Josh Henry led all 25 laps of the Crate Late Model feature
As part of the Steelhead Nationals event, 411 Motor Speedway also staged racing in the Crate Late Model division with $1,000 on the line for the winning driver and team. Josh Henry of Newport, Tenn. came away from the Seymour, Tenn. track as the victor after turning in a dominating performance on Saturday night.
Henry began the night in a fast way as he bested the 13 car field in qualifying with a lap of 14.342 seconds around the 3/8 mile clay oval. That effort beat out Jesse Lowe, Greg Martin, Cory Hedgecock, Zach Sise, Ross White, Rusty Ballenger, Jerry Green, Kenny Ford and David Duplissey.
There were no heat races as the starting grid for the main event was established solely from the results of time-trials.
Henry took the early lead at the start of the 25-lap feature with Lowe, Martin, Hedgecock and White in his tire tracks. Martin immediately sought to contest the runner-up spot as he began working on Lowe right away for that position.
However, a lap 2 caution for the slowing car of Pierce McCarter temporarily cooled the action. The ensuing restart provided Martin with the opportunity he needed to wrest second away from Lowe while White took fourth away from Hedgecock at the same time.
Greg Martin drives under Jesse Lowe as they battle for second
Once back to green flag racing, Henry began to distance himself from the pack as Martin, Lowe, White and Hedgecock ran in tight formation within the top-5. White attempted a move inside of Lowe to take third but was unable to complete the pass.
Hedgecock stopped on the track with mechanical issues on lap 11 to bring out a yellow flag. On the restart from that caution, Lowe was able to maneuver his car back into second as he flashed by Martin. At the same time, Ballenger entered the fray within the top-5 as he began to challenge White for the fourth position.
A final caution on lap 18 for a spin by Duplissey provided the field one last chance to overtake Henry but the B00 machine would have nothing of it. Further back Ballenger made the high line around the track work as he moved by White to grab fourth, but the gain would be short lived as White passed Ballenger back two laps later.
Zach Sise(9) and David Duplissey fight for position
In the end, it was Henry would beat the pack to the checkered flag for the win.
Feature Finish: 1. Josh Henry, 2. Jesse Lowe, 3. Greg Martin, 4. Ross White, 5. Rusty Ballenger, 6. Zach Sise, 7. Kenny Ford, 8. David Duplissey, 9. Cory Hedgecock, 10. Jerry Green, 11. Danny Yoder, 12. Grant Corum, 13. Pierce McCarter
