4/15/2024
Tri-County Speedway
TCMS RACE 2
All the stars lined up perfectly for Tri County in the first two races of the season. The weather was fantastic! The crowds and racing were also fantastic! Nine races were on tap for drivers and fans on April 13th .
The first race of the night was the Carolina Mini Stocks. Archie Sanders, #24, captured the pole with a speed of 17.805, 80.876 mph. However, there was an invert of the top 7 drivers. This made Robert Trivette, #11, the car to lead the field to green. No cautions were waved during the event. Tim Canipe, #10, won the first race of the night. Sanders followed in second. Michael Tucker, #31, placed third.
Race 2 of the night was the Carolina Vintage Division. Tom DeMarmels, #0, was top qualifier with a speed of 16.419, 87.703 mph. An invert of the top 4 qualifiers placed Kevin Bumgarner, #47, on the inside front row to start the race. Unfortunately, Bumgarner brought out the only caution of the race. He had an engine let go on lap 10. The race was won by DeMarmels. He overcame the invert and claimed the win. Bobby Wallace, #35, rolled home p2. Mark Whitten, #39, claimed third.
The Renegade Division was race #3. Klint Townsend, #9, posted the fast time in qualifying at 19.402, 74.219 mph. The top 5 were inverted for the start. This placed Jarrett Anderson, #13, on the pole. 5 cautions were waved on the night for the Renegades. Michael Waldrop, #22, caused the first caution when he spun Anderson off turn 4. Caution #2 occurred on lap 15 when Luke Pale, #25, got into Townsend on the backstretch. Gary Aldrich, #34, looped his car in turn 1. This brought out caution #3. Racing resumed. Waldrop was the lone car to spin in turn 2 bringing out caution # four. The fifth caution also involved Waldrop when he spun once again in turn 2. Gary Ledbetter, #34, survived all the cautions and won the event. Steve Smart, #16, placed second. Waldrop was third.
Race 4 of the night was the Outlaw Division. A field of 13 cars took the green flag. Martin Nesbitt, #92, led all qualifiers with a time of 15.422, 93.373 mph. An invert of the top 4 placed Lee Tissot on the pole for the start of the race. Two cautions waved during the race. The first was on lap 2 when Junior Franks, #2, spun on the front stretch. Caution #2 was on lap 21 when David Messer, #26, spun in turn 4. At the conclusion of the 50 lap race, Sheflon Clay, #15, was the victor. He was followed by Nesbitt in second and Kevin Leicht, #4, rolled home 3rd.
Race 5 of the night was the Front Wheel Drive Division. We didn’t have any qualifying time because everyone drew their starting position from a hat prior to the race. Jackie Stone, #17, was the one to draw pill #1 and brought the field to the green flag. One caution was displayed and that was on lap 8. Skylar Brown spun out in her #2 car. A familiar face found victory lane once more. James Powell, #27, continued his winning streak by capturing his first victory of the season. Jason Garwood, #46, was second. He was followed in third by Joshua Thomason, #5.
The Late Model Division was race 6 of the night. Thomas Beane made his first appearance in the #01 Leap Frog car a successful one. His time of 15.516, 92.795 proved to be the fast time of the night. An invert of the first 6 placed Darren Krantz, Jr, #77 in the top spot. Blayne Harrison, #7, brought out the race’s only caution. He spun in turn 3 on lap 3. Krantz, Jr held on to his starting position to claim the win. Annabeth Crum, #12, finished a strong second. She was followed by Mitch Walker, #15, in third.
After a 15 minute intermission, the always entertaining Street Stocks took to the track. It was race #7 of the night. Mike Hatton, #12, was fastest in qualifying. Hatton posted a lap of 17.089, 84.264 mph. The top 5 positions were inverted. This placed Kevin Eby, #03, in the top spot to start the race. Only 1 caution was displayed during the race. This occurred on lap 24 when Marvin Miller, #54, spun off turn 4. The checkered fell on the #55 car of Johnny Reynolds who claimed the win. Hatton finished second and Jeff Morse, #99, crossed the line 3rd.
The Limited Late Model Division was race 8 of the night. Taylor Reimer led all qualifiers with a lap of 16.070, 89.607 mph. Only the top 3 positions were inverted for this race. This placed Austin Harris, #59 on the pole. The first caution was on lap 18. The cars of Mark Johnson, #13, Kristen Wallace, #12, and Coleman Chapman, #33, were all involved in an incident in turn 4. Caution #2 was on lap 34, when Archie Adams, #17, appeared to have blown an engine and rolled to a stop in turn 2. On the restart, Austin Harris spun coming off turn 4 which brought out the night’s 3rd caution. On lap 37, the race’s final caution was displayed. Eric Wallace, #12, rolled to a stop in turn 2. Graham Hollar, #25 took home the win at the end of the event. He was followed by Reimer and William Aldred, #9, placed third.
The much anticipated Crown Vic Series was the final race of the night. Starting positions were determined by a draw earlier in the night. This allowed Jon Morton to bring the field to green. Caution 1 was when Kyle Dubeau, #12, looped his car in turn 2. This occurred on lap 16. Caution #2 was caused when Nathan Pate #21 and Nic Waldrop, #22, had an incident off turn 4. The scoreboard still read lap 16 when this happened. In an unrelated incident, Jon Turner, #35, spun on the backstretch at the same time as the incident in turn 4. Lap 17 saw the event’s final caution when Jaclyn Morton had an issue on lap 17. The inaugural winner of the Crown Vic series was claimed by Morton. Jacob Hayes, #0, was second. He was followed by Jacob Hickman, #22, in third.
This week Tri County Speedway filled the house with nine big races which should have pleased any race fan who was in attendance. We hope you enjoyed all the food from the concession stands! Our next race will be April 27th. Be sure to pick up a program on the 27th so you can see all the pictures and track news from Tri County Speedway!
Article Credit: Debbie Setzer