Ronnie McCarty of Kingsport, who entered this weekend’s racing leading the “First Kingsport Credit Union” Late Model Stock Car point standings, passed Wayne Hale for the lead on lap 47 and remained out front to the checkered flag to capture his division-leading sixth victory of the season at Kingsport Speedway on Friday night.
McCarty earned his fifth pole award of the season during qualifying with a fast-lap at 15.210 seconds around the .375-mile banked concrete oval, to narrowly edge Zeke Shell’s time of 15.218. But following a roll of the inversion dice, the top four on the speed chart were inverted for the 60-lap main event putting Tyler Goodwin and Wayne Hale on the front row.
“Man, we really had to work hard for this (win) tonight,” said a smiling McCarty after climbing from his car in victory lane. “The competition is really tough in the Late Model Stock Car division, because you’ve got 10-12 really good cars that are just separated by thousandths of a second when it comes to qualifying times. If you make the slightest mistake on your qualifying laps, it can mean the difference of starting at the front of the field or back in the fourth or fifth row.
“Just look at tonight’s qualifying with our fast-time at 15.210 seconds, but Zeke (Shell) was second quickest at 15.218 and you can’t even blink your eyes that fast. With the top four from qualifying being inverted, you’ve just got to be patient and run a good, solid race and hope the setup under your car is just a little better to help enable you to get around those (cars) running ahead of you. Wayne (Hale) and I raced each other very hard there for several laps off that restart before I was able to take the lead, and once we got out front I just had to make sure to hit my marks and run flawless laps to stay ahead to the finish.”
The veteran Hale grabbed the lead at start over Goodwin, McCarty, Shell and Lee Tissot. Goodwin was feeling pressure from McCarty, who passed the teenager on lap 4 racing off the second corner to move in behind leader Hale. With the door open, Shell also made the move to drop Goodwin back another position into fourth in the running order.
Tissot began working on Goodwin and finally was able to get around him to take away the fourth spot on lap 12 as they raced off (turn) two. Joey Trent, who has run in the top five during the season and contended for that ever elusive first career win, saw a solid sixth-place run end on lap 25 when he was forced into the pits with engine trouble.
With the race reaching halfway, the top five of Hale, McCarty, Shell, Tissot and Goodwin were running nose-to-tail. The caution waved for Goodwin on lap 41 as he slowed to a stop on the track in the fourth turn with a flat tire.
McCarty and Hale brought the field back to green on the double-file restart from the front row, and before one lap could be completed, the night went from bad to worse for defending track champion Kres VanDyke. Racing off the second turn in tight quarters Derek Lane, VanDyke and Austin Peters wrecked on the backstretch, with both Lane and VanDyke’s cars suffering extensive damage.
With the field circling the track slowly under caution, tough luck for both Tissot (running fourth) and Taylor Coffman (running sixth) as they saw their race end prematurely with mechanical issues sidelining them.
Off the ensuing restart, McCarty and Hale put on a show as they battled side-by-side for six laps before McCarty took the lead. Once out front, the 28-year-old McCarty, driving the Luv Homes of Kingsport/Ron’s Mobile Home Parts & Service of Kingsport/Corner’s Nest Antique Mall in Elizabethton/Bill Parsons Insurance Agency in Bristol, Va./A-Hood Bail Bonds/Charlie Long Race Engines/Marlowe Race Cars/Performancenter Racing Warehouse/No. 5 Ford Fusion, clicked off perfect laps to keep both Hale and Shell behind him to record win number six on the season. Finishing fourth and fifth, respectively, were Justin Fontaine and Allen Hawkins.
Completing the top 10 finishers were Peters, Rick Pannell, Jamie Harrison, Goodwin and Tissot.
“With us leading the point standings, you get people saying ‘You’re running really well and leading the points,’ but you kind of don’t want to hear that,” said McCarty. “You don’t really want to get all wrapped up in thinking about points. But when you get this deep into the racing season and you’re on top of the point standings, well, you’ve got to start to race really smart and not allow yourself to get into risky situations where you’ll be in trouble. If you get caught up in a wreck, you’re parked in the pits with a torn-up race car and not getting maximum points from being out on the track.
“There’s no doubt about it, we’re having a really awesome season. I know we’ve got a really good race team and we spend considerable time back at the shop during the week working on our equipment, because when we show up to the track we’ve usually pretty much got the car dialed-in and we’re fast right off during practice. We’ve been fortunate enough to qualify well and start races near the front, and that’s put us into contention to get victories. We won our first-ever NASCAR Whelen All-American Series race last year, and that was pretty special. But to have now won six features this season, plus be leading the point standings, it’s just a super-good feeling. I want to thank my dad and mom (Ron and Gina McCarty) and my crew chief (Mark Ketron) and all the guys on the team, along with my fiancée Patricia Dygert for her support.”
