King and
Henderson Win on a Night of Mayhem
(May 29, 2021)
The 3rd annual Memorial Day Mayhem in the Mountains lived up to
the billing on another night of racing at Smoky Mountain Speedway.
The first feature of the night was the Topless Outlaw series
where 25 drivers were signed in for the $3,000 to win race. Skip
Arp and Matt Henderson were fast time qualifiers in their respective
groups.
Henderson took the lead over Arp as the field came out of turn
2. Cory Hedgecock settled into third as Chase King and Ronnie
Johnson battle for fourth. Hedgecock passed Arp for second a few
laps later and pressured Henderson for the lead. As the field
caught slower traffic, Arp reeled in the top 2. Hedgecock dove
under Henderson on lap 10 coming out of turn 4. Hedgecock tried
to maneuver around a slower car, then was collected by Henderson
that sent all three cars spinning going into turn 1. Hedgecock
rolled up to Henderson’s car and began a yelling match.
Hedgecock would be disqualified from the race due to verbal threats
to Henderson and track officials.
Arp inherited the lead and looked to be on cruise control as
King and Johnson battled for second. Johnson briefly gained second
and tried to dive under Arp for the lead. King would move past
Johnson only to see the hall of famer retake the position before
a lap 32 caution. King got a tremendous jump on the restart to
take second behind Arp. As the checkered flag waved, Arp would
cross the line in first. But Arp was light at the scales and King
collected the win.
(MRM
Racing Photo)
TOPLESS OUTLAWS LATE MODEL SERIES
1. Chase King # 44
2. Ronnie Johnson # 5
3. Dakotah Knuckles # 21k
4. Austin Neely # 3
5. Jed Emert # 51
6. Jason Manley # 32
7. Jason Cardwell # 07
8. Colton Proffitt # 617
9. Ryan King # 30
10. Jordan Horton # 56h
11. Bobby Giffin # 97
12. Roger Best # 007
13. Karl Tipton # 22t
14. Daniel Richards # 25
15. Daven Dilbeck # D30
16. Kelvin White # X
17. Layne Clifton # 23
18. Chris Lewis # 09
19. Ross White # 2
20. Matt Henderson # 00
21. Sammie Russell # F4
22. Mitchell Childress # 00
23. Ellery Leake # 34
24. Skip Arp # 31 (light at scales)
The American Pro Late Model All-Stars pulled in 39 drivers from
across the Southeast for their own $3,000 to win race. Rusty Ballenger
won the PPM Dash to earn the pole position. Cory Hedgecock was
due to start on the outside front row, but was disqualified by
American All-Stars officials for his actions in the earlier Topless
Outlaw race. That moved Carson Ferguson to the outside front row
to start the 40-lap feature.
Ballenger rocketed to the early lead with Ferguson, Jake Teague,
and Matt Henderson battling for second. The trio continued to
swap the position before Henderson finally took control of the
spot. Henderson tracked down Ballenger and took over the lead
on lap 23. Henderson looked to be in firm control until a late
push by Dillon Brown made the final laps interesting. Henderson
changed his line to hold off Brown and win the race.
(MRM
Racing Photo)
AMERICAN ALL STARS SERIES
1. Matt Henderson # 17
2. Dillon Brown # 6
3. Jake Teague # 117
4. Carson Ferguson # 00
5. Mack McCarter # 51
6. Jesse Lowe # D2
7. Rusty Ballenger # 29
8. Josh Henry # B00
9. Logan Roberson # 17
10. Eli Beets # 109
11. Aaron Guinn # 97
12. Kyle Courtney # 171
13. Zach Sise # 9
14. Trevor Sise # 73
15. Bradley Lewelling # 10b
16. Brandon Miller # 89
17. Tyler Arrington # 002
18. Greg Martin # 24
19. Chris Chandler # 8
20. Ross White # 2
21. Trevor Bayne # 29
22. Steve Banal # T8
23. Carder Miller # 69
DID NOT QUALIFY: Oscar McCown (1), Michael Bland (2), Adam Ahl
(7), Brandon Umberger (12), Logan Palmer (14), Chris Wilson (17),
Jeremy Steele (22), William Blankenship (32), Drew Kennedy (K37),
Benji Hicks (55), Trevor Collins (72), Andrew Littleton (87),
Pat Lindsey (89), Jordan Hedger (94), Kaede Loudy (126)
Jake Whitehead and Cody Courtney started the sportsman late model
feature on the front row. Whitehead took the early lead while
Courtney, Jed Emert, and Brad Seagle mixed it up behind the leader.
As Whitehead pulled away, Emert finally took control of second.
As the leaders worked slower traffic, Tyler Price made several
moves to come from fifth to pass Emert for second on the final
lap. Whitehead easily won with Price and Courtney finish second
and third respectively.
(MRM
Racing Photo)
SPORTSMAN LATE MODELS
1. Jake Whitehead # 116
2. Tyler Price # 7
3. Cody Courtney # C11
4. Jed Emert # 98
5. Hunter Kerr # 40h
6. Dustin Ratliff # 10
7. Billy Branch # 71
8. Austin Atkins # 14
9. Addison Cardwell # 25
10. Adam Mitchell # 50
11. Bryan Cooper # 15
12. Sonny Huskey # 6
13. Quincy Adams # 32
14. Jonathan Miracle # M50
15. Dylan Cole # 426
16. Troy Eads # 52
17. Bill Norwood # 7
18. Jacob Kelso # 4
19. Blayne Pauley # 12b
20. John Correll # 11
21. Jason Wyres # 18
22. Tim Kilby # T11
23. Brad Seagle # 31
24. Chris McKinney # 113
25. Robby Henry # 44
Dustin Duncan held off early challenges from Cody Rector to win
the front wheel drive feature. Jason Ketron passed Rector to finish
second.
(MRM
Racing Photo)
FRONT WHEEL DRIVES
1. Dustin Duncan # 21
2. Jason Ketron # 28
3. Cody Rector # 46
4. Ryan Harness # 13
5. Fisher Swanson # 43
6. Amelia McClain # 717
7. Josh Ramsey # 25
8. Daniel Hunt # 84
9. Brandon Crawford # 00
10. Dakota Morgan # 33h
11. Peyton Brown # 10
12. Marvin Sauls # 8
13. Josh Davis # 506
14. Ricky Ritenour # 24
15. Jake Presley # 5p
16. Casey Pittenturf # 52
17. Leonard Brooks # 13
18. Josh Freedman # 0
DID NOT START: Chase Suit (77)
NEXT EVENT:
Saturday, June 19th
17th Annual Iron-Man Classic
Valvoline Iron-Man Late Model Series - $5000 to win
Brucebilt Iron-Man Modified Series - $1200 to win
Limited Late Models
602 Late Models
Backward Race for spectator cars
###
