Rusty Ballenger’s Warrior Race Car
The FasTrak Pro Late Model weekly racing series kicked off its points paying races at Volunteer Speedway on Thursday night with a $1,000-to-win event for Dirt Late Models employing Chevrolet Performance crate racing engines. Rusty Ballenger would open the season at the Bulls Gap, TN track with a win as he drove his Warrior Race Car to victory lane.
Tim Byrd led the way in qualifying as he posted a lap of 13.317 seconds around the 4/10 mile clay oval to beat out Ballenger, Ross White, Cory Almond and Ahnna Parkhurst.
At the start of the 25-lap feature it was Ballenger who shot to the early lead with Byrd, White, Almond and Drew Kennedy trailing. Kennedy wasted little time in moving forward as he swept by Almond to gain the fourth spot on the second circuit then got around White for third on the fourth lap.
Further back, Almond was engaged with Philip Thompson and Parkhurst in a fight for position 5-7 with both Thompson and Parkhurst getting by Almond on lap 6.
White would regain third as he moved around Kennedy on the high side of the track on lap 8. Meanwhile, Ballenger began to pull away from the pack as he built a lead of 10 car lengths.
A lap 10 caution for a spin involving Tim Maupin and Tim Sant slowed the action and regrouped the field.
On the ensuing restart White took second away from Byrd while Ballenger maintained the top spot. One lap later it would be Kennedy who would grab third from Byrd.
A big crash that involved multiple cars and blocked the track’s front stretch brought out a red flag on lap 15. Following the melee, Ballenger led the pack back to the green flag with Byrd, Kennedy, Parkhurst and Gary Crittenden in his tire tracks.
In the closing laps the battles were all behind the race leader as Kennedy and Byrd disputed second while Parkhurst and Crittenden contested the fourth position. But in the end, it was Ballenger who sailed under the checkered flag to capture the win.
***While Ballenger’s win is certain, the official results have not yet been updated as there were a couple of disqualifications following post-race tech. Results will be posted when they become available***
Rusty Ballenger in Volunteer victory lane
