SENOIA, Ga. - Austin Horton of Grantville, Ga. held off all challenges in the Limited Late Model feature at Senoia Raceway in Senoia, Ga. Saturday night to break out of his season long streak of finishing in second place.
The 19-year-old has been the bridesmaid for the entire first month of the season at 3/8 mile clay track, but Saturday night he kept veteran driver Rucker Orr in his rearview mirror and ended his absence from the track’s winners circle.
“Finally glad to be here,” said Horton in victory lane. “We have worked so hard for this one.”
Horton shot out to the initial lead as multi-time track champion Don Jenkins moved to second with Orr holding down third. Seventeen-year-old Joey Armistead was fourth while three more drivers raced three wide on the first lap for their positions. Armistead would lose the grip in turn one before spinning, bringing out the first caution of the event.
Horton and Orr would resume their battle for the lead position as Jenkins, Marty Lunsford, Dennis Hale and Shane Fulcher raced for the next four positions. Lunsford showed his talents are continuing to grow as he battled with the feisty veterans. The 18-year-old held his own racing in the top five until the final quarter of the race when his car ran into mechanical issues.
A late race restart would give Orr the chance to sling his car to the low side to get past Horton, but that lead was short lived as Horton retook the lead. Horton drove away to win by four car lengths over Orr. Fulcher came home third ahead of Glenn Morris in fourth and Armistead, who had come from the back of the pack to finish fifth.
Super Late Model fast qualifier Clint “Cat Daddy” Smith was relegated back a few positions for the start of the feature after rolling a five on the invert die. The lucky benefactor of the roll was Michael Page as the fifth fastest qualifier was inverted to the pole.
Page would race with Scott Groves for several laps at the beginning of the race while Smith made his way to the third place spot, while cars raced three wide in the pack behind the leaders.
Smith would catch Page on lap eight, setting up a side-by-side battle for the lead. In the end, it would be Smith scoring his third straight victory at Senoia Raceway. Page came home in second with Groves third. Tyler Millwood would pass Steven Bloodworth in the final two laps to end up in fourth. Dawsonville, Ga.'s Matthew Turner finished in sixth.
Eighteen-year-old Dylan Knowles dominated the Crate Late Model feature race, going flag-to-flag to win his second feature of the season. Mark Page ran second after a spirited battle with Bobby Mills, who finished in third. Sixteen-year-old Trey Wood came home in fourth ahead of T.J. Brittain in fifth.
A streak of two wins was snapped in the B Cadet class when Ridge Warren topped the field. Warren passed Johnny Stinchcomb on the front stretch before holding back Parrish Duncan for the win in his first Senoia apperance. Duncan came into the night with a two race win streak, but he could not catch Warren as the duo worked lapped traffic. Duncan had to settle for second, with Jake Traylor, Stinchcomb and Bryson Ussery rounding out the top five.
A post-race disqualification in the Hobby Stock handed the win to Dustin Smith. Smith finished second to Ryan Ray, who failed to pass technical inspection after the race. All drivers moved up one position in the official results giving Ben Steele second ,Craig Siler third, Ben Herren fourth and David Hull fifth.
Derrick Matthews narrowly beat Paul Walter in the Bomber division. Matthews squeezed Walter coming out of the final turn to beat him to the finish line by half car length. Walter had charged from near the back of the pack to finish in second, with Alex Rudolph in third, Chris Arnett fourth and Michael Lilly in fifth.
Bubba Harry made the move during a late race restart to pass 14-year-old Joshua Hicks in the Legends Car feature. Hicks was riding a two race win streak in Legends Cars dirt competition when his car slid to the high side on the final restart. Harry took advantage of the slip along with Jason Treschl and 13-year-old Zach Leonardi. Harry would cruise to his first win of the season ahead of Leonardi and Treschl. Hicks would finish in fourth with John Ponzio in fifth.
Brandon Bright ran nearly unchallenged for the victory in the Mini Stock division. Harold Leath finished in second, with Robert Caldwell third, Billy Allison fourth and Darrin Parrott in fifth.
The 2015 Senoia Raceway point’s season kicks off on Saturday, April 11 with racing action in the Super Late Models, Limited Late Models, Crate Late Models, B Cadets, Hobby Stocks, Mini Stocks, Bomber and Legends Car divisions. For more info, visit SenoiaRaceway.com.
Senoia Raceway – Senoia, GA
Race Results – April 4, 2015
Limited Late Models
1. Austin Horton
2. Rucker Orr
3. Shane Fulcher
4. Glenn Morris
5. Joey Armistead
6. Jack Mills
7. Trey White
8. Dennis Hale
9. Jimmy Price
10. Jayce Southwell
11. Thomas Mewborn
12. Marty Lunsford
13. Don Jenkins
14. Andy Morris
15. Randy Powell
Super Late Models
1. Clint Smith
2. Michael Page
3. Scott Groves
4. Tyler Millwood
5. Steven Bloodworth
6. Matthew Turner
7. Ricky Williams
8. Mason Massey
9. Scott Knowles
10. Madeline Crane
11. Chad Marchman
12. Benji Cole
13. Cody King
14. Matt Larson
DNS: Matt Dooley
Crate Late Models
1. Dylan Knowles
2. Mark Page
3. Bobby Mills
4. Trey Wood
5. T.J. Brittain
6. Rick Brady III
7. Matt Black
8. Chuck Page
9. Zachary Shelton
10. Clay Fancher
11. Bob O’Brien
12. Chris Justus
B Cadets
1. Ridge Warren
2. Parrish Duncan
3. Jake Traylor
4. Johnny Stinchcomb
5. Bryson Ussery
6. Bennie Croy
7. Brian Womack
8. Cindy Anderson
9. Jeff Carter
DNS: Craig Scott
DNS: Charles Grogan
DNS: Mike Parker
DNS: Richard Goode
Hobby Stocks
1. Dustin Smith
2. Ben Steele
3. Craig Siler
4. Ben Herren
5. David Hull
6. Chris Storey
7. Chad Foster
8. Clyde Alexander
9. Chris Steele
10. Carl Richards
DQ: Ryan Ray
Bombers
1. Derrick Matthews
2. Paul Walter
3. Alex Rudolph
4. Chris Arnett
5. Michael Lilly
6. David Johnson
7. Lucas Green
8. Buck Ussery
9. Chad Barrett
10. Kevin Evans
Mini Stocks
1. Brandon Bright
2. Harold Leath
3. Robert Caldwell
4. Billy Allison
5. Darrin Parrott
6. Cassie Dingler. Still
DNS: Gary Parker
Legends Cars
1. Bubba Harry
2. Zach Leonardi
3. Jason Treschl
4. Joshua Hicks
5. John Ponzio
6. Dwight Pilgram
7. Tina Johnson
8. Dennis Aiken
9. Mike Kennedy
10. Bailey Woodall
11. Jonathan Chandler
12. Tony Armbruster
