If someone simply read that Cory Hedgecock started from the pole position and went on to lead every lap of Saturday night’s Crate Late Model feature at Smoky Mountain Speedway, the reader might assume the race was a boring one with few story lines. In reality, nothing could be further from the truth.
Cory Hedgecock won an action packed Crate Late Model feature at Smoky Mountain
This race would actually feature a crash in which a car flipped over and came to rest on its top, an incident that resulted in one driver attempting to run virtually the length of the backstretch to get at another driver, a photo finish as the top-2 cars went under the flag stand, and an all out melee between drivers and crew members at the scales after the race was over.
Hedgecock began the evening by setting fast time in qualifying with a lap of 16.622 seconds around the 4/10 mile clay oval. With no heat races being run for the 17 car field, the starting lineup was set entirely via time-trials. That placed Matt Henderson, Brad Coffey, Jake Teague, Adam Beeler, Greg Martin, Justin Summers, Josh Fields, Hudson O’Neal and Craig Powell in the top-10 of the starting grid for the feature race.
Hedgecock immediately went to the lead at the start of the feature scheduled for 25 laps. He was followed by Henderson, Teague, Beeler and Martin as the field roared under the flag stand for the first time. Soon after that, Teague looked under Henderson and eventually captured the runner-up spot on the next lap.
The first of four cautions came out on lap 4 when Cody Gloyne spun in turn four. But it was on the ensuing restart when the intensity level picked up. As the cars raced down the back stretch, contact between Henderson and Beeler sent Beeler’s car spinning into the outside wall.
The field had to be stopped on the backstretch while under caution as track officials worked to remove Beeler’s wounded machine from the racing surface. At that time, Beeler got out of his car and began running in Henderson’s direction, presumably to confront his rival. However, the angry driver was stopped before achieving his objective.
Beeler then waited near the scales throughout the remainder of the race.
When the race resumed, Hedgecock went back to the lead with Teague and Henderson keeping close tabs on the No. 23 machine. Further back, Martin was holding back the advances of Coffey and Summers as the laps clicked off.
A red flag was displayed to the field on lap 20 when the car of Robert Edwards flipped in turn one and came to rest on its top. The driver was reported to be uninjured, but it took several minutes for track officials to overturn the car and clean up the spilled fluids left behind.
At that point, track officials decided to end the race with a green/white/checkered finish due to time constraints.
Teague dives under Hedgecock on the final lap
On the restart, Teague began to challenge Hedgecock for the top spot. After taking the white flag, Teague made his final attempt. The two cars raced virtually the entire final lap side-by-side. Coming out of turn four it was a dead heat with Hedgecock just inching ahead at the finish line.
After the race, a big melee broke out at the scales when Henderson went to drive his car across. A number of people appeared to get involved, including drivers who had nothing to do with the initial incident. Eventually, track officials restored order and sent everyone to the outer pit area.
Feature Finish: 1. Cory Hedgecock, 2. Jake Teague, 3. Matt Henderson, 4. Greg Martin, 5. Brad Coffey, 6. Justin Summers, 7. Josh Fields, 8. Scott Gardner, 9. Jason Deal, 10. Robby Moses, 11. Hudson O’Neal(son of Don O’Neal), 12. Dan Tipton, 13. Tom Vann, 14. Robert Edwards, 15. Cody Gloyne, 16. Adam Beeler, 17. Craig Powell
