Jesse Lowe was first to the finish line on Friday night at Boyd’s
Most race write-ups don’t come with an asterisk attached to the title. However, this one does. Jesse Lowe beat the competition to the finish in the $1,500-to-win Crate Late Model feature staged by Boyd’s Speedway on Friday night to serve as a support class race for their Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series event. But instead of enjoying the fruits of his efforts, the first place driver will instead have to wait out the results of a protests lodged by one of his competitors.
Jamie Perry proved to be the fastest in qualifying among the 21 cars signed in for competition for this division when he posted a lap of 14.711 seconds around the third-mile clay oval located in Ringgold, GA. Lowe, Chip Brindle, Ethan Hunter, Will Roland, John Ownbey, Bryan Pritchard, Greg Martin, Cody Ballard and Ahnna Parkhurst comprised the top-10 based on time-trial results.
There would be no heat races as the field was set entirely based off of qualifying.
Lowe used his outside front row starting position to his advantage on the start of the 25-lap feature as he shot to the early lead ahead of Perry, Brindle, Hunter and Roland. Soon after the start, it would be Ownbey who made the first move as he began working on Roland in an effort to take fifth place from the young driver.
The battle between Roland and Ownbey soon reeled in the fourth place machine driven by Hunter to make a three-car fight for top-5 running positions. At the same time, however, the top-3 of Lowe, Perry and Brindle slipped away from the rest of the pack as they attempted to settle the issue among themselves.
Chip Brindle also had his car protested.
In a race that ran caution free for the first 18 laps, slower traffic became a factor even before the leaders had reached the halfway point. Perry moved his No. P4 car right to the rear spoiler of Lowe’s No. 5J ride as they worked through the cars they were attempting to put a lap down. All the while, Brindle continued to run in the third spot, lurking just behind the lead duo.
The first of two caution flags of the night waved on lap 18 when the fourth running car of Hunter came to a stop on the track with mechanical troubles.
On the ensuing restart, Brindle made a move to the outside on Perry in an attempt to capture the runner-up position. That move proved to be successful as the No. 17 car swept by the No. P4 on the outside.
The second and final caution flag waved on lap 20 due to a spin by Pritchard. On the following restart, Parkhurst made an inside move that resulted in her moving from seventh to fifth. But that advancement would prove to be short lived as Martin and Roland moved in to challenge for and eventually take fifth and sixth away from the Richard Childress Racing development driver.
Jamie Perry was credited with a third place finish
But it would be Lowe who cross under the checkered flag first. It will likely be in an engine shop where the race winner will finally be determined as a result of the protest. The second place car of Brindle was also protested.
After the race, Lowe posted on Facebook, “Won again at Boyd’s. Being protested by the P4 car. Motor, Fuel, and Tires.”
Unofficial Feature Finish: 1. Jesse Lowe, 2. Chip Brindle, 3. Jamie Perry, 4. John Ownbey, 5. Will Roland, 6. Greg Martin, 7. Ahnna Parkhurst, 8. Bobby Richey, 9. Kyle Courtney, 10. Cody Ballard, 11. Ashton Winger, 12. Kenny Ford, 13. Chase Walls, 14. Beau Bice, 15. Todd Morrow, 16. Deke Waters, 17. Zack Graham, 18. Scotty Greene, 19. Bryan Pritchard, 20. Ethan Hunter, 21. Joe Cline
