Cory Hedgecock picked up his biggest win on Friday night
There is a lot to be said for home field advantage in any sport, and racing is no different. On Friday night, the regulars on the World of Outlaws Late Model Series along with a few other well known standouts in Dirt Late Model racing found out what drivers around east Tennessee have known for some time- Cory Hedgecock is tough to beat at 411 Motor Speedway. At the end of the night on the track where he has won numerous feature races, the Loudon, Tenn. native earned the biggest prize of his racing career when he was handed the winner’s check valued at $10,000.
Jimmy Owens led the way in qualifying when he toured the 3/8 mile clay oval located in Seymour, Tenn. in 14.001 seconds to beat out the efforts of Kyle Hardy, David Breazeale, Hedgecock, Michael Chilton, amd Shanon Buckingham.
Hedgecock beat out Owens, Rick Eckert and Tyler Erb in the first heat race of the night while Chilton bested Hardy, Brent Larson and Brandon Sheppard in the evening’s second preliminary. Breazeale took the third and final heat race checkered flag ahead of Dale McDowell, Mike Marlar and Chris Madden.
Casey Roberts won the only Last Chance Showdown race of the night.
The WoO Late Models redraw placed Chilton on the pole for the feature with Breazeale, Hedgecock, Hardy, Owens and McDowell lining up in his wake.
Breazeale bolted to the early lead at the start of the 50-lap feature with Chilton, Owens, Hedgecock and McDowell trailing. Hedgecock immediately looked to move forward as he got by Owens to take third on the second circuit while McDowell and Hardy battled for the fifth position. Hardy not only captured fifth but also took fourth as he moved around both McDowell and Owens with a single slide job in turn three.
McDowell, who although not being a series regular had won two WoO Late Model races coming into the night, slowed to bring out a caution on the sixth lap. On the ensuing restart, Hedgecock wrested second away from Chilton and began to pursue Breazeale for the race lead.
Marlar(157) began moving forward around the halfway mark
Marlar began to make his way forward as he challenged Hardy for fifth just after lap 10 and eventually took the spot with a slide job pass on lap 14. The No. 44 car of the WoO points leading Madden looked to gain positions as he pulled up to seventh from his 12th starting spot on lap 17.
As the leaders worked their way through traffic, Hedgecock saw an opening and took advantage as he passed by Breazeale to take over the top spot on lap 23. Just two laps later Owens gained second by passing Breazeale while Marlar moved to fourth by moving around Chilton. Marlar then came to third as he got around Breazeale for the spot on lap 27.
Owens(20) made a late charge at Hedgecock
A lap 41 yellow flag for the slowing car of Robby Moses tightened the field and allowed his pursuers a shot at getting around Hedgecock. But the young driver would have none of it as he held off advances from Owens and ultimately pulled away.
In the end, it was Cory Hedgecock who outran the field to the checkered flag to score the biggest win of his career.
Feature Finish: 1. Cory Hedgecock, 2. Jimmy Owens, 3. Mike Marlar, 4. Chris Madden, 5. Michael Chilton, 6. Tyler Erb, 7. Brent Larson, 8. David Breazeale, 9. Shane Clanton, 10. Brandon Sheppard, 11. Rick Eckert, 12. Chase Junghans, 13. Shanon Buckingham, 14. Ray Cook, 15. Kyle Hardy, 16. Morgan Bagley, 17. Chris Ferguson, 18. Ryan King, 19. Devin Moran, 20. Brandon Overton, 21. Casey Roberts, 22. Robby Moses, 23. David Crabtree, 24. Dale McDowell
Hedgecock in victory lane with wife Katie and daughter Lily Ann
