McDaniel and LeFevers Tangle, Bumgarner Wins in Week #3 at Hickory

Track PR Report

Newton, NC (April 1, 2012) It was a beautiful evening for racing on March 31st at the .363 mile speedway in Hickory, N.C. On the schedule for the evening were the Hobby Stocks, Wrench-Rag Street Stocks, Red Baron Renegades, Super Truck, Paramount KIA Limited Late Models and the Bojangle’s Late Models. The Bojangle’s Late Model race was an action packed event that kept fans on their feet with Keith Bumgarner capturing his first Late Model victory of the season.

The Wrench-Rag Street Stocks were the first to take to the speedway of the night. Kevin Townsend in the No. 9 was on the pole for the event. The yellow flag waved for the first time on lap 14 when the No. 14 car of Sam Thompson spun in turn two. Racing continued for four more laps before Townsend, the leader, blew up going into turn three. Mike Newton in the No. 5 and would go on to claim the victory. No. 03, Kevin Eby brought home the second place finish and Marshall Sutton in the No. 64 finished third.

The Paramount KIA Limited Late Model series took the track as the second scheduled event for the evening. The No. 72 of Jason Cochran began the 35-lap feature on the pole. On lap one the caution flew for the first time of the race due to the No. 5 of Christian Calvin spinning around on the front stretch.

Racing continued for three more laps before a multi-car pileup in turns one and two brought out the yellow flag once again. Racing continued with the No. 00 of Shane Lee leading at halfway. The caution flag was displayed on lap 23 for a spin in turn two. On lap 29 a crash between the No. 7 of Travis Byrd and Jacob Marlowe in the No. 07.

The yellow came out for the final time on lap 31 for an accident in turn three involving three cars. Those involved were able to drive away and continue racing. The race finished with a tight battle for second between Cochran and Marlowe. Shane Lee in the No. 00 brought home the victory.

The Super Trucks took the track as the third race of the evening. Pole sitter Brad Cox in the No. 94 led the field to the green flag of the 30-lap feature. The first yellow flag waved when Zach Napoleon in the No. 09 spun on the front stretch. The yellow would wave once more on lap 23 when the No. 14 went around in turn four.

With rain moving into the local area, track officials made the decision to shorten the event by 10 laps calling for a green-white-checkered finish. The No. 33 of Jeremy Birch brought home the victory with the No. 94 of Brad Cox finishing second and Zach Napoleon bringing home third in the No. 09.

Last week’s Bojangle’s Late Model winner, Jesse LeFevers began the night on the pole. LeFevers and Austin McDaniel in the No. 12 would see-saw back and forth for the lead for 43 laps. The two drivers raced each other clean, one piloting ahead of the other each lap. Fans were on their feet wondering who would get the advantage and the victory.

As luck would have it, neither of them would come out the victor due to a lap 43 incident on the front-stretch.
Lefevers and McDaniel got together, collecting the No. 51 of Josh Wimbish. LeFevers would be sent to the back of the pack for involvement in the accident, leaving the No. 97 of Keith Bumgarner to take over the top spot.

The caution flew once more on lap 46 when the No. 8 of Chandler LeVan spun coming out of turn two. As quickly as the field returned to green-flag racing the caution flag was displayed for debris on the front-stretch. As the cars paced the track under caution, rain inched closer to the speedway.

In the end, the race would see the full 50 lap distance with Bumgarner bringing home the victory. The No. 77 of Jeremy Sorel brought home the second place finish, while the No. 11 of Sammy Jasper came in third.

With rain inching closer to the speedway, the Red Baron Renegades took to the track to close out the evening’s festivities. With three caution flags being thrown throughout the event the race would be shortened due to rain. The No. 16 of Caroll McKinney brought home the victory. Greg Austin finished second in the No. 4 and Darby Crouch in the No. 64 came home third.

Next Saturday evening the PASS Super Late Models will take to the speedway for the Easter Bunny 150. For more information about this event please visit www.proallstarseries.com. The NASCAR Whelen All-American Series will return on Saturday, April 14th with appearances by the Bojangle’s Late Models, Paramount KIA Limited Late Models, Red Baron Renegades, 4- Cylinders and Wrench-Rags Street Stocks. Gates open to fans at 5 p.m., with qualifying immediately following. An On-Track Autograph Session begins at 6 p.m., with feature racing action at 7 p.m. For more details visit www.hickorymotorspeedway.com.