Every year before the ValleyStar Credit Union 300, race fans are treated to three heat races that help set the field for the main event. Even though they took place in the evening instead of the afternoon, the three heat races still provided the same amount of chaos, suspense and intensity as they have in the previous years.

The first heat race initially had trouble getting laps complete, as several early accidents took out contenders like Jared Fryar and Justin Hicks. The first heat race also saw Deac McCaskill, who had his second place starting spot negated by a post-qualifying inspection penalty, encounter mechanical troubles that relegated him to a 25th place finish in the first heat.

When the race did run under green, the crowd was treated to a great battle between Jumpstart Motorsports teammates Trevor Noles and Tommy Lemons Jr. The two traded the lead several times on the restarts, before Noles was able to pull away from Lemons in the closing laps to claim the heat race victory.

“The outside line was definitely a lot better than I thought it would be,” Noles said. “I can’t think Lemons Motorsports enough. I’m going to carry this momentum on and see if I can get that clock.”

The second heat race saw another great battle for the lead, but also contained many multi-car accidents. Myatt Snider, Ryan Repko, Bruce Anderson and Mark Wertz were among the drivers that were collected in multi-car crashes, which caused many drivers to enter and fall out of the transfer positions for the main event.

Under green flag conditions, Matt Bowling and Peyton Sellers dueled fiercely for the lead throughout the heat, making contact several times in the process. Sellers eventually gained the upper hand on Bowling, who ended up being involved in two big accidents in the closing stages of the race, which took him out of the event. This allowed Sellers to cruise to an easy victory in the second heat race of the ValleyStar Credit Union 300.

“It was good racing, but hard racing,” Sellers said. “The drivers are definitely using their bumpers aggressively, and me and Bowling definitely raced each other hard, but at the end, I’m glad I got a good starting spot.”

The third heat race started out calm and collected as Lee Pulliam pulled away from the field, but a couple of late-race cautions brought C.E. Falk III and Bobby McCarty into the mix. Falk was able to pass Pulliam in the final five laps, and although McCarty was able to mount a charge, he was unable to run down Falk for the victory in the final lap of the heat race, which also saw Grayson Cullather spin and transfer in to the ValleyStar Credit Union 300.

Only the Last Chance Qualifier remains before the start of the 2017 ValleyStar Credit Union 300. Over 40 drivers, including Deac McCaskill, Ty Gibbs and Matt Bowling, with have to battle it out amongst each other if they want to have a shot to compete in the first ever Late Model night race at Martinsville.

RESULTS
Heat Race #1
1. #2 Trevor Noles
2. #27 Tommy Lemons, Jr
3. #12 Timothy Peters
4. #21 Mike Darne
5. #15 Kres VanDyke
6. #88 Josh Berry
7. #2A Dennis Holdren
8. #18A Jason York
9. #50 Jamey Caudill
10. #4A Tim Phipps
11. #92 Casey Wyatt
12. #33 Macy Causey
13. #77 Trevor Ward
14. #12C Ryan Wilson
15. #22C Scott Lancaster
16. #4B John Moore
17. #36 Owen Smith
18. #78 Ricky Gillespie
19. #6 Davin Scites
20. #82 Barry Beggarly
21. #91 Justin Carroll
22. #07C Kevin Neal
23. #33D Jimmy Wallace
24. #81 Jared Fryar
25. #8 Deac McCaskill
26. #61 Justin Hicks
27. #57B Jimmy Mullins
28. #1 Jamie Sweeney

Heat Race #2:
1. #26 Peyton Sellers
2. #24 Mason Diaz
3. #57A Justin T. Carroll
4. #2C Brandon Pierce
5. #12A Austin Thaxton
6. #01A Phillip Morris
7. #2B Myatt Snider
8. #25 Derrick Lancaster
9. #14 Ryan Repko
10. #57 Eddie Johnson
11. #95 Jacob Heafner
12. #19 Cameron Bowen
13. #28 Jason Barnes
14. #7 Dean Ward
15. #4 Larry Barrett
16. #7D Dylan Ward
17. #55 Mark Wertz
18. #83 Matt Bowling
19. #22A Robert Powell
20. #18B Bobby Gillespie
21. #9 Brad Kurth
22. #77D Blake Stallings
23. #51 Chris Chapman
24. #50D Haley Moody
25. #34 Justin Snow
26. #7 Jamie Byrd
27. #73 Bruce Anderson
28. #33D Jimmy Wallace

Heat Race #3:
1. #2 CE Falk
2. #5 Lee Pulliam
3. #22 Bobby McCarty
4. #3 Brenden Queen
5. #44 Justin Johnson
6. #21A Travis Swaim
7. #87 Mike Looney
8. #16 RD Smith
9. #12B Nick Smith
10. #22D Grayson Cullather
11. #8 Thomas Scott
12. #17C Bryan Reedy
13. #26C Danny Edwards
14. #27C Coy Beard
15. #5 Mason Bailey
16. #21B Tommy Neal
17. #5B Ronnie McCarty
18. #7A Justin Crider
19. #18 Ty Gibbs
20. #90 Terry Carroll
21. #63 Tyler Matthews
22. #2D Matt Leicht
23. #4 Annabeth Crum
24. #25C Craig Eastep
25. #37 Adam Gray
26. #11 Jeff Oakley
27. #24C Colin Garrett