured NASCAR Whelen All-American Series twin 35-lap Late Model Stock victories. For defending track champion Finchum it was his first win of the season and for current divisional points leader VanDyke, he visited victory lane for the third time in 2014. In Late Model Stock qualifying, Finchum set fast-time at 15.057 seconds to earn the pole position, while Lee Tissot was second quickest at 15.170. Before one lap could be completed, fifth- and sixth-place starters Justin Fontaine and Zeke Shell got together in the fourth turn, with several other competitors forced to take evasive action to avoid getting collected. The next attempt at green saw Finchum grab the lead over VanDyke, Tissot, Ronnie McCarty and Ryan Stiltner. Tissot dropped out with mechanical issues with just seven laps on the scoreboard. Finchum and VanDyke were running nose-to-tail 15 laps into the event, while 10 car lengths behind the lead duo a fierce battle for position was taking place between Stiltner, Paul Nogradi Jr., McCarty and Shell. McCarty had slipped back a few spots after having to suddenly jump out of the throttle at exit of the fourth turn, when a slowing Wayne Salyers cut into the pits directly in front of him. Shell moved around McCarty for fifth on lap 16, and then two circuits later passed Nogradi to move into fourth. Shell kept applying pressure on Stiltner and finally on lap 26 racing off the second corner, Shell made the pass to move into third place. But out front it was all Finchum, as he held off a hard-charging VanDyke by just 0.769 seconds to complete a flag-to-flag run to victory. Finishing third through fifth, respectively, were Shell, Stiltner and McCarty. Completing the top 10 finishers were Nogradi, Tyler Goodwin, Wayne Hale, Joey Trent and Bruce Blessing. With the top three finishers from the first race inverted for start of the second 35-lapper, Shell and VanDyke from the front row led the 21-car field to green. Shell immediately jumped out into the lead over VanDyke, Stiltner, Finchum and McCarty. McCarty passed Finchum for position on lap 4 racing off the fourth corner. With the race running all-green since the start, on lap 15 Shell caught the tail of the field and began working lap traffic. With VanDyke riding in his rearview mirror, Shell knew he couldn’t make a mistake. On lap 17, with cars two-wide in front of him between turns one and two, Shell tried to force the issue to make his way past them and got together with Allen Hawkins, spinning Hawkins in turn two and also collecting Zack Walton in the accident to bring out the caution. Off the ensuing double file restart, Shell once again pulled back ahead into the lead over VanDyke. But on lap 20, caution waved when Trent spun between turns three and four. Going back green the front row had Shell and VanDyke, while behind them Stiltner and McCarty were side-by-side. This time VanDyke battled with Shell and moved to the point, with Shell glued to his rear bumper in second followed by Stiltner, McCarty and Finchum. On lap 22 between turns one and two, Finchum and McCarty tangled with McCarty coming out on the losing end with significant damage ending his race prematurely. Ready once again for a restart and sprint to the checkers, VanDyke and Shell ran door-to-door down the front straightaway into the first turn. Shell got off too hot into the corner and locked his brakes, sliding up the track and almost making contact with the outside wall and dropping back in the running order. With a clear track ahead, VanDyke never missed a beat over the remaining distance to barely edge Tissot by 0.453 seconds for his third feature win on the season, while Stiltner, Goodwin and Finchum rounded out the top five. Completing the top 10 finishers were Shell, Nogradi, Hale, Austin Peters and Greg Bohanon Jr., who was making his first-ever visit to Kingsport Speedway. In a race that ran caution-free, Alan Rich of Sylva, N.C., led all 30 laps to capture his second victory on the season. Rich won by right at a full-straightaway over Rob Austin, Nick Cole, Jared Broadbent and Chris Tunnell. Keith Helton of Kingsport and Jason Ketron battled up front and swapped the lead on a few occasions late in the 25-lap Pure 4 feature before Helton moved ahead for good and went on to record his first win this season over Ketron. Finishing third through fifth, respectively, were Jon Pittman, Bruce Crumbley and David Trent. Kirby Gobble of Abingdon, Va., passed Rocky Yates to move into the lead on lap 7 in the Mod 4 feature and once out front easily cruised to his second straight win. Rounding out the top five finishers were Dennis Arnold, Duke Bare and Billy Duty. Michael “Mook” Jeter of Kingsport, along with Bruce Crumbley and James Deese had each visited victory lane on one occasion this season. And once again in Rookie Pure 4 action, the outcome was decided between the trio as Jeter picked up his second win over Deese, Crumbley, Andrew Hill and Craig Phelps. Derek Lane of Kingsport recorded his second Legends win of the season over David Wright and Trey Lane. KINGSPORT SPEEDWAY – “TECHNOLOGIES OF SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA NIGHT AT THE RACES” – MAY 16, 2014 NASCAR WHELEN ALL-AMERICAN SERIES LATE MODEL STOCK (TWIN # 1 - 35 laps) Showing Finish Position, Starting Position In Parentheses, Driver Name, Car Number, Hometown, Laps Completed In Parentheses 1. (1) Chad Finchum #19-Knoxville, TN (35) 2. (3) Kres VanDyke #15-Claypool Hill, VA (35) 3. (6) Zeke Shell #97-Johnson City, TN (35) 4. (8) Ryan Stiltner #22-Grundy, VA (35) 5. (4) Ronnie McCarty #5-Kingsport, TN (35) 6. (7) Paul Nogradi Jr. #02-Clinton, TN (35) 7. (9) Tyler Goodwin #64-Kingsport, TN (35) 8. (11) Wayne Hale #19-Bluff City, TN (35) 9. (12) Joey Trent #26-Gray, TN (33) 10. (16) Bruce Blessing #55-Gate City, VA (33) 11. (15) Austin Peters #48-Kingsport, TN (33) 12. (13) Allen Hawkins #14-Kingsport, TN (33) 13. (14) Sam Steffey #35-Abingdon, VA (33) 14. (10) Zack Walton #1-Blountville, TN (33) 15. (19) Greg Bohanon Jr. #17-Leicester, NC (33) 16. (18) Phil Harris #55-Johnson City, TN (33) 17. (17) Rick Pannell #33-Kingsport, TN (33) 18. (20) Luke Fox #94-Weaverville, NC (31) 19. (2) Lee Tissot #7-Asheville, NC (7) 20. (5) Justin Fontaine #60-Fletcher, NC (6) 21. (21) Keith Stiltner #2-Grundy, VA (6) 22. (22) Wayne Salyers #5-Kingsport, TN (2) NASCAR WHELEN ALL-AMERICAN SERIES LATE MODEL STOCK (TWIN # 2 - 35 laps) Showing Finish Position, Starting Position In Parentheses, Driver Name, Car Number, Hometown, Laps Completed In Parentheses 1. (2) Kres VanDyke #15-Claypool Hill, VA (35) 2. (19) Lee Tissot #7-Asheville, NC (35) 3. (4) Ryan Stiltner #22-Grundy, VA (35) 4. (7) Tyler Goodwin #64-Kingsport, TN (35) 5. (3) Chad Finchum #19-Knoxville, TN (35) 6. (1) Zeke Shell #97-Johnson City, TN (35) 7. (6) Paul Nogradi Jr. #02-Clinton, TN (35) 8. (8) Wayne Hale #19-Bluff City, TN (35) 9. (11) Austin Peters #48-Kingsport, TN (35) 10. (15) Greg Bohanon Jr. #17-Leicester, NC (35) 11. (10) Bruce Blessing #55-Gate City, VA (35) 12. (16) Phil Harris #55-Johnson City, TN (35) 13. (17) Rick Pannell #33-Kingsport, TN (34) 14. (13) Sam Steffey #35-Abingdon, VA (34) 15. (12) Allen Hawkins #14-Kingsport, TN (33) 16. (20) Justin Fontaine #60-Fletcher, NC (26) 17. (5) Ronnie McCarty #5-Kingsport, TN (22) 18. (9) Joey Trent #26-Gray, TN (20) 19. (18) Luke Fox #94-Weaverville, NC (20) 20. (14) Zack Walton #1-Blountville, TN (17) 21. (21) Keith Stiltner #2-Grundy, VA (8) Did Not Start: Wayne Salyers #5-Kingsport, TN STREET STOCK (30 laps) 1) Alan Rich #03; 2) Rob Austin #25; 3) Nick Cole #63; 4) Jared Broadbent #74; 5) Chris Tunnell #6; 6) Steve Sims #10; 7) Mark Christian #43; 8) Jamie Meadows #11; 9) Sam P. Hurd #11; 10) Danny Casteel #41; 11) Tony Mullenix #70; 12) Royce Peters #48 – Did Not Start: David Schmidt #20 PURE 4 (25 laps) 1) Keith Helton #74; 2) Jason Ketron #28; 3) Jon Pittman #00; 4) Bruce Crumbley #33; 5) David Trent #57; 6) John Ketron #26; 7) Tim Jennings #16; 8) Tim Abelseth #66; 9) Richard Quillen #14; 10) Darrell Whitehead #44; 11) Matthew Ford #19; 12) B.C. Penley #44; 13) Kenneth Street #2; 14) Todd Cross #41 – Did Not Pass Post Race Tech: Billy Ketron #27 MOD 4 (20 laps) 1) Kirby Gobble #88; 2) Rocky Yates #3; 3) Dennis Arnold #7; 4) Duke Bare #2; 5) Billy Duty #7; 6) Chris Amburgey #7; 7) Nick Cole #77; 8) Mike Williams #5; 9) Jessie Amburgey #17; 10) Luke Fox #94 ROOKIE PURE 4 (20 laps) 1) Michael Jeter #53; 2) James Deese #25; 3) Brandon Crumbley #7; 4) Andrew Hill #97; 5) Craig Phelps #00; 6) Tim Jennings #16; 7) Derek Gilliam #34; 8) Chris Wilhelm #99; 9) William Hale #47; 10) Gary Crumbley #59; 11) Larry Stapleton #14; 12) Tammy Cross #41; 13) Larry Bowens #18 LEGEND (10 laps) 1) Derek Lane #19; 2) David Wright #9; 3) Trey Lane #28 Kingsport Speedway 2961 North John B. Dennis Highway Office: (423) 288-5992 General Manager/Promoter - Karen Tunnell: (276) 393-9594 NewKingsportSpeedway Twitter @KPSpeedway
Posted on: Sat, 17 May 2014 07:51:53 +0000