Though Chris Denny started the night nine points behind division leader Terry Dease, after missing the rain-delayed next day conclusion of the previous Mike Bledsoe Mechanical Heating and Air Late Model Stock race at OCS only 49 days ago, he made up for it by winning both LMSC 35-lap twin races to on Saturday Night. Dease had his own measure of success, settling for second in both races after a fifth-place start in the first one and a fourth-place start in the second. Chuck Lawson followed that pattern by taking third in both events.
In race one Daniel Moss proved to be no lightweight, waging a strong battle with Dease for second until contact between the cars of those two, initiated by Dease, caused Moss to nearly spin his car on the backstretch twelve laps from the finish. Moss held on to finish fifth just behind the fourth-place car of Camden Gullie.
In race two, it was Lawson who got the action going when the nose of his car made contact with Gullie’s, spinning Gullie’s car into the fourth-turn wall, bringing out the caution before the first lap was complete. Gullie was able to continue, completing the night with a fifth-place finish. After the green flag fell on the next attempt to start the race, Moss decided on a little payback for Dease, bumping the rear of leader Dease’s car but almost spinning himself out in the process and dropping him to third, giving Dease a comfortable lead. From there, it was a battle between Moss and fourth-place Denny with Denny getting the best of that one. After a brief caution on lap 16, Dease lost the lead to Denny on the restart but kept his car on Denny’s bumper the remainder of the event.
An 11-car field for the Limited Sportsman race dwindled down to five lead-lap cars by the time the checkered flew on lap 35, giving 12-year-old Gage Painter of Statesville his first OCS win. Painter did it by outgunning cagey veteran Daryl Carver, winner of two races this season, but an owner of a second-place finish on Saturday, on his bumper the last five laps of the race. It was pole-sitter Carver and the other front-row starter Brent Evans, Jr showing their impatience that drew swift action from officials. After one or the other seemed to jump not only the start of the race, leading to a redo, but two more restarts, officials placed both cars at the back on a lap 10 restart. Evans worked his way back up to take third at the end of the race.
The night’s attrition first started when the cars of Austin and Corey Purnell got into each other in turn one on the second lap, putting the car of Austin out of the race and bringing out the night’s first caution flag. Corey Purnell did manage a fifth-place finish. After six more laps of action, the caution flag flew again for the spin and brief oil line fire from the car of Jacob Borst, putting that driver out of the race.
Two laps after the restart, the car of Tracey Chambers got into the one of Justin Newlin, which in turn brought the car of Jerry Hinesley crashing into those two between turns one and two. Hinesley got the worst of it, parking his car for the night with an eighth-place finish. Chambers was able to continue, salvaging a sixth-place finish, two laps in arrears. Newlin’s car sustained the least damage, allowing him to complete the night in fourth-place.
Pure Stock racers completed their 25-lap event with pole-sitter Chase Sandefur leading all laps except the last one, getting passed by division points leader and now four-time season winner Danny Winstead on the last lap, leaving Sandefur winless this year. A hard-charging Bobby Clayton, Jr used a fifth-place start to garner a third-place finish with Trevor Winstead finishing behind him. Lonnie Glosson took the checkered in fourth on the lead lap with Jamie Kerr the fifth-place car, five laps down. The most spectacular crash of the night happened when the cars of Thomas Penny and Taylor Tolar attempted to take the green but Tolar’s car plowed underneath the rear of Penny’s car, causing those two to crash into the inside wall of turn one, leaving Tolar’s car suspended on the wall and out of the race. Penny’s car made three more laps after the restart, retiring with smoke billowing from underneath the hood.
Hill’s Complete Carpet Care Super Mini-Trucks finished their 20-lap race under caution, giving points-leader John Comstock his third season win and leaving a seething three-time winner Jeffrey Martin in second. Breaking up the Martin clan was the third-place truck of Devin Parrott, followed by 13-year old Noah Martin, making his first OCS start, in fourth. Fifth-place went to the truck of Kiser Martin. Jeffrey’s disappointment was the result of Kiser’s truck spinning out on the last lap and ending the race under the yellow.
The 25-lap Smokey Dave’s BBQ Mod4s finished the night with first-time season winner Corey Purnell taking the checkered in front of the hard-charging car of pole-sitter Harold Summey, after stealing the lead from Summey at the start of the race. Summey had to recover from a lap one backstretch spin to finish second, a lap that included Randy Ayers spinning his car out at the start/finish line. Ayers finished the night in fifth, behind the car of Timmy Wilder. Dennis Capps, winner of the season’s last two races, started behind Purnell in third and finished the night in that position.
The 600-horsepower Grand American Modifieds, sponsored by Quality Collision Solutions of Graham, roared around OCS for 35-laps with the car of Gary Young, Jr starting on pole and finishing out front, giving him his third season win. Young, Jr qualified in second but inherited the top starting spot after the pole-sitting car of Josh Nichols had a problem with pre-race inspection, placing him at the back of the field for the start of the race. Nichols made quick work of the field, squeezing past the second-place car of John Barilka, six laps in. Nichols held on to finish there with Barilka behind him, followed by the fourth-place car of Richard Thomas. Connie Ray Wallace took fifth, the last car on the lead lap.
The Allison Legacy Series, the much smaller NASCAR look-alikes, ran their 35 laps with Kyle Campbell starting out front and finishing there for the win. Brett Suggs finished behind Campbell with the car of Matthew Davey coming home in third, followed by Jake Garcia in fourth, the last car on the lead lap. Ethan Elder appeared to have the car to beat after starting sixth in the nine-car field. After making a bold move past Suggs for second on lap 24, Elder’s car inexplicably spun in turn four, violently slamming the turn four wall. Though uninjured, his car was too damaged to continue.
Jacob Clayton, driving a 1956 Chevrolet, took home the trophy in the Carolina Collector Auto Fest Vintage Sportsman 10-lap race.
Orange County Speedway, Saturday, August 26
Mike Bledsole Mechanical Heating & Air Late Model Stock 35 laps, 1st rac
1) Chris Denny
2) Terry Dease
3) Chuck Lawson
4) Camden Gullie
5) Daniel Moss
Mike Bledsole Mechanical Heating & Air Late Model Stock 35 laps, 2nd race
1) Chris Denny
2) Terry Dease
3) Chuck Lawson
4) Daniel Moss
5) Camden Gullie
Limited Sportsman 35 laps
1) Gage Painter
2) Daryl Carver
3) Brent Evans, Jr
4) Justin Newlin
5) Corey Purnell
6) Tracey Chambers (-2)
7) Jared Gillis (-17)
8) Jerry Hinesley (-22)
9) Jacob Borst (-23)
10)Richard Hayden (-26)
11)Austin Purnell (-29)
Pure Stock 25 laps
1) Danny Winstead
2) Chase Sandefur
3) Bobby Clayton
4) Trevor Winstead
5) Lonnie Glosson
6) Jamie Kerr (-5 )
7) Thomas Penny (-22)
8) Taylor Tolar (-25)
Hill’s Complete Carpet Care Super Mini-Trucks 20 laps
1) John Comstock
2) Jeffrey Martin
3) Devin Parrott
4) Noah Martin
5) Kiser Martin
6) Dalton Martin (-4)
Quality Collision Solutions of Graham Grand American Modifieds 35 laps
1) Gary Young, Jr
2) Josh Nichols
3) John Barilka
4) Richard Thomas
5) Connie Ray Wallace
6) Roy Cook (-1)
7) Jonathan Cook (-1)
Smokey Dave’s BBQ Mod4s 25 laps
1) Corey Purnell
2) Harold Summey
3) Dennis Capps
4) Timmy Wilder
5) Randy Ayers
6) Mike Dudley (-4)
7) Darrell Haynie (-6)
Allison Legacy Series 35 laps
1) Kyle Campbell
2) Brett Suggs
3) Matthew Davey
4) Jake Garcia
5) Ashely Pantoulas (-4)
6) Kayla Lyons (-9)
7) Ethan Elder (-11)
8) Tim Niesen (-13)
9) Justin Taylor (-30)
Carolina Collector Auto Fest Vintage Sportsman 10 laps
1) Jacob Clayton
2) Paul Blalock
3) Kenneth Smith (lapped)