ALTAMAHAW, NC :: Thomas Scott scored his first career Late Model Stock Car victory in a breakout performance at Ace Speedway on Friday night, dominating in the closing stages of the race en route to Victory Lane.
“I’m just so happy,” Scott exclaimed. “Me and my dad have been working so hard, spending as much money as I can afford to get my equipment to the level I need to compete for wins.”
After starting fourth, Scott worked his way up to the lead around lap 40 after a wild battle with John Moore and RD Smith. The battle resulted in Scott taking the lead and Moore cutting down a tire forcing him to retire.
“I chased down John and RD,” Scott explained. “They bumped a little in turns one and two so I went inside of RD down the back and he made it three wide going into turn three but he backed out so I got by him, went into one and two that next lap and John blew his right front tire and hit the wall, came off the wall and nailed my right side. The door came off and it bent my rear end because my steering wheel was off center after that hit. That wreck took out RD and Barry (Beggarly), who were third and fourth. After that I ran away from the field by about a half a straight and led the final 33 laps. Pretty dramatic!”
The victory capped off what Scott described as an awesome week after getting an invitation to compete in the Denny Hamlin Short Track Showdown at South Boston Speedway on April 24th.
“It’s just been such a week because I got invited to the Denny Hamlin race,” Scott stated. “Then, to go out and this happen, that’s just an awesome week.”
Rookie driver Todd Gilliland, who will be competing at Ace Speedway full-time in 2014, finished in second. Gilliland is the son of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver David Gilliland. Dalton Sergeant finished in third with Ryan Gray and defending track champion Dustin Rumley rounding out the top five.
Boo Boo Dalton scored the victory in the Limited Late Model feature over Todd Gilliland and Jason Payne.
The Late Model Stock Car division will be back in action at Ace Speedway on Friday night, April 25th. The Limited Late Models will be in action next Friday night, April 18th.
Unofficial Race Results
Late Models: Thomas Scott, Todd Gilliland, Dalton Sargeant, Ryan Gray, Dustin Rumley, Trey Hutchens, Barry Beggarly, Zack Clifton, Devin Steele, Bobby Griffin, Kevin Neal, Brad Kurth, John Moore, R.D. Smith, Ronnie Bassett Jr., Dean Fogleman, Coy Hedrick, Todd Massey.
Limited Late Models: Boo Boo Dalton, Todd Gilliland, Jason Payne, Tyler Ankrum, Calvin Meadows, David Sell, Brandon Grosso, Brandon Sharpe, Richie Placer, Jason Turner.
