Cory Hedgecock scored the LLM win at Smoky Mountain
As part of the Tuesday night special event featuring the Southern Nationals race for Super Late Model machines, Smoky Mountain Speedway also staged racing in the Limited Late Model division. Cory Hedgecock and his crew had to work frantically following a mishap during hot laps just to get their car ready to hit the track in qualifying. Not only did the No. 23 car make it back to the track but it ultimately pulled into victory lane to collect the $1,200 first prize.
Hedgecock led the way in qualifying by posting a lap of 16.967 seconds around the 4/10 mile clay oval. That effort beat out Travis Fultz, Chase King, Kyle Courtney, David Crabtree, Austin Neely, Drew Kennedy, Jordan Rodabaugh, Rusty Webb and Hunter Best.
There were no heat races as the 22-car starting grid was set entirely by time-trial results.
Cory Hedgecock’s car suffered significant damage resulting from a mishap in hot laps
Hedgecock emerges from his battered car
At the start of the 20-lap feature it was Hedgecock who bolted to the early lead with Courtney, Crabtree, King and Neely trailing. Crabtree and King each moved around Courtney on lap 2 to move into the second and third positions respectively. But at the same time, however, Hedgecock had pulled away to a lead of 10 car lengths.
Kennedy began to move forward as he passed by Courtney on the third lap to secure the fourth spot. But just ahead, Crabtree began to cut into the advantage previously held by Hedgecock.
On lap 7 Crabtree asserted himself by taking the lead of the race as the two front runners coped with slower traffic. Hedgecock regrouped and sped back around Crabtree two laps later but a lap 9 caution flag negated that pass.
On the ensuing restart, Crabtree spun going into turn one to bring out another yellow flag. That bobble handed the lead back to Hedgecock.
As the race drew toward its conclusion another challenger emerged as Kennedy moved into second place and closed the gap on Hedgecock. Just as the second place driver appeared set to make a move for the lead his car slowed suddenly with mechanical issues. Third running Courtney was unable to avoid the slowing No. K37 and the two cars tangled to bring out another yellow flag.
Track officials placed Courtney back in second for the final restart of the race. Hedgecock pulled away and drove under the checkered flag to claim the victory.
Feature Finish: 1. Cory Hedgecock, 2. Kyle Courtney, 3. Chase King, 4. Jordan Rodabaugh, 5. Ryan King, 6. Justin Owens, 7. Austin Neely, 8. Oliver Gentry, 9. Michael Rutherford, 10. Ellery Leake, 11. Travis Fultz, 12. Drew Kennedy, 13. Mitchell Childress, 14. Hunter Best, 15. Michael Price, 16. Rusty Webb, 17. David Crabtree, 18. Tod Hernandez, 19. Kelvin White, 20. Warren McMahan, 21. Drew Deaver
