While the Carolina Clash Super Late Model race may have been the headliner on Saturday night at the Volunteer Speedway, there was no lack of excitement in the other classes that competed on the clay oval located in Bulls Gap, Tenn. Tim Byrd was the winner in the Sportsman Late Model class while Chris Rickett held off a late charge to earn the Modified Street victory.
Tim Byrd was the Sportsman winner on Saturday night in Bulls Gap.
Bryson Dennis set the pace in Sportsman qualifying by posting a lap of 13.691 seconds around the third-mile track. Byrd was second fastest followed by Josh Henry, Warren McMahan, Gary Crittenden and Forrest Trent. All of the 22 drivers on hand were locked into the starting lineup via time-trials.
Byrd went to the lead of the 25-lap feature immediately from his outside front row starting spot as he got the jump on Dennis, McMahan, Henry and Crittenden. However, a spin at the tail of the field negated Byrd’s advantage on the fourth circuit.
On the following restart, Henry made a move to take the third spot away from Dennis and set out in pursuit of the lead duo of Byrd and McMahan. Another caution one lap later provided Henry with the same opportunity as he challenged McMahan for second and the two cars raced side-by-side for several laps. However, that battle would be interrupted when McMahan’s car slowed suddenly to bring out a caution on the ninth lap.
A series of caution flags kept the field tightly bunched over the next six laps. On each successive restart, Jordon Horton(who started 7th) made bold moves to the inside in turn one to gain a position.
It was after that point when the action really heated up as the top-3 cars of Byrd, Henry and Crittenden ran in very close formation with each running a slightly different line through the turns, making them appear as if they were going three-wide on every lap. Byrd was able to maintain the top spot despite the constant pressure being applied from his two closest pursuers.
Another yellow flag flew on lap 22 when the 5th running car of Trent was clipped by a slower car he had been lapping. The contact sent his machine for a spin in turns three and four. On the following restart, Horton again drove low in turn one in hopes of wresting the third spot away from Crittenden. As the cars roared onto the backstretch, they ran out of racing room and Crittenden went for a spin.
After the final restart, Tim Byrd drove on to capture the checkered flag ahead of Josh Henry, Jordon Horton, Tim Maupin and Bryson Dennis.
Chris Rickett
The Modified Street race proved to be a highly competitive one as Chris Rickett went to the early lead after starting outside of pole winner Gary Blanken. Shortly after the start of the race, contact between Kurt Owens and Blanken brought out a caution.
Rickett led the way for several successive laps as Owens and Blanken fought their way back through the pack after having to restart from the rear.
As the white flag waved, Owens closed right to the rear of Rickett’s car. Owens then made a move to the inside in turns one and two which put the two leaders in side-by-side formation for most of the final lap until Rickett regained the advantage coming off of turn four to just edge Owens at the finish line. Blanken, Mike Mays and Tyler Smith rounded out the top-5.
Alex Vance was the winner in the Pure Stock class.
