MYRTLE BEACH, SC – A chaotic and unpredictable Myrtle Beach 400 on Sunday evening concluded with Will Burns taking home the checkered flag after track officials called the event with 23 laps remaining to comply with an 11:00 p.m. curfew.
While Burns did not envision winning the Myrtle Beach 400 in that manner, he was thrilled to add another positive on an evening where his team, Hawk-McCall Motorsports, would sweep both the Late Model and the Limited Late Model features.
“This feels incredible,” Burns said. “We brought two incredibly good cars here this weekend after we came down here and test. We struggled a couple of weeks ago in the Battle Back race, but we made some adjustments and this team has really got it together.”
The opening laps of the Myrtle Beach 400 featured many drivers taking turns leading at the front of a 30-car pack, but Josh Berry and Corey Heim would emerge as the two fastest cars while Burns conserved his equipment and waited for the right opportunity to move forward.
Burns maintained the same consistency that had put him inside the Top 5 following the halfway break and settled into the second position behind Late Model veteran Jeff Fultz, who had rocketed from the middle of the pack to the front of the field in less than ten laps.
Burns began to put pressure on Fultz for the lead following a couple of late-race restarts, but was granted an enormous break when race control determined he was inches in front of Fultz after a caution came out for an accident between Justin Milliken and Jamie Weatherford.
With the 11 p.m. curfew quickly approaching, Burns managed to get away from a collision between Berry and Heim that sent Fultz and Sammy Smith into the wall and brought out the final caution of the evening, allowing Burns to coast to the most prestigious victory of his Late Model career.
Burns knew that if the race had gone to its advertised distance, he would have to battle Fultz, Berry, Heim and Smith for the win, but even though he expressed confidence in his ability to accomplish that goal, he considers himself fortunate that timing and scoring worked out for him.
“Fultz really pushed it hard there,” Burns said. “He had a good car, and if we had raced it out, then he would have been tough to beat. I honestly didn’t think we were the leader [from the previous caution], but they put us to the lead and it made all of the difference.”
The 2019 Myrtle Beach 400 will be the final race for Burns on the season, but he plans to chase a trophy in the Icebreaker when Myrtle Beach Speedway kicks off their season in Feb.
LMSC Race Results:
1. 41 Will Burns
2. 78 Corey Heim
3. 88 Josh Berry
4. 12 Timothy Peters
5. 15 Ryan Millington
6. 18 Jason York
7. 99 Austin Somero
8. 2 Myatt Snider
9. 25 Kevin Leicht
10. 77 Connor Hall
11. 07 Bradley McCaskill
12. 95 Sam Yarbrough
13. 41 Jamey Caudill
14. 16 Matt Linker
15. 95 Jacob Heafner
16. 12 Austin McDaniel
17. 6 BJ Mackey
18. 70 Stuart Ricks
19. 5 Conner Mosack
20. 5 Michael Faulk
21. 44 TJ Barron
22. 26 Peyton Sellers
23. 44 Justin Johnson
24. 63 Chris Throckmorton
25. 27 Tommy Lemons Jr.
26. 54 Jeff Fultz OUT
27. 12 Sammy Smith OUT
28. 2 Matt Leicht OUT
29. 94 Jamie Weatherford OUT
30. 22 Justin Milliken OUT
31. 00 Shane Lee OUT
32. 03 Brenden Queen OUT
33. 41 Woody Howard OUT
34. 17 Bryant Barnhill -102
35. 51 Matt Cox OUT
36. 32 Randy Porter OUT
37. 20 Chad McCumbee OUT
38. 18 David Roberts OUT
39. 55 Brian Vause OUT
40. 11 Lucas Williams OUT
41. 12 Blaise Brinkley OUT
42. 61 Justin Hicks OUT