BLOOMINGDALE, TN :: If you’ve ever attended a short-track stock car race on a full-moon night, then for unexplainable reasons you’ve seen crazy things happen. You’ve also heard the expression that “cautions breed cautions.” Remember that saying.

Many present Friday at Kingsport Speedway kept looking up to see if a full-moon was illuminating the skies. There was no full-moon, but before all was said and done and the final checkered flag waved over the five division racing program, it turned out to be the wildest night of racing this season at “The Concrete Jungle.”

Kres VanDyke of Claypool Hill, Va., survived the chaos to capture his fourth NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Wallace Kia Late Model Stock feature win of the season.

Ryan Stiltner was fastest in qualifying, but the roll of the dice inverted the top-six from time trials and put Ronnie McCarty and Lee Tissot on the front row for the 60-lap main event.

At conclusion of the opening lap, both McCarty and Tissot were still running side-by-side up front, while behind them Zeke Shell and VanDyke were also racing alongside one another. The event’s first caution waved on the third lap when Allen Hawkins spun between turns one and two.

Off the ensuing double-file restart, McCarty rocketed out into the lead while Shell got past Tissot to move into second place. Just behind them VanDyke and Chad Finchum were battling for the fourth spot.

With McCarty leading Shell, Tissot, VanDyke, Finchum and Stiltner were racing hard fighting for real estate around the .375-mile banked concrete oval. While Shell began to pressure McCarty for the lead, Finchum was also glued to Tissot’s rear bumper and also looking underneath him racing off the corners.

Finchum passed Tissot on lap 10 for third, and on lap 12 Shell moved around McCarty to take the lead. While Finchum closed in behind McCarty to battle for the runner-up position, out front Shell was just driving away from his closest pursuers.

With Finchum working McCarty trying to get into second place, behind them VanDyke was overtaking Tissot to move into fourth in the running order. After racing side-by-side for a few laps, Finchum finally was able to pass McCarty and move to second.

As the race reached the halfway point, Shell held right at three-quarters straightaway advantage over Finchum, followed by McCarty, VanDyke and Tissot. With VanDyke’s mount experiencing brake issues, on lap 44 racing down the front straightaway into the first turn he was unable to slow enough to keep from running into the back of McCarty and sending McCarty spinning between turns one and two and bringing out the caution.

With Shell holding a commanding lead over Finchum and eyeing a possible second win this season, seeing the yellow flag wave was last thing he wanted to see.

While under caution both McCarty and VanDyke came onto pit road for attention from their crews. The race also ended prematurely for Tissot as he pulled into the pits with an overheating engine. Both McCarty and VanDyke would rejoin the race before going back green.

The double-file restart had Shell and Finchum on the front row, and back under green they raced door-to-door around the track battling for the lead until Finchum moved ahead on lap 46 racing off (turn) two. But that was only the beginning of what was to unfold.

Back around the track and racing off the fourth turn down the front straightaway on lap 47, Shell and Finchum tangled with Finchum slamming hard into the inside concrete wall to bring out the caution. The race for Finchum was over with a badly damaged race car being towed back into the pits, while Shell’s race was also over as he was parked for the remainder of the race for what was deemed to be aggressive driving by track officials.

Following a red-flag period to allow for repair of the concrete retaining wall where Finchum hit, Stiltner and rookie Zack Walton were on the front row for the double-file restart. With neither driver ever having won a Late Model Stock race at Kingsport Speedway, each had visions of visiting victory lane.

They battled side-by-side for three laps before Walton barely moved ahead on the inside of Stiltner racing off the fourth turn on lap 51. With Walton not having completely cleared Stiltner, contact between the two produced a scary situation that unfolded just past the flag-stand when Stiltner turned sideways and with the on-rushing field of cars approaching, he was hit hard on the driver’s side by Greg Bohanon Jr.

With the race stopped under red-flag for emergency and track personnel to attend to both Stiltner and Bohanon, after a brief time to allow them to catch their breath, with assistance they emerged from their badly torn-up equipment to cheers from the crowd. However, Bohanon would be transported from the track to local hospital for further evaluation.

Walton and VanDyke were alongside one another for the double-file restart. Before one lap could be completed, Tyler Goodwin and Sam Steffey both spun halfway down the backstretch to bring out the caution.

Ready for another attempt to get back under green racing conditions, only one lap up to speed and another caution waved on lap 52 when fourth-running Robbie Ferguson had a left-rear wheel come off at end of the front straightaway and he spun between turns one and two.

Following what turned out to be the race’s final caution period, VanDyke and McCarty, who had gotten together back on lap 44 to bring out the yellow, were on the front row ready to battle for the win. They raced side-by-side for four laps before VanDyke moved ahead.

VanDyke, driving the Service Fuel Inc., Pizza Plus, Catch 22, RW Race Engines, Townsend Race Cars, WD Performance, AR Bodies, Pro Image Graphics, 84EXPO, No. 15 Ford Fusion recorded his fourth Wallace Kia Late Model Stock victory on the season over McCarty, with career-best top five finishes for Goodwin in third, Walton coming home fourth, and Joey Trent in fifth.

Completing the top 10 finishers were Justin Fontaine, Phil Harris, Steffey, Rick Pannell and Ferguson.

“Man, was that a wild race or what,” said VanDyke shaking his head with a smile on his face after climbing from his car in victory lane. “I can’t believe we won, because I just thought any chance I had at winning was over after I ran into the back of (Ronnie) McCarty there and spun him to bring out the caution. I sure didn’t mean to hit him, but I just didn’t have brakes to get stopped before I run over him. During that long green-flag run and such hard racing taking place while battling for position, I guess our brakes got hot and boiled the fluid and the brake pedal would just go to the floor when I’d mash it.

“It’s awesome to get our fourth win, but besides the win tonight turned out to really be a great points race for us as the three guys behind us in points all had trouble and dropped out and didn’t finish. So we just added on to our advantage. We’ve built up a pretty sizeable (points) cushion, but am I comfortable with our lead? No, I’m sure not because misfortune could hit me at any race. We’ve ran very well in each race this year, but we’ve also had good luck too. Things have gone our way and we’ve not had any trouble that caused us to get a DNF (Did Not Finish). When you’re racing for a championship, you’ve got to be running at the end of races so you can get points.”

NASCAR WHELEN ALL-AMERICAN SERIES LATE MODEL STOCK

1. Kres VanDyke #15-Claypool Hill, VA
2. Ronnie McCarty #5-Kingsport, TN
3. Tyler Goodwin #64-Kingsport, TN
4. Zack Walton #1-Blountville, TN
5. Joey Trent #26-Gray, TN
6. Justin Fontaine #60-Fletcher, NC
7. Phil Harris #55-Johnson City, TN
8. Sam Steffey #35-Abingdon, VA
9. Rick Pannell #33-Kingsport, TN
10. Robbie Ferguson #32-Jonesborough, TN
11. Ryan Stiltner #22-Grundy, VA
12. Greg Bohanon Jr. #17-Leicester, NC
13. Chad Finchum #19-Knoxville, TN
14. Zeke Shell #97-Johnson City, TN
15. Luke Fox #94-Weaverville, NC
16. Mardy Roberts #55-Kingsport, TN
17. Lee Tissot #7-Asheville, NC
18. Wayne Hale #19-Bluff City, TN
19. Austin Peters #48-Kingsport, TN
20. Allen Hawkins #77-Kingsport, TN