TWIN LMS FEATURES WILD ACTION AT HICKORY
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Newton, NC.........With "Twin 35's" on the slate for the Bojangles' Late
Model Stocks, and only one more race date left on the 2007 Hickory Motor
Speedway NWAAS points schedule, everyone knew going into the night's events
that the action would be wild...and anything could happen.
Defending Track Champion #29 Andy Loden and second-in-points #31 Kyle
Grissom were both ready for whatever it would take, with each winning a
Wynncom Pole Award to start in front of the field in each of the two races.
Loden lead the field to the green on the start of the first of the "Twin
35's", but was quickly passed by Grissom. Loden dropped back to fourth
place with mechanical issues....so bad that on lap 15, he spins on the
backstretch. Meanwhile, #89 David Latour Jr. has moved to second, followed
by #01 Roger Powell, #07 Chrissy Wallace, and #36 Thomas Hartensveld.
By the 24th lap, Powell and Wallace have passed Latour, and Grissom has
checked out on the field.
When the first checkers fell, it was Grissom for the win, Wallace second,
Powell third, Latour fourth, and Loden coming back for a fifth-place finish.
Next up on the slate were the Pro-4's. With points-leader #57 Grant Wimbish
only 8 points ahead of #21 Todd Harrington, neither driver was ready to give
an inch in their chase for the championship. Both knew that starting
position was critical, and Wimbish took the Wynncom Pole Award by only .069
seconds over Harrington. A crash on the initial lap involved cars # 07,
#17, and the #55 of third-in-points Walter Hoke. Pardue was done for the
day, but Hoke was able to make some "big hammer" adjustments and continue.
The action continues to heat up, and when Harrington catches Wimbish in the
rear fender coming out of Turn Four, Harrington wrecks hard with his car
done for the night But by lap 11, the #16 of Randy Freeze has charged to
the lead and looks ready to take the win. However, on lap 23 of the 25-lap
event, Freeze's car falters, allowing #4 Adam Beaver to take the lead and
the win. Wimbish finished third, followed by #7 Chris Allison fourth, and
Hoke coming back for a strong Top-5 finish.
The finish allowed Wimbish to pull out to a 24 point lead over Harrington,
with one race left in the points season.
Street Stocks action saw #7 Jeff Sparks take his fourth Wynncom Pole and his
second win of the season. #64 Marshall Sutton's MonAVie machine was feeling
fine with a strong run for second, followed by #03 Kevin Eby third, #2 Kevin
Townsend fourth, and #99 Jonathan Smith fifth. The finish cemented Eby's
championship for the season. Sparks moved up to second place in points,
only 6 over #42 Terrence Tucker and Sutton tied for third, with #66 Scott
Wallace 16 points back in fifth place. Street Stocks have one race
remaining in the season.
The Limited Late Models had the fans pumped up for more action with a 23-car
strong field. #55 Waylon Flynn took the lead early and held on tight over
points-leader #99 Andrew Carlsen. Early in the 35-lap event, a huge pile-up
on the frontstreach collected the cars of #76 Jerrick Johnson, #20 Lee Ball,
#7 Jason Smith, #12 Josh Gibson, & #6 Brandon Hudnall. After a red-flag
condition to clean up the carnage, Flynn took off to win his 5th race of
the year, with Carlsen coming home second, followed by #37 Dexter Canipe Jr.
third, #41 Chris Chapman fourth, and #4 David Currier Jr. fifth.
The win cut Carlsen's points lead down to 8 points, with only one race left
in the Limited Late Models season.
Hobby Stocks were up next, and fans saw #07 Denver Jones take his 6th win of
the season and secure the championship. #5 Nikki Long finished second,
followed by #00 Dwight Wyatt third, #7 James Allison fourth, and #71 Randy
Berry fifth.
#-1 Ronald Dale McNeil moved up to second in points, 38 points ahead of #90
Ronnie Sims in third. Hobby Stock's final race is set for next Saturday.
After lots of action and plenty of time for repairs and adjustments,
Bojangles' Late Model Stocks were up for Round #2. Grissom had secured the
pole for this event, and quickly lead the field to the green....a little too
quickly, as HMS Officials called for a "do-over". Next time was a charm
until #33 Patrick McVay hit the outside wall coming off of Turn Four and
hard-left's into the Pit Wall, head-on and wide-open. The extremely hard hit
demolished his car and scared everyone in attendance. McVay was treated by
Rescue Personnel and released, badly bruised but not broken.
Yellow fever breaks out, with every car fighting hard for every position,
and great races going on throughout the field. On lap 32, the #54 of Kaleb
Pressley and the #47 of Duncan Molesworth collide on the backstretch, with
Pressley getting the worst of the bargain with a torn-up racecar.
With a three lap dash-for-cash, the fans were on their feet to witness Loden
take his 10th win of the season, over Grissom in second, Wallace third, #73
Sam Watts fourth, and Powell fifth.
The Twin 35's finishes brings Grissom within 40 points of leader Loden,
moved Wallace up to third spot, followed by #19 Kyle Moon fourth, and Latour
up to fifth. One final points race remains to decide the Bojangles' Late
Model Stocks (and Track) Championship.