Jed Emert collected the trophy in the Sportsman division at 411
As part of the Steelhead Nationals racing event that featured a $3500-to-win Limited Late Model race, the 411 Motor Speedway offered action in other classes as well on Saturday. Jed Emert came away from the Mitch and Tanya McCarter owned facility with the Sportsman victory while Jeff Watson left the track located in Seymour, Tenn. with the honors in the Open Wheel Modified division.
Emert led the way among the 16 cars that signed in for competition in the Sportsman class. His lap of 16.317 seconds gave him the pole for the feature race with Zach Sise, Travis Fultz, Clyde Stanton, Floyd Self and Josh Sneed filling out the first three rows on the starting grid.
At the start of the 20-lap feature, Emert and Sise ran side-by-side for essentially the first four full circuits as they disputed the lead on the track that provided multiple racing grooves. However, a lap 4 caution interrupted the action and placed Sise alone in the lead of the race.
The ensuing restart brought about some jostling for position as Stanton muscled his way around Emert only to have Emert return the favor one lap later. But again, a yellow flag calmed the action when Hugh Scalf climbed the outside wall in turn two of the 4/10 mile clay oval.
Emert regained the runner-up spot after the lap 5 restart and began to apply heavy pressure on the lead machine driven by Sise. Lap after lap saw the two cars race nose-to-tail on the straightaways and side-by-side through the turns as the two fought a fierce but clean battle to the delight of the fans assembled on the cool afternoon.
Meanwhile, Stanton spent much of the second half of the feature being challenged for his third position by Fultz and a hard charging Brad Seagle.
As the laps wound down, Emert stepped up his efforts to take the lead until he finally succeeded with just over two laps remaining in the race. From that point, the No. 98 machine drove on to the checkered flag. It was Jed Emert picking up the Sportsman victory ahead of Zach Sise, Clyde Stanton, Brad Seagle and Travis Fultz.
Jeff Watson was the winner in Saturday’s Open Wheel Modified feature
In the Open Wheel Modified class, it was Blake Brown who led the way in qualifying among the 11 cars signed in for competition with a lap of 16.963 seconds. Logan Hickey, Jody Puckett, Jeff Watson, Jimmy Dalton and Wayne James completed the first three rows on the starting grid.
At the start of the 20-lap main event it was Brown and Watson who would battle for the lead as they raced side-by-side over the course of the early circuits. Ultimately, those two drivers along with Puckett broke away from the rest of the field and looked as if they would decide the issue among themselves.
However, the two lead cars came in contact with one another as they battled through turn four on the ninth lap, sending each for a spin. It was determined by track officials that Brown had been the cause of the incident. As a result, Watson was placed back at the front of the field while Brown was made to restart at the tail end of the pack.
Watson then assumed control of the race but not without a late race charge from Puckett that saw him look under the No. 11 car in an attempt to wrest the lead away on lap 17. But it would be Jeff Watson who eventually grabbed the win with Jody Puckett, Blake Brown, Jeff Hamby and Jimmy Dalton in his wake at the checkered flag.
