Zack Dohm earned $10,050 for his win in Richmond
The Iron-Man Challenge and Southern Nationals Bonus Series combined their efforts on Saturday night to sanction an event at Kentucky’s Richmond Raceway. When all was said and done, West Virginia’s Zack Dohm drove to victory lane and claimed the big trophy and check for his win in the $10,050 feature race after a night filled with drama played out in front of the largest crowd in the track’s history.
Jackie Boggs set the pace early on in Group A qualifying when he set the fast time with a lap of 15.408 seconds around the 3/10 mile clay oval. Australian Kye Blight, Terry English and Michael Chilton made up top-4 in that group.
Jason Jameson was quickest in Group B time-trials and overall when he laid down a lap of 15.394 seconds. Following the Kentucky native in that group was Ryan King, Greg Johnson and Skylar Marlar.
Boggs earned the pole for the feature when he won the first heat race of the night ahead of English, Jason Ratliff and Zack Dohm. Chilton won heat two over Duane Chamberlain, Jake Henry and Blight.
Jameson earned the outside front row starting position by winning the third heat over Johnson, Tommy Bailey and Donald McIntosh. Scott James won the final preliminary of the night ahead of Skylar Marlar, King and Jason Croft.
David Payne and Derek Fisher won the two B-main races used to set the remainder of the starting lineup for the main event.
Boggs shot to the early lead when the green flag waved to start the 60-lap feature race with Jameson, Chilton, James, and Johnson following in his tire tracks. But it did not take long for the drivers to begin utilizing the two grooves provided by the black and slick racing surface. Chilton went low to pass the high riding Jameson for second on lap two of the race while Johnson moved forward to challenge James for third at the same time.
Jameson then got his car working on the high side and swept back around Chilton for the runner-up spot on lap 6 and immediately set out to challenge Boggs for the race lead. However, Chilton did not give up easily and began to reassert himself as the three cars ran in tight formation almost constantly making attempts to pass.
The three front runners reached slower traffic by lap 11 which provided an opportunity for Chilton in the low groove. He moved his No. 97 by Jameson to claim second then around Boggs for he top spot on the same lap. Chilton then began to move away from his closest pursuers as he worked around the slower machines. At the same time, James joined the battler for second and at times found himself three-wide with Boggs and Jameson.
However, Chilton’s time at the front of the field would prove to be short-lived as he pulled off track during a lap 18 caution with a flat left front tire and damage to the front of his car. Boggs then assumed the lead James, Jameson and Johnson in tow.
A series of yellow flags slowed the pace of the race and kept the field tightly bunched between laps 18 and 32. The most significant of those cautions came on lap 32 when, after having swapped the lead multiple times over the course of just a few laps, Jameson went low in turn one in an attempt to get around Boggs. However, the two cars came in contact with one another and Jameson was sent spinning toward the outside wall. James was also collected in the fracas and suffered the most significant damage of the three.
During the caution period, Jameson drove alongside and into Boggs, causing sheet metal damage to the No. B4 ride. Ultimately, both cars had to restart from the tail of the field(Jameson for the spin and Boggs because of having to stop for repairs).
Fourteenth starting McIntosh then inherited the lead and would control much of the middle section of the event with the thirteenth starting Dohm applying almost constant pressure from the low side of the track. Meanwhile, attrition and a number of pit stops during the lap 32 caution allowed Boggs and Jameson to pull right back into contention from the third and fourth positions.
Dohm’s ceaseless pressure finally paid off as he moved around McIntosh to move to the top of the leader board on lap 45. A fast moving Greg Johnson, who had pitted earlier for fresh tires, sliced his way through the top-5 until he found himself in second but with not enough laps remaining to track Dohm down.
Feature Finish: 1. Zack Dohm, 2. Greg Johnson, 3. Donald McIntosh, 4. Jackie Boggs, 5. Jason Jameson, 6. Duane Chamberlain, 7. Justin Ratliff, 8. Todd Coffman, 9. Kye Blight, 10. David Payne, 11. Jason Barrett, 12. Ryan King, 13. Tommy Bailey, 14. Doug Smith, 15. Steve Stollings, 16. Scott James, 17. Terry English, 18. Chris Ruble, 19. Johnny Wheeler, 20. Jason Croft, 21. Skylar Marlar, 22. Jake Henry, 23. Derek Fisher, 24. Michael Chilton
