(‘O Canada’) Ricky Weiss pockets $5,000 for Crate Late Model National Championship opening night victory at Volunteer Speedway
‘O Canada’ – Ricky Weiss pockets $5,000 for Crate Late Model National Championship opening night victory at Volunteer Speedway
By Robert Walden
Volunteer Speedway – Media/Public Relations
BULLS GAP, Tenn. (Nov. 13, 2020) – Friday the 13th didn’t bring Ricky Weiss any bad luck, instead he was singing “O Canada” following his $5,000 victory Friday at Volunteer Speedway in opening night of the Volunteer Motorsports Crate Late Model National Championship weekend presented by Grassroots Sports TV and sanctioned by the American Crate All-Star Series.
Weiss, from Headingley, Manitoba, Canada finished second this season in the World of Outlaws Late Model Series point standings.
With 74 Crate Late Models at “The Gap” representing 12 states along with Canada, Weiss was the overall fast-qualifier at 13.300 seconds followed by Zach Sise at 13.366.
Sise won the first of six heat races, which saw the top three finishers transfer into the $5,000-to-win Crate Late Model National Championship preliminary feature. Weiss captured the win in the second heat, with Aaron Guinn winning heat three.
Jason Welshan won the fourth heat, with newly crowned American Crate All-Star Series champion Trevor Sise winning the fifth heat, and Carder Miller capturing the victory in the sixth heat.
Three B-mains with the top two finishers transferring would complete the 24-car starting field. Brandon Miller, Logan Roberson and Justin Williams won the last chance qualifiers.
Zach Sise jumped out to the lead over Weiss on the start, followed by Guinn, Welshan and Miller. Welshan got around Guinn for the third spot on lap 2, with both Drew Kennedy and Trevor Sise passing Miller to drop him back to sixth in the running order. The event’s first caution waved on lap 4 when Josh Henry slowed on the track.
Off the ensuing restart Zach Sise remained ahead over Weiss, Welshan, while Trevor Sise moved into fourth followed by Kennedy. Weiss was pressuring young Sise up front, and on lap 9 between turns one and two Weiss used a slide-job to take the lead. But the hard-charging Sise wasn’t about to roll over and lay down, as he stayed right behind Weiss.
With the lead pack of drivers catching rear of the field on lap 18 to start overtaking cars, Sise was hoping to trap Weiss and reclaim the lead. But Weiss wasn’t about to allow that to happen as he masterfully maneuvered his way through the slower cars to maintain his advantage over Zach Sise, Welshan, Trevor Sise and Kennedy.
Caution waved on lap 30 when Kyle Courtney slowed with a flat tire, and while under yellow Zach Sise’s car stopped running with apparent electrical/ignition issues to end a strong run up front.
Back under green Weiss was showing the way out front over Welshan, Trevor Sise, Kennedy and Guinn. But the action back behind them saw cars jockeying for position racing two- and three-wide involving Tyler Arrington, Matt Henderson, Bradley Lewelling, recently crowned Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series national champion Jimmy Owens, Roberson and several others.
But up front over the final 20 laps, Weiss, driving the Drydene Performance Products/J&C Properties/G-Style Transport/Turk Enterprises/Derrick’s Sandblasting/Keewatin Truck Service/Kakela Farms/Collins Brothers Towing/Wiesner Trucking/Hawkeye Construction/Sweet Mfg. Inc./Penske Racing Shocks/VP Racing Fuels/Vic Hill Racing Engines/Eagle Racing Engines powered mount was clearly in command as he cruised to the win over Welshan, Trevor Sise, Kennedy and Guinn.
“That was fun, I really love racing at this place (Volunteer Speedway),” said a smiling Weiss after climbing out of his car to cheers from fans in victory lane on the front straightaway. “It’s just an awesome feeling to be able win over such a big (74 cars) field of top Crate Late Model racers from all around the country. We battled there in the early laps with Zach (Sise) and finally got around him for the lead, but lapped traffic quickly came into play and I had to aggressively work through them because I knew Zach and others were right behind me.
“After that caution on lap 30, back under green we got to really rolling around these high banks. Our car was really good tonight, and I just hope we come back tomorrow and run well again. There’s $15,000 on the line and I would love nothing more than to win the Crate Late Model National Championship event. We’ll give it our best effort. I really want to thank Drydene Performance Products and every one of my sponsors who help support my racing. I couldn’t do it without them.”
Completing the top 10 finishers were Owens, Lewelling, Roberson, Arrington and Henderson.
Logan Hickey of Morristown led flag-to-flag in winning the Street Stock feature over David Clark, Donovan Long, Colby Long and Logan Cobb.
Michael Millsap of Knoxville picked up the Classic victory over Charles Bates, Tim Bounds, Marcus Mays and Shane Taylor. … Josh Chesney was fastest in qualifying at 16.291 seconds and closely followed by Bobby Mays at 16..307. They’re bitter rivals and there’s no secret about it, neither driver cares for one another. Chesney grabbed the lead on the start and Mays pressured him lap-after-lap trying to make pass to move ahead. Racing into the first turn just two laps from the finish, Mays “cleanly” got underneath Chesney to take the lead racing off the second corner. As the duo raced down the backstretch into the third turn, Chesney drove in hard on the inside hitting Mays and sending both cars careening up the banking and slamming hard into the outside guardrail. Mays, obviously upset, accelerated his steaming car (busted radiator) hard into the back-end of Chesney at entry to the infield pits in turn four. Tempers flared, with both drivers wanting to get to each other. Track officials quickly arrived on scene to calm the chaotic situation. Both drivers were disqualified for unsportsmanlike conduct.
VOLUNTEER SPEEDWAY – BULLS GAP, TN – NOVEMBER 13, 2020 (NIGHT #1) – AMERICAN CRATE ALL-STAR SERIES – CRATE LATE MODEL NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
1. Ricky Weiss #7-Headingley, Manitoba, Canada
2. Jason Welshan #01-Maryville, TN
3. Trevor Sise #73-Knoxville, TN
4. Drew Kennedy #K37-Wartburg, TN
5. Aaron Guinn #97-Russellville, TN
6. Jimmy Owens #18-Newport, TN
7. Bradley Lewelling #10B-Seymour, TN
8. Logan Roberson #17R-Dooms, VA
9. Tyler Arrington #002-Lebanon, VA
10. Matt Henderson #22-Loudon, TN
11. Kyle Bronson #40-Brandon, FL
12. Wil Herrington #14-Hawkinsville, GA
13. Kyle Courtney #171-Knoxville, TN
14. Greg Martin #24M-Oliver Springs, TN
15. Michael Bland #00-Pineville, WV
16. A.J. Hicks #64-Grayson, KY
17. Tyler Smith #32-Kingsport, TN
18. Zach Sise #9-Knoxville, TN
19. Carder Miller #69-Salem, VA
20. Ross White #0-Knoxville, TN
21. Justin Williams #2W-Lynchburg, VA
22. Brandon Miller #89-Maryville, TN
23. Mack McCarter #51-Gatlinburg, TN
24. Josh Henry #B00-Newport, TN
HEAT #1 (Top 3 Transfer – 10 Laps): 1) Zach Sise #9, 2) Drew Kennedy #K37, 3) Tyler Smith #32, 4) Michael Bland #2, 5) Joe Martin #10S, 6) Walker Arthur #87, 7) Teddy Tate #99, 8) Nathan Martin #3N, 9) Chicky Barton #144B, 10) Josh Johnson #27, 11) Bryson Dennis #15, 12) Jeff Creech #71, 13) Michael Page #18X
HEAT #2 (Top 3 Transfer – 10 Laps): 1) Ricky Weiss #7, 2) Tyler Arrington #002, 3) Mack McCarter #51, 4) A.J. Hicks #64, 5) Matt Long #55, 6) Jadon Frame #J8, 7) Shannon Emery #52, 8) Chris Chandler #8, 9) Jordon Horton #57, 10) Deke Waters #66, 11) Austin Glass #34, 12) Travis Abbott #45, 13) Cody Courtney #11
HEAT #3 (Top 3 Transfer – 10 Laps): 1) Aaron Guinn #97, 2) Matt Henderson #22, 3) Kyle Courtney #171, 4) Justin Williams #2W, 5) Craig Scott #21F, 6) Gary Crittenden #18C, 7) Samuel Bryant #200, 8) Jeremy Creech #17, 9) Mark Whitener #5, 10) Harve Gregory #52H, 11) Cory Brock #28, 12) Troy Eads #52E
HEAT #4 (Top 3 Transfer – 10 Laps): 1) Jason Welshan #01, 2) Bradley Lewelling #10B, 3) Greg Martin #24M, 4) Brandon Miller #89, 5) Justin Hudspeth #27H, 6) Kaede Loudy #126, 7) Chuck Bowie #14C, 8) Cory Hedgecock #23, 9) Raymond Nichols #10, 10) Trevor Collins #11C, 11) Grant Garrison #1, 12) Jensen Ford #83
HEAT #5 (Top 3 Transfer -10 Laps): 1) Trevor Sise #73, 2) Jimmy Owens #18, 3) Ross White #0, 4) Logan Roberson #17, 5) Anthony White #2X, 6) Tyler Bare #30, 7) Richie Edwards #4B, 8) Kevin Copher #509, 9) Ty Veuleman #69V, 10) Ryan King #1G, 11) Josh Baker #22F, 12) Jason Trammell #90J
HEAT #6 (Top 3 Transfer – 10 Laps): 1) Carder Miller #69, 2) Josh Henry #B00, 3) Kyle Bronson #40, 4) Wil Herrington #14, 5) Mike Smith #4, 6) Corey Almond #7A, 7) Tim Maupin #3, 8) Ruben Mayfield #00M, 9) Dillon Brown #6, 10) Kenny Ford #61, 11) Josh Collins #144, 12) Ronnie Sissney #77
B-MAIN #1 (Top 2 Transfer – 12 Laps): 1) Brandon Miller #89, 2) Michael Bland #00, 3) Walker Arthur #87, 4) Joe Martin #10S, 5) Kaede Loudy #126, 6) Cory Hedgecock #23, 7) Teddy Tate #99, 8) Raymond Nichols #10, 9) Chuck Bowie #14C, 10) Nathan Martin #3N, 11) Josh Johnson #27, 12) Trevor Collins #11C, 13) Michael Page #18X, 14) Ryan King #1G, 15) Austin Glass #34, 16) Justin Hudspeth #27H, 17) Troy Eads #52, 18) Ronnie Sissney #77, 19) Chicky Barton #144B
B-MAIN #2 (Top 2 Transfer – 12 Laps): 1) Logan Roberson #17R, 2) A.J. Hicks #64, 3) Anthony White #2X, 4) Matt Long #55, 5) Shannon Emery #52, 6) Tyler Bare #30, 7) Chris Chandler #8, 8) Richie Edwards #4B, 9) Jordon Horton #57, 10) Kevin Copher #509, 11) Deke Waters #66, 12) Ty Veuleman #69V, 13) Kenny Ford #61, 14) Cory Brock #28, 15) Jensen Ford #83, 16) Jadon Frame #J8, 17) Cody Courtney #11, 18) Jeff Creech #71, 19) Jason Trammell #90J
B-MAIN #3 (Top 2 Transfer – 12 Laps): 1) Justin Williams #2W, 2) Wil Herrington #14, 3) Gary Crittenden #18C, 4) Samuel Bryant #200, 5) Corey Almond #7A, 6) Mark Whitener #5, 7) Mike Smith #4, 8) Ruben Mayfield #00M, 9) Tim Maupin #3, 10) Dillon Brown #6, 11) Travis Abbott #45, 12) Jeremy Creech #17, 13) Harve Gregory #52H, 14) Josh Baker #22F, 15) Grant Garrison #1, 16) Bryson Dennis #15, 17) Craig Scott #21F, 18) Josh Collins #144
STREET STOCK (20 laps)
1. Logan Hickey #7
2. David Clark #79
3. Donovan Long #15
4. Colby Long #10
5. Logan Cobb #C4
6. Tim Stevens #11
7. Bo Smith #333
8. Michael Simmons #23
9. John Fox #0
10. T.J. Green #27
11. Wendell Williams #71
12. Tony Trent #18
13. Eric Moore #12
CLASSIC (20 laps)
1. Michael Millsap #515
2. Charles Bates #27
3. Tim Bounds #11
4. Marcus Mays #12M
5. Shane Taylor #37
6. John Stevens #7
7. Richie Overholser #18
Disqualified (Unsportsmanlike Conduct): Josh Chesney #XXX, Bobby Mays #5
