Monteith pads point lead following third Kingsport
Speedway Late Model Stock victory
By Robert
Walden
Kingsport Speedway Media/Public Relations
KINGSPORT, Tenn. (May
11) — Defending Kingsport Speedway Late Model Stock champion Nate Monteith of
Blountville entered Mobil 1 Night at the Races in the Model City leading the
track point standings, plus he was ranked second in NASCAR Whelen
All-American Series national points. Monteith
passed Daniel Pope II for the lead on lap 23 and, once out front never looked
back en route to capturing his third victory this season and 60th of his
career.
Hayden Woods set fast-time at 15.242 seconds in qualifying, but
with an invert-five the 16-year-old rookie was relegated to starting inside
third row for the 60-lap “Dalton Direct Carpets” Late Model Stock main
event.
Leading the field to green from the pole position was 15-year-old
Blake Jones, with Monteith flanked to his outside on the front row. At drop of
the green, the duo raced side-by-side down the front straightaway into the first
turn. And the battle for the lead continued, door-to-door around the .375-mile
banked concrete oval until Jones moved ahead of Monteith on lap 6 as they raced
off the second corner.
With Monteith up on the high-side, Pope followed
behind Jones to pull alongside Monteith and challenge for second. Racing off the
fourth turn on lap 8, Pope completed the pass for position. The event’s first
caution waved on lap 11, when Ronnie McCarty spun in the first turn after some
contact with Tam Topham.
The top five on the restart were Jones, Pope,
Monteith, Ryan Stiltner and Paul Nogradi Jr. Pope wasted no time back under
green to pressure Jones for the point. Racing into the first turn on lap 13,
Pope got to the inside of Jones. But the teenage wheelman Jones wouldn’t go down
without a fight, trying to hold on to the front-running position.
Just
behind Jones and Pope, Monteith was lurking. With Jones and Pope battling
side-by-side racing down the backstretch into the third turn, Monteith attempted
to go below Pope and make it three-wide between (turns) three and four. Racing
up off the fourth turn, Pope moved ahead of Jones into the lead, with Monteith
riding on Pope’s rear bumper to overtake Jones for the second spot at the flag
stand.
Just outside of the top five in the running order, on lap 18
racing off turn two Zeke Shell got around Wayne Hale for sixth. Back up at front
of the field, Pope had Monteith breathing down his neck wanting the lead.
Monteith got inside Pope to mount a challenged on lap 21, and racing up off the
second corner on lap 23 Monteith completed the pass to move ahead.
Shell
moved under Nogradi racing off turn two on lap 32 into the fifth spot, and just
five circuits later on lap 37, Shell passed Stiltner between turns one and two
and moved into fourth place. With the door open, Nogradi stayed glued to Shell’s
rear bumper and followed his tracks to pass Stiltner to move into
fifth.
On lap 42 between turns three and four, a modern-day episode of
“All In The Family” played out without Archie Bunker starring in the lead role.
Instead, the participants were father and son, Royce and Austin Peters.
Twenty-year-old Austin attempted to go inside his father, Royce, to make a pass
for ninth place. But the duo tangled and Royce spun to bring out the caution
flag.
Monteith led Pope, Jones, Shell and Nogradi going back green. As
the field raced down the front straightaway into the first turn, Jones tried to
get inside of Pope for the second spot. But instead, contact was made with Pope
spinning to quickly bring the caution back out. Both Pope and Jones were sent to
the rear of the field to restart – Pope for bringing the caution out, and Jones
for aggressive driving.
Poised for a run to the checkers,
Monteith, driving the True Line Construction Co./KBM Commercial Properties/Pizza
Plus/BSA Security Co./Performancenter Racing Warehouse/Upchurch Racing
Engines/Griffin Radiators/Circle Racing Wheels/Pro Fabrication Exhaust/Hayworth
Racing Brakes/Amsoil/Brown & Miller Racing Solutions/Five Star Race Car
Bodies/ProParts Engineering Performance/The Joie of
Seating/Sherwin-Williams/Primetime
Designs Race Decals/WD Performance/Monteith Racing/No 44 Chevrolet Impala,
quickly (shifted) up through the gears to begin putting some distance between
himself and Shell.
Monteith just clicked off consistent laps to the
finish to record his third win, with Shell, Nogradi, Stiltner and Wayne Hale
rounding out the top five.
Completing the top-10 finishers were Woods,
Pope, Jones, Austin Peters and Royce Peters.
“We made some significant
changes to our car since the last race a couple of weeks ago, and let me just
say – it’s good, very good,” said the 30-year-old Monteith following the race.
“We took the car over to Performancenter Racing Warehouse in Statesville, N.C.,
and we changed to their new front-clip. We brought the car to the track
yesterday for open practice and it was just unbelievable in the difference how
the car drove. Needless to say, I’m very pleased with what the change did for
the car. It drove like a dream tonight.
“We’ve not just focused on the
chassis itself. We’ve also made a switch with our engine program to Upchurch
Racing Engines, and what an awesome motor we had under the hood tonight. There
are so many people I need to thank, because everybody at Monteith Racing plays
key roles in us running so strong. And I can’t forget the great sponsor support
we receive, because it helps make all of our on-track success become reality.
Running good and winning races, that’s what we’re all in this deal for.”
Rob Austin grabbed the lead over John Harrell and Joey Sykes at start of
the 30-lap Street Stock event. Making a return to action after missing the
entire month of April after blowing an engine, defending division champion Jeff
Counts got around Sykes for third on lap 3 racing off the second corner. With
Austin showing the way out front, Counts pressured Harrell for the second spot
for many circuits before finally getting past him on lap 12 racing off the
fourth turn.
Roger Neece moved under Harrell for third place on lap 14 as
they raced into the first turn. Austin continued leading Counts and Neece until
the caution waved on lap 23, for a spinning Roby Orr in turn three.
Back
under green, the 56-year-old veteran racer Neece was on the prowl. He passed
Counts for second on lap 26 as they raced off the second corner. Hard on the
throttle, smashing the loud pedal driving the Johnson Chevrolet of Clintwood/Pro
Image Racing Graphics/84EXPO.com/No. 22 Chevrolet Camaro, Neece got around
Austin for the lead racing off the fourth turn on lap 28. Once out front he
would not be denied his sixth visit to victory lane as he held off Counts,
Austin, Paul Shull and Harrell for the win.
Jeremy Hughes jumped into
the lead over Kenny Absher and Keith Helton at start of the 20-lap Pure 4
feature. Helton got around Absher for second on the third circuit, while one lap
later John Ketron also passed Absher to move into the third spot.
Helton
got under Hughes on lap 7 as they raced off turn two and moved into the lead.
John Ketron got alongside Hughes to challenge for second on lap 8 entering the
first turn, and getting a good run up off (turn) two he passed Hughes to set his
sights on the race leader Helton.
During the second half of the race,
behind Helton and John Ketron, Absher, Jason Ketron, Chris Neeley and Hughes
jockeyed for position.
On the final lap as Helton and John Ketron raced
into the first turn, contact by John Ketron from behind turned Helton sideways.
But Helton maintained the lead racing off turn two down the backstretch.
Between turns three and four, John Ketron, driving the ServPro of
Kingsport Fire & Water - Cleanup & Restoration/K&K Auto/No. 26
Honda, passed Helton for the lead and held on at the start-finish line to
capture his fourth victory. Behind John Ketron and Helton at the stripe were
Jason Ketron, Absher and Neeley.
Tyler Goodwin of Kingsport, chauffeuring
the Bank of Tennessee/Bancsec Inc./Rockstar Graphix/McAulay Motorsports/No 64
ride, captured his eighth consecutive Legends victory over Zack Walton, Drew
Shortridge, Greg Turner and Aaron Lawson.
Tim Abelseth had the GPS set
and appeared headed towards a stop in victory lane until a fuel-pressure issue
on the final lap allowed Jimmy Hillard of Knoxville to get by and win the Rookie
Pure 4 feature. Hillard, driving the 4 Way Mini Storage/Hillbilly Auto
Parts/Performance Auto Works/No. 74 Honda, was chased to the checkers by Dylan
Bates, Abelseth, Robin Hughes and Brandon Byington.
NASCAR WHELEN
ALL-AMERICAN SERIES “DALTON DIRECT CARPETS” LATE MODEL STOCK (60
laps)
Showing Finish Position, Starting Position In Parentheses, Driver
Name, Car Number, Hometown
1. (2) Nate Monteith #44-Blountville, TN
2.
(7) Zeke Shell #97-Johnson City, TN
3. (8) Paul Nogradi Jr. #02-Clinton,
TN
4. (3) Ryan Stiltner #22-Grundy, VA
5. (11) Wayne Hale #19-Bluff City,
TN
6. (5) Hayden Woods #87-Piney Flats, TN
7. (4) Daniel Pope II
#16-Smyrna, TN
8. (1) Blake Jones #80-Sevierville, TN
9. (13) Austin
Peters #66-Kingsport, TN
10. (10) Royce Peters #38-Kingsport, TN
11. (12)
Allen Hawkins #14-Kingsport, TN
12. (15) Joey Trent #26-Gray, TN
13. (14)
Rick Pannell #33-Kingsport, TN
14. (16) Dean Barrett #82-Abingdon, VA
15.
(6) Ronnie McCarty #5-Kingsport, TN
16. (9) Tam Topham #21-Wytheville,
VA
17. (17) Robbie Ferguson #32-Jonesborough, TN
18. (18) Zach Franks
#1-Avery Creek, NC
“ABSOLUTE PLUMBING” STREET STOCK (30 laps): 1) Roger
Neece #22; 2) Jeff Counts #11; 3) Rob Austin #25; 4) Paul Shull #48; 5) John
Harrell #19; 6) Jared Broadbent #74; 7) Chris Tunnell #6; 8) Rick Smith #33; 9)
Joey Sykes #23; 10) Roby Orr #52; 11) Tony Ward #7
PURE 4 (20 laps): 1)
John Ketron #26; 2) Keith Helton #9; 3) Jason Ketron #28; 4) Kenny Absher #11;
5) Chris Neeley #94; 6) Jeremy Hughes #57; 7) Billy Ketron #27; 8) Dan Hall #88;
9) David Trent #57; 10) Josh Evans #74; 11) Glenn Hughes #75; 12) Darby Fleenor
#66
LEGENDS (20 laps): 1) Tyler Goodwin #64; 2) Zack Walton #38; 3) Drew
Shortridge #32; 4) Greg Turner #64; 5) Aaron Lawson #31; 6) Adam Gray #37; 7)
Jacob Owens #8; 8) Adam Boatman #75
ROOKIE PURE 4 (10 laps): 1) Jimmy
Hillard #74; 2) Dylan Bates #6; 3) Tim Abelseth #66; 4) Robin Hughes #75; 5)
Brandon Byington #11; 6) Danny Pless #5; 7) Pie Short #1
