BLOOMINGDALE, TN :: There’s a saying that good things will eventually come to those who patiently wait. Well, Ronnie McCarty’s patience was wearing thin and he was growing tired of waiting.

He’d shown everybody at Kingsport Speedway he was chauffeuring a fast ride over the past couple of seasons by finishing in the top-five on several occasions. It’s just varying circumstances had kept the 27-year-old racer from the Model City out of victory lane.

McCarty flexed his muscle early Friday night by jumping out into the lead at drop of the green for the Wallace Kia Late Model Stock feature, and for just the second time this season the event went caution-free to the checkered flag. When all was said and done, McCarty had completed a flag-to-flag run to capture his first-ever NASCAR Whelen All-American Series victory.

“Amazing, it’s truly amazing to finally shake this monkey or whatever it was off my back and capture our first-ever NASCAR Whelen All-American Series win,” said McCarty with a smile on his face after climbing from his race car in victory lane. “Winning your first-ever NASCAR sanctioned race is a very special deal. It’s something you dream about and once it happens, you’ll never forget the awesome feeling. I’ll always look at the trophy and remember this very special night.

“It’s tough to put into words just how much getting this win means to not only myself, but to my parents (Ron and Gina McCarty) and everybody on the race team that’s a part of us winning our first race. We’ve been oh, so very close to winning here at Kingsport Speedway in the past. We’ve had several solid top-five finishes but had just never been able to seal the deal and park in victory lane.”

Kres VanDyke set fast-time at 15.168 seconds, but following the roll of the dice the top four from qualifying were inverted for start of the race putting McCarty on the pole and Chad Finchum starting on the outside of the front row.

McCarty moved into the lead over Finchum and VanDyke at the start, with VanDyke getting around Finchum for second on lap 3 racing off turn two. Behind the front-running trio, Ryan Stiltner, Zack Walton and Zeke Shell were running nose-to-tail until Shell moved around Walton on lap 13 racing off the fourth turn to take over the fifth spot.

With the race running clean-and-green, at the halfway point McCarty held a four car-length advantage over VanDyke, while Finchum was running in the third position and right at a full-straightaway behind.

With 10 laps remaining, McCarty had a rearview mirror full of the hard-charging VanDyke. Only two laps from the finish, between turns one and two VanDyke looked underneath McCarty. Contact was made and both cars momentarily got out of shape before McCarty and VanDyke reeled their mounts back in.

But McCarty, driving the Luv Homes of Kingsport, Ron’s Mobile Home Parts (located just out from Kingsport Speedway along John B. Dennis Highway), Bill Parsons Insurance in Bristol, Va., A-Hood Bail Bonds, Corner’s Nest Antique Mall in Elizabethton, The Candleberry Co., Marlowe Racing Chassis, Charlie Long Race Engines, No. 5 Chevrolet Impala, would not be denied his first victory.

The win for McCarty also marked the first time this season a Chevy built-engine had won a race over a Ford crate-engine at “The Concrete Jungle.” Finishing behind McCarty were VanDyke, Finchum, Stiltner and Walton.

Completing the top 10 finishers were Shell, Lee Tissot, Wayne Hale, Tyler Goodwin and Justin Fontaine.

“While this is our first NASCAR Late Model Stock win at Kingsport Speedway, I actually captured my first-ever win in a full-bodied stock car at Lonesome Pine Raceway in Coeburn, Va.,” said McCarty. “I’ve won two races over at LPR, and in 2012 we earned the Late Model Stock Rookie-of-the-Year title. We won the 2001 Legends track championship here at Kingsport Speedway while I was still attending Sullivan North High School. Besides winning Legends races, we also won quite a few Pro Challenge races too. I want to thank my mom and dad for all they do to allow me to live out my dream to be a race car driver and all the opportunities they’ve given me through the years to let me race. A lot of fans who attend racing probably don’t really understand all the hard work and sacrifices that you go through to field a race team.

“You put in long hours working back in the race shop during the week if you want to run well on race nights. I’ve got a great crew chief in Mark Ketron. Back in the day when he was behind the wheel racing, Mark won several Late Model Stock races and when he first began racing he captured the 1999 Limited Late Model track title here at Kingsport Speedway. We’ve also got Mark’s brother John Ketron on the crew, along with Jay Swecker, Kevin Street, Kellie Hooper, Billy Ketron, Mike Lloyd, and then I’ve got great support from my fiancée Patricia Dygert. And I want to thank all the sponsors we have onboard that help support our race team. Racing is a very expensive deal and you’ve got to have great sponsors to help you along the way. A lot of people say the first race is the hardest one to win, and once you get the first victory out of the way many others will follow. That sounds great to me. We’ll work on the car this coming week and hopefully come back next Friday and get another win.”

Race Results

NASCAR WHELEN ALL-AMERICAN SERIES LATE MODEL STOCK (60 laps)

Showing Finish Position, Starting Position In Parentheses, Driver Name, Car Number, Hometown

1. 1) Ronnie McCarty #5-Kingsport, TN
2. (4) Kres VanDyke #15-Claypool Hill, VA
3. (2) Chad Finchum #19-Knoxville, TN
4. (3) Ryan Stiltner #22-Grundy, VA
5. (6) Zack Walton #38-Blountville, TN
6. (5) Zeke Shell #97-Johnson City, TN
7. (7) Lee Tissot #7-Asheville, NC
8. (8) Wayne Hale #19-Bluff City, TN
9. (10) Tyler Goodwin #64-Kingsport, TN
10. (9) Justin Fontaine #60-Fletcher, NC
11. (11) Joey Trent #26-Gray, TN
12. (12) Bruce Blessing #55-Kingsport, TN
13. (13) Rick Pannell #33-Kingsport, TN
14. (15) Luke Fox #94-Weaverville, NC
15. (14) Allen Hawkins #77-Kingsport, TN
16. (17) Austin Peters #76-Kingsport, TN
17. (16) Keith Stiltner #2-Grundy, VA
18. (18) Sam Steffey #35-Abingdon, VA