Jimmy Johnson might have shown up a little late on Saturday afternoon, but he was first when it counted.
With a slight mist and fog surrounding the Hartwell area during the day, Johnson was one of several competitors to wait until the last minute to make the trip to the speedway for the track’s 50th anniversary season opener.
Johnson was second fastest in qualifying but beat pole sitter Kenny Collins into turn one on the drop of the green flag in the feature.
From there, Johnson led wire-to-wire, as the Monroe speedster powered to the victory at the 3/8-mile speedway ahead of the field and the encroaching fog.
Collins had to settle for second, with Wesley English in third, Jesse Ivester in fourth and Jimmy Ivester in fifth.
In one of the most exciting races of the night, Alex Yarbrough had the lead in the Hobby feature going into the final lap, with Grant Jordan and former NASCAR ace Jeremy Mayfield hot on his heels.
As the trio powered down into turn one on the final lap, Mayfield had a tremendous run and drove hard into the corner. But he couldn’t hold the low line, with the car slipping up the track and making contact with Jordan, sending both head-on into the turn two wall.
Fortunately, neither driver was injured, but both were done for the day.
That left a green-white-checkered scramble for the finish, with Yarbrough holding off Cody Segars for the win. Austin Brumbelow finished in third, with Cody Smith in fourth.
Sterling Helm edged out Smokey Roberts for the win in the Modified Street feature. Thomas Segars finished in third, with Daniel Doster in fourth and Ty Anglin in fifth.
Jeffery Lord led flag-to-flag for the win in the Stock Four feature. Brent Couch, Josh Lewis, Bobby Shelton and Bubba Nation rounded out the top five.
Bradlee Jones was the winner in the Stock V8 feature, with Austin Alexander finishing in second.
Saturday saw the start of two new divisions at Hartwell, with Brant Carey beating out Chris McKeehan for the Open Wheel Modified feature win. Meanwhile, Tanner Nation took the win in the inaugural Young Guns feature, marking his first career feature victory. Caylen Kettle finished in second, with Logan Gunter third, Cole MeKeehan fourth and Trent Blackwell fifth.
Kalen Holmes held off Fred Sunley and Chuck Bellon for the Front Wheel Drive feature victory. Kevin Saam came home in fourth, with Drew Parks in fifth.
Hartwell Speedway returns to action on Saturday, March 16. For more information, visit Hartwell-Speedway.com.
Hartwell Speedway – Hartwell, GA
Race Results – March 9, 2019
Limited Late Model
1. #98 Jimmy Johnson
2. #1 Kenny Collins
3. #16 Wesley English
4. #15 Jesse Ivester
5. #115 Jimmy Ivester
6. #4 Danny Sanders
7. #16 Tim Jones
Hobby
1. #41 Alex Yarbrough
2. #1 Cody Segars
3. #96 Austin Brumbelow
4. #10 Cody Smith
5. #418 Grant Jordan
6. #49 Jeremy Mayfield
Modified Street
1. #98 Sterling Helm
2. #37 Smokey Roberts
3. #5s Thomas Segars
4. #104 Daniel Doster
5. #49 Ty Anglin
6. #55 Shannon Price
7. #104 Tod Hammond
Stock Four
1. #13 Jeffery Lord
2. #28C Brent Couch
3. #28 Josh Lewis
4. #5 Bobby Shelton
5. #7 Bubba Nation
6. #1 LeeBo Bridges
7. #47 Andrew Wilson
8. #116 Dustin Ogletree
9. #17 Taylor Holcomb
10. #02 Justin Taylor
Stock V8
1. #26 Bradlee Jones
2. #37 Austin Alexander
3. #55 Seth Brown
4. #35 Paul Moore
5. #9 Evan Brown
Young Guns
1. #111 Tanner Nation
2. #K0 Caylen Kettle
3. #17 Logan Gunter
4. #21 Cole MeKeehan
5. #0 Trent Blackwell
Open Wheeled Modified
1. #17 Brant Carey
2. #21 Chris McKeehan
FWD
1. #18 Kalen Holmes
2. #10 Fred Sunley
3. #26B Chuck Bellon
4. #41k Kevin Saam
5. #21B Drew Parks
6. #45 Josh Campbell
7. #45A J.J. Sorrow
8. #29 Michael Davis
9. #125 Tim Rowland
10. #41 Wayne Glenn
http://accesswdun.com/article/2019/3/771973/johnson-opens-hartwells-50th-season-with-llm-win