PINE HALL, NC – Benji Hicks gave the boys down at Floyds Barber Shop in Mayberry, USA something to talk about on Monday morning. The driver from Mt. Airy, NC, the home of “Mayberry, USA,” drove the T&K Enterprises Longhorn to his third FASTRAK Pro Late Model Series win of the 2017 on Friday night at his home track, 311 Motor Speedway.
Hicks took the point from early race leader Jensen Ford of Piney Flats, TN on a lap 11 restart by using the high side in turns one and two, and then clearing Ford down the backstretch. Hicks would claim the lead for his own the remainder of the race, holding off all challengers on restarts to take a 1.011 second margin of victory under the checkered flag.
“It sure feels nice to win at home in front of friends and family,” Hicks said. “During that lap 11 caution, I noticed it was beginning to sprinkle, so I thought, well, it’s now or never, time to go! The car did well on the outside, and we were able to get around Jensen for the lead.”
Walker Arthur of Forest, VA came on strong in the second half of the race and finished second in the Cecil B. Arthur Beef Farms Longhorn. Third went to FASTRAK Mid-Ohio Valley Region point leader Tyler Bare of Rockridge Baths, VA in the Loco Motives Rocket, and Ford had to settle for fourth in the Charles Byrd Motorsports TNT.
The defending FASTRAK Champion Cla Knight of North Augusta, SC took the fifth spot in the Augusta Aquatics Longhorn, and Matt Long of Charlotte, NC was sixth in the Mello Yellow Rocket. Former FASTRAK Champion Ron Parker of Belwood, NC drove the Schaeffer Oil Rocket to a seventh-place finish, and Justin Hudspeth of Rhonda, NC was eighth in the Hudspeth Grading Longhorn.
The FASTRAK South East Region Futures Cup point leader Corey Almond of Appomattox, VA finished ninth in the Ditch Witch Longhorn, and Spencer Apple of Raleigh, NC started 17th and finished tenth in the Mechanical Specialty Goliath to earn the Hard Charger of the Race Award.
With the win, Hicks takes over the FASTRAK South East Region points lead with 266 points, and once again, there are just 12 points separating the top five in the point standings. Parker is two points behind Hicks with 264 points, and Matthew Nance of Ronda, NC is third with 260 points, just six points out of first-place. Ford is fourth with 257 points, and Knight is fifth with 254 points.
Nance led the FASTRAK SE points going into the race, but struggled during qualifying and heat racing. He got things going in the main event, but had a cut tire on 19 and had to pit. After starting from the back of the pack, Nance had worked his way up to seventh before he tangled with another car in turn two on lap 38, spun and hit the inside guardrail with the Diversified Finishers Longhorn, ending up with a 17th-place finish.
In preliminary action, Knight was the Fast Qualifier of the race, getting around the half-mile in 17.430 seconds. The three eight-lap Heat Races were won by Hicks, Ford, and Arthur. That put Hicks on the pole position for the 40-lap main event, with Ford on the outside of the front row, and Arthur on the inside of row two.
Ford had the advantage at the start of the race on the outside and took the lead in lap one followed by Hicks, Arthur, Brent Hilton of Rural Retreat, VA in the Cedar Springs Fish Farms Barry Wright, and Bare. On lap two, it was Bare checking into Hilton, and taking the elevator to the fourth spot.
The first of nine caution flags flew on lap six when Timmie Harrelson of Reidsville, NC in the Allawin Café Goliath and Tristan Clawson of Mountain City, TN in the Clawson Racing TNT tangled in turn four. The field doubled up for the restart with Ford choosing the inside and Hicks in second choosing the outside.
When the green flag came out for the restart, Hicks tried to crossover the back of Ford and dive for the inside. Ford had too good of a bite coming off the second turn and held the lead. Knight passed Bare for the fourth position.
The next yellow was on lap seven when Dustin Brim of Madison, NC spun the Pirtek Performance Specialties Rocket in turn three. Ford once again chose the inside as the leader and had Hicks, Arthur, Knight, Bare, Hilton, Parker, Long, Almond and Hudspeth doubled up behind him for the restart.
The field raced three more laps under green, as Bare got by Knight to reclaim the fourth spot, and Hilton fell back to the eighth spot as Parker and Long moved up to the sixth and seventh positions respectively. Gary Mabe of Danbury, NC in the Collins Construction Barry Wright stalled in turn three on lap nine.
Ford on the inside and Hicks on the outside raced hard into the first turn on the restart. Hicks once tried the across the back dive for bottom inside move with once again no success. In two more laps, Hicks would get to try it again, or were those move just a set up?
Lap 11 saw Brandon Hall of Danbury, NC spin the Nelson Motorsports Barry Wright in turn four. Hilton went to the pits dropping out of the eighth spot. Eighth through tenth now belonged to Hudspeth, Steve Blackburn of Greensboro, NC in the Billy Allen Taxidermy Rocket, and Nance.
Ford again was on the inside with Hicks on outside for the restart and the leaders again charged into turn one side-by-side. Ford anticipated the inside move by Hicks and when he covered the bottom of the track, Hicks was not there. Eyes right, for Hicks was charging hard on the outside, and cleared Ford coming off turn two and grabbed the lead of the race.
Once Hicks got out front, he began to pull away from the field. By lap 16, Hicks had a half a straightaway lead over Ford. That lead was slowed by the caution flag on lap 19 when Nance cut down a tire running ninth. The field doubled up with Hicks leading Ford, Bare, Arthur, Parker, Knight, Long, Hudspeth, Blackburn and Almond.
On the restart, two drivers reclaimed positions as Arthur passed Bare for third, and Knight got by Parker for the fifth position. A lap 23 restart was set up after Harrelson stalled in turn four. When the green bulb came back on, Arthur passed Ford for second, but Hicks had already opened up an eight car-length lead.
A yellow on lap 24 turned into a red flag condition when Hall spun in turn two and made a hard hit into the guard rail. Safety crews were quick to respond, helped Hall out of his car, and he seemed to be O.K. Hicks led Arthur, Ford, Bare, Parker, Knight, Long, Almond, Hudspeth, and Nance down for the double-file restart.
When the green came out, Arthur tried the same outside move on Hicks that Hicks used on Ford to take the lead. Arthur got his nose just alongside Hicks’ right-rear quarter panel, but Hicks pulled away going down the backstretch. Behind the first-place battle, Ford and Bare were racing side-by-side for third.
The field slowed for the eighth time on lap 33 when Clawson stalled in turn two. With the race inside of ten laps to go, the field lined up for a single-file restart. Hicks pulled out to an eight car-length advantage, and was fixing to get the white flag when Nance spun while running seventh and hit the steel in turn two. Hicks pulled away again in the green-white-checkered to the finish of the race.
The next race for the FASTRAK SE and MOV Regions will be Saturday with the $2,500-to-win, $250-to-start Little General Stores 40 at Princeton Speedway in Princeton, WV. This will also be the third and final Jewel of the 12th Annual FASTRAK Triple Crown.
In addition, Saturday’s Princeton Speedway race is a Qualifying Race for $3,000-to-win, $229-to-start FASTRAK 7th Annual Lewis Automotive/Little General Stores UBB 29 Miners Memorial 40 at Princeton Speedway on August 12.
Check out the official website for the FASTRAK Racing Series at www.fastrakracing.com and continue to follow our social media networks for the FASTRAK Racing Series. Like and Follow our Fan Page on Facebook plus follow @FASTRAK_SE and/or @FASTRAK_MOV on Twitter to get up to the minute news and details as they become available.
OFFICIAL RESULTS OF ROUND 9 AT 311 MOTOR SPEEDWAY IN PINE HALL, NC ON 8/4/17:
POS STRT CAR # DRIVER HOMETOWN LAPS $ WON
1. 1 55 Benji Hicks Mt. Airy, NC 40 $2,000
2. 3 87 Walker Arthur Forest, VA 40 $1,000
3. 6 30 Tyler Bare Rockridge Baths, VA 40 $700
4. 2 83 Jensen Ford Piney Flats, TN 40 $600
5. 5 42 Cla Knight North Augusta, SC 40 $500
6. 7 55L Matt Long Charlotte, NC 40 $450
7. 8 8 Ron Parker Belwood, NC 40 $400
8. 11 27h Justin Hudspeth Ronda, NC 40 $375
9. 10 7a Corey Almond Appomattox, VA 40 $350
10. 17 10 Spencer Apple Raleigh, NC 40 $325
11. 14 7 Dustin Brim Madison, NC 40 $315
12. 16 32 Tristan Clawson Mountain City, TN 40 $300
13. 12 39 Steve Blackburn Greensboro, NC 40 $275
14. 20 89 Timmie Harrelson Reidsville, NC 40 $265
15. 19 13 Luke Fleming Mt. Airy, NC 40 $250
16. 22 87j Dwayne Joyce Walkerton, NC 40 $250
17. 13 24n Matthew Nance Ronda, NC 38 $250
18. 23 8s Brandon Shupe Bluefield, WV 38 $250
19. 9 15 Chase McCormick Dobson, NC 23 $250
20. 21 20 Brandon Hall Danbury, NC 23 $250
21. 4 33 Brent Hilton Rural Retreat, VA 12 $250
22. 15 15m Gary Mabe Danbury, NC 7 $250
23. 18 K22 Kenny Peeples Rural Retreat, VA 3 $250
ENTRIES: 23
FAST QUALIFIER: Knight, 17.430 Seconds
PROVISIONALS: None
LEAD CHANGES: 1
LAP LEADERS: Ford, 1-10; Hicks, 11-40
LAPS LED: Hicks, 30; Ford, 10
HARD CHARGER AWARD: Apple (started 17th and finished 10th)
CAUTIONS: 9 (1 Red Flag)
MARGIN OF VICTORY: 1.011 Seconds
TIME OF THE RACE: 1 Hour, 6 Minutes and 20.645 Seconds
NEXT RACE: August 5, 40 Laps, $2,500-to-win, $250-to-start, Princeton Speedway, Princeton, WV (3rd Jewel of the 12th Annual FASTRAK Triple Crown)
GROUP QUALIFYING:
GROUP 1:
POS
CAR #
DRIVER
HOMETOWN
CHASSIS
TIME
1
55
Benji Hicks
Mt. Airy, NC
Longhorn
17.562
2
33
Brent Hilton
Rural Retreat, VA
Barry Wright
17.615
3
7a
Corey Almond
Appomattox, VA
Longhorn
17.715
4
55L
Matt Long
Charlotte, NC
Rocket
17.774
5
32
Tristan Clawson
Mountain City, TN
TNT
18.012
6
24n
Matthew Nance
Ronda, NC
Longhorn
18.297
7
13
Luke Fleming
Mt. Airy, NC
Rocket
18.337
8
87j
Dwayne Joyce
Walkerton, NC
Rocket
19.028
GROUP 2:
POS
CAR #
DRIVER
HOMETOWN
CHASSIS
TIME
1
42
Cla Knight
North Augusta, SC
Longhorn
17.430
2
83
Jensen Ford
Piney Flats, TN
TNT
17.474
3
8
Ron Parker
Belwood, NC
Rocket
17.610
4
27h
Justin Hudspeth
Ronda, NC
Longhorn
17.707
5
10
Spencer Apple
Raleigh, NC
Goliath
17.864
6
7b
Dustin Brim
Madison, NC
Rocket
18.089
7
89
Timmie Harrelson
Reidsville, NC
Goliath
19.114
GROUP 3:
POS
CAR #
DRIVER
HOMETOWN
CHASSIS
TIME
1
87
Walker Arthur
Forest, VA
Longhorn
17.500
2
15
Chase McCormick
Dobson, NC
Rocket
17.534
3
30
Tyler Bare
Rockridge Baths, VA
Rocket
17.535
4
K22
Kenny Peeples
Rural Retreat, VA
Barry Wright
17.672
5
39
Steve Blackburn
Greensboro, NC
Rocket
17.815
6
15m
Gary Mabe
Danbury, NC
Barry Wright
17.931
7
20
Brandon Hall
Danbury, NC
Barry Wright
18.828
8
8s
Brandon Shupe
Bluefield, WV
Mastersbilt
20.013
HEAT RACES – 8 LAPS:
1ST HEAT: 1. Hicks; 2. Hilton; 3. Long; 4. Almond; 5. Nance; 6. Clawson; 7. Fleming; 8. Joyce.
2ND HEAT: 1. Ford; 2. Knight; 3. Parker; 4. Hudspeth; 5. Brim; 6. Apple; 7. Harrelson.
3RD HEAT: 1. Arthur; 2. Bare; 3. McCormick; 4. Blackburn; 5. Mabe; 6. Peeples; 7. Hall; 8. Shupe.
THE 2017 MARKETING PARTNERS FOR THE FASTRAK RACING SERIES ARE CHEVROLET PERFORMANCE, HOOSIER RACING TIRE, VP RACING FUEL, BEYEA HEADERS, ROCKET CHASSIS, TNT RACE CARS, ARIZONA SPORT SHIRTS, SIMPSON SAFETY EQUIPMENT, SAFECRAFT FIRE SUPPRESSION SYSTEMS, ROCK AUTO.COM, AND THOMAS CLARKE PERFORMANCE.
