The calendar showed Friday to be the first day of May, but springtime temperatures around Northeast Tennessee were unseasonably chilly in the Model City for NASCAR Whelen All-American Series racing action at Kingsport Speedway.
Ronnie McCarty of Kingsport jumped out into the lead at drop of the green flag and led flag-to-flag in winning the caution-free, 60-lap “First Kingsport Credit Union” Late Model Stock Car feature.
“Getting our second win of the season tonight by leading every lap, this was probably the most fun I’ve ever experienced driving a race car,” said McCarty with a smile on his face after climbing from his race car in victory lane. “Winning period is a great feeling. But to win like we did tonight in leading from drop of the green flag until the checkered flag waved, I believe really showed everybody what a great race car we have, along with also having a great team backing me.”
McCarty earned the pole award in qualifying with a fast-lap of 15.086 seconds around the .375-mile banked concrete oval. The roll of the inversion dice produced a “two,” putting Justin Fontaine on the inside of the front row and McCarty on the outside.
McCarty flexed his muscle on the start to take the lead over Fontaine, Zeke Shell, Wayne Hale and defending track champion Kres VanDyke. VanDyke moved past Hale for fourth place on lap 5 racing off (turn) two.
Lee Tissot rode around the high line between turns one and two on the sixth circuit to take the fifth spot away from Hale, which began a steady slide backward for Hale as Austin Peters, Kyle Barnes and Taylor Coffman all passed Hale, dropping the veteran back to ninth in the running order.
With the race running clean-and-green and leader McCarty setting a blistering pace out front, by the halfway mark he began to put a little distance between himself and Fontaine, Shell and VanDyke. VanDyke passed Shell for third on lap 38 racing off the second corner.
The 28-year-old McCarty was in control out front, holding about a six car length advantage over his closest challengers with the signal from the flag stand showing 10 laps remaining. However, lapped traffic proved to be a little more difficult to navigate than what the leader had hoped for.
But once 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 cleared the slower cars, he rolled on to his second Late Model Stock Car win this season. McCarty now holds a three-point advantage in the point standings over Tissot.
McCarty captured the victory over Fontaine with his best career run, followed by VanDyke, Shell and Tissot.
Completing the top 10 finishers were Barnes, Hale, Coffman, Joey Trent and Jerry Lane.
“Even though we stayed out front the entire distance, I will admit I almost got a little too cautious there with around 10 laps to go when working some lapped traffic,” said McCarty. “It’s like those cars were running right in the middle of the track, and I didn’t really know whether to try and pass them to the inside or the outside. You don’t want to make the wrong move when attempting to overtake slower cars, you just want those cars to hold their line and then you just pick your way past them. Fortunately for us I was able to cleanly get by them, and then I guess you could say it was clear sailing to the finish.
“I really want to thank my parents (Ron and Gina McCarty) for all the opportunities they’ve provided me to race over the years. This is now my third career NASCAR Whelen All-American Series win, and just to see the smiles on mom and dad’s faces in victory lane, that’s what it’s all about. I also want to thank everybody that helps out on the team, my crew chief Mark Ketron, Kevin Street, Kelly Hooper, Mike Lloyd, and then I’ve got great support from my fiancée Patricia Dygert.”
