Chad Ogle led all the way in Saturday’s feature in Tazewell
The Iron-Man Challenge made its second stop in as many nights in east Tennessee as the Chris Tilley promoted mini-tour moved from the Volunteer Speedway in Bulls Gap on Friday evening to the Tazewell Speedway for a Saturday night showdown on the super high banks of the Gary Hall owned facility. Ultimately, Chad Ogle would outrun the field to pick up a $5,000 payday for his efforts.
Ogle proved himself to be a force early in the program when he posted the fastest time among the 16 cars signed in for competition. The starting lineup for the feature would be determined solely by the results from qualifying so Ogle’s lap of 11.920 seconds around the third-mile clay oval secured him the pole position in the main event. Steve Smith, David Payne, Billy Ogle Jr., Jeff Wolfenbarger, Ricky Weiss, Tommy Bailey, Vic Hill, Ryan King and Mack McCarter round out the top-10 in time-trials.
At the start of the 40-lap feature, Ogle went immediately to the top spot as Smith, Payne, Ogle Jr., Wolfenbarger and Weiss gave chase. Hill moved quickly into the mix when he passed Weiss for sixth on the second circuit of the race while at the same time the leader had pulled away to an advantage of several car lengths.
Ogle soon found himself in lapped traffic during a race that would run caution free throughout its first half. However, the No. 10 machine was still able maintain a lead of several car lengths despite having to negotiate hios way around slower machines.
Second running Smith slowed off the pace to bring out the first caution flag of the night just one lap beyond the race’s halfway mark. That set the stage for the race’s most destructive moment when a multi-car pileup took place on the restart. While numerous cars were damaged in the melee, most were able to continue on. Wolfenbarger was sent to the tail of the field as a result of the accident.
Ogle continued to lead during the next green flag segment. However, second running Payne managed to keep much closer tabs on the leader than had been done before. Drivers Ogle Jr., Hill and Weiss also stalked the leader over the next several laps.
A lap caution then set up an 11-lap dash to the finish. Ogle once again darted to the lead with Payne applying almost constant pressure. On lap 37, Payne would even go so far as to draw alongside the leader in turn one, but was unable to make the move stick.
Ogle drove on to the finish line to take the checkered flag.
Feature Finish: 1. Chad Ogle, 2. David Payne, 3. Billy Ogle Jr., 4. Vic Hill, 5. Ricky Weiss, 6. Tommy Bailey, 7. Steve Smith, 8. Jeff Wolfenbarger
Ogle celebrated with family and crew in the Tazewell victory lane
