On a warm, October afternoon at Hickory Motor Speedway, fans were treated to four different divisions of racing before the 200-lap Late Model feature concluded the night. The Super Trucks and Street Stocks saw Allen Huffman and Mark Whitten win from the pole in their respective divisions, while Don Penn won the Classic Sportsman feature after leaders Bill Webb and Chris Werner crashed coming to the checkered flag.
The Limited Late Model feature saw Monty Cox set the tone early one, as he won the pole and led most of the 100-lap feature. However, Sherills Ford, North Carolina native Ryan Vasconcellos managed to climb from his seventh place starting spot and pass Cox in the closing laps of the race in order to take the Limited Late Model feature victory.
“It feels good to be in victory lane tonight,” Vasconcellos said after the race. “I’ve raced against Monty a lot during my career, and he’s a very good guy. Monty’s one of the cleanest racers I’ve ever gone up against, and we definitely had a great battle there at the end.”
Cox’s stellar performance throughout the evening almost ended before it got started, as he nearly lost control of his car in front of the field during the first lap of the race. Cox managed to save the car and proceeded to drive out to a commanding lead early on, while Tyler Gregory, who started on the outside of the front row, slipped back to fifth early on.
While Cox stretched out his lead over second place Alex Reece, Vasconcellos found himself stuck in the middle of the pack. He spent most of the early stages of the race battling hard with fellow competitors Zach Breunger and Gage Painter for a place in the Top 5, but struggled to gain any ground on the leader. Vasconcellos began to find speed in his car shortly before halfway, and worked his way to fifth with the aid of a couple of cautions.
Despite his strong start, Cox’s car began to fade as the night progressed, which created opportunities for his competitors to take advantage. After nearly falling out of the Top 5, Gregory gradually worked his way back up to the front, and found himself on the back bumper of Cox shortly after Lap 50. Gregory was unable to pass Cox, but a caution gave Gregory the chance he needed to take the lead on the restart, as he would line up on the outside of the front row.
However, a bizarre incident would end Gregory’s hopes for victory, as Akinori Ogata was released from the pits as the field was coming to the green flag. As Ogata blended onto the track in front of the leaders, Gregory was forced to check up, which caused him to drop all the way back to fifth place. In the chaos, Vasconcellos managed to move into second place and began to chase down Cox for the lead.
With less than 25 laps to go, Vasconcellos managed to pull alongside Cox for the lead, and took the lead away from the veteran on the backstretch. The final caution for the night came out when Brandon Lemke blew a tire in Turn 2, giving Cox one more opportunity to take the lead back from Vasconcellos. When the green flag dropped for the final time, Vasconcellos pulled away from the rest of the field, and was able to claim the victory for his low-budget team in the Limited Late Model feature of the Fall Brawl.
“I honestly don’t know what we have planned for next year,” Vasconcellos said. “We run this car out of pocket, so I have to thank Race City Steel and all of my other sponsors for the help they provide to keep us going.”
Zach Breunger brought his Limited Late Model home in the second position, while Tyler Gregory, who had to overcome adversity twice in the race, managed to finish in the third spot. Monty Cox dropped to a disappointing fourth place position after being the dominant car for most of the evening, with Alex Reece completing the Top 5 in fifth.
Limited Late Model Feature Results:
1. 10 Ryan Vasconcellos
2. 55z Zach Breunger
3. 7g Tyler Gregory
4. 21 Monty Cox
5. 18r Alex Reece
6. 22l Brandon Lemke
7. 81 Zach Clifton
8. 29 Mitch Walker
9. 12p Gage Painter OUT
10. 25t Justin Taylor OUT
11. 14a Akinori Ogata OUT
12. 97l William Lester OUT
13. 25z Kevin Zielezinski OUT
