Mark Douglas dominated the Carolina Clash field at Volunteer.
The Carolina Clash Super Late Model Series made its fourth visit to the Volunteer Speedway in Bulls Gap, Tenn. on Saturday night for a $4,000-to-win event. At the end of the evening, it was veteran driver Mark Douglas of Knoxville who collected the winner’s check and celebrated in Victory Lane.
Douglas began the night by setting fast time in qualifying with a lap of 12.381 seconds around the 4/10 mile clay oval. With the entire field locked into the feature event via time-trials, Douglas was joined at the front of the field on the feature starting grid by Donald McIntosh, Mack McCarter, Tommy Kerr and Vic Hill.
At the start of the 40-lap feature, Douglas went to the early lead and essentially left the others to battle for second as the No. 52D machine was seemingly untouchable throughout the race. But battle for second they did.
McIntosh and Hill spent most of the night contesting the runner-up spot while the likes of Mack McCarter, Tommy Kerr, Chad Ogle and a hard charging Ben Watkins exchanged positions behind the leader over much of the race distance. All the while, Douglas withstood brief challenges after the restarts following the race’s four cautions to pull ahead of the pack.
Hill grabbed second away from McIntosh on a lap 16 restart and looked as if he might close in on the front-runner to offer a challenge. However, another yellow flag waved on lap 22 that allowed McIntosh to retake second on that ensuing restart.
The race’s most intriguing moment occurred on lap 36 as Hill and McCarter got together while racing for the third spot. The contact sent McCarter for a spin and out of the event while Hill was able to carry on.
Douglas once again demonstrated his car’s might on the final restart of the evening as he drove away from the field to capture the checkered flag.
Watkins’ bold run from his 12th starting position to finish third allowed him to lengthen his lead in the series standings.
Feature Finish: 1. Mark Douglas, 2. Donald McIntosh, 3. Ben Watkins, 4. Chad Ogle, 5. Tommy Kerr, 6. Vic Hill, 7. Anthony Sanders, 8. Dale Ball, 9. Joey Coulter, 10. Ellery Leake, 11. Kevin Wilson, 12. Mack McCarter, 13. Bryan Hendrix, 14. Doug Sanders, 15. Ross White, 16. Forrest Trent, 17. Travis Greer
