From Race22.com
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| Bradley McCaskill celebrates his victory at Southern National Motorsports Park's Halloween Spooktacular. (Andy Marquis/RACE22.com) |
LUCAMA, NC – Bradley McCaskill’s victory in Saturday’s Halloween Spooktacular at Southern National Motorsports Park was only justice seeing as the Archer Lodge, North Carolina driver led all but one lap in the 70 lap affair.
McCaskill entered the race fresh off a pair of second place finished, both to three-time and now reigning NASCAR Whelen All-American Series (NWAAS) national champion Lee Pulliam. In fact, in 2015, McCaskill has finished no worse than second at Southern National. That trend continued when he set the fast lap in qualifying and dominated en route to his second Southern National victory in 2015.
“I think we had probably the stiffest competition here other than Lee [Pulliam],” McCaskill said. “I mean, Clay Jones and Mack Little are just awesome drivers. There again, just hard work. Yesterday, worked here all day as long as we could and dialed this car in.”
McCaskill’s victory is the latest in what has arguably been the best season in his young career. Along with his wins at Southern National this season, McCaskill also scored a victory in the elite Championship Auto Racing Series (CARS) Late Model Stock Tour back in August in Concord, North Carolina.
“Just surrounded by a great group of people,” McCaskill remarked. “Trying to thank God every race if I can remember. It’s very humbling for us just to run this good and run a different car. Surrounded by great people who give me great opportunities.”
Clay Jones finished second in his previous two Southern National Motorsports Park appearances and that is where he would again finish on Saturday after leading one lap early in the race.
“It wasn’t too bad,” Jones said. “We struggled all weekend. Struggled bad yesterday. Got a little better this morning then found some stuff after practice and picked up a ton in qualifying. I think we were good. We were flying through the corners. I could pick him up right through the center but we’d get on the straightaway and he’d be three carlengths by the end of the straightaway. I can’t thank my guys enough. We worked hard all week. All the fenders are on it so we’ll go to Hickory next weekend for the CARS race and do well there.”
Jones’ second place finish comes on the heels of victories at both Wake County Speedway in Raleigh, North Carolina and Carteret County Speedway in Swansboro, North Carolina.
Mack Little, who has won championships at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston Salem, North Carolina and Caraway Speedway in Sophia, North Carolina, finished third in his first ever race at Southern National Motorsports Park.
“For the first time being here, I’m really tickled to finish third,” Little said. “We were a little bit loose. We tried to tighten it up there at halfway but it just wasn’t enough. I think their laps that they have here, if they come to our track, I’d have them beat on that a little bit. All in all, we had a good car.”
Scott Wise, who ran quietly inside the top-five all race, was pleased with his fourth place finish.
“It’s been about a year since I’ve run here,” Wise stated. “First time here this year. I used to run here all the time. Took some time off. We really had a good car, just got a little too tight there at the end.”
Former Langley Speedway (Virginia) champion Mark Wertz finished in fifth while Ricky Jones, Chris Chapman, Jerry Miracle, Kevin Floars and Mason Diaz rounded out the top-10. Floars raced his way to a ninth place finish after starting the race in the 18th position.
Attrition was a huge factor throughout the race. The first half of the race saw seven cautions and the incidents, combined with mechanical wear throughout the race, claimed potential contenders Haley Moody and Rusty Daniels. Alex Fleming was unable to start the race due to mechanical problems while Zach Henshaw and JD Eversole were victims of an accident in practice.
The 30 lap U-CAR feature race, which ran caution free, came down to the wire between Tyler Horne and Ronnie “Buckshot” Jones. Horne dominated the race but Jones mounted a late race charge. Horne went on to win the race in photofinish over Jones while James Stroud finished third, Travis Miller finished fourth and Clay Jones finished fifth.
“I knew I was going to have my work cut out with Buckshot,” Horne said in victory lane. “Like I said, he’s probably one of the best in U-CAR for saving tires. I knew with about eight to go, he was going to try to put a run on me. I just used a couple lapped cars to help me out there. He had a heck of a run three or four times coming out of turn four but we were able to hold him off.”
Ashlyn McCaskill, the 14-year-old daughter of four time Southern National Motorsports Park track champion Deac McCaskill, saw her racing debut go up in smoke in the late stages of the 15 lap Powder Puff feature race. McCaskill had a big lead when the engine let go on her car. The race was won by Cassie Condleton, who held off a hard charging Lisa Stroud on the final lap of the race.
Dillon Spain dominated the 25 lap Legends feature, leading wire-to-wire to score the victory over Will Bristle, Mason Diaz, Chris Stancil and Billy Hall. Diaz inherited the third position after Justin Mitchell, who crossed the line in third, was disqualified for a wheel base infraction.
Kailey Murray scored her fifth consecutive Bandolero victory at Southern National Motorsports Park in th 15 lap Bandolero feature. Conner Jones inherited the second finishing position after Cole Bruce was disqualified for a wheel base infraction. Savannah Basley, Tyler Robinson and Jacob Bradley rounded out the top-five.
The next race at Southern National Motorsports Park will be the Thanksgiving All-Star Classic, Late Model Stock Car racing’s winter highlight. The race will be headlined by the Late Model Stock Cars as Lee Pulliam goes for the “Grand Slam” after having having won Langley Speedway’s Hampton Heat 200 earlier this year and having scored victories in the Valley Star Credit Union 300 at Martinsville Speedway and the recently renamed UNOH Battle at the Beach at Myrtle Beach Speedway.
The Thanksgiving All-Star Classic will feature three days of on track racing excitement from Friday, November 27th through Sunday, November 29th. More information will be announced about the Thanksgiving All-Star Classic in the days ahead.
Race Results (Official)
Limited Late Model (70 laps)
#7 Bradley McCaskill
#15 Clay Jones
#16 Mack Little
#41 Scott Wise
#55 Mark Wertz
#38 Ricky Jones
#51 Chris Chapman
#32 Jerry Miracle
#55 Kevin Floars
#24 Mason Diaz – 1 lap
#98 Malik Koonce – 1 lap
#2 Amber Lynn – 1 lap
#12 Wes Green – 1 lap
#29 Paul Williamson – 4 laps
#82 Mike Ganoe – 5 laps
#17 Zachary Marks – 11 laps
#16 Rusty Daniels – 12 laps
#50 Haley Moody – 14 laps
#55 Gerald Benton – 38 laps
#51 Cory Walker – 42 laps
#11 Wayne McGee – 64 laps
#29 Robert Bruce – 64 laps
#05 Alex Fleming – DNS
Legends (25 laps)
#7 Dillon Spain
#91 Will Bristle
#24 Mason Diaz
#11 Chris Stancil
#30 Billy Hall
#8 Travis Weber
#18 Caleb Day
#22 Ryan DeMartini
#64 Damien Payton
#51 Brandon Johnton
#6 Chris Hammett
#55 Kevin Floars
#15 Hunter Hansen – 1 lap
#12 Eric Courtney – 15 laps
#29 Brandon Rice – 15 laps
#22 Nicholas Floars – 15 laps
#10 Justin Mitchell – DQ
U-CAR (30 laps)
#28 Tyler Horne
#4 Ronnie “Buckshot” Jones
#4 James Stroud
#99 Travis Miller
#15 Clay Jones
#77 Jamie Tucker
#48 Duane Walker
#03 Greg Wood – 1 lap
#00 Aaron Crumpler – 1 lap
#71 Jon Pritt – 2 laps
#25 Pete Hollowell – 22 laps
Powder Puff (15 laps)
Cassie Condleton
Lisa Stroud
Erin Michele
Ashlyn McCaskill – DNF
Bandolero (15 laps)
#81 Kailey Murray
#14 Conner Jones
#12 Savannah Beasley
#3 Tyler Robinson
#42 Jacob Bradley – 1 lap
#18 Matthew Gurganus – 1 lap
#2 Hailey Wilson – 2 laps
#06 Camryn Rice – 5 laps
#31 Cole Bruce – DQ
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