Tim Busha of Boaz, Ala. was in the right place at the right time on Saturday night to win the 50-lap Chevrolet Performance Super Late Model feature race at 411 Motor Speedway in Seymour, Tenn., driving the Kilpatrick Racing GRT.
It was a race that Busha felt like he was going to have to settle for second with ten laps to go, but opportunity came knocking.
Busha took the lead on lap 45 after the dominant early race leader John Ownbey began to slow off the pace on lap 44, and steam from what seemed to be a punctured radiator from an earlier tangle with a lapped car sent him to the infield. Busha then hung on after a late-race restart to take the $3,000 victory and his third career Chevy Super Series win.
Cory Hedgecock finished second. Hedgecock and Busha spent the majority of the race battling for second, and trading the inside and the outside for several Dixie-Style Double-File restarts.
“I hate what happened to Ownbey because Cory and I didn’t have anything for him tonight, but a win is a win, and we’ll take them anyway we can get them,” Busha said. “Cory and I had our own little battle going on for second on the restarts. We both tried the inside and outside. Sometimes the outside would work one time, and the next time it wouldn’t. Then we would take turns trying the inside, with the same results.”
Hedgecock chose the inside for a lap 30 restart that put Busha to his right on the outside. That worked in Busha’s favor, as he sailed around Hedgecock to take the second spot, and stayed there until lap 45 when Ownbey had his meltdown. A late caution flag with three laps to go set up another opportunity for Hedgecock, but the single file restart inside of ten laps to go saw Busha hit his marks and drive home for the win with an .881 second margin of victory over Hedgecock.
Ronnie Johnson made of bold last lap move on Jake Knowles of Rome, Ga. to finish third, with Knowles in fourth. Tyler Crowder was fifth.
Johnson now has a 14-point lead over Crowder in quest of his second straight Chevrolet Performance Super Late Model Series $10,000 National Championship. The win moved Busha up to the third spot in the point’s chase ahead of Adam Martin, who finished 12th and was the Cruise With The Champions Rookie of the Race.
After missing time trials with a fuel pump belt issue, Pierce McCarter started 21st and finished sixth to earn the Hard Charger of the Race honors. Jadon Frame, David Brannon, Oliver Gentry and Brad Coffey rounded out the top ten.
Hedgecock, Knowles, McCarter, and Frame all qualified for the Hoosier Racing Tire “Road To Dega” Bonus Money and a chance to win $10,000 at the Chevrolet Performance Super Late Model Series season-finale on October 3 at Talladega Short Track in Eastaboga, Ala.
Ownbey set fast time in qualifying with a lap around the 3/8-mile clay oval in 13.806 seconds to earn the pole position for the 50-lap main event in quest of his second-straight Chevy Super Series win. Ownbey took the lead at the start of the race followed by Hedgecock, Adam Martin, Busha and Colby Kilgore of Dalton, Ga.
The first of seven caution flags in the race came out on lap four when Trevor Thompson of Dallas, Ga. spun in turn two. Ownbey had Hedgecock, Adam Martin, Busha, Brannon, Ross Martin, Kilgore, Knowles, Coffey and Brandon Williams doubled up behind him for the restart.
Hedgecock chose the inside for the Dixie-Style Double-File restart and when the green flag was redisplayed, Adam Martin sailed by him on the outside coming off the second turn to take the second spot. Kilgore spun out of the seventh spot on lap six in turn two for the second caution period that saw Brannon head for the pit area and giving up the fifth spot.
The outside worked so well for Martin on the last restart, that’s what he chose as the second-place driver for the next restart. This one didn’t work out so well for the second-generation driver, as Hedgecock drove under him in turn two to retake the second spot. To add insult to injury, Busha drove under Adam Martin for the third spot in turn three.
On lap ten, Ross Martin and Williams dove into turn three side-by-side to battle for the fifth position. Contact was made, and both drivers spun. Williams was ticketed for the caution and went to the back of the pack for the restart, but Ross Martin was done for the night. The misfortunes for the Martin family continued on lap ten when Ross Martin’s son Adam Martin spun out of the fourth spot in turn one.
For the lap 11 restart, Ownbey led Hedgecock, Busha, Crowder, and Johnson. After restarting successfully on the inside on the previous restart, the second-place driver Hedgecock decided to give the outside a try.
That didn’t work out so well, as Busha, who started beside Hedgecock on the outside, took the second spot on the restart, and Johnson, who came from the 12th starting spot, drove around Crowder and into fourth. Williams spun in turn two on lap 18, drawing another caution.
On the restart, Busha chose the inside, allowing Hedgecock to use the outside to retake second, while Crowder went around Johnson to retake fourth.
Crowder started to fade on lap 20, as Johnson reclaimed the fourth spot, and Knowles passed Crowder for the fifth spot. Lap 24 saw McCarter slicing his way through the top ten from the 21st starting spot, as he settled into the eighth position. Meanwhile, up front, Ownbey was riding along unchallenged in the lead, and began to work lapped traffic on lap 26.
For Ownbey, with each passing lap, the traffic got heavier and heavier. Despite the heavy traffic, he maintained over a two second lead on Hedgecock. As Ownbey came off the second turn on lap 30, Lavon Sparks had slowed to almost a dead stop. Ownbey had cars to his outside and had nowhere to go, and plowed into the back of Sparks’ car, sending it spinning to the infield.
That brought out the sixth caution flag of the race, and during the slowdown, Ownbey’s car suffered heavy left front damage. Chevy Super Series officials worked to clear the bent sheet metal away from the tires and sent the leader back to the point for the restart.
On the restart, Owenbey retook the lead, with Busha moving around Hedgecock to take second.
Ownbey’s car seemed to be O.K. after his lap 30 altercation and he pulled out to a two and a half second lead over Busha by lap 40. It appeared that Ownbey was going to make it two wins in the row, but suddenly on lap 43, it Ownbey began slowing coming off the corners, allowing Busha to close.
Ownbey pulled to the infield on lap 45 with steam bellowing out of his radiator, handing Busha the lead. With a full straightaway lead on Hedgecock, it looked like Busha would coast home for the win. But the seventh and final caution flag came out on lap 48 when Rusty Ballenger and Adam Martin tangled in turn three.
Back under green, Busha hit his marks in the final three laps, and went on to score the win.
For more information about the Chevrolet Performance Super Late Model Series visit the series web site at 525SuperSeries.com.
Chevrolet Performance Super Late Model Series
411 Motor Speedway – Seymour, TN
Race Results – Aug. 15, 2015
POS STRT CAR # DRIVER HOMETOWN LAPS $ WON
1. 4 15 Tim Busha Boaz, AL 50 $3,000
2. 2 23h Cory Hedgecock Lenoir City, TN 50 $1,500
3. 12 5 Ronnie Johnson Chattanooga, TN 50 $1,000
4. 10 66 Jake Knowles Rome, GA 50 $850
5. 11 47c Tyler Crowder Lamont, FL 50 $750
6. 21 71 Pierce McCarter Gatlinburg, TN 50 $700
7. 13 J8 Jadon Frame Winchester, TN 50 $650
8. 8 33 David Brannon Elora, TN 50 $600
9. 18 03 Oliver Gentry Newnan, GA 50 $550
10. 7 88 Brad Coffey Maryville, TN 50 $500
11. 16 H2 Matt Henderson Loudon, TN 50 $475
12. 3 47a Adam Martin (R) Talladega, AL 50 $450
13. 15 21 Mario Gresham (R) Rome, GA 49 $425
14. 5 44k Colby Kilgore Dalton, GA 48 $400
15 17 29 Rusty Ballenger Sevierville, TN 46 $375
16. 1 44 John Ownbey Cleveland, TN 45 $350
17. 19 23 Trevor Thompson (R) Dallas, GA 45 $325
18. 14 11 Lavon Sparks Phenix City, AL 28 $300
19. 9 95 Brandon Williams (R) Crossville, TN 16 $300
20. 6 47r Ross Martin Talladega, AL 9 $300
21. 20 24 Barry Goodman Spring City, TN 0 $300
Entries: 21
Fast Qualifier: Ownbey, 13.806 Seconds
Provisionals: None
Lead Changes: 1
Lap Leaders: Ownbey, 1-44; Busha, 45-50
Laps Led: Ownbey, 44; Busha, 6
