Cory Hedgecock rebuilt his car in time to win on Saturday at Smoky Mountain.
Cory Hedgecock came into Saturday night’s Limited Late Model race at the Smoky Mountain Speedway after having spent much of the previous night and the day leading up to his arrival rebuilding a car that had been badly crashed the night before at the Volunteer Speedway. But the efforts of the driver and his team were rewarded with a victory that was accompanied by a $1,500 payday
Drew Kennedy led the way in qualifying for the division when he turned a lap of 16.74 seconds around the 4/10 mile clay oval located in Maryville, Tenn. Dakotah Knuckles, Trevor Sise, Ray Cook and Anthony White rounded out the top-5 in time-trials.
There were no heat races for the class as the entire starting lineup for the 19 car field was set via qualifying.
Once the 25-lap feature got underway, it looked as if Kennedy would might dominate the event as he jumped to the early lead. At the same time, the 6th starting Hedgecock blasted his way up to the 3rd spot in the order very quickly.
A lap 5 caution tightened the field and gave Hedgecock an opportunity to move up. On the ensuing restart, the Loudon, Tenn. driver darted around Knuckles to claim the 2nd position. That move set up some very tight racing between Knuckles, Sise, Anthony White and Billy Ogle, Jr. for positions 3rd through 6th.
Even considering the relative ease with which he had moved to 2nd, it did not appear as if Hedgecock was gaining any ground on Kennedy as the laps of the feature clicked off. However, a mistake by the front running car would ultimately open the door for a change at the top of the leaderboard.
On lap 9 Kennedy came upon a slower car, which caused him to bobble briefly. That was all Hedgecock needed as he shot to the lead as the two cars roared down the front stretch. From that point, he would pull away.
Meanwhile, the battle continued to rage behind the front twosome as Knuckles fought to hold off his fellow competitors. Eventually, however, he would give way and fall to 5th as Sise, Ogle and Matt Henderson moved around in the closing laps.
At the finish, it was Cory Hedgecock winning out over Drew Kennedy, Trevor Sise, Billy Ogle, Jr., Matt Henderson, Dakotah Knuckles, Jamie Perry, Jaylon Shannon, Weston Ganttee and David Kerr.
Cory Hedgecock and his crew celebrate their triumph.
In the Street Stock class, 20 cars signed in for competition. With no qualifying for this division, two heat races were used to set the starting lineup for the feature race.
Jeff McLemore earned the pole for the feature by beating out Ty Crisp and David Clark while Brady Lee would start from the outside of the front row after winning heat two over Robbie Buchanan and Wesley Lester.
McLemore dominated the 15-lap feature but the racing between Lee, Lester and Buchanan for the runner-up spot was intense throughout most of the race. Ultimately, it would be McLemore winning out over Lee, Lester and Buchanan to pick up the $500 first prize.
Jeff McLemore cruised to victory in the Street Stock class.
