Kres VanDyke avoided Kingsport Speedway’s version of the “Big One” to sweep twin Late Model features Friday night.
After rolling to the win in the first of two 35-lap races, VanDyke weaved his way through a multi-car accident in the second feature to come away with his red No. 15 Chevrolet unscathed. VanDyke, who had been sent to the rear of the field after earlier contact with points leader Nik Williams, wound up third after the chaos.
From that point, there was no holding him driver back on the 3/8-mile concrete oval.
“I hate the crash happened. I was coming down the backstretch and I was really being alert,” said VanDyke, a two-time track champion from Abingdon, Va. “I saw it happening coming into (turn) three and everybody was starting to accordion a little bit.
“I saw one of the cars starting to break loose and knew what was going to happen. I got on the brakes. When I saw one car starting to yaw out, I went to the outside, followed through and kept it in the wood.”
With the pedal to the metal, VanDyke avoided the accident that collected six of his competitors, and was positioned behind Wayne Hale and Bryson Dennis on the restart. Dennis passed Hale for the lead on lap 5 and VanDyke moved into second on lap 7.
With former track champion Robbie Ferguson as a spotter, VanDyke pressured Dennis over the next several laps before taking over the lead on lap 22. Dennis was pleased with the race with VanDyke and his own second-place finish.
“It was a good run. I knew we were faster than the cars in front of us and I took my time to get around them,” Dennis said. “When that caution came out on lap 4, I was able to get around them and lead about half the race. I saw Kres closing on me. His car had a better roll in the center (of the corners) and I figured he would get by me.
“I appreciate that he ran me clean. We had a good battle for a few laps. He could have nudged me and took me out, but he ran me good.
With Friday’s feast, VanDyke has five wins in six Kingsport starts this season.
He led all 35 laps of the first race, holding off defending track champion Zeke Shell of Johnson City for the win. But, the day had a few tense moments after VanDyke ran over a piece of debris during practice.
“We were late getting here, got a piece of metal in the right front tire and ended up having to plug the tire,” VanDyke said. “We were worried to death that thing was going hold in there, but it held. Other than that, everybody worked hard and it was one of the best handling cars we had down here in a long time.”
Two-time track champion Ronnie McCarty finished third behind Dennis in the second feature. Hale and Chase Dixon rounded out the top five after the wheel completely broke on Shell’s car on the final turn of the final lap.
Shell was running third when the wheel came apart. He finished sixth, costing him valuable positions in his track championship battle with Williams.
“Honestly, we’re not that disappointed,” Shell said. “Everything that happened was racing. Nobody really got into us. It was parts failure and I can handle that. We will go home and make it better.”
Shell was coming off a runner-up finish to VanDyke in the opening race with Williams, McCarty and Dennis the rest of the top five. Shell said he was pushing hard with a track rule that only allows full-time Kingsport drivers to get two new tires per race. He bounced the No. 1 Ford off the wall, which he felt led to his problem in the nightcap.
“I got into the wall and messed up the stagger a lot,” Shell said. “That slowed us down. We had a disadvantage with tires again, but there’s nothing you can do about that. It’s racing. We had the parts break about lap 10, luckily it didn’t come all the way off the car until the last turn.”
TOUGH NIGHTS FOR LOONEY, TRENT
Mike Looney, a regular competitor at Motor Mile (Va.) Speedway, made a visit to Kingsport trying to build on his lead in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series national points.
It was a tough night for Looney in the white No. 87 Chevrolet. Slowed by brake problems, he finished 10th out of 16 drivers in the first race. Looney didn’t start the second feature.
Gray driver Joey Trent, who entered the evening battling Shell for second in the track championship standings, finished eighth in the first race. With an inversion of finishers, he started on the pole for the second race.
After Hale and Williams bolted in front of him at the start of the race, he was sent to the back of the field along with VanDyke after Williams’ spin. Trying to make his way through the field, he was collected in the big accident on lap 4 and finished 13th in the second feature.
FAST LANES STRIKE AGAIN
Trey Lane raced to his seventh win of the season in the No. 9 Dodge Challenger in the Mod Street division. He powered from a fifth place starting spot to pass defending divison champion Royce Peters for the race victory.
It was the 10th win overall for the No. 9 car with Trey’s brother, Derek, driving it to the other three victories. Peters finished second with Rusty Clendenin, Colby Higgins and Paul Shull rounding out the top five.
NEW RIDE FOR HELTON
Keith Helton raced a black No. 29 Honda instead of his usual orange No. 9 Saturn in the Pure 4 division.
It proved to be a successful ride for the Kingsport driver, who won the first of two features for the Pure 4 division. There was wild racing throughout the 25-car field as Helton made a four-wide move through traffic to maintain his lead over Josh Detwiler late in the race. It was Helton’s ninth win of the season.
Detwiler finished second, followed by Bucky Smith, Kenny Absher and Billy Byington.
Absher and Smith got the best of Helton on a pair of late restarts to finish 1-2 in the second Pure 4 feature. It marked the first win of the season for 2017 division champion Absher.
Helton finished third with William Hale and Byington rounding out the top five.
HOT STREAKS CONTINUE
Kevin Canter continued his season-long domination of the Mod 4 division winning for the 13th time in 14 starts. Driving the Dale Earnhardt-inspired black No. 3, the Abingdon, Va., driver moved to the lead on lap 7 and led the rest of the 25-lap feature.
Dennis Arnold, the only driver to beat Canter this season, finished second. Chris Amburgey, Billy Duty and Canter’s grandfather, Hershell Robinette were the other high finishers.
Tony Dockery of Dungannon, Va., scored his third consecutive victory in the Pure 4 division holding off Bruce Blessing over the 25-lap race. Points leader Doug Austin finished third with Ricky Payne and Kevin Darnell the other top-five finishers.
KINGSPORT SPEEDWAY – FRIDAY, AUGUST 9, 2019 – NASCAR WHELEN ALL-AMERICAN SERIES – “PRECISION ELECTRICAL CO. BACK TO SCHOOL NIGHT @ THE RACES” – RACE RESULTS
“HIGHLANDS SIGN SHOP” LATE MODEL STOCK CAR (Twin #1 – 35 laps)
1. Kres VanDyke #15-Abingdon, VA
2. Zeke Shell #1-Johnson City, TN
3. Nik Williams #32-Chuckey, TN
4. Ronnie McCarty #5-Kingsport, TN
5. Bryson Dennis #15-Greeneville, TN
6. Chase Dixon #07-Abingdon, VA
7. Wayne Hale #19-Bluff City, TN
8. Joey Trent #26-Gray, TN
9. Derek Lane #28-Kingsport, TN
10. Mike Looney #87-Catawba, VA
11. Josh Gobble #63-Abingdon, VA
12. Rick Pannell #33-Kingsport, TN
13. Austin Brooks #57-Kingsport, TN
14. Royce Peters #66-Kingsport, TN
15. Greg Bohanon #17-Leicester, NC
16. Alice Barnette #57-Bristol, VA
“HIGHLANDS SIGN SHOP” LATE MODEL STOCK CAR (Twin #2 – 35 laps)
1. Kres VanDyke #15-Abingdon, VA
2. Bryson Dennis #15-Greeneville, TN
3. Ronnie McCarty #5-Kingsport, TN
4. Wayne Hale #19-Bluff City, TN
5. Chase Dixon #07-Abingdon, VA
6. Zeke Shell #1-Johnson City, TN
7. Nik Williams #32-Chuckey, TN
8. Derek Lane #28-Kingsport, TN
9. Greg Bohanon #17-Leicester, NC
10. Josh Gobble #63-Abingdon, VA
11. Austin Brooks #57-Kingsport, TN
12. Rick Pannell #33-Kingsport, TN
13. Joey Trent #26-Gray, TN
Did Not Start: Mike Looney #87-Catawba, VA; Royce Peters #66-Kingsport, TN; Alice Barnette #57-Bristol, VA
“SUPER TRANSMISSION” MODIFIED STREET (30 laps)
1. Trey Lane #9
2. Royce Peters #42
3. Rusty Clendenin #27
4. Colby Higgins #99
5. Paul Shull #48
6. Luke Fox #94
7. Richard Adkins #73
8. Kevin Wolfe #17
9. Kevin Canter #47
10. Austin Peters #40
11. Bryan Young #13
PURE 4 (Twin #1 – 20 laps)
1. Keith Helton #29
2. Josh Detwiler #38D
3. Bucky Smith #99X
4. Kenny Absher #11
5. Billy Byington #11B
6. Bruce Crumbley #33
7. William Hale #47
8. Craig Phelps #00
9. David Trent #57
10. Josh Collins #77
11. Chris Stine #10
12. Justin Hartsock #6
13. Paul Stanley #40
14. Larry Stapleton #15
15. Brian Eggers #20
16. Josh Trinkle #68
17. Frank Peters #0
18. Joey Amburgey #17
19. Billy Walters #4
20. Trevor Lunsford #15
21. Paul Akers #41
22. Jason Haribans #48
23. Tony Casteel #44
24. Caleb Hensley #52
25. Nick Jennings #16
PURE 4 (Twin #2 – 20 laps)
1. Kenny Absher #11
2. Bucky Smith #99X
3. Keith Helton #29
4. William Hale #47
5. Billy Byington #11B
6. Justin Hartsock #6
7. David Trent #57
8. Larry Stapleton #15
9. Brian Eggers #20
10. Josh Trinkle #68
11. Frank Peters #0
12. Bruce Crumbley #33
13. Josh Detwiler #38D
14. Jason Haribans #48
15. Paul Stanley #40
16. Josh Collins #77
17. Craig Phelps #00
18. Chris Stine #10
19. Joey Amburgey #17
20. Billy Walters #4
21. Trevor Lunsford #15
22. Tony Casteel #44
23. Paul Akers #41
24. Caleb Hensley #52
MOD 4 (25 laps)
1. Kevin Canter #3
2. Dennis Arnold #71
3. Chris Amburgey #17
4. Billy Duty #2
5. Hershell Robinette #9
6. Jessie Amburgey #7
7. Randall Artrip #1
PURE STREET (25 laps)
1. Tony Dockery #05
2. Bruce Blessing #10
3. Doug Austin #18
4. Ricky Payne #1
5. Kevin Darnell #4
6. Jessica Payne #12
7. Brian Eggers #20
8. Jessica Spangler #07
9. Jay Swecker #77
10. Sam Ferguson #5
11. Tim Hensley #37
Next race – Friday, August 23rd.
Kingsport Speedway PR
