Shane Clanton led flag-to-flag in Tazewell
The World of Outlaws Late Models began a two day run through Tennessee and Georgia with a $10,000-to-win event at the Tazewell Speedway on Friday night. Georgia native Shane Clanton proved to be a dominant force as he led from flag-to-flag in what proved to be a caution free feature race.
Jimmy Owens was the fastest among 21 cars in qualifying as he toured the high-banked third-mile clay oval in 11.286 seconds to edge out Clanton, Chris Madden, Brandon Sheppard and Dakotah Knuckles.
Owens won the first heat race of the night by beating out Sheppard, Eric Wells and Rick Eckert while Clanton triumphed in the second preliminary over Devin Moran, Tyler Erb and Brian Shirley.
Madden won the third and final heat race of the night when he beat Ricky Weiss, Chub Frank and Morgan Bagley to the finish line.
The top-2 finishers from each heat went to a redraw that would determine the starting grid for the first three rows in the main event. That redraw placed Weiss on the pole with Clanton, Madden, Moran, Sheppard and Owens lining up behind.
Clanton used his outside front row starting spot to seize the lead at the drop of the green flag on the 50-lap feature with Moran, Weiss, Owens and Madden trailing. Both Weiss and Owens moved forward on the second lap when they swept by Moran to take second and third respectively. After which, Owens began to harass Weiss for the runner-up position.
Clanton moved from the outside of the front row to take the early lead over Weiss(7)
In a race that ran without a yellow flag on the high speed track, traffic was certain to be a factor and that came to be by lap 7 as Clanton began having to pick his way through slower cars while Owens continued to pressure Weiss for second and Madden worked on Moran for fourth.
Madden succeeded in his efforts to pass Moran on lap 11 which then dropped Moran into the clutches of Sheppard. Meanwhile, Clanton extended his lead on what had become a tight battle for second as Weiss, Owens and Madden also found themselves mired among lapped machines.
Series standings leader Sheppard took the final top-5 position away from the fading Moran with an outside move in traffic on lap 18. He then set off in hot pursuit of the Weiss, Owens, Madden fight for the right to pursue Clanton most closely.
Two WoO Late Models Series contenders battle on the high banks. Sheppard(1) & Madden(44)
Owens got around Weiss to take second just after the halfway mark of the race. However, Clanton had built a relatively comfortable margin of those who chased after him by always managing to keep slower cars between himself and his pursuers.
Owens dis manage to close the gap on the leader during the second half of the race but would never make a serious bid for the race lead. Ultimately, Clanton drove under the checkered flag ahead of the pack to claim the win.
Clanton in Victory Lane
Feature Finish: 1. Shane Clanton, 2. Jimmy Owens, 3. Ricky Weiss, 4. Chris Madden, 5. Brandon Sheppard, 6. Rick Eckert, 7. Devin Moran, 8. Tyler Erb, 9. Eric Wells, 10. Chub Frank, 11. Morgan Bagley, 12. Joey Coulter, 13. Brian Shirley, 14. Frank Heckenast, Jr., 15. Chad Ogle, 16. Vic Hill, 17. Dakotah Knuckles, 18. Billy Ogle, Jr., 19. Brian Smith, 20. Shannon Thornsberry, 21. Jordon Horton
