Hale wins Senoia Fathers Day Late Model Shoot-Out

SENOIA - Dennis Hale of LaGrange lasted through three attempts to get a green flag lap and then cruised wire to wire claiming the checkered flag and big pay day at Senoia Raceway Saturday night. Hale bested the field of sixteen starters to win the Country Financial Father's Day Late Model Summer Shoot-Out and took home the $1,550 winner's share. It was Hale's first race back after early season engine problems.<br /> <br /> Other winners during Saturday night's special event included Greenville's Thomas Mewborn in the Newnan Bonding B Cadet, Hampton's Marc Leath in the Senoia Drug Company Mini Stock and Carrollton's Aubrey Merrit in the Mod Mini. Alabama's Paul Walters topped the A1 Hydraulics Bomber while Franklin's Ben Steele was awarded the victory for the Summit Racing Equipment Hobby Stock.<br /> <br /> The Late Model drivers were anxious to get the race rolling as they were eager to chase the largest purse ever posted by fifth year promoter Tim Moses. Polesitter Joe Armistead, Jr. of Senoia jumped the gun on the first attempt while the second attempt ended in a huge pile-up in turn two. The accident sent Armistead to the pits along with Hamilton's Thomas Lewis and Senoia's Clint 'Cat Daddy' Smith.<br /> <br /> When the race did finally stay green, Hale posted the lead position with Fayetteville's Glenn Morris holding down second. Thomaston's Shane Fulcher ran third with Lagrange's Dusty Jones badgering him in every corner.<br /> <br /> Phenix City, AL's Dana Eiland was making the strongest charge of the night. Eiland struggled during qualifying and started the night near the back of the field. He charged up to seventh before the final flag flew over the field.<br /> <br /> Up front, it was Hale all the way. Morris, Fulcher and Jones followed with Roopville's Clifton 'Hog Head' Moran rounding out the top five finishers. Waverly Hill's Dewayne Johnson was sixth followed by Eiland and Newnan's Corey Payton. Brook's Jayce Southwell and Hamilton's Brand Lewis completed the top ten.<br /> <br /> Former Newnan Bonding B Cadet champion, Thomas Mewborn, shot out to the lead at the drop of the green flag for his feature and never looked back. Mewborn posted his first win of the year ahead of Alabama's John Capps III and Jonesboro's Jason Miller.<br /> <br /> A scary crash marred a great race in the Summit Racing Equipment Hobby Stock. Franklin's Chris Steele jumped out to the lead leaving Milner's Ben Wells chasing him. Griffin's Chad Foster and Williamson's Houston Hatchett were racing hard for third place when the two locked up in the third turn. As the duo spun, Hatchett rolled up the track and into the path of a fast moving Sam Carter of Covington. Carter had no where to turn and slammed into Hatchett tearing up both cars badly.<br /> <br /> Steele would go on to win an apparent third race of the season, but his machine was disqualified later in the post race tech for being two pounds light. Steele was running aluminum brake calipers, which pushes a weight penalty at Senoia. Unfortunately, the added laps under caution may have caused Steele to use more fuel and his weight came up just short of the needed limit with the calipers.<br /> <br /> The second place car of Ben Wells was also found to be illegal in post race tech which pushed Ben Steele to the winner's circle for the second time this season. The adjusted finishing order also saw Chad Foster and Brook's Mike Jenkins move into the top three.<br /> <br /> An early race skirmish between Marc Leath and Barnesville's Gary Parker ended up with Leath getting the final nod. Leath and Parker locked horns early in the Senoia Drug Company Mini Stock main. Both drivers showed their tempers during a brief caution to realign the field for a restart. But when the dust settled and the checkers flew, Leath had won his second of the season with Parker in second. Newnan's Brandon Libri was third.<br /> <br /> Paul Walters held off every thing that Senoia's Dusty Smith could throw at him to win the A1 Hydraulics Bomber feature. Smith tried valiantly to get a run on Walters, but to no avail as the veteran claimed the victory. Smith was second ahead of Griffin's top Bomber rookie Alex Rudolph.<br /> <br /> The Modified Mini division has struggled this season with car count, but last weekend half a dozen cars showed up and Aubrey Merritt was the class of the field. Merritt won by nearly a straightaway over Sharpsburg's Robbie Scadron and Carrollton's Dusty Smith.<br /> <br /> Senoia Raceway cranks back up this Saturday, June 21 as the A1 Hydraulics Bomber division gets their shot at a championship race. All six of the track's weekly divisions will be racing.<br /> <br /> <strong>Senoia Raceway - Senoia, GA</strong><br /> <strong> Race Results - June 14, 2014</strong><br /> <br /> <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Late Models</strong></span><br /> 1. Dennis Hale<br /> 2. Glenn Morris<br /> 3. Shane Fulcher<br /> 4. Dusty Jones<br /> 5. Clifton Moran<br /> 6. Dewayne Johnson<br /> 7. Dana Eiland<br /> 8. Corey Payton<br /> 9. Jayce Southwell<br /> 10. Brand Lewis<br /> 11. Joe Armistead, Jr.<br /> 12. Hunter Worley<br /> 13. Chad Harshburger<br /> 14. Thomas Lewis<br /> 15. Clint Smith<br /> 16. Tod Darda<br /> <br /> <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>B Cadet</strong></span><br /> 1. Thomas Mewborn<br /> 2. John Capps III<br /> 3. Jason Miller<br /> 4. Dow Kirkland<br /> 5. Bennie Croy<br /> 6. Donald Doyle<br /> 7. Roger Arnett<br /> 8. Wesley Lyle<br /> DNS: Marc Gooden, Blant Duke<br /> <br /> <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Hobby Stock</strong></span><br /> 1. Ben Steele<br /> 2. Chad Foster<br /> 3. Mike Jenkins<br /> 4. Sam Carter<br /> 5. Houston Hatchett<br /> 6. Ronnie Thacker<br /> 7. Kerry Carden<br /> DQ: Chris Steele<br /> DQ: Ben Wells<br /> <br /> <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Mini Stock</strong></span><br /> 1. Marc Leath<br /> 2. Gary Parker<br /> 3. Brandon Libri<br /> 4. Harold Leath<br /> 5. Cassie Dingler - Still<br /> <br /> <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Bomber</strong></span><br /> 1. Paul Walters<br /> 2. Dustin Smith<br /> 3. Alex Rudolph<br /> 4. John Holcomb<br /> 5. Carley Arnett<br /> 6. Jim Jackson<br /> <br /> <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Modified Minis</strong></span><br /> 1. Aubrey Merritt<br /> 2. Robbie Scadron<br /> 3. Dustin Smith<br /> 4. Dorough Bright<br /> 5. Josh Copeland<br /> 6. Todd Brewster