BLOOMINGDALE, TN :: Everybody beat Mother Nature on Friday night and Kres VanDyke beat the whole field to score his first win since 2002 at Kingsport Speedway.  VanDyke used a little muscle to get around Paul Nogradi around lap 35 after a lengthy delay when a thunderstorm passed over the track.

“We had a good car and saved a lot,” VanDyke said.  “We had a little bit for the end and we showed them we had the car to beat.  It’s been a long time waiting.  We took a long time off and finally came back to racing and finally got this first big win.  It seems like it’s the first win I’ve ever got.  It’s good experience and I hope there’s a lot more behind it.”

Ben Rhodes made his debut at the Concrete Jungle and was the fastest qualifier of the day, setting a blistering 15.190 second lap around the concrete oval.  However, the top four cars were inverted, putting VanDyke and Nogradi on the front row.  Nogradi took the lead early and looked to be in control of the early portion of the race.  Behind him, Ben Rhodes dropped out of contention quickly when he cut a tire down racing with Chad Finchum for third.

As the first half of the race went on, a spectacular lightning display was going on all the way around the track while the drivers were racing wide open for every position, knowing that the race could be halted at any moment.  That moment came on lap 31 when the rain became a torrential downpour and track officials began to have concerns about fan safety.  The race was red flagged for well over an hour and a half.

Nogradi was the leader during the halfway break and appeared as though he would be awarded the victory.  Behind him, VanDyke and Finchum were eager to resume the race believing their cars were strong enough.  After the thunderstorm passed, Robert Pressley told the fans and the drivers that they would dry the track and the race would resume.

When the race did resume, shortly after 11:10pm, the complexion of the race changed.  Nogradi tried to take off but couldn’t shake VanDyke.  Then, around lap 35, entering turn one, VanDyke used the chrome horn and delivered the bump-and-run to take the lead and, eventually, win the race.  The move sent Nogradi up the track.  An incident coming to the checkered flag would eventually knock Nogradi out of the top 10.

Chad Finchum and Zeke Shell, deadlocked in a battle for the NASCAR Whelen All American Series Tennessee State Championship, also raced each other hard during the second half of the race.  In turns one and two, Shell gave Finchum a shot but Finchum was able to recover and fend off Shell.

Ronnie McCarty and Daniel Pope also raced each other hard for second.  McCarty said he tried to race Pope clean since Pope was racing for a championship.  Pope would end up finishing second over McCarty, Finchum and Shell.  Ryan Stiltner finished sixth while Austin Peters, Tyler Goodwin, Joey Trent and Alan Hawkins rounded out the top 10.

Aside from the caution and delay for rain, the 60 lap event ran caution free despite the paint trading that was commonplace at Kingsport Speedway on Friday night.

Results
1. #15 Kres VanDyke
2. #16 Daniel Pope
3. #5 Ronnie McCarty
4. #19 Chad Finchum
5. #97 Zeke Shell
6. #22 Ryan Stiltner
7. #66 Austin Peters
8. #64 Tyler Goodwin
9. #26 Joey Trent
10. #14w Alan Hawkins
11. #02 Paul Nogradi
12. #33 Rick Parnell
13. #41 Ben Rhodes
14. #76 Jamie Harrison
15. #21 Justin Wright
16. #7 Lee Tissot
17. #36 Anthony Anders
18. #82 Dean Barrett
19. #19H Wayne Hale
20. #14b Erika Schmidt