Ronnie Johnson with the checkered flag in Boyd’s Victory Lane.
Boyd’s Speedway hosted the first of the three part “Labor Day Triple Crown” on Friday night and a packed pit area and grandstand were on hand to take part in the kickoff to the holiday weekend of racing. Ultimately, two local favorites would battle it out for the $3,000 first prize as National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame member Ronnie Johnson beat out Riley Hickman on the home track for each.
Alabama’s Josh Putnam bested the 44 car field in qualifying when he turned a fast lap of 13.995 seconds around the third-mile track located in Ringgold, GA. Ray Cook would start alongside Putnam when the feature took the green flag.
Rick Hixson, Todd Morrow and John Owenby each won B-main races that were used to set the remainder of the 24-car starting lineup in the feature.
At the start of the main event, it was Cook who bolted to the early lead with Putnam following close behind. Johnson, who had qualified 8th overall, made his way to the 3rd spot in short order after the waving of the green flag while Skip Arp and Ivedent Lloyd, Jr. rounded out the top-5 in the early going.
While Cook initially put some distance between himself and the pack, the battling was intense throughout the rest of the field. Arp and Johnson immediately began to pressure Putnam for the runner-up spot, and would eventually bypass the fast qualifier as his brakes faded. At the same time, Hickman began advancing from his 7th starting spot as the laps clicked off.
The first 21 circuits of the feature ran caution free, which caused the leaders to have to deal with slower traffic. Johnson cut into Cook’s advantage as the two veteran drivers picked their way through the cars being lapped. Meanwhile, Arp, Lloyd and Hickman were engaged in a fierce struggle for position just behind the lead duo.
The night’s first caution came on lap 21 when the sixth running Putnam tangled with the lapped car of Bobby Giffin. Another yellow flag would wave on lap 28 when Morrow slowed suddenly on track. These cautions seemed to be just what Cook would need to keep clear track in front of him and allow him to put distance between himself and Johnson.
However, it was Cook who would be the reason for the next caution on lap 31 when he stopped on track with a rear end issue in his #53 racer.
Ronnie Johnson’s A19 winning car.
That, in turn, placed Johnson and Hickman at the front of the field with Lloyd and fast rising Jamie Perry just behind. From that point, the two Chattanooga drivers would run at the front for the rest of the way to claim the top-2 positions with Lloyd taking the final podium spot.
Feature finish: 1. Ronnie Johnson, 2. Riley Hickman, 3. Ivedent Lloyd, Jr., 4. Jamie Perry, 5. Mike Tinker, 6. Jake Knowles, 7. Dylan Ames, 8. David Payne
The series moves to Fort Payne Motor Speedway on Saturday night and finally to Duck River Raceway Park on Sunday evening.
