Cory Hedgecock scored the win in the Leftover
The Valvoline Iron-Man Late Model series brought the curtain down on its 2021 campaign on Saturday at 411 Motor Speedway. At the end of the day, it was Cory Hedgecock who made a bold move in traffic at the halfway to take the lead then went on to claim the victory in the 6th annual Leftover event held at the Seymour, Tennessee track. The Black Diamond Chassis driver from Loudon, Tennessee collected $5,000 for his victory.
Jensen Ford was crowned as the 2021 Valvoline Iron-Man Late Model Series champion.
A total of 40 cars were signed in for competition.
Forrest Trent proved to be fastest in Group A qualifying with a time of 15.878 seconds around the 3/8 mile clay oval topping Dustin Linville, Cory Hedgecock and Drake Troutman.
Pierce McCarter led the way in Group B time-trials with an effort of 15.765 seconds besting Eli Beets, Jensen Ford and Josh Rice.
The top-4 from each qualifying group were locked into the feature.
Kyle Hardy claimed the win in the first B-main over Ellery Leake and Craig Greer while Colten Burdette was the winner of the second preliminary ahead of Scott James and Travis Woodyard.
Michael Chilton defeated Clay Coghlan and Riley Hickman in the third B-main race then Chase King was the victor in the fourth and final B-main besting Jed Emert and Shannon Thornsberry.
When the 40-lap feature was given the green flag it was McCarter who shot to the early lead ahead of Trent, Hedgecock, Linville and Beets. On the second lap, Ford made a three-wide move to the inside that gained him entry into the top-5. However, Beets fought back and went to the outside of Ford as he worked to regain the position.
McCarter found himself among slower traffic by lap 6 which allowed Trent and Hedgecock to close in. Beets spun from the fifth position on lap 11 to bring out a yellow flag. On the restart, Hedgecock maneuvered his way into the runner-up position while Ford jumped to third.
A three-car battled then ensued between Trent, Ford and Linville for positions 3-5. At the time, Ford was employing a low line around the track while most of the other drivers in the top-10 were running around the top side of the speedway.
Hedgecock closed in on McCarter for the lead as those two driver worked through slower traffic. At the halfway mark, Hedgecock dropped to the low side and wrested the lead of the race away from McCarter. At the same time, Trent, Linville and Ford continue to wage war for third.
Rice began to move forward just past the halfway point of the race as he got around Trent for fifth.
With 10 lap remaining, Hedgecock was beginning to put distance between himself and his pursuers while McCarter fell back into the clutches of Ford and Linville. Ultimately, ford would get by McCarter for second with just a handful of laps remaining then Linville would take third from McCarter on the last lap.
But in the end, it was Hedgecock who won the race to the checkered flag to claim his first win in the Leftover event.
Jensen Ford was the 2021 Valvoline Iron-Man Late Model Series champion
Feature Finish: 1. Cory Hedgecock, 2. Jensen Ford, 3. Dustin Linville, 4. Pierce McCarter, 5. Josh Rice, 6. Chase King, 7. Forrest Trent, 8. Kyle Hardy, 9. Colten Burdette, 10. Scott James, 11. Michael Chilton, 12. Jed Emert, 13. Eli Beets, 14. Riley Hickman, 15. Shannon Thornsberry, 16. Clay Coghlan, 17. Ellery Leake, 18. Jeff Neubert, 19. Craig Greer, 20. Drake Troutman, 21. Steve Smith, 22. Travis Woodyard
