The 411 Motor Speedway put up a couple of nice paydays for the NeSmith Dirt Late Model Touring Series to come to the Seymour, Tenn. track for two nights worth of racing. But track owners Mitch and Tanya McCarter didn’t stop there. They also decided to handout big paydays for their support classes to race for on the same weekend.
On Friday night, the Sportsman division along with the Mini Stock class each raced for a $1,000-to-win purse and it was Heath Alvey and Michael Courtney who walked away as the big winners.
In the Sportsman class, Alvey began the night by setting fast time in qualifying with a lap of 14.773 seconds to just beat out Brandon Gardner who posted a time of 14.891 seconds around the 3/8 mile oval. The top-2 were locked into the feature race with the remainder of the 11 entrants sent to a heat race that would determine the rest of the starting lineup.
Jordan Horton, James Cole and Kip Sawyer claimed the 3rd-5th starting spots in the feature by finishing in the top-3 positions of the only heat race for this class.
Alvey immediately jumped to the early lead at the start of the feature with Horton and Gardner trailing closely behind throughout the early circuits of the 20-lap event. But by lap 7, Horton had tracked Alvey down and was able to draw alongside on a couple of occasions just prior to the halfway mark.
After a lap 10 caution, Alvey and Horton separated themselves from the pack and staged a tight battle over the race’s final laps.
At the finish, Heath Alvey held off Jordan Horton for the lucrative win. Wayne Rader came home 3rd with James Cole just behind.
Heath Alvey poses with the winner’s trophy after his Sportsman victory.
The Mini Stock class had a total of 24 entries to make a run at their $1,000 first prize.
Jason Gregory led the way in qualifying with a time of 18.277 seconds with Bryant Idles, Michael Courtney and Rocky McNabb joining him as the drivers to be locked into the feature through time-trials.
Shane Taylor and William Tallent won the two heat races that were used to set the rest of the starting lineup.
When the 20-lap feature took the green flag, it was Gregory and Courtney who would contest the early lead in a terrific side-by-side battle that even saw them split a slower car while continuing their fight for the top spot in the early going.
However, the race’s most pivotal moment occurred on lap 9 when the front runners found themselves entangled with slower traffic. The cars of Gregory and McNabb were eliminated in a crash that resulted from the intense racing.
During the second half of the race, Courtney got out to the lead but was closely pursued by Idles at every turn. But Courtney proved to be too strong in the end.
At the finish, it was Michael Courtney who collected the $1,000 payout after being followed to the finish line by Bryant Idles, Derik Duggan, Erin Hayes and Shane Taylor.
On Saturday night at 411, the Street Stock and Thunder & Lightning classes with each race for $1,000 along with the NeSmith Dirt Late Model Touring Series, which will go for a $3,000 payday.
Michael Courtney seen here in a photo taken after an earlier victory at 411.
