Chad Ogle drove to his second Carolina Clash win at Volunteer
Chad Ogle seems to have a knack for winning races sanctioned by the Carolina Clash series run at the Volunteer Speedway in Bulls Gap, Tenn. The Sevierville, Tenn. driver won a similar event in 2015 and on Saturday night, he repeated that feat to pick up the $4,000 first prize.
It was the second Carolina Clash win for Ogle with both having occurred in Bulls Gap.
Canadian Ricky Weiss began the night by setting fast time in qualifying as he posted a lap of 12.032 seconds around the 4/10 mile clay oval. Ogle, Doanld Bradsher, Mack McCarter, Vic Hill, Ray Cook, Donald McIntosh and Brett Hamm joined the fast qualifier in being locked into the feature race via time-trials.
Current Carolina Clash points leader Johnny Pursley won the first B-main race of the evening while Jordon Horton captured the second of those preliminary events used to set the remainder of the starting grid for the main event.
At the start of the 40-lap feature, Weiss went to the front of the field with Ogle, Bradsher, McCarter and Cook trailing immediately behind. But the race’s early mover proved to be McIntosh as he charged from his seventh starting spot on his way to the top spot on the leader board.
On the third circuit, McIntosh blasted around both Cook and Bradsher to move himself into the fourth position. Just one lap later, the Dawsonville, GA native worked his way around McCarter to take the third spot in the running order.
With the race running caution free during its first half, the lead cars of Weiss and Ogle quickly found themselves being held back by slower traffic. All the while, McIntosh was closing in on the lead duo. On lap 12 as the leaders negotiated those slower cars, McIntosh swept by both Bradsher and Weiss to seize the lead of the race.
Ogle picked off the second position from Weiss just one lap after McIntosh had taken the top spot.
However, McIntosh’s night came to a premature ending when his car billowed smoke on the fifteenth lap and the driver was forced to pull into the pit area. His departure handed the lead over to Ogle, who would maintain his advantage over the rest of the field from that point forward.
McIntosh(7 on the outside) takes the lead away from Weiss and Ogle
After McIntosh’s demise the race became a contest for the runner-up position as the new leader flexed his muscle. After the race’s one and only caution flag on lap 21, the action was intense as drivers fought over the right to pursue the race leader.
Bradsher, Cook, Weiss, McCarter and Hill were among the combatants for second with paint being traded by the drivers hoping to challenge Ogle. Two and three-wide racing was not uncommon as drivers doing battle around the high-banked facility.
Ultimate, however, it would be Ogle who cruised to the win.
Feature Finish: 1. Chad Ogle, 2. Ray Cook, 3. Ricky Weiss, 4. Vic Hill, 5. Donald Bradsher, 6. Ross Bailes, 7. Johnny Pursley, 8. Dustin Linville, 9. David Watts, 10. Mack McCarter, 11. Justin Ratliff, 12. Mark Vineyard, 13. Jordon Horton, 14. Greg Estes, 15. Brett Hamm, 16. Tommy Bailey, 17. Billy Ogle, Jr., 18. Ross White, 19. Mark Douglas, 20. Donald McIntosh, 21. Jeremy Hines, 22. Travis Greer, 23. Chris Chandler, 24. Chris Barton, 25. Brian Smith, 26. Ellery Leake, 27. Bobby Mays
