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Travis Dockery • Clay County Progress Jamie Oliver, left, David Payne, middle and Shawn Chastain put the maximum amount of sheet metal in a limited space in Saturday afternoon’s Super Late Model main event.
On Saturday, Dec. 5 the first time ever, racing fans passed through the ticket gate to watch December racing at Tri County Racetrack. The event was the season finale for the track and served as a toy drive for Toys for Tots. Along with the racing action, 2020 track champions were honored during intermission.
The main event for the special afternoon show was the Super Late Model feature. Speed addicts battled for 25 laps chasing the $1,500 top prize. A trio of Murphy drivers had fans on their feet in the early laps. Pole sitter David Payne and former champions Jamie Oliver and Shawn Chastain battled three-wide for the lead lap after lap.
Oliver and Chastain gained a slight advantage over Payne in turn three but as the trio exited turn four, Payne muscled his way through the middle and to the lead. The contact caused Payne to drift high in turn one and fall back to the tail of the field.
With the battle for the lead down to two, Oliver ran the high line while Chastain looked right at home down on the bottom. While the two tried to gain an advantage, Payne worked his way back into the battle for the lead. This time, his quest for the top spot was successful and he motored his No. 8 to the front. Chastain cleared Oliver and settled into the second position. Oliver then came under attack from Kip Cochran who was running a Limited Late Model with an Outlaw package. Payne held on to win, Chastain was second and Cochran managed to work under Oliver for third.
Crate Late Model champion Brian Kinnersley capped off the year with a division win and Ricky Smith returned to victory lane in the Modified Hobby division. Roger Beaver took the top spot in the Street Stock division while Tucker Anderson got his fourth 602 Beginner win. Newcomer J.J. Garrett completed to spin and win in the Pony feature and rookie John Burnette kept the family tradition alive as he found victory lane in the Front Wheel Drive race.
Track promoter Ray Cook thanked all the fans for supporting the track, especially this season with all of the schedule changes. Cook also announced the date of March 19 for the start of the 2021 racing season.
2020 TRACK CHAMPIONS
Jason Deal: Late Models
Brian Kinnersley: Crate Late Models
Michael Barnette: Modified Hobby
Alex Vance: Street Stock
Adam Brookes: Pony
Tucker Anderson: 602 Rookie
Josh Deese: Front Wheel Drive