Bradley McCaskill held off a fierce challenge to score the victory in the 75 lap Mini’s Mission “Burn Rubber to Help Another” Limited Late Model race that headlined night two of the Thanksgiving Classic at Southern National Motorsports Park.
McCaskill, 27, from Knightdale, North Carolina, battled with 28-year-old Alex Fleming for much of the race. The two drivers swapped the lead multiple times during the race with McCaskill making the final pass for the lead, and the win, on lap 50. McCaskill drove away to claim the win.
“He pushed us a lot harder than we wanted to run,” McCaskill said. “I knew his car was good and I wanted to stay in front of him as long as possible. 75 laps on a scuff tire, you have to save as much as you can while trying to keep track position. We danced around a few laps back and forth and finally got the opportunity to get by and I knew that was my chance to take it. The car didn’t fall off as much as I thought it would.”
Alex Fleming went on to finish second after surprising everyone, including himself, with a pole qualifying run earlier in the day.
“I can’t ask for a whole lot more,” Fleming said. “We showed up and the car surprised us on how good it did. It’s a brand new motor and a lot of new pieces on the car. It did good but we came up short. He had a better car than us. I tried to make him burn his stuff up but I burned my stuff up as much as him. We put on a good show for the fans and passed each other three or four times.”
Bradley McCaskill’s win was an emotional one. His mother, Janet, had just gotten out of the hospital on Friday and McCaskill’s win was for her.
“She had an unexpected episode there,” McCaskill stated. “Had some gall bladder surgery. She got out of the hospital yesterday afternoon. It was tough for her to get to the track but we won it for her.”
Karl Budzevski finished third while Kenneth Mercer and Tim Allensworth rounded out the top-five.
Ronnie “Buckshot” Jones prevailed in a thrilling Kenly Real Estate U-CAR race, fending off a last lap challenge from PJ Flowers. Chris Hales finished in third while Aaron Crumpler finished fourth and Travis Miller came home in fifth.
Haywood Herriott held off Chuck Wall and Lee Horner to win in the Southeast Mini Stock Tour race. The race was the season finale for the tour. Michael Tucker won the series championship.
Robbie Babb scored the win in the Renfrow Heating & Air Southern Lightning Modified feature over Kyle Wood and Matt Carter. Dillon Spain held off a late race charge from Tommy Jackson, Jr. to win the Stancil Products Legends feature and Richard Quinn scored the win in the Bombers feature.
The 2016 Thanksgiving Classic concludes tomorrow with the Accent Imaging 125 lap Super Late Model race, 20 lap Grafix Unlimited Bandolero shootout and the headline race, the 200 lap Late Model Stock Car race. Racing starts at noon on Sunday.
Unofficial Results
Limited Late Model
1. Bradley McCaskill
2. Alex Fleming
3. Karl Budzevski
4. Kenneth Mercer
5. Tim Allensworth
6. Colin Garrett
7. Shelton McNair, Jr.
8. Mini Tyrell
9. Michael O’Brien
10. David West
11. Gerald Benton
12. Bian Obiedzenski
13. Wayne Goss
14. Mike Ganoe
15. Chris Elliott
16. Justin Gill
17. Ronald Renfrow
U-CAR
1. Ronnie “Buckshot” Jones
2. PJ Flowers
3. Chris Hales
4. Aaron Crumpler
5. Travis Miller
6. Joseph Pittman
7. Ashlyn McCaskill
8. Brandon Allen
9. Duane Walker
10. Jason Williams
11. Jesse Jones
12. David Wiggins
13. Zac Reime
14. Jason Beck
15. Matt Myrick
16. Michelle Price
17. Michael Myrick
18. Lee Horner
19. Chris Cheeler
20. David Kelly – DNS
Southeast Mini Stocks
1. Haywood Herriott
2. Chuck Wall
3. Lee Horner
4. Michael Tucker
5. Robert Strmiska
6. Travis Miller
7. PJ Flowers
8. Michael Rouse
9. Joseph Pittman
10. Chris Hales
11. Desmond Skillings
12. Ronnie “Buckshot” Jones
13. AJ Sanders
14. Brad Martin
15. Matthew Sonnhalter
16. Randy Canipe
17. Cody LaBlanc
18. Don Frantz
19. Nick Skillings
20. Jeremy Ottoway
Southern Lightning Modifieds
1. Robbie Babb
2. Kyle Wood
3. Matt Carter
4. Hunter Slayton
5. Jimmy Humblet
6. Bobby Geary
7. Tyler Davis
8. Chris Humblet
9. Andrew Fortin
10. Jamie Walmock
11. JR Webb
12. Tim Maxey – DNS
Legends
1. Dillon Spain
2. Tommy Jackson, Jr.
3. Mason Diaz
4. Alex McCollum
5. Taylor Webb
6. Will Bristle
7. Justin Mitchell
8. Chris Hildebrand
9. Kyle Beattie
10. Eric Courtney
11. Chris Hammett
12. Zack Brown
13. Brandon Johnston
14. Caleb Day
15. Joseph Sanoske
16. Steven Chapman
17. Kris Kurtz
18. William West
Bombers
1. Richard Quinn
2. Andrew Howe
3. Dakota Tomlinson
4. Jake Edgley
