Ronnie Bassett Wins the 4th Annual Dwight Huffman Memorial

Hickory Motor Speedway PR

Hickory, N.C. (October 16, 2011) — Family, friends and fans packed the grandstands for the 4th Annual Pepsi Max Dwight Huffman Memorial Race for Charity presented by Arby’s and the Breast Cancer Awareness Limited Late Model 100 presented by Frye Cancer Center Sunday afternoon for 277 laps of green-flag racing action. Past Hickory Motor Speedway track champion, Andy Mercer, brought the 31 car Late Model field to life, it was Ronnie Bassett who would survive the caution filled feature event to become the third different winner the of the annual memorial race.

Mercer brought the 30 car Late Model field to life for the 4th Annual Pepsi Max Dwight Huffman Memorial Race for Charity presented by Arby’s. It didn’t take long for the first caution to be displayed after the No. 54 of Kaleb Pressley went for a spin in turn two. The No. 97 of Keith Bumgarger was scored as the race leader when the field came to the green for the restart. The second caution waved on lap 14 after Pressley and the No. 77 of Jeremy Sorel connected and went for a spin on the backstretch.

The field made five green-flag laps before a 14 car pile-up took place as the leader headed out of turn four bringing out the third caution and the red flag for clean up. Mercer led the field back to the green and began to pull away with Bumgarner trailing behind. With a substantial lead over the field, Mercer began putting cars a lap down 50 laps into the race.

The fourth caution fell on lap 65 after the No. 11 of Matt Piercy got loose coming off of turn four and spun on the frontstretch. Mercer continued out front when the No. 17 of Kyle Mansch, the No. 05 of Jordan McGregor and the No. 57 of Grant Wimbish connected heading into turn one on lap 71 bringing out the yellow for a fifth time. The restarts proved challenging for the field as the sixth caution waved after the No. 88 of Josh Wright and the No. 4 of Ben Rhodes bunched up in turn three just as the field got up to full speed. Mercer remained out front when the field returned to green-flag racing, but began to feel pressure from the No. 43 of Jesse LeFevers on lap 94.

Track officials displayed the yellow flag for a seventh time on 100, for a scheduled competition caution and 10 minute break. Teams came down pit road and were allowed to make selected adjustments to their cars during the break.

As the field returned to full speed, LeFevers moved into the lead bringing the No. 31 of Kyle Grissom along for the ride to take over second. Soon after Grissom settled into second he began to battle LeFevers for the lead. LeFevers continued out front when the eighth caution was displayed for debris on lap 133.

Just as the field resumed green-flag racing, the No. 92 of Candace Muzny made contact with Piercy sending Piercy into the outside wall in turn three bringing out the ninth caution on lap 134. The 10th caution waved on lap 150 for a second scheduled competition caution, setting up the field for a 27 lap shoot-out to the end.

At the restart LeFevers and the No. 04 of Ronnie Bassett battled for the lead until lap 167 when Bassett pulled under LeFevers as they headed into turn two, getting LeFevers loose causing him to fall off the pace. As Bassett pulled out front, the 11th caution fell and the second red flag was displayed for a wreck in turn three that involved the No. 97 of Jesse Little and the No. 87 of Sean Rayhall. The 12th caution followed during the restart after Bumgarner went for a spin in turn two. The field was slowed for the 13th and final time during a second attempt to restart the race when Mercer, Grissom and the No. 19 of Kyle Moon connected in turn two.

Bassett continued out front during the final restart of the night, with LeFevers trailing behind in second. With only three laps remaining Muzny dove under the No. 12 of McDaniel for third bringing the No. 5 of Dexter Canipe Jr. along for the ride. Bassett led the field to the checkered flag taking home the top honors. LeFevers, Muzny, Canipe Jr. and McDaniel completed the top five. Rhodes was presented with the Hard Luck award of the race after being caught up in an early race accident, while LeFevers received the Hard Charger award after gaining 28 positions during the race.

The No. 09 of Mark McIntosh led the field to the green flag for the Breast Cancer Awareness Limited Late Model 100 presented by Frye Cancer Center. McIntosh’s lead didn’t last long as the No. 90 of Pietro Fittipaldi moved out front on the fourth lap and led the field around the track until the first caution fell on lap 10 when the No. 72 of Jason Cochran and the No. 10 of Ryan Vasconcellos connected headed in turn four. The No. 66 of Travis Byrd spun to avoid making contact with the stalled cars. McIntosh used the restart to his advantage regaining the lead from Fittipaldi on lap 11.

The field remained under green-flag conditions for nine laps before officials waved the yellow flag to bring two competitors in the pits to evaluate potential mechanical issues. Just as quickly as the field regained full speed, they were slowed for a third time after the No. 15 of Sheflon Clay and the No. 37 of Chris Phipps connected in turn four on lap 25. Back under green-flag conditions Fittipaldi moved back out front on lap 33 just as the No. 55 of Zach Bruenger made contact with the No. 7 of Justin Crider in turn two bringing out the third caution of the day.

During the restart McIntosh moved ahead of Fittipaldi, but the lead didn’t last long as Fittipaldi shot passed McIntosh bringing along the No. 07 of Tyler Church for second. Fittipaldi remained out front until lap 43 when Church passed him for the lead after getting caught up in lap traffic.  The yellow was displayed for a fourth time after the No. 75 Landon Huffman, the No. 11 of Thomas Beane and the No. 21 of Monty Cox collided on the front stretch. Cars were brought to a stop on the backstretch as the red flag was displayed while the clean-up crew visited turn two.

Just as the green flag fell to restart the restart the race, the yellow was displayed after the No. 09 of Houston Smith and the No. 2 of Daniel Knisley connected in turn one. The field was able to complete one lap before the yellow flag waved for a sixth time when Crider spun out in turn three.

Back under green-flag conditions the No. 35 of Chris Lewis drove under Fittipaldi for the lead as the field headed into turn two. Lewis remained out front when the seventh caution fell when the No. 6 of Brandon Setzer came to a stop on heading out of turn one. Lewis and Church battled for the lead during the restart and into the final laps of the race. With nine laps remaining Cochran went for a spin on the backstretch bringing out the eighth caution of the afternoon.

The drivers completed four green-flag laps when the No. 25 of Nick Proffitt, the No. 44 of Enrique Contreras and Smith. It was a five lap shoot out to end the race with Lewis and Church continuing to battle for the win. The two ran side-by-side until the final lap when Church sailed by Lewis on the backstretch grabbing the win. Lewis, the No. 41 of Wade Day, Fittipaldi and Clay rounded out the top five. The No. 5 of Allen Huffman was awarded the Hard Charger Award for gaining 15 positions during the race. After getting caught up in an early race accident, Bryd was presented the Hard Luck Award.

The PASS Super Late Model Series invades Hickory Motor Speedway on October 29, bringing along special guests the Legends cars, Allison Legacy Series, the Bandaleros and the CCS Sportsman. Grandstands open at 12 p.m., with qualifying at 4:30 p.m. and feature racing action scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. For more information on this event log online and visit www.proallstarseries.com.

Dwight Huffman Memorial – Late Models:

Breast Cancer Awareness 100 – Limited Late Model:

1. (35) Chris Lewis
2. (90) Pietro Fittipaldi
3. (15) Sheflon Clay
4. (15) Brandon Atkinson
5. (54) Chris Chapman
6. (51) Jeremy Pelfrey
7. (72) Jason Cochran
8. (5) Allen Huffman
9. (37) Chris Phipps
10. (09) Houston Smith
11. (25) Nick Proffitt
12. (10) Ryan Vasconcellos
13. (44) Enrique Contreras
14. (6) Brandon Setzer
15. (55) Zack Bruenger
16. (7) Justin Crider
17. (2) Daniel Knisley
18. (21) Monty Cox
19. (11) Thomas Beane
20. (75) Landon Huffman
21. (71) Andres Guevara
22. (09M) Mark McIntosh
23. (66) Travis Byrd
24. (07) Tyler Church (Disqualified)
25. (41) Wade Day (Disqualified)