By Tim Owens
It was a night of madness at Tazewell Speedway on Saturday evening, as the Modified Street division was the featured event of the night. There were two separate races for that class and two different winners were the result.
The first of the two Mod Street features opened the action for the night. Fresh off his first career win last week, Dakotah Knuckles started on the front row alongside Tony Horton. Horton jumped out the lead as the green flag waved but the action was slowed as the #54 of Mitchell Burke brought out the caution. The night quickly went sour for Robby Buchanan as he spun his machine coming off turn 4. The green waved and Knuckles began working the inside of Horton for the lead. However the former champion wanted everyone to know this was his race as he began to stretch out his advantage. The action was slowed once again on lap 8 as Justin James spun his machine. The race was red flagged as track crews had to clean up fluid from the #28 of James. Brad Davis wasn’t about to give up as he powered by Gary Blanken to take the 3rd position away. Back up front Horton had pulled away and he went on to win over Knuckles and Davis.
1. 56 Tony Horton
2. 21k Dakotah Knuckles
3. 88 Brad Davis
4. 5 Gary Blanken
5. P21 Robbie Buchanan
6. 54 Mitchell Burke
7. 28 Justin James
Up next was the ground pounding Tazewell Late Models. Fresh off his big win at Volunteer Speedway last week Greg Estes started on the front row along side Josh Collins. Disaster struck quickly as Estes suffered a cut tire, bunching the field and ultimately resulting in a huge crash in turn one. The 11 of Anthony Arnwine and Jason Trammell saw their night end before even completing one lap. The cars of Steve Smith and Josh Henry were also damaged but continued on. There was another failed restart as Estes took his machine into the pit area, moving Trevor Sise to the front row. Once the race finally got going Josh Collins jumped out to the lead and by lap 5 was stretching the pack by eight car lengths. The battle of the night was between Steve Smith and Josh Henry as the two fought hard for the 3rd position. Sise would close the gap late in the race but it wasn’t enough. Collins went on to to score the win.
1. 44 Josh Collins
2. 73 Trevor Sise
3. 3 Steve Smith
4. B00 Josh Henry
5. 5 Josh Chesney
6. X Travis Fultz
7. 28 Jerry Williams Jr
8. 24 Andy Wilder
9. 31 Greg Estes
10. 90J Jason Trammell
11. 11 Anthony Arnwine
12. 56J Jody Horton
13. 17 Brian Shockley
DNS 2 Donnie Cameron
The always exciting Classic cars were up next and they did not disappoint. An invert saw Justin Overton and Richie Overholser on the front row. Joel Wolfenbarger flexed his muscle early on as he drove his way to the lead by lap 6. Phillip Thompson showed why he’s been the hottest driver in the division as he once again worked his way up through the pack. By the halfway mark, Thompson had worked his way to the 3rd position. Lapped traffic would play a role in this race as Wolfenbarger had to avoid a slower car, handing the lead over to Matt Tharp. Like a shark that smells blood, Thompson began to close in on the back of Tharp for the lead but time ran out on him. Tharp held off the charge to pick up the win.
1. 20 Matt Tharp
2. 24 Phillip Thompson
3. 99 Justin Overton.
4. 13J Joel Wolfenbarger
5. 7 Bart Baxter
6. 34 Phillip Shockley
7. C74 Cliff Lane
8. 7 John Stevens
9. 18 Eli Keck
10. 8 Josh Chesney
11. 88 Richie Overholser
Fresh off his dominate performance last week, Chuck McMahan showed the way as the green flag waved in the Four Cylinder feature. Fan favorite Kurt Owens started last but worked his way up the 3rd position immediately. McMahan and Joey Allen fought a furious battle for the lead up front with Owens giving chase. However it wasn’t meant to be for Allen as his machine slowed on lap 9 with mechanical problems. McMahan went on to score another win to add to his already impressive resume.
1. 99 Chuck McMahan
2. 7Up Kurt Owens
3. 44J Jeromy Collins
4. 84 Paul Meyers
5. 00 Joey Allen
2013 track champion Jonathan Miracle and Bo Hall showed the way as the green waved over the Pure Street division. Jason Long was ready to go as he quickly made his way around Hall to take the 2nd position away. Miracle saw his big lead erased by a debris caution on lap 6. Long continued to work on Miracle for the lead as the caution waved again on lap 10 for Jason Saylor. Miracle stretched his lead back out after the caution and went on to score the win.
1. 26 Jonathan Miracle
2. 15 Jason Long
3. 97 Bo Hall
4. 5 Jason Saylor
DQ’d 21 Michael Boyd
DNS 42 Jack England
An invert from the first feature put Brad Davis on the pole for the second Modified Street feature. Davis took the lead on lap one and begin to stretch out his advantage. The night ended for Robby Buchanan as he took his car to the pit area on lap 3. Gary Blanken began working over Knuckles for the 3rd position when the green waved. After picking up the win in the first feature, Tony Horton wasn’t so fortunate this time as he pulled into the pit area halfway through the race. By lap 10 Davis had pulled out to a big lead and went on to win.
1. 88 Brad Davis
2. 21K Dakotah Knuckles
3. 5 Gary Blanken
4. 54 Mitchell Burke
5. 56 Tony Horton
6. P21 Robbie Buchanan
DNS 28 Justin James
The biggest car count of the night was in the Sportsman class. Clyde Overholt and Steve Carr lead the pack to the green but Carr suffered mechanical problems on the start, ending his night. This moved Keith Chapman up to the front row for the restart. The green waved and Chapman took control of the race followed by Overholt. Jordon Horton began to tear his way through the pack as he drove by Anthony Burchett and Josh Fields to move his way up to 3rd. The caution waved erasing the lead Chapman had built on lap 11. Back green, Horton and Overholt continued to steal the show as they fought for position. Another caution flag waved as Jacob Owens and Billy Gordon crashed in turn two ending the night for Gordon. Horton was finally able to make his way past Overholt to take the second position but it was too late. Keith Chapman held off the charge and picked up the win.
1. 97 Keith Chapman
2. 56H Jordon Horton
3. 4 Clyde Overholt
4. 18 Anthony Burchett
5. 11 Josh Fields
6. 25 Justin Beeler
7. 34V Jason Varner
8. 46 Derrick Shockley
9. 21 Brian Howerton
10. 8 Jacob Owens
11. G71 Dustin Hoover
12. 18 Rick Welch
13. G7 Billy Gordon
14. 81 Josh Evans
15. 77 Steve Carr
16. 11 Richie Bean
DNS 29 Chris Raines
DNS 1 Eli Keck
DNS 30 Taylor Coffman
DNS 02 Michael Hawk
