By Travis Dockery
Staff writer
With rain soaking the area on the morning of Friday, July 9, the chances of fans seeing racing at Tri County Racetrack looked to be slim to none. However, for the most part, the scattered showers in the area steered clear of the Brasstown Bullring and the night's events went off as planned.
As has been the case multiple times this season, Warne's Danny Ledford set quick time in the Late Model qualifying session to earn the top starting spot. Fellow Tri County regular Jason Deal lined up beside Ledford in the second starting spot.
The preferred line for the line was the high side which benefited Deal as the field charged into turn one. The driver from Tennessee was able to hold off Ledford, who was trying to get the launch off the corner in the low lane. Just as the leaders closed in on the tail of the field, the caution flag flew, which stacked the field back up.
As the leader, Deal controlled the restart and waited until his No. 7 was deep in the restart zone before putting the pedal to metal. Drivers further back in the field anticipated the restart to happen sooner and throttled up only to get hard on the binders. That caused an accordion-style pile up and the yellow flag again saw action.
The next restart was clean and Deal was able to grab a clean lead. Drivers charging hard to reel in the leader flirted with disaster as they moved the high line closer and closer to the outside wall. Several drivers pushed the limit too far and jumped the cushion, costing them momentum and track position.
Blairsville's Tucker Anderson powers through the turns in the Beginner 602 practice session.
With just one lap to go, the caution flag waved when Dillon Daves' No. 35 came to a stop in the middle of turns three and four. That set Ledford up for one more chance of passing Deal. As the pack entered the restart zone, Ledford tried to time things just right to get a great launch in hopes of clearing Deal in turn one. As Ledford cut to the inside, Deal stepped on the gas and got a near-perfect restart and held on for the one lap shoot out to get the win. Ledford settled for second with Kenny Collins crossing the stripe in third.
Other winners:
Modified Street: Seth Wimpey
Street Stock: Lynn Burchfield
Beginner 602: Dylan Beaver
Pony: Kaylee Payne
Front Wheel Drive: John Fulford
The next event at the track known as "The Tiger Pit" will be a special Tuesday show on July 27 as the Schaeffer's Oil Southern Nationals Super Late Models Series invades Brasstown.