Cardwell Surprises at I-75

 

The American Crate All Stars rounded out their season opener at I-75 Raceway Saturday with night number two of the “Race Your Ice Off”. Hayden Cardwell took the 50-lap feature after a slip by Corey Hedgecock on a late race restart.

Southern Nationals series promoter and Tri-County racetrack owner Ray Cook was the “Racers in Christ” fastest qualifier for the evening followed by Mack McCarter, Hedgecock, Logan Walls and Dillon Brown.

Hayden Cardwell ran away with heat number one with Zach Sise in second, Jesse Lowe and Josh Henry. Heat number two saw Jeremy Steele take the win over Rusty Ballenger, Austin Breedlove and Trey Bayne. Heat number three featured Cameron Weaver over Tyler Millwood, Ricky Greene and Bud Watson with William Blankenship rounding out the top-five. The final heat race of the night saw Trevor Sise pick up with win, followed by Matt Shannon, Terry Poore, Cody Gentry and Perry Delany.

The American All Star Dash featured Mack McCarter outrunning Hedgecock, Cook and Bradley Lewelling to set first three rows for the 50-lap feature.

The first of two B-Main’s featured Josh Henry over Jason Welshan, William Blankenship, Bud Watson and Brody Littleton who was making his first American Crate start at only 13 years old becoming the youngest driver to start in series history.

B-Main number two saw Trey Bayne run away from the field, even after two separate incidents featuring Virgil Stevens and Cody Gentry spinning in turn one; and Stevens spinning again by himself in the middle of turns three and four.

At the drop of the green flag for the feature Corey Hedgecock stepped out with the lead followed by McCarter who started on the pole and Cook. The race was caution free for the first 34 laps, until B-main winner Trey Bayne blew up and laid oil down the front straightway and into turn one. The red flag was thrown for clean up. Blankenship, Bud Watson and Jason Cardwell had all pulled off into the infield and were done for the night due to various mechanical issues.

When the race restarted after the red flag, Hedgecock was challenged by Hayden Cardwell, McCarter, Zach Sise and Cameron Weaver. A fierce battle ensued with Hedgecock get shoved out the outside of the track down the backstretch, but was able to recover to finish second. Great three wide racing for the second and third position enabled Cardwell to sneak by Hedgecock, McCarter and Weaver to take the lead.

The final caution of the evening was brought out by Bradley Lewelling, when he slammed into the tractor tire in turn three which broke the left front suspension on his car.

From there it was all Cardwell, who pulled away from Hedgecock and Weaver over the final eight laps to take the $5,000 top prize.

Up next for the American Crate All Stars is a trip to Lake Cumberland Speedway in Kentucky April 16th

 

1	7	Hayden Cardwell (22) Knoxville, Tn.
2	2	Cory Hedgecock (23) Loudon, Tn.
3	9	Cameron Weaver (116) Crossville, Tn.
4	11	Zach Sise (9S) Knoxville, Tn.
5	8	Jeremy Steele (22S) York, Sc.
6	3	Ray Cook (53) Murphy, Nc.
7	10	Trevor Sise (73) Knoxville, Tn.
8	21	Jason Welshan (01W) Maryville, Tn.
9	12	Rusty Ballenger (29B) Sevierville, Tn.
10	13	Tyler Millwood (31) Cartersville, Ga.
11	16	Tyler Price (7T) Greenback, Tn.
12	19	Josh Henry (B00) Newport, Tn.
13	6	Logan Walls (14W) Junction City, Ky.
14	17	Ricky Greene (18G) Newton, Nc.
15	18	Terry Poore (2P) Seymor, Tn.
16	14	Matt Shannon (15) Delano, Tn.
17	4	Bradley Lewelling (10B) Seymour, Tn.
18	1	Mack McCarter (51) Gatlinburg, Tn.
19	5	Dillon Brown (6B) Gaffney, Sc.
20	15	Jesse Lowe (5J) Crossville, Tn.
21	20	Trey Bayne (21) Knoxville, Tn.
22	24	William Blankenship(r) (32) Mcminnville, Tn.
23	22	Jason Cardwell (07) Knoxville, Tn.
24	23	Bud Watson (225) Kingsville, Oh.