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Home Tracks Sanctions Drivers News & Stories Pictures Links Guestbook Contact Us VolunteerSexton captures "Night of Champions" Late Model victory at Volunteer By Robert Walden BULLS GAP, TN (August 21) – The script couldn’t have been written any better Saturday night – Scott Sexton of Pigeon Forge, Tenn., and Vic "The Thrill" Hill of Knoxville, Tenn., (both former track champions) finished first and second respectively in the 50-lap feature, as all former Late Model track champions were honored on Don Smith Ford "Night of Champions" at Volunteer Speedway. The list of track champions over the years’ at "The Gap" reads like a "Who’s Who" of legendary racing figures in East Tennessee. Drivers inducted into the inaugural Volunteer Speedway Track Champions Hall of Fame include: Herman Collins of Knoxville, in 1975; Red Ledford of Morristown, in 1976; Walter Ball of Johnson City, in 1977, H.E. Vineyard of Knoxville, in 1978, ’79, ’81 and ’84 (the only 4-time track champion); Tootle Estes of Knoxville, in 1980; "Little" Bill Corum of Maynardville, in 1982; Bill Morton of Church Hill, in 1983; Howard "Buzz" Collins of Greeneville, in 1985; J.T. Kerr of Rockford, in 1989; Herman Goddard of Knoxville, in 1990; Scott Sexton of Pigeon Forge, in 1991 and ’95; Gary Myers of Greeneville, in 1992; John A. Utsman of Bluff City, in 1993; Dave Burks of Abingdon, Va., in 1994; Randy Ford of Johnson City, in 1996; and Vic "The Thrill" Hill of Knoxville, in 1997 and ’98. Earlier in the evening with 30 Late Models timing-in, the "Pigeon Forge Flyer" Sexton blistered the track in qualifying with a fast-time of 12:860-seconds to capture the pole position, with Tommy Kerr of Rockford earning the outside front row starting berth with a time of 13:095. Rounding out the top-five in the starting lineup were Hill, at 13:227, Steve Smith of Powell, at 13:299, and Dale Ball of Johnson City, at 13:321. At the drop of the green flag, Sexton launched into the lead over Kerr, Hill, Smith and Ball. On lap 2, Kerr and Hill raced off turn four side-by-side battling for second place, with Hill taking the spot heading into turn one. Smith worked to the inside of Kerr on the front straightaway to move to third on lap 4, while Vic Chandler passed Ball to take over fifth place. Caution appeared on lap 6, when sixth running Ball slowed on the track with a broken coil wire. After quick attention from his crew, he tagged on at the tail of the field for the restart. Before one lap could be completed, a multi-car tangle between turns three and four slowed the action, with only the entry of Dave Burks being sidelined. Back under green, Sexton and Hill were setting a torrid pace around the high-banked, 4/10-mile speedplant, followed by Smith, Kerr and Chandler. The pace was slowed on lap 11 for a spin in turn two by Warren Strickler. The racing action was heated for position back through tenth place. On lap 13, John A. Utsman passed Jerry Broyles for sixth, while on the next circuit Chandler worked to the bottom racing into the first turn in taking fourth from Kerr. The caution waved once again on lap 17 when Casey Huffman and Ball got together while racing for position, with Huffman spinning in turn four. With Sexton still in control over the hard-charging Hill (who was having one of his stronger runs of the season), veteran Herman Goddard was mounting a charge towards the front after a disappointing qualifying run which placed him 16th on the starting grid. On lap 19, Goddard rocketed around the high-side of turns one and two to move into seventh place, ahead of Broyles and Terry Wolfenbarger. At halfway, Sexton and Hill had the huge crowd on their feet as they were working through lapped traffic, with Hill shadowing Sexton’s every move. Running third through fifth were Smith, Chandler and Kerr. Rounding out the top-10 were Utsman, Goddard, Gary Blanken, Wolfenbarger and Kerry Jones, the current track points leader. On lap 28, Kerr got a good run on Chandler exiting turn four to move back into fourth, while Goddard passed Utsman to move into sixth. With action all around the track, Jones maneuvered around Blanken to move into seventh place on lap 36, while Goddard’s charge to the front continued with him getting around Chandler for fifth on lap 38. The event’s final caution waved on lap 45, when Huffman looped his mount in turn two. Preparing for a five-lap "Shootout" to the finish, the top-five were Sexton, Hill, Smith, Kerr and Goddard. Goddard dove to the inside of Kerr entering turn one on lap 46 to take fourth, but up front, Sexton roared to his fifth (18th overall in 1999) Late Model feature victory of the season at "The Gap." Sexton, driving the Precision Construction/Quality Heating & Air/English Mountain Spring Water/J.T. Kerr Racing Equipment/Weld Racing Wheels/Wilwood/Bert Transmissions/Hoosier Tire South/No. 52 Stinger Pontiac Grand Prix, pocketed $1,500 for the victory over Hill, Smith, Goddard and Kerr. Completing the top-10 were Chandler, Utsman, Jones, Jeff Silvers and Blanken. "Even though we led flag-to-flag tonight, Vic (Hill) stayed right there with us the entire distance and if I would have made a mistake he would have capitalized," said a very happy Sexton after climbing from his car. "And man, to win here tonight when all of the former Late Model track champions were honored is really great. I consider myself very fortunate to be mentioned with these racing legends. "It’s great to see such a large crowd here tonight, but I’ve always said the fans at Bulls Gap are the best. They’ve treated me real well over the years. I had a real good race car tonight, I just can’t thank my crew chief, David Bryant enough, along with Brian Imler. They help me all through the week working on the car. And I would also like to wish a very Happy Birthday to my mom." Randy Davidson of Morristown, Tenn., held off Kenneth Smelcer, Kip Pearson, Ken Hall, and Michael Smith to capture the Super Stock feature victory. The current UMP Modified national points leader, Jimmy Owens of Newport, Tenn., won for the second straight week at Volunteer. Owens was followed by Chad Ogle, Wayne James, Mike Hutson and Louis Hickey. Bobby Mays of Jonesborough, Tenn., captured his 11th Sportsman feature victory of the season, holding off Jason Smelcer, Eddie Morris, Bill Banks and Tim Trent. Roger Blakely of Newport, Tenn., broke a long winless drought as he captured the Stock 4-Cylinder victory over Les Cox, Jeff Kaylor, Shawn Henry and Michael Norton. LATE MODEL (50-laps)
DNS: H.E. Vineyard #2-Knoxville, TN DNS: Tim Frye #03-Mosheim, TN SUPER STOCK (30-laps)
NOTE: Due to next weekend’s NASCAR Winston Cup Series and Busch Grand National doubleheader at Bristol Motor Speedway, there will be no racing at Volunteer Speedway. "The Gap" will crank back up on Saturday, Sept. 4 with a five-division racing program. Volunteer Speedway (423) 235-5020 Track Office (423) 288-5992 Robert Walden-Public Relations/Media Contact (423) 928-9644
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