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Trammell, McCarter, Fultz, Atkins, Stevens visit victory lane at Volunteer Speedway

By Volunteer Speedway | 17 September 2017 | 2017 | | 0 Comments   

Trammell, McCarter, Fultz, Atkins, Stevens visit victory lane at Volunteer Speedway

BULLS GAP, Tenn. (Sept. 16, 2017) — For Tennessee Volunteer football fans around East Tennessee, the Big Orange lost a heartbreaker to Florida on a last-play Hail Mary touchdown pass to end the game.

But dirt-track racing fans around the region were the real winners Saturday as they were treated to a great night of action on the famed high banks at Volunteer Speedway. For the second consecutive race over 100 race cars (102) were gathered in the pits ready to engage in battle at “The Gap.”

Jason Trammell of Knoxville captured the Steel Head Late Model victory, while Mack McCarter of Gatlinburg recorded the Crate Late Model win.

Travis Fultz of Harrogate captured the Sportsman Late Model win, with Austin Atkins of Morristown getting the Modified Street victory, while John Stevens of Wallins Creek, Ky., recorded the Classic win.

Jason Cardwell set fast-time at 12.950 seconds to earn the pole starting position for the 30-lap Steel Head Late Model feature. Cardwell looked like he was shot out of cannon as he blasted out into the lead on the start over Austin Neely, Layne Clifton, Bobby Mays and Greg Estes. Caution waved on lap 6 when Chris Chandler got into the turn two wall.

Off the double-file restart Cardwell powered back out ahead of Neely and Mays, who got past Clifton, followed by Estes. Just outside the top five, Trevor Sise, John Llewellyn, Michael Courtney, Jason Trammell, Bobby Giffin and John Tweed were battling for real estate.

A strong run for Clifton ended on lap 11 when he slowed to bring the caution out, and this scenario laid the groundwork for chaos on the ensuing double-file restart.

While Cardwell smashed the loud pedal to accelerate back out into the lead, behind him Neely and Mays tangled and spun between turns one and two, which in turn forced the whole field into evasive maneuvers trying to avoid getting collected in a huge wreck.

However, several cars were involved including Neely, Mays, Sise, Tweed, Giffin, Josh Henry and Ellery Leake, with each sustaining some level of damage. Mays and Henry were left with badly torn-up equipment to prematurely end their race.

With the whole complexion of the race changed, going back green Cardwell led Trammell, Estes, Llewellyn and Courtney. It was a tough break for race-long leader Cardwell on lap 18 as he slowed with a flat tire to bring the caution out, thus moving Trammell into the lead.

Trammell was chauffeuring a brand-new race car, and what better way to break a new ride in than to park it in victory lane? The old adage stating “it’s not where you start, it’s where you finish” held true for Trammell.

The third generation racer started the feature from the tenth spot, but persevered and avoided misfortune to capture the Steel Head Late Model win over Estes, Llewellyn, Courtney and Tweed.

Tim Byrd was quickest in Crate Late Model qualifying turning a lap at 13.330 seconds to earn the pole position for the 30-lap feature. But Mack McCarter rocketed out into the lead on the start over Byrd and Kyle Courtney.

Caution waved on lap 4 when Keith Helton spun in the fourth turn. Before a lap could be completed, Helton was involved in another incident with Jordan Graves on the front straightaway to quickly bring the caution out again.

Back under green McCarter was setting sail out front, while Courtney got past Byrd for second, which also opened the door for both Ross White and Josh Henry to overtake Byrd for position. White got around Courtney on lap 10 racing off the fourth turn to move into second in the running order.

While McCarter was in command showing the way out front, White was able to put some distance between his mount and those in pursuit. But the race clearly belonged to McCarter, as he cruised to a dominant victory over White, Henry, Courtney and Byrd.

Travis Fultz earned the pole for the Sportsman Late Model feature by running a fast-lap at 13.406, and along with fellow front-row starter Aaron Guinn they led the strong 24-car field to green.

Caution waved on the opening lap when Kevin Lewis and Randy Davis wrecked on the backstretch. Yellow fever was contagious in the early going as the action was slowed for incidents involving Billy Galloway and Tony Jones, and also for Grant Corum.

Finally back up to speed, with Fultz leading Guinn, Heath Alvey, Zach Sise and Matt Tharp, the action back through the field saw cars two- and three-wide. Just outside of the top five Rex Coffey, Warren McMahan, Chris Coffey and Jed Emert were in the mix.

We’ve all heard the saying that “rubbin’ is racin’” and swappin’ sheet-metal is just part of the deal in short-track racing. But sometimes emotions run rampant and tempers get out of control, and that was the case between Tharp and Rex Coffey as they were involved in a skirmish.

Both cars tangled and spun in the fourth turn. The situation quickly escalated and track officials along with law enforcement arrived on the scene to restore order between the competitors, along with crew members in the pits, who made their way to the turn four infield pit opening. The end result is both Tharp and Coffey were disqualified for unsportsmanlike driving and parked for the night.

Once again back under green, Fultz had Guinn right on his rear bumper, with Alvey and Sise battling for the third spot. Fultz held on to capture his second win of the season over Alvey, Sise, Chris Coffey and Emert. … Guinn followed winner Fultz across the stripe for an apparent second place finish, however, in post-race technical inspection he was disqualified for a carburetor infraction.

With 25 Modified Street cars signed in, Chris Rickett was fastest in qualifying at 14.224 seconds, but it was outside front-row starter Austin Atkins who grabbed the lead on the opening lap over Rickett, Kurt Owens, Brad Davis and Shannon Emery. The race ended quickly for Rickett, as his car slowed to a stop between turns one and two working the second lap to bring out the caution.

Off the double-file restart, a three-car wreck on the front straightaway involved Cody Thompson, Lance Creasman and Ken Hall. Thompson and Hall were done with damage, while Creasman restarted from rear of the field.

Finally back under green Atkins was riding out front on the point leading Owens and Davis. Davis got under Owens racing off the fourth turn on lap 4 to take over second and, immediately closed right in on Atkins’ back bumper.

While Davis on several occasions stuck his nose underneath Atkins in the corners, each time Atkins slammed the door shut and maintained his position out front. There would be no denying the 22-year-old Atkins as he held on to capture the victory over Davis, Owens, Nick Presley and Emery.

John Stevens and Tim Stevens battled for the lead in the early going of the 20-lap Classic feature before John pulled away to take the win over Tim, Hayston Collett, Chris Evans and Chris Worsham.

SATURDAY, SEPT. 16, 2017 – VOLUNTEER SPEEDWAY – BULLS GAP, TN – OFFICIAL RESULTS

STEEL HEAD LATE MODEL (30 laps)

1. Jason Trammell #90J
2. Greg Estes #31
3. John Llewellyn #2
4. Michael Courtney #C11
5. John Tweed #5
6. Chase King #44
7. Ellery Leake #34
8. Trevor Sise #73
9. Michael Smith #4
10. Jason Cardwell #07
11. Austin Neely #3
12. Bobby Giffin #97
13. Jody Horton #56J
14. Clyde Overholt #4
15. Eric Webber #25
16. Bobby Mays #25
17. Josh Henry #70
18. Layne Clifton #23
19. Dale Reed #52
20. Chris Chandler #8
21. Lynn Leach #22

CRATE LATE MODEL (30 laps)

1. Mack McCarter #51
2. Ross White #0
3. Josh Henry #B00
4. Kyle Courtney #171
5. Tim Byrd #24
6. Jesse Lowe #5
7. Gary Crittenden #18
8. Jason Welshan #2
9. Greg Martin #24
10. John Llewellyn #2
11. Cameron Skinner #33
12. Jerry Green #G2
13. Chris Long #75
14. Tim Maupin #3
15. Rusty Ballenger #29
16. Hugh Scalf #56
17. Jordan Graves #10
18. Keith Helton #52

SPORTSMAN LATE MODEL (20 laps)

1. Travis Fultz #T0
2. Heath Alvey #7
3. Zach Sise #9
4. Chris Coffey #97
5. Jed Emert #98
6. Jonathan Miracle #50
7. Tyler Smith #32
8. James Parrott #10
9. Phillip Nichols #33
10. David Bullington #20
11. Philip Shockley #34
12. Tony Jones #25
13. Billy Galloway #G21
14. Warren McMahan #33
15. Grant Corum #49
16. Joe Bray #76
17. Kip Sawyer #44
18. Kevin Lewis #K15
19. Jimmy Calloway #77
20. Randy Davis #28
21. Richard Adkins #73

Disqualified: Aaron Guinn #97 (carburetor), Rex Coffey #2 (unsportsmanlike driving), Matt Tharp #43 (unsportsmanlike driving)

MODIFIED STREET (20 laps)

1. Austin Atkins #14
2. Brad Davis #88
3. Kurt Owens #14
4. Nick Presley #69
5. Shannon Emery #M2
6. Robbie Buchanan #P21
7. Jerry Hux #01
8. Kaleb Trent #3
9. Jon Cook #0z
10. Lance Creasman #C8
11. Landon Steele #18
12. Brandon Johnson #J5
13. Tracy Wolfe #11
14. Wayne Rader #01
15. Shawn Henry #C5
16. Chris Rickett #36
17. Cody Thompson #83
18. Michael Woods #66
19. Ken Hall #44

Did Not Start: Jeffrey Melton #4, Gary Blanken #05, Bret Banks #3, Freddy Hillard #74, Mike Williams #119, Chuck Kilian #96

CLASSIC (20 laps)

1. John Stevens #7
2. Tim Stevens #19
3. Hayston Collett #5
4. Chris Evans #1N
5. Chris Worsham #78
6. Jason Saylor #5
7. Eli Keck #8
8. Richie Overholser #18
9. Will Carey #16
10. Tony Trent #501
11. Shaun Sise #59
12. Charles Bates #77
13. Lee Merritt #14
14. Tony Reed #9

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Volunteer Speedway (Recording Only): 423 235-5020 www.VolunteerSpeedway.com
Volunteer Speedway (General Manager): 865-257-7223
Joe Byrd (Tech Official): 865-776-1798 

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