Danny Sanders beat out a hard charging Dale Timms to score Saturday night’s Crate Late Model feature at Georgia’s Harwell Speedway.
It was one of many close finishes on the night at the 3/8-mile clay raceway.
After setting fast time in qualifying, Sanders chose to start the feature from the outside of the front row. The Nicholson, Georgia racer brought the field to green, and held the top spot through the first turn. But when Sanders’ car slipped in the high line in turn four, Dale Timms surged forward to take the lead coming off the corner.
Over the next few laps, Timms would hold the low line while Sanders continued to challenge using the high lane. Each time, Sanders would charge hard into the corner, moving alongside Timms, only to see Timms pull back into the lead coming off the turn.
The pressure from Sanders paid off on lap three, when Timms car slid out from under him as he tried to hold off the challenge in turn four. Timms was able to gather it up, but the slip allowed Sanders to re-take the lead and move out to a sizeable advantage over the field. Behind him, Timms and Deano Long battled for second, with Timms finally reclaiming the spot after several laps.
Sanders saw his advantage go away just past the halfway point when a car slowed off turn two, bringing out the caution.
From there, it was a back and forth battle between Sanders and Timms. Timms put on a strong charge on the low side, causing Sanders to move down from the high line to take the low groove away from Timms.
Timms continued to charge, trying time and again to find daylight around Sanders. But in the end, Sanders was able to hold him at bay to score the victory.
Long finished in third, with Grant Jordan in fourth and Eric Veal in fifth.
Michael Akenson, Goose Calvert, Steven Bowie, Will Harris and Jody Farmer rounded out the top ten.
The Up Front feature earlier in the evening also saw a close finish. Seth Brown, Joel Cabe and Tony Newman battled for much of the feature for the lead. That battle was derailed for Newman after he and Cabe made contact while racing for second, sending both spinning on the backstretch.
Cabe was able to keep moving, and retained the second position. Newman tagged the outside wall, ending his night.
As the laps wound down, Brown continued to hold the lead, with Cabe challenging him on every turn. With two laps to go, Cabe finally was able to clear Brown to take the lead. On the final lap, Brown drove hard into turn three, making contact with Cabe’s back bumper and sending him up the track.
Brown slipped by for the lead, but Cabe powered back coming off turn four and moved alongside Brown as they raced towards the checkered flag. Brown held Cabe off to score the victory, with Cabe settling for second.
Steven Powell finished in third, followed by Hoss Collins in fourth and North West in fifth.
Thomas Segars was looking for his third straight Modified Street feature victory, but Michael McTier had other ideas. Both drivers had won their heat races in dominating fashion, and made the feature race a close one.
Segars took the early lead, with McTier giving chase. Segars worked hard to hold onto the top spot while McTier tried time and again to find a path to the lead around him.
On the final lap, McTier was able to get a fender alongside Segars in turn one, but slipped slightly coming off turn two, allowing Segars to slip away. From there, Segars held the advantage all the way to the checkered flag to score the win.
McTier finished in second, followed by Preston Strickland in third, Aaron McIntosh in fourth and Artie Ridgeway in fifth.
In the Hobby feature, Alex Yarborough jumped out to the early lead and built up a sizeable advantage over the rest of the field. Behind him, Joe Cash and Shane Yarborough battled for second throughout the 15 lap race. When the checkered flag flew, Alex Yarborough scored the win, while Cash held off a charge off the final corner from Shane Yarborough to take second. Ervin Atkinson finished in fourth, with Josh Roberts in fifth.
Rocky Jones drove away from the Stock V8 field to score the victory, with Joseph Teasley, Brandon Long, Robert Crowe and Chris Smith rounding out the top five.
Jeffery Lord was the winner in the Stock Four feature, with Pete Whitley in second, Bobby Shelton in third and Randy Peppers in fourth.
Hartwell Speedway returns to action on Saturday, September 2. For more information, visit Hartwell-Speedway.com.
Hartwell Speedway – Hartwell, GA
Race Results – August 26, 2017
Crate Late Model
1. #4 Danny Sanders
2. #07 Larry Timms
3. #9 Deano Long
4. #05 Grant Jordan
5. #3A Eric Veal
6. #31 Michael Akenson
7. #18 Goose Calvert
8. #7 Steven Bowie
9. #21 Will Harris
10. #74 Jody Farmer
DNS: #26 Mike Payne
DNS: #52 James Cason
Hobby
1. #41 Alex Yarbrough
2. #23 Joe Cash
3. #141 Shane Yarbrough
4. #77 Ervin Atkinson
5. #818 Josh Roberts
6. #49 Taylor Griffith
Modified Street
1. #5 Thomas Segars
2. #K2 Michael McTier
3. #94 Preston Strickland
4. #33 Aaron McIntosh
5. #14 Arti Ridgeway
DNS: #11 Gabe Gable
DNS: #7 Noah Josey
DNS: #93 Richard Jones
Stock V8
1. #101 Rocky Jones
2. #77 Joseph Teasley
3. #12 Brandon Long
4. #34 Robert Crowe
5. #61 Chris Smith
6. #10 Chris Brown
7. #35P Paul Moore
Stock Four
1. #13 Jeffery Lord
2. #7X Pete Whitely
3. #17 Bobby Shelton
4. #31A Randy Peppers
DNS: #T5 Tommy Peppers
Up Front
1. #55 Seth Brown
2. #28 Joel Cabe
3. #27 Steven Powell
4. #1 Hoss Collins
5. #27 North West
6. #89 Joel Powell, Sr.
7. #96 John Shaw, Jr.
8. #8 Stacy Foster
9. #122 Tony Newman
10. #00 Justin Sorrow
11. #19 Jason Richey
12. #7 Brandon Grimes
13. #44 Randy Shaw
14. #Joel Powell, Jr.
