Series PR
Drew Hierwarter Photos

Kingsport, TN (5/4/12) –After starting from the rear, Bassett Jr. delivers a flawless performance during the UARA-STARS 150 at Kingsport Speedway Friday, May 4th.

Kingsport’s unique structure forced UARA officials to train their young drivers that they are not allowed to race below the yellow line between turns one and two for safety reasons. The exit to pit road is the lane below the line. During qualifying Bassett Jr. hit a cone, which gave him an automatic pass to the back. Bassett Jr. also worked his way from the back during the last event put on by the STARS at Rockingham in April. His visit to the back was because of an unfortunate spin during his second lap.

Rookie Ben Rhodes set the fast pace to gain his first UARA Sunoco pole for Friday night’s event. Once the flag dropped, outside pole sitter, Blake Jones challenged Rhodes for the lead. After making contact, Jones made a clean pass and held on to the lead.  Jones who had a great race going and appeared to have the dominant car was black flagged due to a rules infraction.  Jones had been warned after a restart that he had started out of the start box. The second infraction resulted in a stop and go penalty which would relenquish the lead to former UARA Champion Coleman Pressley.

With Pressley’s resume, he was very comfortable leading at Kingsport. During his quest to win the race, team mates Rhodes and Clayton Pyne got into each other. The two were coming off of turn three, spun side by side, causing  the field behind to pile up along with them. This caution took Rhodes, William Gallaher and Ryan Stiltner out of the race. This caution brought Bassett Jr. up to the front row for a double file restart. With less than ten laps to go, Bassett made a clean pass on Pressley that brought him to victory lane.

Pressley finished a solid second coming across the line hot on the tail of Bassett’s car.  Sammy Jasper, Kaleb Pressley, and Sean Rayhall rounded out the top five. Kaleb Pressley had a minor setback after driver intros and had trouble starting his car. After a push from the track crew, he was fired up and ready to go. Kaleb practiced patience while his fellow racers were running hard. His patience paid off as he began gaining positions and was awarded Holley Performer of the race. Sean Rayhall finished ahead of all the other rookie contenders and was awarded the Extreme Trophies and More Rookie of the Race title.  At Thursday’s practice session Rayhall had questioned officials about a possible raindate if the predicted rains came.  He mentioned he had a prom to attend in Georgia on Saturday night but if it came down to the prom or racing, racing would win. That’s racing dedication.

Other cautions of the night involved Dillon Basset and Trey Marcham. The two came through turn four sideways and knocked the right front fender off of Bassett’s car. Marcham continued to race and finished 13th. Scott Turlington and Travis Swaim also became victims of the full moon curse and wrecked as they were running three wide with Rhodes for 15th. Swaim finished the race with a clear view of the fans since his whole right side was ripped off. Swaim’s incident did not affect his ability to drive and he still pulled off a sixth place finish. Unfortunately, Turlington’s damage was beyond repair and he was taken out of the race.

The finish is unofficial due to post race tech on the cylinder head of the Bassett machine.  An appeal has been put in place and the head in question is being shipped to Ford Racing Technology for inspection before the final ruling is made.

The next event for the STARS will be held June 1st at Anderson Motor Speedway in Anderson, South Carolina. To check out what your favorite drivers are up to until then, follow the UARA-STARS on Twitter (@uarastars) or “like” them on Facebook under the United Auto Racing Association. For more information on the UARA-STARS, visit them online at www.uara-stars.com or call (828) 692-3833.

Unofficial Results for the UARA-STARS 150 at Kingsport:
1. #04 Ronnie Bassett Jr.
2. #59 Coleman Pressley
3. #18 Sammy Jasper
4. #54 Kaleb Pressley
5. #14 Sean Rayhall
6. #28 Travis Swaim
7. #35 Devin Jones
8. #2 Tim George Jr.
9. #8 Clayton Pyne
10. #99 Jake Morris
11. #0 Scott Bishop
12. #16 Tyler Laing
13. #32 Trey Marcham
14. #33 Brandon Jones
15. #80 Blake Jones
16. #20 Cory Joyce
17. #9 Ben Rhodes
18. #22 Ryan Stiltner
19. #6 Willaim Gallaher
20. #58 Scott Turlington
21. #44 Dillon Bassett
22. #88 Josh Wright (DNS)