The Carolina Clash Super Late Model Series is making itself at home in east Tennessee this season with multiple races being contested within the Volunteer State. On Saturday night, the series paid its first ever visit to Smoky Mountain Speedway for a $5,000-to-win event after having sanctioned four events at the Volunteer Speedway already this year. In the end, it would be Chris Ferguson who would capture the top prize in the process of winning his first feature race at the Maryville, Tenn. facility.
Ferguson wasted little time in flexing the muscle of his Late Model machine as the Mt. Holly, NC resident earned the pole for the feature by posting the fastest time in qualifying. His lap of 15.424 seconds around the 4/10 mile clay oval proved to be unbeatable. Also locking themselves into their starting positions for the feature through time-trials were Derek Ellis, Ben Watkins, Mark Douglas, Donald McIntosh, Billy Ogle, Jr., Tommy Kerr, Ray Cook, David Crabtree and Jeff Wolfenbarger.
Doug Sanders and Roger Best won the two heat races used to set the remainder of the starting lineup for the main event.
Outside front row starter Derek Ellis got the jump on the field when the green flag waved on the 50-lap feature with Ferguson, Watkins, McIntosh, Douglas and Ogle in hot pursuit. For the first five laps, it appeared as if the race might settle into a rhythm as the top-5 cars ran in nose-to-tail formation around the big track. However, that rhythm would be interrupted on the fifth circuit.
Carolina Clash series leader Ben Watkins got too high in turn one and bounced off the outside wall. The damage was severe enough that he was forced to retire his No. 16 from the event. After that, a series of five more cautions would slow the action before the race even reached its halfway mark.
The most significant situation to bring out a yellow flag occurred on lap 9 when the leading car driven by Ellis suffered mechanical trouble and was forced to pull off the track. Other contenders to face problems of one kind or another that would also bring about cautions were McIntosh, Ogle and Kerr.
Once Ellis was eliminated, Ferguson took full command. During green flag runs he would build big leads over those who attempted to keep pace.
A new challenger then emerged on lap 23 when Cook moved to the runner-up spot. That would prove to be short lived, however, as ‘The Tarheel Tiger’ ultimately suffered the same fate as Ellis and pulled off track on lap 34 with mechanical issues.
From that point, Ferguson sailed away from the pack to take the checkered flag by almost a half lap over second place.
Feature Finish: 1. Chris Ferguson, 2. Mark Douglas, 3. Jeff Wolfenbarger, 4. Billy Ogle, Jr., 5. Roger Best, 6. Ross White, 7. Kevin Wilson, 8. Doug Sanders, 9. Ray Cook, 10. Dusty Carver, 11. Donald McIntosh, 12. Tommy Kerr, 13. Derek Ellis, 14. Robby Moses, 15. David Crabtree, 16. Jason Croft, 17. Skip Arp, 18. Ben Watkins, 19. Skylar Marlar
