McDaniel OutDuels LeFevers for First Win of the Season at Hickory

Track PR Report

Newton, NC(April 15, 2012) — It was a beautiful evening at Hickory Motor Speedway, where five divisions of the NASCAR Whelen All-Americans would race. The Bojangles Late Model race began with mystery, but finished in a tight battle between Austin McDaniel and Jesse LeFevers.

The WrenchRags Street Stocks were the first event of the evening. Mike Newton in the No. 5 led the field to the green flag. By lap three the six car field was single file. On lap six the caution was brought out by the No. 92 of Jason Stanley getting turned around in turn four. The second yellow flew when Stanley and Trey Buff in the No. 69 collided off turn two.

On lap 11 the No. 99 of Roy Smith stopped in turn four with a smoking car. At halfway Newton led the event with the No. 03 of Kevin Eby and the No. 64 of Marshall Sutton battling close for second. On Lap 20, Eby was finally able to take second place. Newton brought home the victory with Eby finishing second and Sutton coming in third.

The 4-Cylinders took to the track next for their 25 lap feature event with Todd Harrington in the No. 21 starting on the pole. On lap 14 there was a tight battle for second between the No. 3 of Donnie Harmon and Caleb Sisk in the No. 6. Harrington took the checkered flag first with Harmon finishing in second place and Sisk rounding out the top 3.

The Paramount KIA Limited Late Model race was seconds old when the first yellow flag flew. The No. 5 of Christian Calvo spun on the backstretch. The next 15 laps went by without incident with Landon Huffman in the No. 75 leading the way.

On lap 25 the yellow waved for the No. 22 of Dan Moore who spun by himself on the backstretch. The race returned to green conditions only for the yellow to come out once more for Moore and Andres Guevara in the No. 71.

After cleanup the race returned to green for another yellow flag to wave, this time for a multicar pile up in turn 1, the following cars were involved: No. 21 of Monty Cox, No. 07 of Joshua Bralley, No. 9 of Charlie Watson, No. 8 of Greg Wise, No. 15 of Sheflon Clay, No. 5 of Christian Calvo, No. 71 of Guevara, No. 77 Mark Goin and the No. 51 of Jeremy Pelfrey.

Racing returned to green on lap 25 with the No. 00 of Shane Lee, leading. Lee would bring home the victory with Landon Huffman in the No. 75 finishing second and Zach Bruenger in the No. 55 coming in third.

Austin McDaniel, in the No. 12 was the pole sitter of the 50 lap feature for the Bojangles Late Model series. Before the green flag flew two cars, the No. 43 of Jesse LeFevers and the No. 89 of Sean Shalvoy, experienced exhaust problems, resulting in the pair starting at the rear of the field. The yellow flew on lap 2 for Mackena Bell in the No. 4 car. Bell spun by herself in turn one.

On lap 12 the caution came out for a multicar accident in turn four. Those involved included: Shalvoy, No. 11 of Matt Piercy, No. 7 of Taylor Stricklin, No. 01 of Tyler Lester, No. 2 of Trey Gibson, No. 7 of John Kidwell and the No. 18 of David Roberts.

By lap 23, LeFevers had made it back to third, one spot short of his scheduled starting position. The battle for second remained tight between LeFevers and the No. 19 of Kyle Moon for laps. On lap 44 the yellow flag came out for Lester.

The final six laps of the race were a head-to-head battle between McDaniel and LeFevers. For four laps they raced door handle to door handle, battling it out for the top position. With two laps to go McDaniel pulled into the lead and began to put some distance between himself and LeFevers. McDaniel scored the victory with LeFevers in second and Grant Wimbish in the No. 57 brought home third.

The Red Baron Renegades were the final event of the night. Darby Crouch in the No. 64 was on the pole. The eight car field raced cleanly throughout their 20 lap feature. Carroll McKinney in the No. 16 finished first, Crouch finished second and the No. 4 of Greg Austin finished third.

Next week, on Saturday, April 21 the CARS PRO CUP series will take to Hickory Motor Speedway for 250 laps of racing. Grandstands will open at 5:00 p.m. with an on-track autograph session at 6:15 p.m. Racing will begin at 7:30 p.m. Tickets for adults are $15 and children under 11 are free. On April 28 the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series will return. That nights’ races will include the Bojangles Late Models Twin 50’s, Paramount KIA Limited Late Models, WrenchRags Street Stocks, Super Trucks. Gates will open at 5:00 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.