Ryan Millington made a clean sweep of victory lane in Saturday night’s season opener at North Carolina’s Hickory Motor Speedway.
The Statesville, North Carolina speedster scored the win in both 40 lap NASCAR Whelen All American Series Late Model Stock Car features to open the 70th season at the historic 3/8-mile raceway.
In the first feature, Charlie Watson and Thomas Beane brought the field to the green flag from the front row. The two battled side-by-side for the opening laps, with Watson eventually moving to the point as Matt Piercy followed to take second.
Watson continued to pace the field until lap 20, when Piercy moved alongside in attempt to take the lead. The duo battled for several laps until the caution flew on lap 25 for a dust-up that left the cars of Mitch Walker, Annabeth Barnes-Crum and Dexter Canipe, Jr. with damage.
Back under green, Watson and Piercy picked up where they had left off, but saw the battle interrupted again five laps later when Sam Butler rolled to a stop in the third turn.
On the restart, Watson and Piercy again waged battle for the lead. Piercy would lead lap 39, and pulled ahead of Watson on the backstretch on the final lap.
As the lead duo raced off the final corner they made contact, sending both cars spinning in front of the field. As the field scrambled to avoid them, the caution flag flew, setting up a green-white-checkered finish.
On the final restart, Beane and Millington led the field, racing door-to-door for the lead. The two battled side-by-side to the checkered flag, with Millington scoring the win by two feet.
Chris Hudspeth finished in third, with Nicholson, Georgia’s Taylor Satterfield fourth and Matt Leicht in fifth.
In the second feature, after an eight car invert, David Roberts and Vince Midas brought the field to the start. Midas moved to the early lead and brought Leicht with him to second. Meanwhile, Millington moved around Taylor Satterfield for third position on lap 28 and around Leicht for second on lap 30.
With five laps to go, Millington got to Midas’ rear bumper, and with two laps remaining, he would move to the lead. From there, he went on to score the victory to sweep the night.
Midas finished second, with Leicht in third, Beane in fourth and Satterfield in fifth.
In other action, Josh Kossek took the win in the Limited Late Model feature, with Kyle Barnes in second, Todd Midas in third, Skyler Chaney in fourth and Andy Holt in fifth.
Jesse Clark recorded the victory in the Street Stocks feature, with Mark Whitten, Kevin Eby, Derek Fowler and Ethan Johnson rounding out the top five.
Charlie Watson won the Super Truck feature. Robert Tyler came home in second, with Dennis Trivette in third, Joey Shuryan in fourth and Joe Simpson in fifth.
Hickory Motor Speedway will be back in action with full slate of racing scheduled. For more information, visit HickoryMotorSpeedway.com.
Hickory Motor Speedway – Newton, NC
Race Results – March 7, 2020
Late Model Stock Car Race 1
1. #15 – Ryan Millington
2. #31 – Thomas Beane
3. #28H – Chris Hudspeth
4. #40 – Taylor Satterfield
5. #2 – Matt Leicht
6. #12 – Mason Ludwig
7. #14 – Vince Midas
8. #18R – David Roberts
9. #29 – Mitch Walker
10. #9H – Ashton Higgins
11. #8 – Bob Saville
12. #25 – Matt Piercy
13. #9 – Charlie Watson
14. #19 – Jessie Cann
15. #12B – Annabeth Barnes Crum
16. #81 – Sam Butler
17. #5 – Dexter Canipe, Jr.
Late Model Stock Car Race 2
1. #15 – Ryan Millington
2. #14 – Vince Midas
3. #2 – Matt Leicht
4. #31 – Thomas Beane
5. #40 – Taylor Satterfield
6. #28H – Chris Hudsepth
7. #25 – Matt Piercy
8. #12 – Mason Ludwig
9. #9H – Ashton Higgins
10. #8 – Bob Saville
11. #12B – Annabeth Barnes Crum
12. #9 – Charlie Waston
13. #19 – Jessie Cann
14. #18R – David Roberts
15. #29 – Mitch Walker
DNS: #81 – Sam Butler
DNS: #5 – Dexter Canipe, Jr.
Limited Late Models
1. #44K – Josh Kossek
2. #OO – Kyle Barnes
3. #50 – Todd Midas
4. #17 – Skyler Chaney
5. #OOH – Andy Holt
6. #23 – Zachary Dabbs
7. #47 – Chase Janes
8. #88 – Joshua Gobble
Street Stocks
1. #5 – Jesse Clark
2. #77 – Mark Whitten
3. #O3 – Kevin Eby
4. #31 – Derek Fowler
5. #2 – Ethan Johnson
6. #48 – Trey Buff
7. #64 – Marshall Sutton
8. #134 – Frank Curtis
9. #3 – Kayla Eby
10. #9 – Jon Austin
Super Trucks
1. #9 – Charlie Watson
2. #88T – Robert Tyler
3. #28T – Dennis Trivette
4. #30 – Joey Shuryan
5. #97H – Zach Hale
6. #86 – Joe Simpson
