Chad Finchum picked up where he left off last season by winning the Model City 175 at Kingsport Speedway.
Joey Trent had the field in tow for the season-opening Late Model Stock Car feature. As the field exited turn four to complete the opening lap, Wayne Hale would take over the lead.

With Hale now in command, Chad Finchum and Ronnie defending champion Ronnie McCarty began working their way through the field to second and third places, respectively. The first race’s first caution would wave on lap five when the No. 41 of Danny Casteel spun between turns one and two.

On the restart, Hale would battle with Finchum for the lead, with the 2014 track champion taking the spot one lap later. Hale would begin to slide backwards through the field, allowing McCarty and Kres VanDyke to gain another position on their trek to the front.

Finchum would continue to hold his position in the lead, while McCarty had raced his way into second place, and Kres VanDyke into third. With 20 laps remaining, Finchum and McCarty began to pull a comfortable lead over the rest of the field, and McCarty was gaining ground on the No. 19 machine.

15 laps later, Finchum began to pull away from McCarty, gaining a comfortable lead.  Finchum would lead the five remaining laps and claim the victory to kick off his return to “The Concrete Jungle.”

“We had an excellent race today,” said Finchum. “We loaded the car up at the end of the season last year and we hadn’t touched it until we came to test on Tuesday. We unloaded this morning and hadn’t touched a thing all day.”

“We didn’t decide to race the Late Model until about a month ago. We weren’t ready to race last week, so it worked in our favor that the season opener was pushed to this week.”

Finchum commented on the competition at Kingsport Speedway being some of the toughest around, and on how much he enjoys it.

“I really enjoy racing with all the competitors here; they put on a great race today. There used to be an old saying that if you could win here you could win anywhere, and that is still true Kingsport Speedway. The competition makes it really exciting to come and run here; I really love it here.”

“Everyone raced me really clean today, and I really want to thank Ronnie [McCarty]. He was at my back bumper and had the opportunity to move me, but he raced me clean,” added Finchum.

“I’m glad to support the racing in the area, and that we have a track like Kingsport to come and race at each week.

Not only was Team Finchum celebrating the victory today; they were also celebrating the birthday of Finchum’s father and car owner.

“When I was younger racing go-karts, we would race on my dad’s birthday and I was able to win for him, but today was the first Late Model win I’ve been able to get on his birthday. This was the icing on the cake to help celebrate.”

Kingsport Speedway returns to Friday night next week on April 1. For up-to-date details, visit www.newkingsportspeedway.com. Also follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Late Model Stock Car (60 laps):
1. #19 Chad Finchum – Knoxville, Tenn.
2. #5 Ronnie McCarty – Kingsport, Tenn.
3. #15 Kres VanDyke – Abingdon, Va.
4. #97 Zeke Shell – Johnson City, Tenn.
5. #19 Wayne Hale – Bluff City, Tenn.
6. #87 Hayden Woods – Piney Flats, Tenn.
7. #32 Robbie Ferguson – Kingsport, Tenn.
8. #26 Joey Trent – Gray, Tenn.
9. #60 Justin Fontaine – Fletcher, N.C.
10. #28 Derek Lane – Kingsport, Tenn.
11. #64 Tyler Goodwin – Kingsport, Tenn.
12. #37 Adam Gray – Kingsport, Tenn.
13. #55 Mardy Roberts – Kingsport, Tenn.
14. #33 Rick Pannell – Kingsport, Tenn.
15. #30 Taylor Coffman – Morristown, Tenn.
16. #7 Austin Peters – Kingsport, Tenn.
17. #41 Danny Casteel – Kingsport, Tenn.
18. #38 Royce Peters – Kingsport, Tenn.
19. #8 Jamie Harrison – Kingsport, Tenn.