Jason Welshan won the Crate Late Model feature from the sixth starting spot.
Valentine’s Day is not only a day for lovers but also a day for lovers of racing to gather at the 411 Motor Speedway in Seymour, Tenn. For the third year in a row, track owners Mitch and Tanya McCarter opened their facility for racing in five classes, including the Crate Late Model division.
As was the case last season all over east Tennessee, Jason Welshan proved to be the man to beat in this class as he would end the day with a $1,500 paycheck and another victor’s trophy to place among his ever growing collection.
Chase King established himself as the early favorite when he bested the 19 car field in qualifying with a lap of 14.576 seconds around the 3/8 mile clay oval. He was followed by Todd Morrow, Will Roland, Cory Hedgecock and Jimmy Elliott as the top-5 starters on the feature grid.
The starting lineup was set entirely through time-trials as no heat races were contested in this class.
At the start of the 35-lap feature, it was Morrow who bolted to the early lead from his outside front row starting spot. At the same time, the sixth starting Welshan began moving forward immediately when he moved around King to claim second on lap 3.
By lap 7, Welshan had moved to the rear of Morrow’s car and began to pressure the early leader. On the next circuit, the No. 29 machine moved into its familiar place as the Maryville, Tenn. driver took the lead.
From that point, the winner of 34 feature races in 2014 would set about the task of driving away from the field in a race that ran 35 consecutive laps caution free after a couple of miscues on the initial attempts at a start.
On lap 11, King worked his way by Morrow to recapture the runner-up spot.
Welshan’s takeover of the lead did not mean that the racing action was over. Hedgecock began to move forward from outside the top-5 as he picked off drivers in front of him one by one. With just three laps remaining, Hedgecock pulled around Morrow for the third position in the running order.
At the finish it was Jason Welshan winning ahead of Chase King, Cory Hedgecock, Todd Morrow, Will Roland, Rusty Ballenger, Jordan Horton and Brad Seagle.
