The Fall Classic couldn’t have been more appropriately named as the weather was perfect and the sound of racing was in the air. The Top Gun Sprints were in town, and the stands were packed for what was to be a great night of racing.
The night’s main events kicked off with a $1,000-to-win 604 Late Model Feature with 14 cars taking the green flag. David Clegg led this one from the green flag and looked to have it in the bag, but a late race caution with five to go wiped away the lead he had built up. On the restart Derike Bennett moved to the outside to challenge and in turn three took the lead and went on to win the race. Clegg finished second, and Joe Kump rounded out the top three.
Next up were the Top Gun Sprints. Twenty-two cars made the trip to Volusia for this event, and the crowd couldn’t wait to get their sprint car fix. Tyler Clem took the lead from Brandon McLain on lap two and proceeded to walk away from the field. On lap 8 a caution closed the gap back up, but Clem wouldn’t be caught tonight. Clem became the winner, followed by Hayden Campbell and AJ Maddox in second and third.
The third feature of the night was the ¾ modifieds. With the championship series winding down a good finish was a must for those in contention. Timmy Hogan took the early lead, followed by Jesse Powers and Wade Olmsted. Olmsted moved to second after a mid-race caution and on the last lap gave the challenge to Hogan on the inside, but Hogan held him off at the line and went on to win the feature. Olmsted was second and Powers brought it home in third.
The 602 Late Models were up next with 16 entries taking the green flag. Brandon Yates jumped out to the early lead, followed by Jackson Hise. They swapped the lead back and forth with Yates resuming the lead coming to a caution flag with five laps to go, allowing Dustin Carter to close the gap and join in on the battle. When the green flag flew again it wasn’t a full lap before turn four became a parking lot with cars trying to avoid hitting the sideways Carter piled up. A lengthy caution left Yates and Hise to battle it out with Kopka now in striking range in third. Kopka suffered a flat right rear taking him out of contention. Yates went on to win the feature, followed by Hise and Lenny Dallman in second and third.
The final feature of the night was the Thunder Stocks. Shaun Daugharty went to the front on lap one, followed closely by Josh Byrd while a few car lengths back Alan Peacock and Ron Adams battled for the third position. Adams brought out a caution with a flat right rear and tightened the field back up. On the restart Peacock moved to second and challenged Daugharty for the lead briefly before another cation came out when Adams lost a motor off of turn four. Once track clean up was complete Daugharty once again led the field to green and captured the win, followed by Byrd in second and Charlie Staats in third.
We will be back at VSP for more racing action on Saturday, November 13th! Stay tuned on Facebook and Twitter for more info!
photos by Dave Shank