Ray Cook’s Tri-County Race Track in Brasstown, NC staged its regular weekly racing program on Friday night and three thrilling Late Model events resulted. Shawn Chastain(Super LM), Charlie Parker(Limited LM) and Jason Deal(Crate LM) each parked their cars in Victory Lane to receive the top prizes in their respective classes.
David Payne bested eleven other cars to earn the pole position for the Super Late Models as he posted a lap of 13.136 seconds around the quarter-mile clay oval. Jamie Oliver, Shawn Chastain and Randy Nichols joined Payne to make up the first two rows for the 25-lap feature race.
Chastain made a bold move on the inside to go three wide with the front row starters at the waving of the green flag. The cars raced that way for nearly a full lap before Chastain emerged from the battle with the lead bringing Oliver and Payne in tow.
For the first 10 laps, Oliver fought to hold off a relentless attack from Payne as the high school teacher and basketball coach sought the runner-up spot. All the while, Chastain moved further ahead as his closest pursuers battled. At the same time, Johnny Chastain began to rumble from his 6th starting spot, picking off one car then another until he had taken the 2nd position at lap 12.
A lap 18 caution tightened the field and set the stage for a tremendous fight to the checkered flag. The top-3 of Shawn Chastain, Johnny Chastain and Payne ran in tight formation around the high-banked track with the Chastains taking the bottom groove and Payne opting for the high line.
Another yellow flag on lap 21 again bunched the pack for a four lap dash to the finish. Shawn Chastain protected the bottom line on the restart as Johnny Chastain attempted to get underneath while Payne continued to work the top of the track.
At the finish, it was Shawn Chastain, Johnny Chastain, David Payne, Danny Ledford, Jamie Oliver and Kurt English.
Shawn Chastain celebrates his Super Late Model win at Tri-County.
The Limited Late Model class put on what was likely the race of the night as three cars crossed the finish line within the blink of an eye.
Danny Ledford led the way in qualifying as he ran a lap of 14.067 seconds to top a field of 11 cars. Charlie Parker also earned a front row starting spot via time-trials.
At the start of the 20-lap feature, Parker shot from his outside front row position to grab the early lead with Ledford, David Conley and Preston Crisp close behind.
During the race’s first half, Parker and Ledford battled around the top groove while Conley fought to hold back the charge of Crisp on the inside of the track. However, the field would be brought together after the only yellow flag of the event waved on lap 12 when Parker got tangled with a car he was attempting to lap and spun as a result. Track officials deemed that the caution was not of Parker’s making and gave him the lead spot back as the cars circulated at low speed.
After the restart, the battle was on for the win as Parker and Ledford continued to run the high line and the hard charging Crisp worked down low. Those three cars remained in tight formation for the final five laps.
At the finish, it was Charlie Parker, Danny Ledford, Preston Crisp, Bobby Painter and David Conley.
Charlie Parker in Tri-County’s Victory Lane.
Tri-County Race Track adds $100 to the purse of the class that features the highest number of entrants. On this night, it was the Crate Late Models who earned the extra pay with 20 cars on hand.
Jason Deal took the pole position as he posted a lap of 13.809 seconds in qualifying. Jacob Grizzle, Brian Kennedy and Jimmy Elliott filled out the remainder of the top two rows in the starting lineup.
The initial start of the 15-lap feature was waved off when multiple cars at the back of the pack got tangled in turn two. Also, the lead car of Deal found the turn four wall just after the melee on the other end of the track, doing damage to his rear spoiler in the process. Since no lap had been completed, the field was returned to its original starting order.
Once the race got going, Deal moved to the early lead with Kennedy, Jacob Anderson and Elliott trailing.
Deal would lead the entire way but the fight was on for the runner-up spot. Elliott ran the bottom line as he kept constant pressure on Anderson for 3rd in the early laps. In the meantime, Kennedy continued to run 2nd, just in front of the contest for third.
As the race wore on, Deal continued to pull away as the battle raged for second. At lap 13, Anderson moved to the outside of Kennedy while Elliott darted to the low side. Both cars were able to move by the former second place runner.
At the finish, Jason Deal won out ahead of Jacob Anderson, Jimmy Elliott and Brian Kennedy.
Jason Deal and crew celebrate in Victory Lane at Tri-County.
Greg Suddereth was the winner in the Modified Street class.
Ty Crisp was the Street Stock winner.
Travis Coggins won the Pony feature.
