Kres VanDyke raced his way into the Kingsport Speedway record books Friday night with his latest sweep of twin Late Model Stock features.
VanDyke, driver of the red No. 15 Chevrolet, led all 30 laps of the first feature. Then, he charged from a sixth-place start to grab the top spot in just eight laps to win the second 30-lap race.
They were his record-setting ninth and 10th consecutive wins. VanDyke won for the 11th time overall this season on the 3/8-mile concrete oval, setting a new record for single-season wins since the track reopened in 2009. It broke Nate Monteith’s record of 10 wins set in 2011 and tied in 2012. Wade Day has the all-time track record of 14 wins for a season.
“I feel so blessed to be a part of this and to experience what a great year this has been,” VanDyke said. “It’s felt like another set of hands besides mine on the (steering) wheel every race. It’s made all the right turns and we’ve made all the right moves, including the adjustments on the car.”
Wayne Hale drove his No. 19 Toyota to a second-place finish in the Late Model opener with Chase Dixon in the No. 07 Chevrolet taking third. Allen Rich and Keith Helton rounded out the top five.
With an inversion of the top-eight finishers from the first race, it looked like VanDyke might have a challenge in the second feature. However, outside pole sitter Kyle Barnes dropped to the back of the field and then defending track champion Nik Williams got caught behind a slower car.
It allowed VanDyke to quickly move to second. He battled side-by-side with Helton for a couple of laps before making the pass on lap 8. Once out front, there was little chance of catching him.
“I’m sure those other guys want to come out here and get a victory, but we come out here to win,” VanDyke said. “I don’t care if it’s every race of the season, we try to get every race we can get.”
Williams emerged from the pack to finish second. He felt his No. 32 Chevrolet was fast enough to compete with VanDyke if not for the tough start.
“That was crazy. It seemed like the first lap he was out front and I was stuck back in fourth,” Williams said. “These inversions, you never know who you’re going to start behind. That’s part of it. It’s racing.”
Hale was third with Dixon and Helton rounding out the top five. Hale, a Bluff City racer, was happy to score two podium finishes.
“It was a good night. A few weeks ago, we had twins and my car was torn all to pieces,” Hale said. “It was bent from front to rear. We’ve worked our guts out to get it back together. We’re gaining on it. We just have to go back and figure what we’re missing.”
SPORTSMAN AND MOD 4
Kyle Barnes and Rusty Clendenin raced side-by-side for five laps before Barnes in the white No. 00 Chevrolet finally took the lead and went on to capture his sixth Sportsman victory of the season.
Clendenin held on to second, getting a late-race tap from Colby Higgins. Defending Sportsman champion Kevin Wolfe finished fourth and Jenna Wagner rounded out the top five.
Kevin Canter, driving the black No. 3 Ford, remained undefeated on the season with his ninth win in the Mod 4 division. It is his 18th straight win dating back to July 2019.
Dennis Arnold took second place after a tough battle with Chuck Wall. Kirby Gobble and Billy Duty finished fourth and fifth, respectively.
PURE 4 AND PURE STREET
Kenny Absher held off Josh Detwiler and teammate Billy Byington for his second Pure 4 win of the season. His black No. 11 Toyota was the class of the 23-car field. Craig Phelps and Bruce Crumbley were the fourth and fifth-place finishers.
Rob Austin in the black No. 18 Camaro captured his third win of the season in the Pure Street division. Jamie Meadows held on to finish second with Tony Dockery third. Jay Swecker and Ricky Payne rounded out the top five.
Race Results:
LATE MODEL STOCK (Race No. 1 — 30 laps)
- Kres VanDyke, 2. Wayne Hale, 3. Chase Dixon, 4. Allen Rich, 5. Keith Helton, 6. Nik Williams, 7. Kyle Barnes, 8. Rick Pannell, 9. Matt Smith, 10. Chris Tunnell.
LATE MODEL STOCK (Race No. 2 — 30 laps)
- Kres VanDyke, 2. Nik Williams, 3. Wayne Hale, 4. Chase Dixon, 5. Keith Helton, 6. Allen Rich, 7. Kyle Barnes, 8. Rick Pannell, 9. Matt Smith, 10. Chris Tunnell.
SPORTSMAN
- Kyle Barnes, 2. Rusty Clendenin, 3. Colby Higgins, 4. Kevin Wolfe, 5. Jenna Wagner, 6. Chris Tunnell, 7. Jonathan Worley, 8. Dennis Deese, 9. Haley Baer, 10. Richard Adkins, 11. Austin Brooks, 12. Derek Lane, 13. Kevin Darnell.
MOD 4
- Kevin Canter, 2. Dennis Arnold, 3. Chuck Wall, 4. Kirby Gobble, 5. Billy Duty, 6. Bobby Talbert, 7. Jesse Amburgey, 8. Larry Bowles, 9. Teddy Glover, 10. Chris Amburgey.
PURE 4
- Kenny Absher, 2. Josh Detwiler, 3. Billy Byington, 4. Craig Phelps, 5. Bruce Crumbley, 6. Bucky Smith, 7. Lance Pratt, 8. David Trent, 9. Justin Hartsock, 10. Jeff Hess, 11. Tony Castel, 12. Josh Trinkle, 13. Brayden Powers, 14. William Hale, 15. Paul Stanley, 16. Larry Yeary, 17. Frank Peters, 18. James Hicks, 19. Chad Jeffers, 20. Tim Jennings, 21. Ben Pratt, 22. Kelly Francis, 23. Mark Campbell.
PURE STREET
- Rob Austin, 2. Jamie Meadows, 3. Tony Dockery, 4. Jay Swecker, 5. Ricky Payne, 6. Billy Walters, 7. Brandon Yabor, 8. Sam Hurd.
Next Race: September 11th
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