Rusty Ballenger led all 51 laps to capture the Steelhead Nationals
Rusty Ballenger had already had what could be considered a successful 2016 season before he even started his car for the 10th Annual Steelhead Nationals at the 411 Motor Speedway on Saturday evening. The Seymour, Tenn. resident earned the season championship in the United Crate Racing Alliance earlier this year. But when the night concluded on his hometown track, the driver had scored a $3,500 victory against a solid field of competitors.
Layne Clifton began the night by posting the fastest qualifying time for the Steelhead Late Models class when he turned a lap in 15.894 seconds around the 3/8 mile clay oval. Dakotah Knuckles, Trevor Sise, Anthony White and Ballenger rounded out the top-5 in time-trials.
Ballenger earned the pole for the main event by winning the first heat race of the night over Clifton while Jason Cardwell beat out Knuckles to claim the second preliminary of the event.
Dan Tipton would start the feature from the outside of the front row by virtue of his win in the third heat of the evening as Chase King won the fourth and final heat over Bobby Mays.
Eddie King, Jr. and Jason Tammell scored wins in the two B-main races used to fill in the remainder of the main event starting lineup.
Ballenger jumped immediately to the front of the pack at the start of the 51-lap feature over Cardwell, King, Tipton and Clifton. King made the first move of the night when he worked his way around Cardwell on the second circuit leaving Cardwell to battle three-wide with Tipton and Clifton behind the lead duo.
Ballenger scooted away from his pursuers during the early circuits but was forced to deal with slower traffic just seven laps into the event. Meanwhile, Cardwell, Tipton and Clifton continued their fierce battle for positions 3-5 until both Tipton and Clifton made their way around the former Steelhead Championship winner on lap 10.
That left Cardwell to fight with Knuckles and Jason Manley a few laps later for fifth.
The first of five yellow flags waved on lap 14 when the car of Derrick Rankin stopped on track. That provided the leading drivers with a reprieve from the traffic they had been battling. It would also provide fans with some great scrambles for position on the ensuing restarts following those caution periods.
With successive cautions coming on lap 14, 15 and 16, Clifton and King found themselves swapping the runner-up spot repeatedly with King offering a short-lived challenge for the lead on one of those restarts an Cardwell moving by Clifton to briefly seize the third position as well.
An incident on lap 24 disrupted the action within the top-5 as Tipton and Cardwell came together in turns one and two, sending Cardwell for a spin. As a result of the contact, Cardwell was returned to fourth while Tipton was sent to the rear of the pack by track officials.
During the middle stretch of the race, Ballenger led a three car breakaway, taking King and Clifton in tow as Cardwell fell back into a furious fight for fourth with Mike Weeks and Josh Henry.
The final caution flag was displayed on lap 32 when Jordan Rodabaugh slowed on the track From that point, the field settled into a rhythm that would take the race to its conclusion with Ballenger maintaining his advantage over those final laps.
Feature Finish: 1. Rusty Ballenger, 2. Chase King, 3. Layne Clifton, 4. Jason Manley, 5. Jason Cardwell, 6. Mike Weeks, 7. Josh Henry, 8. Trevor Sise, 9. Carder Miller, 10. Dakotah Knuckles, 11. Jesse Lowe, 12. Eddie King, Jr., 13. Johnny Ridings, 14. Tim Damron, 15. Chicky Barton, 16. Josh Collins, 17. David Crabtree, 18. Jordan Rodabaugh, 19. Dan Tipton, 20. Barrett Lowe, 21. Derrick Rankin, 22. Jason Trammell, 23. Bobby Giffin, 24. Bobby Mays
