Matt Henderson drove his Duayne Hommel Tribute Car to the win at I-75
The NeSmith Dirt Late Model Series had originally intended to race twice this weekend at the I-75 Raceway. However, Mother Nature proved to be the winner on Friday night in what was to be a $2,000-to-win affair at the Sweetwater, Tenn. track. But on Saturday night, the race did go on and Matt Henderson of Lenoir City, Tenn rolled into Victory Lane and picked up the $2,500 first prize for his efforts.
Henderson, who has been driving a Duayne Hommel tribute car throughout the 2015 season, was joined in his victory celebration on Saturday night by the driver who was severely injured in an automobile accident several years ago.
Henderson began the night by setting fast time in qualifying with a lap of 13.552 seconds around the 3/8 mile clay oval to lead the field of 19 cars. With the starting lineup for the feature being set entirely through qualifying, Henderson was joined in the top-10 by Anthony White, Cory Hedgecock, Ryan King, Chase Edge, Brandon Williams, John Ownbey, Darrin Goins, Ronnie Johnson and Todd Morrow.
At the start of the 50-lap feature, Henderson shot to the lead as Hedgecock made an aggressive move up the inside to grab the second spot away from White. However, multiple caution flags would interrupt the action throughout the first ten laps of the event.
The most serious of those yellow flags came just after the completion of the first lap as the result of a multi-car pileup in turn four. In that incident, the car of Justin Summers rolled over and ultimately came to rest on its top. Also involved were Rusty Ballenger, Ryan Crane and Barry Goodman. No injuries were reported.
After the seventh and final caution flag flew on lap 10, the race went green the rest of the way. Once a rhythm was established, Henderson controlled the event. After jumping ahead by several car lengths on each restart, the No. H2 machine was able to hold, and even build upon, the race lead.
Although Hedgecock closed the distance on a couple of occasions in traffic, Henderson was never seriously challenged.
The real battle, however, was just behind the lead duo as White, Edge, Ownbey and Johnson ran in tight formation for virtually the entire distance as they contest the 3rd through 6th positions on the track.
At the finish, it was Henderson taking the win. Meanwhile, Johnson extended his NeSmith Dirt Late Model Series lead over King by finishing three spots ahead of his closest pursuer.
Feature Finish: 1. Matt Henderson, 2. Cory Hedgecock, 3. Anthony White, 4. Chase Edge, 5. John Ownbey, 6. Ronnie Johnson, 7. Brandon Williams, 8. Jason Welshan, 9. Ryan King, 10. Todd Morrow, 11. Ryan Crane, 12. Brad Coffey, 13. Barry Goodman, 14. William Overbey, 15. Rusty Ballenger, 16. Jake Teague, 17. Darrin Goins, 18. Justin Summers
Matt Henderson joined in Victory Lane by Duayne Hommel
