COEBURN, VA :: Chad Finchum scored his sixth win of the season at Lonesome Pine Raceway and his ninth overall victory on Saturday night, adding to his points lead at Lonesome Pine as he continues to chase two track championships.
Finchum qualified third and started the race in the fourth position. On the opening lap, he picked up the third position and that’s where he ran for the opening stint. Finchum’s march to the front began on lap 15 when he took the second position. Finchum made the winning pass on the 50th lap of the race and held off a fierce challenge en route to his ninth win of the season.
“We ran door-to-door with Kres Vandyke the last 20 laps or so,” Finchum said. “I was on the outside and made it stick and we won the race. I couldn’t do it without every helping hand that touches the car from week to week.”
Finchum’s victory was his sixth win in eight races on the season at Lonesome Pine – a track he wasn’t expecting to be dominant at.
“We weren’t expecting dominance out here because of the level of competition being so high,” Finchum stated. “I knew our team and car were capable of it though. We’ve just got to keep digging and keep winning.”
Finchum sits atop the standings at Lonesome Pine and second in points at Kingsport Speedway where he has three wins. Saturday’s victory at Lonesome Pine gives Finchum confidence he can win at least on track championship. The victory also kept Finchum hopeful that he could have a shot at the NASCAR Whelen All American Series National Championship.
“I think we can get at least one championship out of this deal,” Finchum explained. “It’s going to be hard to catch up at Kingsport because of a bad run in the season opener. I would love to get the National Championship but, no matter where we end up in the national standings, we’ve had a dream season.”
Chad Finchum will be back in action on Friday night, June 28th at Kingsport Speedway in Tennessee. To date, Finchum has nine wins and 15 top-five finishes on the season.
