BLOOMINGDALE, TN :: Many in attendance Friday at Kingsport Speedway were looking up to see if a full moon was illuminating the skies over “The Concrete Jungle,” because to say it was a wild night of racing would be an understatement.
Chad Finchum of Knoxville moved into the lead on lap 23 of the 60-lap NASCAR Whelen All-American Series “Dalton Direct Carpets” Late Model Stock main event on Nickels Performance Night at the Races, and once out front he never looked back en route to capturing his third feature win on the season, plus he added to his point advantage.
Finchum captured his second Late Model Stock pole award on the season after laying down a fast-lap at 15.186 seconds. After stepping away from full-time racing to concentrate on getting his auto and truck sales business up-and-going, Nate Monteith, the defending two-time track and NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Tennessee State champion, made his first appearance in 2013 and timed-in second quickest at 15.232.
Following an invert of the top four from qualifying, Paul Nogradi Jr. and Ronnie McCarty led the 19-car field to the green flag. The duo battled side-by-side for the lead over the first five circuits before McCarty moved ahead as they raced off the fourth turn. With the door open, Monteith also took advantage to get past Nogradi and move into second place.
Finchum got around Nogradi for third on lap 6, and just one circuit later Nogradi spectacularly crashed on the backstretch. With the trio of Nogradi, Daniel Pope II and Lee Tissot, battling for position while racing in close quarters, along with Zeke Shell and Kres VanDyke also in the mix, contact sent Nogradi climbing the outside concrete wall along the backstretch on lap 7.
Nogradi’s car got airborne before finally coming back down off the wall and skidding on its roof until coming to stop high up the banking in turn three, which brought out the caution and red flags simultaneously. With the track’s emergency crew quickly on the scene, in just a few moments Nogradi was able to climb out of his car with assistance from emergency personnel to cheers from the crowd.
The double-file restart had McCarty and Monteith on the front row, where they raced door-to-door until Monteith moved into the lead on lap 10 racing off the fourth turn. Finchum also got around McCarty for position, but racing into the first turn McCarty got into Finchum’s rear bumper sending the point leader sliding up the track. Before Finchum could regain control of his car, both Pope and McCarty had gotten around him, dropping him back to fourth in the running order.
Running in the seventh and eighth spots, Robbie Ferguson and Derrick Lancaster tangled on lap 23 at exit of the fourth turn, with Ferguson spinning to bring out the caution. Both were sent to the rear for the restart.
Monteith and Finchum were on the front row for the double-file restart. But with the green flag waving rookie Tyler Goodwin experienced engine trouble and spun along the front straightaway, which also collected R.J. Stanley and Joey Trent, with other cars receiving cosmetic sheet-metal damage. The race was over for Goodwin and Stanley.
Following a red flag period to allow track crews to clean up the dumped fluid along the front straightaway, when the green flag waved Finchum powered ahead of Monteith to take a lead he would never relinquish. McCarty got around Monteith for second on lap 26 as they raced off turn two.
Finchum was putting real estate between his A-1 Finchum Heating & Cooling/Texas Roadhouse/Finchum Paint & Body/Creekside Grill & Catering/Embassy Suites Concord/Loveland Baptist Church/RW Race Engines/Hedgecock (Race Cars) Racing Enterprises/No. 19 Chevrolet SS and his closest challengers, building up a half-straightaway advantage by lap 40. Monteith was pressuring McCarty wanting the second spot back, and on lap 44 racing down the backstretch into the third turn he got to inside of McCarty to take away the position.
With McCarty stuck up on the outside, both Pope and Shell also got past him to drop McCarty back to fifth place. McCarty got loose between turns one and two on lap 51 and spun to bring out the caution.
Finchum and Monteith restarted from the front row, with Pope and Shell behind in row two. Once again Finchum pulled out ahead into the lead, while Monteith and Pope battled for the second spot. Contact between turns three and four saw Monteith get out of shape and lose positions to Pope, Shell and McCarty. Monteith spun between turns one and two with a little assistance from Lancaster on lap 53 to bring the caution out.
Only two laps back under green, racing down the backstretch on lap 55 the rear bumper cover which had been flopping on Pope’s car broke loose. Between turns three and four, tight quarters racing between Pope, Shell and McCarty saw Pope spin to bring the caution out.
Could Finchum reel off another textbook perfect restart? The 18-year-old came up through the gears without spinning the rear tires to pull back ahead and go on to record his third win of the season over Shell, Lancaster, Ferguson and Pope.
Completing the top 10 finishers were Allen Hawkins, Trent, Justin Wright, Mark Christian and Jamie Harrison.
With Finchum’s victory, he now holds a 13-point lead over Shell in the Late Model Stock point standings, while Pope is only one-point behind Shell in third place. The standings show Finchum (378), Shell (365) and Pope (364).
The first attempt to get the 30-lap Street Stock feature started saw John Harrell and Jared Broadbent tangle between turns three and four, with Broadbent spinning to bring out the caution. Broadbent was relegated to rear of the field for the restart. Alan Rich moved up beside Harrell and back under green he and Harrell raced side-by-side for the opening three circuits before Rich, from Sylva, N.C., powered into the lead.
Behind Rich and Harrell, Nick Cole was holding down the third spot followed by Royce Peters and Chris Tunnell. With Tunnell challenging Peters for the fourth position, on lap 13 between turns one and two contact was made with Peters spinning to bring out the caution. Both Peters and Tunnell had to restart from the tail of the field.
Back under green Rich once again moved out ahead of Harrell and Cole, and over the next 13 laps Rich built up an eight car length advantage over Harrell. With just four laps remaining, on lap 26 a flat right rear tire caused Tunnell to spin in the fourth turn to erase Rich’s lead.
Rich needed only to execute a perfect restart to move back ahead of Harrell, which he pulled off flawlessly and went on to capture his second straight victory. Rich was trailed at the finish by Harrell, Broadbent, Cole and Rob Austin.
Danny Pless jumped out to lead at start of the 20-lap Pure 4 feature over Derek Penley and David Trent. Penley got around Pless for the lead on the second lap racing off the fourth turn. But back behind them making a charge forward were John Ketron, Billy Ketron and Jimmy Hillard.
John got around Penley for the lead on the fourth circuit racing off the second corner, with Billy following his father to also get past Penley and move into second place. Kenny Absher had set fast-time at 18.309 seconds, and after the invert he had raced his way up through the field to get around Hillard to move into third in the running order on lap 10.
Both John and Jason Ketron had each visited victory lane at Kingsport Speedway, and each had captured Pure 4 track championships. John’s brother, Mark Ketron, has several Late Model Stock victories to his credit. The only member of the Ketron family yet to win at “The Concrete Jungle” was 21-year-old Billy.
Racing down the front straightaway on lap 17, Billy got to inside of John entering the first turn to take the lead. Over the remaining three laps, Billywould not be denied his first-ever victory at Kingsport Speedway as he won over his dad John, Absher, Jason Ketron and Hillard.
Bruce Crumbley of Kingsport started eighth in the Rookie Pure 4 feature, but the 33-year-old got up on the wheel and hustled his ride to the front and captured his second victory of the season. Crumbley was chased to the checkers by Brandon Sutherland, Brandon Byington, Billy Byington and Billy Taylor.
It was a battle amongst the Lane family for bragging rights in the Legends division. Jerry Lane of Kingsport, and his sons Derek and Trey, all swapped the lead back and forth during the 15-lap feature before Jerry held on to record his first win of the season over Derek, Trey and Michael Cobb.
