The winning car driven by Anthony Nicholson.
A rare sprint car invasion of east Tennessee proved to be a weekend to remember for Anthony Nicholson. After coming home second to Terry Gray on Friday night at the 411 Motor Speedway, the driver of car No. 16 claimed a feature win at Maryville’s Smoky Mountain Speedway on Saturday evening.
Nicholson took the lead away from veteran Danny Smith early in the main event and drove away to claim the $3,000 first prize. But as was the case at 411, this race was marked by a terrifying moment as well.
The night began for the USCS machines with a ‘Dash for Cash’ race involving the top-6 finishers from the night before. Smith won that race and the $100 that went along with it by beating out Nicholson and Gray to the line.
Nicholson and Gray did, however, gain momentum for the feature by scoring wins in the night’s two heat races. But because the USCS uses a passing points system to set its feature lineups, Terry Witherspoon was allowed to start the 30-lap feature race from the inside of the front row with Smith starting to his outside. Nicholson and Gray occupied row 2 at the dropping of the green flag.
Witherspoon took the initial lead when the race got underway, but that would be short lived as the No. 43 car spun in turn four on the second lap. That handed the lead over to Smith, but his time at the front would also be brief.
Soon after the restart from the Witherspoon spin, Nicholson swept by Smith to claim the top spot. However, another yellow flag waved over the event just one lap later when Eric Riggins, Jr. came to a stop on the track with a flat tire.
On the ensuing restart from the Riggins issue, the race took a terrifying turn when the car of Freddie McClain, Jr. went for a wild, flipping ride along the back straightway of the 4/10 mile clay oval. The crash was so violent that the engine was actually dislodged from the car. Fortunately, the driver was able to walk away from the incident.
Once the race went back green, Nicholson drove away to a comfortable advantage. In the meantime, Smith and Gray waged a tremendous battle for the second spot that would see Gray draw alongside Smith several times but never complete the pass.
But Nicholson’s lead would be erased with three laps remaining when the car of Shawn Murray went up in smoke with engine troubles. The resulting caution bunched the field for a sprint to the finish.
Nicholson proved to be up to the challenge as he beat Smith, Gray, Morgan Turpen and Lance Moss to the finish line.
