Jeff Shiflett and Louis White picked up victories in Saturday night’s Late Model Stock Car doubleheader at East Carolina Motor Speedway which produced some of the most frantic and intense racing imaginable.
The action was frantic on the offset, with three cautions coming out in the first 15 laps. That seemingly set the tone for the race which saw everybody, including the eventual winner, involved in incidents. The incident involving Shiflett took place on lap 23 when Louis White spun off his front bumper.
Race control sent Shiflett to the rear of the field, but he quickly raced his way back up to the front thanks to the continuing calamity that kept bringing out the caution. Shiflett inherited the lead when Tyler Matthews and Thomas Burbage got together while racing for the win with just four laps to go – relegating Matthews to the rear of the field due to damage and ending Burbage’s race.
Shiflett survived a challenge from White on the ensuing restart and went on to score the victory.
“What a wild night,” Shiflett said. “I’m leading the race and get black flagged because the car in front of me got spun out which I didn’t have anything to do with it. Go all the way to the rear and come back through a crashfest and manage to get the win, it’s a good night but a crazy night. I don’t know, I’m glad to be in victory lane.”
The 40 lap race saw a staggering eight cautions – cautions that involved pretty much the entire field.
The race’s most prolific incident came on lap 23 when Eric Winslow and Kenneth Mercer tangled, resulting in Mercer spinning out in turn two. After the caution came out, Mercer retaliated by turning Winslow around which led to a confrontation in the pits. When Mercer parked his car, Winslow came back to pit road, parked next to Mercer’s car, and a physical altercation ensued.
Winslow would not return for the remainder of the first race, but did start in the second twin, while Mercer was done for the night.
Louis White finished second in the race while Ryan Haddock, Tyler Matthews and Maddy Ryan Mulligan rounded out the top-five.
Because Mercer was unable to participate in the second twin race, the inversion process resulted in Thomas Burbage starting the race on the point. What followed was another classic duel between Burbage and White.
Burbage led much of the opening half of the second 40 lap race, but White raced his way through the field and joined the battle for the win in the second half of the race. White and Burbage raced side-by-side for several laps, with White being credited with the lead change on lap 23.
A late race caution for Ryan Haddock set up a four lap sprint to the finish, but White was able to clear Burbage on the restart and held on for the win – a much needed win for the veteran driver.
“The car was good enough to win tonight,” White said after the race. “It wasn’t easy. I thought, after the first race, we could make some adjustments and make the car better but I didn’t know we had a left rear going down the first race. We had to add seven pounds of air after the first race and that made it where I didn’t have any forward bite coming off the corners. After we got all the tires pumped up, the car was pretty good the second race.”
White, who has been a mainstay in racing at East Carolina Motor Speedway since before many of his competitors were even born, was dismayed with the racing in the first 40 lap race.
“The fans might have wanted to see it, but the fans are not paying for these cars,” White commented. “I could have taken [Shiflett] out several laps in a row if I wanted to and I backed up to quit from doing him and biding my time. That’s when Burbage got into whoever and spun me completely around. After that, I quit being Mr. Nice Guy the rest of the night.”
Burbage finished second in the race while Shiflett, Matthews and Wesley Johnson rounded out the top-five.
Unofficial Results
Race #1
- Jeff Shiflett
- Louis White
- Ryan Haddock
- Tyler Matthews
- Maddy Ryan Mulligan
- Thomas Burbage
- Wesley Johnson
- Kenneth Mercer
- Eric Winslow
Race #2
- Louis White
- Thomas Burbage
- Jeff Shiflett
- Tyler Matthews
- Wesley Johnson
- Eric Winslow
- Ryan Haddock
- Maddy Ryan Mulligan
- Kenneth Mercer – DNS
