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Best captures thrilling Late Model victory at Volunteer By Robert Walden BULLS GAP, TN (July 31) – Seats were not needed Saturday night at Volunteer Speedway as the fans were treated to one of the most exciting Late Model races in quite some time at the high-banked, 4/10-mile track. They were on their feet cheering wildly over the final 10 laps wondering who would park in Victory Lane on the front straightaway after the checkered flag waved on the 50-lap feature event. In a hard-earned victory, Roger Best of Maryville, Tenn., held off a hard-charging Duayne Hommel, Herman Goddard, and Dale Ball to capture the $1,500 win. With a stellar field of 31 Late Models packing the pits for the night of racing at "The Gap," the talented young Hommel, of Newport, Tenn., set fast-time of 13:257-seconds to capture the pole position, with Tommy Kerr of Rockford, Tenn., nailing down the outside front row starting berth with a time of 13:435. Best, with a time of 13:452, Terry Wolfenbarger of Knoxville, Tenn., at 13:510, and Greg Burchett of Church Hill, Tenn., at 13:517 rounded out the top-five in the feature lineup. With the top-18 starters locked in on their qualifying times, the final six starting positions in the 24-car field would be determined in a 15-lap consolation. Ball, of Johnson City, Tenn., led flag-to-flag in winning the last chance race to claim the 19th starting position, followed by Gary Blanken, Sandy Goddard, Steve Carr, Lloyd Osborne and Brogie Broyles. Kerr launched into the lead over Hommel, Best, Jerry Broyles and Burchett at the drop of the green flag. Best was immediately on the charge, passing Hommel for second place on lap 2. Wasting little time in getting to the front, Best used the low-line to work under Kerr for the lead on lap 4. Hommel began to apply pressure on Kerr for the runner-up position, and after running side-by-side for three laps, Hommel captured the spot on lap 8. The event’s first caution waved on lap 9 for a Jeff Silvers spin in turn two to bunch the field for the restart. The top-five were Best, Hommel, Kerr, Broyles and T. Wolfenbarger. As the green flag waved, T. Wolfenbarger got into the rear of Broyles entering turn one, sending Broyles spinning. Broyles regained his position and T. Wolfenbarger was placed at the tail of the field for the restart. Only one lap back green, a three-car accident between turns three and four saw David Crabtree, Casey Huffman and H.E. Vineyard eliminated for the night. In his best run of the season, Broyles worked around Kerr for third place on lap 11, and began closing on Best and Hommel. Randle Chupp was on the move towards the front on lap 13, passing Burchett for fifth, and one lap later working to the inside of Kerr for fourth in the running order. Kerr continued to slide back as Goddard made the pass for fifth place on lap 16. The "Rockford Rocket" Kerr, slowed to a stop on lap 24 with a flat tire to bring out the caution. He headed to the pits for attention from his crew and tagged on at the rear of the field for the restart. At halfway the top-five were Best, Hommel, Broyles, Chupp and Goddard. Running sixth through tenth were current Late Model track points leader Kerry Jones, Burchett, Blanken, Dave Burks and Ball. Goddard worked under Chupp for fourth on lap 26, but back in the field all eyes were focused on the "rim riding" Ball, who was working the cushion on the high-side. Between laps 27 to 29, Ball moved from tenth to fifth. On lap 32 he continued his charge to the front, passing Chupp for fourth. Ball worked around the outside of Goddard for third place on lap 36, then two laps later completed the pass of Hommel to take over second, with his sights now set on the race leader Best. As he pulled alongside Best on lap 40 the caution waved, setting up a 10-lap "shootout" to the finish. The top-five were Best, Ball, Hommel, Goddard and Chupp. Hommel dove to the bottom of the track on lap 41 dropping Ball into third. On lap 43, Hommel pulled door-to-door beside Best in the battle for the lead, while Ball and Goddard were slugging it out side-by-side for third place. Best finally got the advantage over Hommel on lap 47, while Goddard and Ball battled to the finish. Best, driving the Volunteer Trucking/AFCO/Custom Race Engines/Warrior Race Cars/No. 84 Monte Carlo, held off Hommel, Goddard, Ball and Burks for the victory. Finishing sixth through tenth were Chupp, Kerr, John A. Utsman, Broyles and Burchett. "Man, we won a tough one tonight," said a smiling Best after climbing from his car. "I had my hands full there at the end from Duayne (Hommel), Dale (Ball) and Herman (Goddard). Right before that last caution came out they told me over the radios that Ball was coming hard on the high-side. I guess his tires cooled down under the caution, and then on the restart Hommel and I ran side-by-side there for about four or five laps. It’s great anytime you can win a race at this track. This was a real competitive field of cars here tonight. I would like to thank Alvin Harrison at Volunteer Trucking for sticking behind me. If not for his continued support there’s no way I could race." Randy Davidson of Morristown, Tenn., held off Bobby Mays, Tim Grindstaff, Kenneth Smelcer, and Danny Holt to capture the 30-lap Super Stock feature victory. Rodney Clonce of Mooresburg, Tenn., captured the 25-lap UMP (Open-Wheel) Modified feature win over Louis Hickey, Skimp Henry, Chad Ogle and Pete Hickey. Bobby Mays of Jonesborough, Tenn., recorded his ninth Sportsman feature victory of the season over Glen Atkins, Rick Stroud, Shannon Emery and Jason Smelcer. Lee Sauceman of Morristown, Tenn., held off Runah Henry, Jeff Kaylor, Johnny Morris, and Les Cox in winning the 20-lap Stock 4-Cylinder feature. LATE MODEL (50-laps)
DNS – Tim Frye #03-Mosheim, TN SUPER STOCK (30-laps)
NOTE: Racing action will switch to Friday (August 6) night next week only at Volunteer Speedway. Gates will open at 4 p.m., with qualifying at 7, followed by racing at 8 o’clock. Volunteer Speedway (423) 235-5020 www.bullsgap.com Track Office (423) 288-5992 Robert Walden-Public Relations/Media Contact (423) 928-9644 |
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