Virginia’s Tyler Bare was the Crate Late Model winner at The Hangover
On a cool and blustery day on Saturday, the 411 Motor Speedway offered up its annual Hangover that featured six classes in racing action to the delight of the fans who braved the elements to take in the show. The Crate Late Model division staged a 25-lap feature race as part of the event at 411 Motor Speedway and young Tyler Bare of Rockbridge Baths, VA outdueled a host of east Tennessee regulars to claim the $1,500 first prize.
Bare began the day by establishing the fast time in qualifying among the 25 Crate Late Models on hand when he toured the 3/8 mile clay oval in 14.419 seconds. With track officials hurrying the show along due to the possibility of inclement weather, the entire starting lineup was established via time-trials. That meant Bare would be joined on the starting grid by Anthony White, Jimmy Elliott, Pierce McCarter, Rusty Ballenger, Jason Manley, Jason Welshan and Chris Barton in the first four rows.
The green flag waved over the field to start the feature and White went immediately to the front of the pack with Bare, McCarter, Elliott and Ballenger in tow. Manley moved forward early on as he passed by Ballenger to move into the top-5 at the end of the first circuit.
A spin by Charles Zimmerman on the second lap brought out the first of four cautions that would slow the pace of the race. That set up what would prove to be an exciting exchange by the front runners.
Following the lap 2 restart, Bare used a slide job maneuver to capture the lead away from White. However, White returned the favor in the next set of turns retake the top positions. Meanwhile, Elliott and Manley marched forward as they drove by McCarter to take the third and fourth spot respectively.
The caution flag again waved on the fourth lap, once more setting up a fight for the lead on the restart. Bare worked his No. 30 machine under White’s No. 2x car just after that restart. But this time, there would be retaliation as Bare drove away from his challenger.
Bare then began to distance himself from the pack while Elliott move up to battle White for the runner-up spot. At the same time, the fast moving Welshan brought his machine into the fray as he fought with McCarter and Manley for positions 4-6 during the middle stages of the race.
White and Elliott found themselves falling back into the clutches of the battle for fourth which then led to some two, three and even four wide racing for the second spot. Welshan eventually moved into second on lap 12 as those cars worked through slower traffic.
A lap 15 caution brought the field back up to Bare’s rear spoiler, but only briefly. On the ensuing restart, McCarter made a bid to take fourth away from Elliott but found himself spinning through turns three and four as a result.
From that point, Bare, a former track champion at Virginia Motor Speedway, would drive away to the victory to end his 2016 campaign on a winning note.
Feature Finish: 1. Tyler Bare, 2. Jimmy Elliott, 3. Jason Welshan, 4. Anthony White, 5. Jason Manley, 6. Rusty Ballenger, 7. Matt Henderson, 8. Eddie King, Jr., 9. Chris Barton, 10. Tim Maupin, 11. Charles Zimmerman, 12. Jim Couch, 13. Corey Almond, 14. Pierce McCarter, 15. Todd Morrow, 16. Cameron Skinner, 17. Greg Huskey, 18. Ricky Smith, 19. Kenny Ford, 20. Tristan Clawson, 21. Jerry Trotter, 22. Larry Waters, 23. Shannon Elrod, 24. Brian Smith, 25. Steven Holcomb
