Over 40 drivers took to the track for a 25-lap dash in the Last Chance Qualifier for a shot to race in the first ever ValleyStar Credit Union 300 under the lights. By the time the race ended, it was shortened by over half the distance, and only half of the starters remained.
The race kicked off in chaotic fashion when Larry Barrett drove underneath Coy Beard coming to the green flag, and continued with Macy Causey colliding with Beard and Dean Ward in Turn 2, before being drilled by Cameron Bowen as the field was slowing down. The incident resulted in a confrontation between Bowen and Causey’s crews on pit road.
A couple more cautions took several more drivers out of the event, which forced NASCAR to cut the length of the LCQ in half to 13 laps. However, the cautions continued to pile up with very little progress being made on green flag laps, causing NASCAR to end the race with a single attempt at a green-white-checkered before the 13-lap mark.
During the chaos, Casey Wyatt started on pole and held the lead on several chaotic restarts, holding off challenges from Thomas Scott and Jacob Heafner. On the final restart, Scott and Bryan Reedy battled each other for second, which allowed Wyatt to drive away from the field as the caution came out one more time for a single-car spin by Owen Smith.
“Our main goal for the weekend was to just make the race,” Wyatt said. “Can’t say enough about the guys who helped make all of the necessary changes and made me lead the LCQ wire-to-wire. Hopefully we’ll be a factor in this thing at the end.”
Wyatt’s performance in the LCQ earned him the 33rd starting spot for the ValleyStar Credit Union 300. Joining Wyatt in the main event from the LCQ are Thomas Scott, Bryan Reedy, Trevor Ward, Blake Stallings, Ryan Wilson, Danny Edwards Jr., Matt Leicht, Annabeth Barnes-Crum and Scott Lancaster. Dylan Ward finished in position to make the race but was disqualified for rough driving.
More on the Last Chance Qualifier and everything thats happened today: https://race22.online/live-valley-star-credit-union-300-raceday-at-martinsville-speedway/
