On a freezing cold day the fans packed into 411 Motor Speedway to kick off the start of the 2018 schedule of events.
The crate Late Models were on hand to do battle to open up the nights program. Chase King, the 2017 Steelhead Late Model track champion was making his first appearance in the crate division and did so in impressive fashion setting fast time in qualifying. King would take control on the start ahead of Chip Brindle, Anthony White, Logan Roberson and Chase Walls the top five. Anthony White looked strong on the start as he and Roberson battled it out for the third spot in the opening laps. The night would be short for White however as he pulled off track early with problems. Brindle worked the low line off the corner under the leader but King had the momentum on the outside and kept the lead. With the leaders putting down a fast pace they found themselves in lap traffic quickly. The caution waved on lap 15 for Anthony Conley who went for a spin on the exit of turn two. King would hold onto the lead for the final laps and pick up the win.
1: #44 Chase King
2: #17 Chip Brindle
3: #17 Logan Roberson
4: #109 Ray Cook
5: #68 Andy Ogle
6: #73 Trevor Sise
7: #101 Forrest Trent
8: #25 Chase Walls
9: #J39 Jimmy Elliott
10: #17 Ronnie Higgins
11: #29 Rusty Ballenger
12: #B00 Josh Henry
13: #14 Jerry Green
14: #41 Jim Couch
15: #1 Shane Bailey
16: #3 Anthony Conley
17: #51 Ryan Winchester
18: #9N Dustin Noobe
19: #2x Anthony White
20: #23 Cory Hedgecock
21: #16 Josh Walker
22: #18 TJ Salango
Next up was the Mod Lite series making their return to Tennessee’s action track. A packed filed of 26 cars were on hand to do battle. James Hill put his #1 on top of the scoreboard as the huge field of cars stormed into turn one to start the feature. Ronnie Choate made his move in the opening laps getting past John Pitts for the third position. The caution waved for the #26 of RJ Pietz who went for a spin slowing the pace. Back under green and Logan Phillips made his move taking the lead off the exit of turn two putting himself into the lead. The red flag would wave for the #88 of Blake Wilson who made hard contact with the wall on the exit of turn two. Wilson would require help from track safety crews to exit his vehicle but looked to be okay after catching his breath a bit. The green waved again but it wouldn’t be for long. A scary crash on the backstretch which saw the #1J of Cole Petrelle flip violently down the backstretch. The driver would be okay but the time limit had expired in the race resulting in it being cut short.
1: #P5 Logan Phillips
2: #20 John Pitts
3: #01 James Hill
4: #LR8 Ronnie Choate
5: #230 Brian Hicks
6: #49 Cody Sisson
7: #17 Josh Sliter
8: #24 BK Halliday
9: #16B Brent Begolo
10: #6 Rob Misener
11: #11 Jody Brannon
12: #B1 Logan Brown
13: #16 Nathan Smith
14: #9B Aaron Guinn
15: #26 RJ Pietz
16: #64 Randy Bryan
17: #3K Michael Kelly
18: #82 Charles Brown
19: #1J Cole Petrelle
20: #5 Jason Darocha
21: #12A Alan VanWhy
22: #88 Blake Wilson
23: #23 Jacob Teeters
24: #59H Kevin Harris
25: #27N Nicholas Nash
Lucas Lee made it clear to everyone that he would be one of the drivers to beat as he set fast time in Open Wheel qualifying. Lee took control of the start ahead of Billy Palmer, Clayton Miller, Wayne James and Ervin Vance rounding out the top five spots. Sean Flanary didn’t start in the front but he was on the move from the green picking up spots left and right. First he powered by Billy Palmer and then by Christian Thomas into the runner up spot. The caution waved for the #50 of Amos Bunch and the #11 of Austin Francis. The drivers seemed to be a little upset with each other but continued on in the race. Wayne James had some smoke trailing his #4 machine throughout the race and slipped back as the laps ticked off. Flanary would close the gap on the leader with the help of some slower traffic setting his sights on the #12. His drive for the lead would come to an end on lap 19 as he slowed with mechanical issues. Lucas Lee would hold on and pick up his first 411 win.
1: #12 Lucas Lee
2: #7 Christian Thomas
3: #P20 Ervin Vance
4: #44 Chase King
5: #50 Amos Bunch
6: #11 Austin Francis
7: #4 Wayne James
8: #1B Clayton Miller
9: #9G Ernie Gingerich
10: #17 Josh Brock
11: #42 Robbie Comer
12: #95C Steve Clark
13: #36 Billy Palmer
14: #98 Shon Flanary
15: #8 Jimmy Lennex
Next up was the 40 lap Hangover Super Late Model feature. These guys put on a heck of show thrilling the packed crowd. Cory Hedgecock would use his P1 starting position to take the lead on the start with Donald McIntosh, Will Roland, Tyler Bare and Casey Roberts giving chase. Trouble for Chris Barton who got together with Billy Ogle Jr in the opening laps. Ogle would continue on after some service from his pit crew but the night was over for Barton. Back under green and the battle was on between Robert and Roland for the third position. Roberts had hit the setup on his #101 as he moved past taking the spot away and then getting past Bare. Trouble for the #69 of Carder Miller who slowed on track with fluid coming from his machine. Hedgecock had controlled the race but made one mistake in turn four missing his line. That’s all McIntosh needed to take the lead away and bring Roberts with him moving Hedgecock back to the third spot. McIntosh found himself caught up in lap traffic which allowed Roberts and Hedgecock both to close back in on the leader. A fantastic show of driving by all three as they fought it out for the top spot. McIntosh would hold on to pick up another Hangover victory.
1: #7 Donald McIntosh
2: #9 Cory Hedgecock
3: #101 Casey Roberts
4: #30 Tyler Bare
5: #22 Will Roland
6: #1G Ryan King
7: #21 Kenny Collins
8: #81 Aaron Ridley
9: #201 Billy Ogle Jr
10: #J8 Jadon Frame
11: #5N Dustin Noobe
12: #07 Jason Cardwell
13: #3 Steve Smith
14: #24 Zach Leonhardi
15: #5 Stephen Breeding
16: #B5 Jason Barrett
17: #25 Eric Webber
18: #56 Joey Standridge
19: #7G Craig Greer
20: #68 Carder Miller
21: #29 Jason Welshan
22: #144 Chris Barton
DNS: #18 Benji Shaw
DNS: #61 Caleb Ashby
DNS: #102 Clayton Turner
DNS: #00 Ruben Mayfield
DNS: #24 Philip Helton
DNS: #1 Tim Damron
DNS: #3x Bo Eaton
Next up was the Modified Street feature. Kurt Owens and Shannon Emery would start on the front row for the feature. The green waved and it was a drag race off turn two with Owens getting the lead and Emery, Glen Patton, Josh Brock and Zach Dennis in pursuit. Chad McLemore was a late arrival so he had to start at the rear of the field. He was on the move getting himself up near the top five pretty quickly. The top two didn’t waste any time putting distance between themselves and the rest of the pack. Emery kept up the pressure on Owens s he took several looks on the inside off the exit of turn two. Patton and Dennis made contact on the backstretch resulting in Dennis slowing a lap later with problems. Emery didn’t give any breathing room to the leader but couldn’t find a way to get by.
1: #14 Kurt Owens
2: #M2 Shannon Emery
3: #17 Josh Brock
4: #44 McKenlee Hall
5: #6 Jason Mount
6: #7A Glen Patton
7: #8X Travis Coggins
8: #286 Chris Hickman
9: #3X Zach Dennis
10: #4 Dwayne Wilkerson
DQ: EZ1 Chad McLemore
DNS: #24 Jeff Ferguson
The final race of the night was the 25 lap Sportsman feature and it was a wild one to say the least. Jed Emert was making his debut in the #43 and it was a good one as he qualified on the front row beside pole sitter Josh Sneed. Sneed would have trouble on the start and pulled off track in the opening laps. Brad Seagle didn’t start the best but was moving in the right direction as he got into the top five early on. Seven laps in and Emert had ran away to a big lead over the field. Trouble for Seagle who went for a spin off the exit of turn two bringing out the caution. Zach Sise didn’t get to qualify but had rallied from the rear of the field all the way up into the top five. Sise continued his drive as he put his #9 into the third spot past. Another caution, this one for Grant Corum who lost a tire ending his night early. Sise had driven all the way up to the runner up spot as he set his sights on Emert. The two got together in turn four resulting in Emert going for a spin. The caution would be called on Emert sending him to the rear but he pulled off track instead, Sise would cross the finish line first but the drama wasn’t over as he failed post race tech giving the win to Bradley Lewelling.
1: #10B Bradley Lewelling
2: #32 Cody Gloyne
3: #31 Brad Seagle
4: #M42 Josh Morrow
5: #37 Kevin Burke
6: #3 Floyd Self
7: #3S Bryan Smith
8: #Z1 Zach Shannon
9: #21 Phillip Bahhur
10: #43 Jed Emert
11: #88 Ricky Smith
12: #15 Bryan Cooper
13: #49 Grant Corum
14: #D22 DJ Shannon
15: #79 Josh Sneed
DQ: #9 Zach Sise(Too Light at the scales)