LUCAMA, NC :: It was a family affair in the Thanksgiving Classic.
Tony Grady dominated the 150-lap limited late model feature at Southern National Motorsports Park, with son Andrew Grady coming home second.
“This is priceless. My mom’s here, she’s never seen me race,” Tony Grady said after the win.
“As long as one of us wins, it really doesn’t matter to me,” the younger Grady said during the family victory lane celebration. “Just for us to finish 1-2, it doesn’t get better than that.”
Jones led the field to the green on the final restart, but Tony Grady reclaimed the lead on lap 127. Jones held on to second place until Andrew Grady passed him with three laps to go.
“The car was horrible on Friday,” Jones said. “We were about ready to load up and go home. But they worked their tails off, I can’t thank [my team] enough.”
Tony Grady led all of the first 75 laps before a halfway break brought the field back together. There were no cautions during the first half, but several spins and crashes slowed the pace for the second half of the race.
There were several accidents to slow the pace in the second half. The red flag came out on lap 100 when Chris Chapman spun, collecting Charles Watson and Robert Bruce.
Jones finished third, while Rusty Daniels recovered from a lap 79 spin to finish fourth and Joey Throckmorton finished fifth.
Ryan Glenski survived a tumultuous afternoon that included two spins to come home sixth. Limited Late Model track champion Haley Moody finished seventh, with J.D. Eversole, Monty Cox, and Matt Simpson rounded out the top ten.
The $4,000 winner’s check was the largest of Tony Grady’s career, and comes less than a month after a vicious accident during the 75-lap Halloween Spooktacular.
“That’ll almost pay the bill to fix the car,” Tony joked. “I was a victim, along for the ride. Hurt my pride more than anything. Bobby Morris and Mike Darne put me in this car, the rest is history. The car was fast as soon as we unloaded, and it’s been fast all weekend. It’s a testament to our cars coming out of the race shop, they’re fast race cars.”
So is the veteran Grady content to call it a career after a big payday and a family sweep of the top two spots?
“I want to tell you i’m done … but I might not,” he said. “You might see me in a #4 car occasionally.”
Jones ran a limited late model this weekend, but will be in a super late model next weekend for the Snowball Derby, the prestigious event at Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Florida.
“Very excited and nervous at the same time,” Jones said. “I think we’ve got a good shot, we’ve just got to make the race and then worry about the racing on Sunday. We’ve got to go through tough competition and do the best we can.”
Unofficial Results
1. #4T Tony Grady
2. #1G Andrew Grady
3. #15J Clay Jones
4. #16 Rusty Daniels
5. #21 Joey Throckmorton
6. #28 Ryan Glenski
7. #50 Haley Moody
8. #98 JD Eversole
9. #21C Monty Cox
10. #36 Mark Simpson
11. #51 Cory Walker
12. #1 Wayne McGee
13. #51B Chris Chapman
14. #29M Mitch Walker
15. #29 Robert Bruce
16. #9 Charles Watson
17. #12B Joey Phillips
18. #19 Adam Congrove
19. #42 Daryn Cockram