Jordan Rodabaugh claimed $1,500 at Smoky Mountain
Along with the World of Outlaws Late Model Series on Saturday night the Smoky Mountain Speedway staged racing in the Limited Late Model division in front of a packed grandstand. At the end of the night it was Jordan Rodabaugh who came away from the Maryville, TN track with the $1,500 first prize.
Jason Trammell led the way in qualifying for the Limited Late Models when he posted a lap of 17.921 seconds around the 4/10 mile clay oval with Jordan Rodabaugh, Ruben Mayfield, Travis Fultz, David Crabtree and Matt Henderson following. Those six drivers would go to a dash race that would set the first three rows of the starting grid for the feature.
Rodabaugh earned the pole for the main event by winning the dash race ahead of Trammell, Crabtree, Mayfield and Fultz. Henderson was unable to start the dash due to mechanical trouble.
The initial attempt at a start for the 25-lap feature saw trouble in turn one when Mayfield’s car went sideways in front of the pack. Ultimately, Mayfield, Anthoy White, Darrick York, and Mike Weeks were eliminated as a result of the incident.
After two other attempts to get the race started that were interrupted by spins, officials called for a single-file start.
Once the feature got underway it was Rodabaugh who took the lead with Trammell, Crabtree, Chase King, Tod Hernandez, Austin Neely and Bobby Giffin following. By lap four Rodabaugh began to flex his muscle and pull away from Trammell and a side-by-side battle for third between Crabtree and King.
Following a lap 7 caution, King was finally able to take the third position away from Crabtree on the restart. before another yellow flag would wave on lap 10.
On the lap 10 restart King went after second as he battled with Trammell. Further back, Hernandez and Crabtree fought over the fourth spot in the running order.
Slower traffic became a factor for the leader on lap 21 which allowed Trammell and King to close in on Rodabaugh. One lap later King managed to get by Trammell for the runner-up position but was unable to track down the race leader as Rodabaugh drove under the checkered flag for the win.
Feature Finish: 1. Jordan Rodabaugh, 2. Chase King, 3. Jason Trammell, 4. Tod Hernandez, 5. David Crabtree, 6. Austin Neely, 7. Jason Manley, 8. Andy Miller, 9. Bobby Giffin, 10. Layne Clifton, 11. Ellery Leake, 12. Andy Standridge, 13. Bryan Cooper, 14. Michael Price, 15. Johnny Ridings, 16. Johnny Richards, 17. Sonny Huskey, 18. Matt Henderson, 19. Hunter Best, 20. Ruben Mayfield, 21. Mike Weeks, 22. Darrick York, 23. Anthony White
