Ronnie Johnson will start tonight’s feature from 4th place.
*Story composed from various social media reports as well as DirtonDirt.com video.
The Turkey 100 Crate Late Model race at Georgia’s Swainsboro Raceway will pay $20,000 to the winner on Saturday night. After Friday’s preliminary action, east Tennessee will be well represented by Chattanooga’s Ronnie Johnson, Loudon’s Matt Henderson and Maryville’s Jason Welshan having earned starting spots for the feature race.
The field is packed with prominent names from the Dirt Late Model racing world, including a number of drivers more frequently seen in Super Late Model touring series events.
Chris Madden posted the fastest overall time in qualifying among the 62 cars entered for the event. The South Carolina driver clocked in with a lap of 14.508 seconds around the 3/10 mile clay oval. Ross Bailes, Trent Ivey, Cla Knight, Jonathan Davenport and Michael Brown also earned pole positions for their respective heat races through time-trials.
Madden earned the pole for the 100-lap feature race by winning the first heat race over Kyle Bronson and Ches Chester. Brandon Overton appeared to finish 3rd in the race but was scored as one lap down by track officials after being involved in an earlier incident.
Ross Bailes beat out Jeff Smith and Brian Connor in the second heat race to earn the outside front row starting position in the feature.
Gib Gibbons won the third heat ahead of Trent Ivey and Joshua Bishop.
Ronnie Johnson dominated to score the win in the fourth heat over Michael Page and Cla Knight. The ‘Chattanooga Flash’ will start the feature from the outside of the second row.
Matt Henderson will start this Duayne Hommel tribute car from 11th. (Photo from @SoGaRacing)
Jonathan Davenport beat out Matt Henderson and Carter Stokes in the fifth heat. Henderson will start the main event from the inside of the sixth row. World of Outlaws Late Models champion Darrell Lanigan was eliminated from this race after being sandwiched in a three-wide battle just after a restart.
Jason Welshan will start tonight’s feature from 12th.
Michael Brown won the sixth and final heat ahead of Jason Welshan who had to beat back a challenged from Dennis Franklin. Welshan will start the feature from the outside of the sixth row.
Feature Lineup:
Row 1: Chris Madden…Ross Bailes
Row 2: Gib Gibbons…Ronnie Johnson
Row 3: Jonathan Davenport…Michael Brown
Row 4: Kyle Bronson…Jeff Smith
Row 5: Trent Ivey…Michael Page
Row 6: Matt Henderson…Jason Welshan
Row 7: Ches Chester…Brian Connor
Row 8: Joshua Bishop…Cla Knight
Row 9: Carter Stokes…Dennis Franklin
The remainder of the field will be set by B-mains to be held on Saturday night.
