Legends and Bandolero cars took to the quarter-mile Thunder Ring at Atlanta Motor Speedway Saturday afternoon for the fourth and final event in the 2016 AMS Road Course Championship.
Brody Graham took the green flag from the pole position in the Rookie Bandolero Division feature to begin the afternoon’s lineup, but it was Cameron Potter who stole the lead and held on to it for the first seven laps.
On the eighth lap, as Graham attempted to retake the lead, contact between him and Potter led to a caution, which allowed Carson Ruark, who had started on the outside of the front row, to grab the lead. Ruark seized the opportunity and held on to the top spot for the remaining 13 laps to seal the victory, while Graham finished second and Potter third.
Entering the afternoon, Nathan Jackson led in the Bandits Division standings by 14 points with just 20 laps between him and a championship. After winning the pole, Jackson led all 20 of those laps for his second victory of the series to make his title a sure thing, as he navigated in the lead through a handful of cautions behind him.
Finishing second was Kenneth Henderson ahead of third-place finisher Keaton Hendrix. Grant Thompson and Max Hennebaul rounded out the top five.
In the Outlaws Division feature, Shelby Ruark won the pole and led the first two laps, but trouble would strike on the third lap as she spun on the fourth turn, bringing out the caution and making way for Michael Gannon to take the lead on the ensuing restart.
Gannon never looked back and led each of the final 18 laps for the victory. Blaze Crawford entered the race with an 18-point edge in the division standings over the second-place driver and finished second in the race for the four-race championship. Trey Tadrzak finished in third, with Blaze Maddox fourth and Ashton Whitener fifth.
Like Crawford, Connor Younginer also held an 18-point lead in the standings in the Young Lions Division entering Saturday’s finale and notched his own second-place finish to polish off the series title comfortably ahead of the competition.
Cody Hall won the pole and led the entire first half of the race, but after a mid-race caution, Hunter Johnson used a strong restart to surge into the lead, where he remained for the final 10-lap half of the feature. Hall would finish in third behind Younginer, while Ricky Springer and Cale Hall finished fourth and fifth respectively.
In the combined Semi-Pro/Pro Division feature, Kaden Honeycutt sat on the pole and led flag to flag for the victory, while Dawson Fletcher, Dylan Murry, Corey Heim and Jason Treschl rounded out the top five.
Brandon Brock finished second among Semi-Pro Division drivers to finish off his division championship, and Murry wrapped up his own title nine points ahead of Josh Hicks, who finished sixth in the race and fifth among Pro Division Drivers.
After early contact in the Masters Division feature’s first lap thinned the field down to just six drivers, Phillip Young, who started on the outside of the front row, led all 20 laps for his first victory of the season. Young entered the race in second place in the division standings, 20 points behind Tony Armbruster, who had won each of the first three races in the series, but it wasn’t enough to close the gap, as Armbruster finished in second place to earn the championship.
Dennis Hecht finished in third, followed by Randy Shubert in fourth and Barry Bowen in fifth.
Following the day’s racing events, annual award winners were revealed at the year-end banquet inside the Marcy Scott Media Center. The winners included:
-Most Improved Driver: Tony Armbruster
-Joey Logano Breakthrough Driver of the Year: Clay Thompson
-Bandolero Rookie of the Year: Michael Gannon
-Legends Rookie of the Year: Cale Hall
-Top Dog (Best-Looking Car): Grant Thompson
-Reed Sorenson Most Popular Driver: Rafe Slate
-Family Award: The Younginers
-David Ragan Sportsman of the Year: Dylan Murry
-President’s Award: Mark Swan
For more information, visit AtlantaMotorSpeedway.com.
Atlanta Motor Speedway – Hampton, GA
Race Results – Dec. 10, 2016
Rookie Bandolero
1. Carson Ruark
2. Brody Graham
3. Cameron Potter
4. Gianni Esposito
Bandits
1. Nathan Jackson
2. Kenneth Henderson
3. Keaton Hendrix
4. Grant Thompson
5. Max Hennebaul
6. Connor Younginer
7. Justin Campbell
8. Logan Nalley
9. Wil Griffis
10. Michael Mohwish
11. Samantha Bart
Division Champion: Nathan Jackson
Outlaws
1. Michael Gannon
2. Blaze Crawford
3. Trey Tadrzak
4. Blaze Maddox
5. Ashton Whitener
6. Shelby Ruark
Division Champion: Blaze Crawford
Young Lions
1. Hunter Johnson
2. Connor Younginer
3. Cody Hall
4. Ricky Springer
5. Cale Hall
6. Clay Thompson
7. Rafe Slate
8. Annabelle Mohwish
Division Champion: Connor Younginer
Semi-Pro Division
1. Jason Treschl
2. Brandon Brock
3. Andrew Dollar
4. David Lawrence
Division Champion: Brandon Brock
Pro Division
1. Kaden Honeycutt
2. Dawson Fletcher
3. Dylan Murray
4. Corey Heim
5. Josh Hicks
6. Mike Weed
Division Champion: Dylan Murry
Masters
1. Phillip Young
2. Tony Armbruster
3. Dennis Hecht
4. Randy Shubert
5. Barry Bowen
6. Lisa Scott
7. Wes Potter
8. Robert Cheney
9. Mark Younginer
Division Champion: Tony Armbruster
