LeFevers Captures Third Win of the Season

By: Nick Payne

 

(Hickory, N.C. -- May 28, 2011) It was another exciting night of racing at the “Birthplace of the NASCAR Stars”. After coming off a two week break in the racing action, drivers were eager to get back on the track. Jesse LeFevers battled a 14-car field to capture his third Late Model win of the season on Military Appreciation Night. Jason Cochran put on a clinic during the twin Limited Late Model features bringing home the checkers in both races. While Mark Johnson (Super Trucks), Roger Pitts (Street Stocks), Trey Pitts (Renegades) and Chad McKinney (Hobby Stocks) all grabbed the win in each of their respective divisions.

The No.43 of Jesse LeFevers set the quick time for the Bojangles Late Model division. LeFevers slowly paced the field to the green flag and then set sail pulling away from the pack in the first few laps. During the early laps the No.19 of Kyle Moon worked his way from fifth up to the bumper of the No.5 of Dexter Canipe Jr. settling into third.  Moon later passed Canipe Jr. to fall into the second spot setting his sights on the leader of LeFevers. After a late race caution Moon raced to LeFevers' inside as they headed to the white flag. LeFevers held off the charging Moon and the No.12 of Austin McDaniel to take the win. The No. 12 of McDaniel edged out Moon for second, followed by Canipe Jr. and the No. 94 of Brad Cox.

The Limited Late Models rolled off to begin the first of two 25-lap races scheduled for the night. The No. 72 of Jason Cochran started on the pole and paced the field to the green flag.  Cochran slowly increased his lead, leaving the No. 66 of Travis Byrd and the No. 90 of Pietro Fittapaldi to battle for second. Fittipaldi maneuvered his way around Byrd and began to reel in Cochran. A late race caution put Fittipaldi in the prime position to challenge Cochran for the lead. Cochran pulled Fittipaldi down the backstretch taking the win leaving Fittipaldi to finish second. The No.10 of Ryan Vasconcellos, Byrd and the No. 7 of Justin Crider rounded out the top-five.

Cochran started the second 25-lap Limited Late Model feature from the pole and quickly walked away from the field. Just as Cochran began to pull away, Byrd and the No.07 of Tyler Church began a fight for second. Church quickly drove by Byrd and set his sights on the leader.  Cochran held off his fellow competitors throughout the race and multiple cautions to grab his second win of the evening. Church, Fittipaldi, Crider and the No. 8 of Mark McIntosh drove hard to make out the top-five.

The No.6 of Brandon Setzer started the Super Truck race out front, but quickly lost his lead to the No.09 of Mark Johnson. The No.28 of Jason Crouse ran passed Setzer taking over the second position. Johnson maintained his lead throughout the remaining laps to get his first victory of the season leaving Crouse, the No. 16 of Clint Fields, Setzer and the No. 33 of Jeremy Birch to finish second through fifth respectively.

The Street Stock division rolled off the grid with the No. 22 of Dan Moore on the pole.  The No. 21 of Roger Pitts flew by Moore on the start and took a demanding lead early in the 30 lap race.  A mid-race caution was Moore's only shot at Pitts, but he was unsuccessful as Pitts pulled away from the field grabbing the win. The No. 5 of Mike Newton strolled into second, leaving Moore to finish in third. The No. 64 of Marshall Sutton and the No. 35 of David Werner came home fourth and fifth respectively. 

The No.75 of Trey Pitts brought the pack to the green in the Red Baron Renegade division. Pitts did not hang on to the lead long as the No.5 of Dillion Crouch moved into the top spot. Crouch led many of the 20 laps, but a hard charging Pitts regained the lead with only a few laps remaining in the race.  Pitts set sail to take the checkers leaving Crouch to follow behind in second. The No. 4 of Greg Austin, the No. 14 of Eddie Russ and the No. 16 of Carroll McKinney completed the top five.

The Hobby Stock division brought Military Appreciation Night to a close with the No. 99 of Lewis Slagle on the pole. A few cautions early in the race caused the field to get mix up quickly. Slagle led many laps, but a quick charging Chad McKinney in the No. 95 took over the lead mid-race. McKinney dominated the rest of the race to take the victory. L. Slagle, the No. 28 of Michael Williams, the No. 13 of Dean Slagle and the No. 47 of Tyler McKinney finished in the top-five.

The action will continue next Saturday, June 4 with Paramount Auto Group Night. The night will feature the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series with appearances by the Limited Late Models, Street Stocks, the WrenchRag 4-Cylinders, the Mini-Cup Karts and twin 50-lap features for the Bojangles' Late Models.

 

 

Hickory Motor Speedway Top Qualifiers

Bojangles Late Models:

No. 43 – Jesse LeFevers – 15.401 seconds

Limited Late Model Feature #1: No. 72 – Jason Cochran – 15.896 seconds

Limited Late Model Feature #2: No. 72 – Jason Cochran – 15.970 seconds

Super Truck: No. 6 – Brandon Setzer – 15.190 seconds

Street Stock: No. 22 – Dan Moore – 16.870 seconds

Red Baron Renegades: No. 75 – Trey Pitts – 19.065 seconds

 

Unofficial NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Race Results

Bojangles Late Model 50-lap feature

1  (43) Jesse LeFevers

2  (12) Austin McDaniel

3 (19) Kyle Moon

4 (5) Dexter Canipe Jr.

5  (94) Brad Cox

6  (88) Josh Wright

7  (3) Jessica Brunelli

8  (57) Grant Wimbish

9  (77) Jeremy Sorel

10 (15) Shawn Sharkey

11  (2) Jorge Arteaga

12 (5) Austin Leitner

13  (32) Justin Perry

14  (97) Keith Bumgarner

Limited Late Model 25-lap Feature #1

1  (72) Jason Cochran

2  (90) Pietro Fittipaldi

3 (10) Ryan Vasconcellos

4  (66) Travis Byrd

5 (7) Justin Crider

6  (8) Mark McIntosh

7 (07) Tyler Church

8  (12) Annabeth Barnes

9  (22) Zack Ratston

10  (21) Monty Cox

11  (15) Sheflon Clay

12  (18) Casey Pierce

13  (9) Charlie Watson

14  (07B) Josh Bralley

15  (6W) Jonathan Fleming

16  (57) Barry Helms

17  (88) Greg Burgess Sr.

18  (19) Benji Woodward

19 (18W) Greg Burgess Jr.

20  (14) Nick Drake

21 (6) Brandon Hudnall

22  (11) Matt Piercy

23 (37) Chris Phipps

 

Limited Late Model 25-lap Feature #2

1  (72) Jason Cochran

2  (07) Tyler Church

3  (90) Pietro Fittipaldi

4  (7) Justin Crider

5  (8) Mark McIntosh

6 (14) Nick Drake

7  (11) Matt Piercy

8  (10) Ryan Vasconcellos

9  (22) Zack Ralston

10  (21) Monty Cox

11  (12) Annabeth Barnes

12  (07B) Josh Bralley

13  (66) Travis Byrd

14 (88) Greg Burgess Sr.

15  (57) Barry Helms

16  (18W) Greg Burgess Jr.

17 (19) Benji Woodward

18 (15) Sheflon Clay

19  (9) Charlie Watson

20 (18) Casey Pierce

21  (6W) Jonathan Fleming

Super Truck 35-lap Feature

1  (09) Mark Johnson

2 (28) Jason Crouse

3  (16) Clint Fields

4  (6) Brandon Setzer

5  (33) Jeremy Birch

6 (5) Tyler Hudson

7 (98) Jody Measmer

8 (07) Jacob Marlowe

9  (0) Jody Church

10  (00) Curtis Helderman

Street Stock 30-lap Feature

1  (21) Roger Pitts II

2  (5) Mike Newton

3  (22) Dan Moore

4  (64) Marshall Sutton

5  (35) David Werner

6  (3) Greg Grindstaff

7  (69) Trey Buff

8  (16) Jonathan Smith

9  (84) Jared Broadbent

10  (14) Sam Thompson

11  (1) David Snyder

12  (51) Dustin Walker

13 (03) Kevin Eby

14  (99) Roy Smith

Red Baron Renegade 20-lap Feature

1  (75) Trey Pitts

2  (5) Dillion Crouch

3  (4) Greg Austin

4  (14) Eddie Russ

5  (16) Carroll McKinney

6  (7) Brad Nelson

7  (11) Tim Childers

8  (10) Josh Hodges

9  (6) Darren Dickinson

10  (68) Steve Griffith

11  (17) Barney Arnette

Hobby Stock 20-lap Feature

1  (95) Chad McKinney

2  (99) Lewis Slagle

3  (28) Michael Williams

4  (13) Dean Slagle

5  (47) Tyler McKinney

6  (31) Steve Willis

7  (-1) Ronald McNeill

8 (12) Jeremy Whitman