Jason Hiett drove the #A19 to victory in the Crate Late Model feature
Jason Hiett ended last season by winning one of the season finale races at Boyd’s Speedway when he captured the Limited Late Model feature in November. And the Oxford, Ala. driver picked up where he left off on Saturday afternoon when he scored a win in the Crate Late Model portion of the 8th annual Cabin Fever event on the track located in Ringgold, GA.
Hiett turned in a dominating performance on his way to claiming the $1,500 first prize over a field that saw a total of 36 competitors sign in for competition in front of a packed grandstand at the facility just south of Chattanooga.
Hiett established himself as the man to beat when he led the way in qualifying for this class when he posted a lap of just over 15.3 seconds around the third-mile oval. John Ownbey, Cory Hedgecock, Riley Hickman, Cruz Skinner, Ray Cook, Ethan Hunter and Drew Deaver were among those drivers who were locked into the feature via their efforts in time-trials.
Justin Owens and Bryan Pritchard won the two B-main races used to set the remainder of the starting lineup for the main event.
Hiett went to the lead immediately at the drop of the green flag in the 25-lap feature with Ownbey, Skinner, Cook and Hedgecock trailing. A series of caution flags in the early laps kept the field tightly bunched although Hiett was able to jump away from the pack by several car lengths each time the green flag waved.
The real battle proved to be for the top-5 positions just behind the leader as Skinner constantly pressured Ownbey for the runner-up spot during the race’s initial circuits while Cook continually worked at the back of Skinner’s machine for third.
The leader encountered slower traffic during a green flag stretch near the halfway mark of the race. Ownbey was able to close in on Hiett at the front of the field as they duo battled among the cars trying to stay on the lead lap. However, another caution gave the leaders a reprieve from the traffic on lap 12.
Once again after that yellow flag, Hiett bolted away from the competition. But the battle among those behind him continued as Cook passed by Skinner to grab third on lap 16 while Hedgecock also took advantage of the slip by Skinner to assume fourth.
The final caution of the day came when the fourth running car of Hedgecock slowed to a stop on the front straightaway with just two laps remaining. The theme of the day continued on the ensuing restart as Hiett ran away to beat the pack to the checkered flag.
Hiett in the Boyd’s victory lane with his family
Feature Finish: 1. Jason Hiett, 2. John Ownbey, 3. Ray Cook, 4. Cruz Skinner, 5. Riley Hickman, 6. Ethan Hunter, 7. Kyle Black, 8. Andy Miller
In other action, Beau Bice made history by becoming the first driver to ever win a Topless Sportsman feature at Boyd’s when he beat Matt Stewart and B.J. Wilson to the finish line in that division which will become a regular class at the track in 2016.
Bice’s winning sportsman car
