A perfect late summer, early fall day greeted fans, drivers, crews & staff at County Line Raceway as we hosted our yearly First Responders appreciation night. With 5 divisions of racing scheduled, even though the temperatures were falling as the sun set over turn 1, the action on the track was bound to be hot~
After honoring our military, law enforcement, fire dept & EMT’s, we were ready to go racing. Up first, the Middlesex Family Dental Super Stock 4 division with points leader John Proctor on the pole with Bill Winstead starting 2nd. At the drop of the green, John Proctor took off, maintaining the lead as they exited turn 2. Jason Horne, Bill Winstead, Nevin Twiddy & Austin Holcombe rounded out the top 5. As they went into 4, Twiddy would get into Winstead and spin towards the inside of turn 4 causing Eric Hill to spin in front of Glenn Bottoms and as he hit his brakes the 2 of Lee Hicks would slam into him essentially jacking Bottoms up on top of his hood! After clearing up the cars involved, we were back green with John Proctor leading Jason Horne, Austin Holcombe, Bill Winstead & Zack Bunn. Horne was challenging hard to take the lead from Proctor but Proctor would not be deterred. Bill Winstead challenged Holcombe for the 3rd spot as we came to lap 5. Horne was all over Proctor and as those 2 raced hard, it gave Holcombe and Winstead a chance to catch up and close the gap. The top 4 were tight as ticks as we approached lap 10. Horne went high, Proctor low to get around a slower car. As they they came out of turn 4, Proctor was on the bottom, almost in the mud, as they crossed the flag stand, Proctor would get sideways in front of the field and slide up in front of the oncoming traffic. Holcombe spun, trying to avoid hitting Proctor but caught him just enough to send Proctor into the wall hard. Parts of the 90 Toyota driven by Proctor flew. Luckily, the driver was ok as track staff helped him out of the car. After clean up, we were back green with Horne leading Winstead, Holcombe, Jamie Bailey and Zack Bunn. With 3 to go, John Proctor came back out with half of the sheet metal missing from his car, but trying to maintain points. With debris in turn 2 the caution came out as we were coming to 2 to go. Back green with Horne leading Winstead, Holcombe, Bailey and Nevin Twiddy. As the checkers flew it would be Jason Horne, Bill Winstead, Austin Holcombe, Jamie Bailey & Zack Bunn.
Up next, the ARCO Restoration Thunder & Lightning division with Matthew Bissette and Joey Cascell on the front row. Matthew Bissette would take the point out of turn 2 followed by Cascell, Skeeter Liles, Brad Hamm and Chris Radford. Lap 2 would see new driver Cody Cowan spin in turn 4 after being lapped by Bissette. Back green with Bissette leading Cascell, Liles, Hamm and Radford. Under a debris caution, Liles would exit the track and as we went green, Bissette lead Cascell, Hamm, Radford and Mark Boykin. Lap 6 would see the caution again as Mark McDaniels had mechanical trouble and stopped over in turn 2. Back green with Bissette leading, but as they crossed the line, Chris Radford could not seem to go which would stack up cars behind him and eventually bring out the caution. Green again, Bissette leading Cascell, Hamm, Boykin and James Meredith. Bissette seemed to set sail as he put several car lengths between him and 2nd place Cascell, as Hamm held off a hard charging Mark Boykin with James Meredith rounding out the top 5. A caution for Melvin Edmondson would slow this field again. We would remain green for the rest of this feature with Matthew Bissette bringing home his first win. He was followed by Joey Cascell, Brad Hamm, Mark Boykin and James Meredith.
Our third feature of the night, the PlayTyme Concessions Pure Stock 4 with Brandon Edmondson and Cody Keith on the front row. Gary Dillon charged hard as the green flag fell, and as we completed lap one he was on the bumper of Brandon Edmondson. Gary Dillon would take the lead followed by Brandon Edmondson, Cody Keith, Brent Atkinson and Cooper Edwards. Lap 4 would see a mess as 5 cars were involved in wreck on the back straightaway. Cooper Edwards, Brandon Edmondson, JP Brantley, Daniel Hill and Robby Causby would all suffer some damage from the mix up, but the only car towed from the track was Brandon Edmondson. Back green with Gary Dillon leading Cooper Edwards, Cody Keith, Dennis Deaver and Brent Atkinson. Marching through the field, Damian Bryant who flipped over in turn 1 during his heat race and started in the 15th spot, had worked his way up to 6th spot by lap 5. Dennis Deaver would get around Keith to take over 3rd spot as Bryant continued to try to get around Atkinson. Deaver would take over the 2nd spot out of turn 2 only to go back to 3rd on the back straightaway. Lap 9 would see Daniel Hill spin in turn 4, and as we got the line up correct, we were back green with Gary Dillon leading Cooper Edwards, Cody Keith, Dennis Deaver and Damian Bryant. Deaver would get into the wall hard at the start/finish line, which would move Jeremy Benson up into the top 5. Cody Keith would challenge and pass Cooper Edwards for 2nd as Damian Bryant tried to slide under Edwards with 2 to go. Bryant could not complete the pass as we came to the white flag. Coming to the checkers it would be Gary Dillon, Cody Keith, Cooper Edwards, Brent Atkinson & Jeremy Benson, as Damian Bryant would spin out of turn 4.
Up next, the PL Woodard Pure Stock V8 division lined up on the backstretch with Phillip Lamm on the pole and Kevin Beard on the outside. Kevin Beard would take the point out of turn 1 followed by Phillip Lamm, Jason Schlafer, Wade Ferrell and Roy Hall. Schlafer would get around Lamm for 2nd spot right before the caution came out for Dwayne Whitley. Back green with Beard leading Schlafer, Lamm, Ferrell and Hall. Jason Schlafer would close up to Beard’s bumper attempting to make the pass, but Beard slammed the door on him. Phillip Lamm was close on Schlafer’s bumper in an effort to try to get around Schlafer as we approached the half way mark. It was a 3 car battle for the lead at his point folks! Schlaffer would try the high side out of turn to as Lamm slid underneath to try to take over 2nd spot. Schlafer held his ground and maintained his position . Forget the blanket y’all, you could’ve used a bath towel to throw over these guys they were racing so tight. As we came to the white flag it was Beard, Schlafer would pop the wall slightly allowing Lamm to get around him, Ferrell and Hall. As they came to the checkers, Kevin Beard would bring home his 4th win of the season. He was followed by Phillip Lamm, Jason Schlafer, Wade Ferrell & Roy Hall.
Our final event of the night, the Barnes Equipment Late Models with Christian Joyner & Dustin Mitchell on the front row. It was a drag race from the start with Joyner and Mitchell battling it out for the lead. Joyner would take command followed by Mitchell, Michael Batten, Ray Tucker and Travis Hair. Joyner would put several car lengths between himself and Mitchell, as Michael Batten held onto 3rd, while Travis Hair got around Ray Tucker to take over 4th spot. By lap 10, Joyner was lapping traffic. Lewis Denton, making his debut in the late model would slow out of turn 1, but the caution would no come out. He would exit out of turn 2 will no issues. Christian Joyner continued to lead Dustin Mitchell, Michael Batten, Travis Hair and Ray Tucker. As the checkers flew, it would be Christian Joyner bringing home his 8th win, followed by Dustin Mitchell, Michael Batten, Travis Hair & Ray Tucker.
Be sure to join us on Tuesday September 17th as we host Red Clay Tuesday @ Buffalo Wild Wings. Wesley Outland will be hosting the FASTRAK Weekly Live with special guests Steve Summerlin & driver of the Barnes Equipment Late Model, Christian Joyner. The crew will be on hand from 6:00-9:00 Come out and join us for the good food and conversation. On Friday, September 20th, we will have an open practice for all divisions. Friday, if you’re in the area, be sure to tune in to 98.5 the Big DAWG as Jeff Hall and Steve Summerlin go over happenings from tonight’s event, and previews Saturday night. Then, on Saturday September 21st, we will host for the first time the FASTRAK Cotton Pickin’ 50 Crate Nationals. The FASTRAK National Touring Series, which is a crate late model touring series, will race for $5,000 to win. Also on the schedule, the ARCO Restoration Thunder & Lightning, Middlesex Family Dental Super Stock Four Cylinder, PL Woodard Pure Stock V-8 and the PlayTyme Concessions Pure Stock Four Cylinder. As always, for more information, please call the track office at 252-985-1949, check us out at www.countylineracewaync.com/, our Facebook or our twitter.
Thanks for the support and we’ll see you next week at the line!
