Michael Chilton claimed the Iron-Man win at Lake Cumberland
The Valvoline Iron-Man Late Model Series rolled through the gates of the Lake Cumberland Speedway on Saturday night to contest the 10th annual Harold Hargrove Memorial. After a hard fought night of racing that saw the sparks fly, it was Michael Chilton who claimed victory at the Burnside, Kentucky facility. The Rocket Chassis driver from Salvisa, Kentucky earned $10,022 for the triumph.
A total of 25 cars were signed in for competition.
Tanner English led the way in Group A qualifying by turning a lap in 12.512 seconds around the 3/8 mile clay oval topping Scott James, Henry Hornsby III, Jared Hawkins and Josh Rice.
It was Michael Chilton who proved to be the quickest in Group B time-trials with a time of 12.735 seconds to better the efforts of Dustin Linville, Jensen Ford, Devin Gilpin and Camaron Marlar.
Tanner English took the win in the night’s first heat race by beating out Josh Rice, Henry Hornsby III and Chris Combs then Scott James won the second preliminary over Tommy Bailey, Jared Hawkins and Josh Putnam.
Michael Chilton defeated Camaron Marlar, Jensen Ford and Ted Nobbe in the third heat race just before Dustin Linville was victorious in the fourth and final heat besting Devin Gilpin, Rod Carter Jr. and Tristan Chamberlain.
At the start of the 50-lap feature it was English who went to the early lead with Chilton, Linville, James and Marlar in his tire tracks. James went by Linville to grab third on the second circuit.
With English and Chilton still showing the way on lap 5, a hornets nest behind them consisting of James, Linville and Rice were running in tight formation for the remaining top-5 positions.
Marlar entered the top-5 on lap 7 then moved to fourth on lap 9. He then tracked down the leading trio as they worked through slower traffic. English continued to lead as the race approached the halfway mark with Chilton, Rice and Marlar close behind.
The first caution flag of the night waved just before halfway when Bailey spun in turn four. Soon after the racing action resumed, Gilpin began to charge as he took fifth away from James as the top-3 of English, Chilton and Rice began to slip away from the pack.
It was during the race’s second half that the sparks began to fly … literally.
With the leaders running so close to the outside wall, they often scraped it with their right rear quarter panels sending showers of sparks into the night sky to the delight of the near capacity crowd. Chilton made a bid for the lead on lap 34 when he went inside of English but the No. 81 car held the top spot for the time being. At the same time, Gilpin began to close in on the leaders from fourth.
Chilton’s efforts finally paid off on lap 38 when he moved by English to grab the lead of the race. Rice also seized on the opportunity as he too passed by English.
As the lead duo maneuvered through slower traffic, Rice closed the gap between himself and Chilton. With the laps clicking away, Rice was able to move around Chilton to briefly assume the lead but Chilton crossed over and regain the top spot.
A caution with three laps remaining for an incident involving Marlar set up one last dash to the finish. But Chilton was able to hold serve and the No. 97 machine sailed under the checkered flag to score the win.
Feature Finish: 1. Michael Chilton, 2. Josh Rice, 3. Devin Gilpin, 4. Dustin Linville, 5. Tanner English, 6. Scott James, 7. Jensen Ford, 8. Jared Hawkins, 9. Chris Combs, 10. Josh Putnam, 11. Henry Hornsby III, 12. Rod Carter Jr., 13. Tommy Bailey, 14. David Webb, 15. Dakotah Knuckles, 16. Larry Greer, 17. Dustin Nobbe, 18. Ted Nobbe, 19. Phil Helton, 20. Tristan Chamberlain, 21. Ricky Arms, 22. Camaron Marlar
Michael Chilton and crew in victory lane
