Josh Henry
By Tim Owens
There was a chill in the air but the racing was red hot. A full racing program took place at the Bad Fast Taz and it did not disappoint. Dirt, tempers and even a couple tires flew giving fans their money’s worth.
First up was the fan favorite Modified Street division. Robbie Buchanan and Dakotah Knuckles started the 5 car field on the front row. It didn’t take long for carnage to rear it’s ugly head, on the very first lap of the race the #28 of Justin James and the #56 of Tony Horton had heavy contact in turn two. The Horton machine suffered heavy damage and was done for the night. On the restart Knuckles jumped out to the early lead. James took his #28 machine to the pit area with damage on lap five. Knuckles would have to hold off a furious charge from Robby Buchanan as the two battled bumper to bumper until the finish. Knuckles would hold off Buchanan and get the win.
1. 21K Dakotah Knuckles, 2. P21 Robbie Buchanan, 3. 11 David Smith, 4. 28 Justin James, 5. 56 Tony Horton DNS, 54 Mitchell Burke
The 4 Cylinder division took to the track. A very small car count made for a quick race. Chuck McMahan took the lead on lap one and went on to score the win.
1. 99 Chuck McMahan, 2. 44J Jeromy Collins, 3. 84 Paul Meyers
The Tazewell Late Models were up next. Josh Henry set fast time along side Dakotah Knuckles. It wasn’t easy getting going as the first two starts were called off. Once they did get going Henry made it clear he was the car to beat on this night. By ten laps into the event Henry had stretched out his lead to a full straightaway. However Steve Smith wasn’t about to lay down as he powered by Horton to take the third position away on lap eleven. The caution waved on lap seventeen as the #17 of Brian Shockley and the #12 of Craig Gregg collided on the front stretch sending both cars to the pit area. The impressive run by Dakotah Knuckles came to an end on lap 21 as he slowed and took his machine into the pits. Henry went on to dominate the rest of the race.
1. B00 Josh Henry, 2. 3 Steve Smith, 3. 56J Jody Horton, 4. 5 Josh Chesney, 5. 11 Anthony Arnwine, 6. 18 Michael Rutherford, 7. 21K Dakota Knuckles, 8. 24 Andy Wilder, 9. 12 Craig Gregg, 10. 17 Brian Shockley
The Classic cars put on what might have been the show stealing race. Matt Tharp started his #20 machine on the front row being accompanied by the #18 of Eli Keck. When the green waved Tharp jumped out to the lead with Keck in chase. The caution waved on lap three as the #8 of Josh Chesney saw his rear tire go flying over the turn 3 wall ending his night. Phillip Thompson showed his strength early as he tore through the pack from his eighth place starting position. The caution waved again on lap nine for a spin between Scott Lacy and Cliff Lane. A big turning point came on lap 15 as then leader Matt Tharp lost a tire while battling with Thompson for the lead. Once he got the lead, Thompson refused to be denied as he went on for the win.
1. 24 Phillip Thompson, 2. 99 Justin Overton, 3. 88 Richie Overholser, 4. 18 Eli Keck, 5. 13J Joel Wolfenbarger, 6. 24 Scott Lacy, 7. C74 Cliff Lane, 8. 7 Bart Baxter, 9. 20 Matt Tharp, 10. 8 Josh Chesney
The wildest race of the night was the Sportsman feature. After a redraw Jordan Horton and Anthony Burchett led the 17 car field to the green. However it didn’t last long as the G7 of Billy Gordon went for spin collecting several cars in the process. The caution would wave again on lap 1 as outside pole sitter Burchett spun his machine in turn two. The night for Rex Coffey went from bad to worse as he made heavy contact with the turn four wall ending his night early. A horrific crash on lap 4 as the #99 of Jeff Day got airborne and flipped down the front. The race was red flagged as emergency crews helped Day out of his destroyed machine. The action was slowed once again when the #21 of Brian Howerton hit the turn one wall. Horton held off a charge from Clyde Overholt to score the win.
1. 56H Jordon Horton, 2. 4 Clyde Overholt, 3. 25 Justin Beeler, 4. 8 Jacob Owens, 5. 14 Austin Atkins, 6. 02 Michael Hawk, 7. 46 Derrick Shockley, 8. 34V Jason Varner, 9. 21 Brian Howerton, 10. G7 Billy Gordon, 11. G71 Dustin Hoover, 12. 30 Taylor Coffman, 13. 99 Jeff Day, 14. 81 Josh Evans, 15. 3 Rex Coffey, 16. 18 Anthony Burchett, 17. 2 Steve Smith
The Pure Street division put a cap on the action for the night. Michael Boyd and Kevin Smith showed the way as the green flag waved. Smith took the lead on the first lap with Boyd and Saylor in pursuit. By lap 15 Smith had pulled out to a full straightaway lead over the pack. He dominated the rest of the way scoring the feature win.
1. 58 Kevin Smith, 2. 21 Michael Boyd, 3. 5 Jason Saylor, 4. 15 Jason Long, 5. 26 Jonathan Miracle, 6. C5 Daniel Carpenter, 7. 97 Bo Hall, 8. 11 Tim Stevens, DNS 69 Paul Tarver
