Patrick Duggan and crew in the I-75 victory lane
I-75 Raceway hosted the Iron-Man Series for Super Late Models on Saturday night but at the same time staged races in most of their regular classes. Patrick Duggan proved to be the top runner when all was said and done in the Sportsman Late Model division as he dominated the feature for that class on the track located near Sweetwater, Tenn.
Duggan began the night by setting the pace in qualifying as he turned a lap of 12.712 seconds around the third-mile clay oval to beat out A.J. Russell, Nick Perry, Jeremy Hicks, Robbie Chancellor, Brandon Miller, Scottie Hogan, Mike Franks, Gary Hill and Barry Goodman.
There were no heat races as the 17-car starting grid for the main event was determined solely by time-trial results.
The initial attempt at a start for the 20-lap feature was interrupted when several cars near the tail of the field tangled even before taking the green flag.
Once the race did get going, Duggan shot to the early lead, which was a position he would hold throughout the contest. Russell, Hicks, Miller, and Chancellor attempted to keep pace with the front runner in the early going. Miller made an early move as he got around Hicks to claim the third spot on the second circuit. At the same time, Duggan began to pull away from the pack.
A lap 5 spin by Terry Painter slowed the action and erased the advantage Duggan had over his pursuers. However, he resumed leading the pack once the race returned to green flag action.
From that point, Duggan controlled the race. The most hotly contested battled on the speedway was that between Perry and Chancellor as they exchanged the fifth position multiple times throughout the feature.
But ultimately, the race belonged to Duggan as he sailed under the checkered flag to claim the victory.
Feature Finish: 1. Patrick Duggan, 2. A.J. Russell, 3. Brandon Miller, 4. Jeremy Hicks, 5. Robbie Chancellor, 6. Nick Perry, 7. Mike Franks, 8. John Clark, 9. Terry Painter, 10. Barry Goodman, 11. Jeff Jackson, 12. Scottie Hogan, 13. Jim Clark, 14. Gary Hill, 15. Brian Selby, 16. Randy Hicks, 17. Paul Whitley
