Along with the Iron-Man Late Model Series sanctioned race which paid $5,000 to winner Jackie Boggs, 411 Motor Speedway played host to racing in other classes as well on Saturday as the 2017 season came to a close in the east Tennessee area. Virginia’s Logan Roberson took home $1,500 for his Crate Late Model victory while Kentucky’s Don Adams banked $1,000 for his triumph in the Modified division.
Logan Roberson took the Crate Late Model lead on lap 15
Roberson began the day in good fashion as he bested the 33-car field in qualifying for the Crate Late Model class by turning a lap of 15.313 seconds around the 3/8 mile clay oval. Greg Martin, Pierce McCarter, Rusty Ballenger, Vic Hill, Jesse Lowe, Ross White, Michael Courtney, Ryan Winchester and Johnny Ridings rounded out the top-10 on the starting grid for this division.
Kenny Kizzar and Marty Callaway won the two B-main races used to complete the starting lineup for the main event.
Martin bolted to the early lead at the start of the 25-lap feature with Ballenger, Roberson, Lowe, Hill and McCarter trailing. But the racing action would prove to be short lived as a caution waved after just one lap when Ruben Mayfield spun.
Successive spins by top-10 runners Winchester and White on the following attempts at a restart sent those two contenders tot he tail of the field.
When the racing action finally resumed, Roberson took second away from Ballenger and immediately began to harass Martin for the lead of the race. At the same time, the action was furious behind the front runners as Lowe worked inside of Ballenger in an attempt to seize the third position and McCarter battled with Hill for fifth.
Roberson battled Rusty Ballenger(10B) for second early on
A series of yellow flags kept the racing in check through the middle stages of the event with restarts and short runs being the order of the day.
After a lap 13 restart, Roberson intensified his efforts to get by Martin. Finally on lap 15 those efforts paid off as the No. 17 swept by the No. 24 entering turn three. Martin valiantly tried to regain the top spot as he attempted a crossover move at the exit of turn four but Roberson had enough momentum to keep his challenger in arrears.
In the losing laps, Lowe was successful in getting around Ballenger to claim third while Hill eventually succeeded in taking fifth away from McCarter. But it would be Roberson who earned the top prize as he roared under the checkered flag ahead of the pack.
Feature Finish: 1. Logan Roberson, 2. Greg Martin, 3. Jesse Lowe, 4. Rusty Ballenger, 5. Vic Hill, 6. Pierce McCarter, 7. Michael Courtney, 8. Jason Manley, 9. Johnny Ridings, 10. Ross White, 11. Andy Ogle, 12. Brandon Williams, 13. Heath Alvey, 14. Jordon Horton, 15. Ruben Mayfield, 16. Jim Couch, 17. Marty Callaway, 18. Kenny Kizzar, 19. Michael Smith, 20. Chase Walls, 21. Tim Maupin, 22. AJ Hicks, 23. Shannon Elrod, 24. Ryan Winchester
Don Adams was the victor in the Modified class
Chase King led an impressive 38-car field of Modifieds in qualifying when he won the pole position for the feature by posting a lap of 16.211 seconds around the high-banked speedway. Don Adams, Tommy Bailey and Nathan Loney joined King in being locked into the feature via qualifying.
Jody Puckett beat out Ross White, Austin Holcombe and Brad Hall to win the first heat race of the day while Wayne James bested Jeff Hamby, Ernie Gingerich and Kevin Copher to win the second preliminary.
Christian Thomas beat out Kevin Smith, Brandon Coleman and Zach Powers to claim the honors in the third heat while Blake Brown took the fourth and final heat ahead of Ervin Vance, Nick Claborn and Amos Bunch.
King took the early lead at the start of the 25-lap feature with Adams, Bailey, Loney and Brown trailing in his wake. King and Adams quickly broke away from the pack with Adams frequently taking looks under the race leader in hopes of capturing the top spot.
Just behind the lead duo, Bailey, Loney, Brown and Puckett were engaged in a fierce battle for positions 3-6.
Adams was finally able to move around King on lap to seize leadership of the event. Just one lap later, Brown assumed the fourth spot when he passed by Loney.
Adams battled Chase King(44) during the early portion of the race
The second running King brought out a caution on lap 15 when he spun in turn two. The ensuing restart opened the door for Brown to go after Bailey for the runner-up position but Bailey was able to beat back the challenge.
Loney, Puckett and Smith found themselves engaged in a tight battle for positions 4-6 as the laps clicked off with Smith eventually rising to the fourth spot on the leader board.
Brown continued to harass Bailey for second until the No. 99 machine broke with just three laps remaining in the race. Ultimately, however, it was Adams who cruised to the finish line ahead of the pack to claim the checkered flag.
Feature Finish: 1. Don Adams, 2. Tommy Bailey, 3. Jody Puckett, 4. Kevin Smith, 5. Ervin Vance, 6. Nathan Loney, 7. Wayne James, 8. Christian Thomas, 9. Austin Holcombe, 10. Ernie Gingerich, 11. Amos Bunch, 12. Jeff Hamby, 13. Brad Hall, 14. Chase King, 15. Ross White, 16. Joey Cotterman, 17. Brandon Coleman, 18. Zach Powers, 19. Kevin Copher, 20. Blake Brown, 21. Billy Palmer, 22. Nick Claborn
