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Robert Walden
BULLS GAP, Tenn. (May 8) - No matter how young or old we are, there is no love like that from a mother to her children. We all know the special importance mothers are in all our lives, and Volunteer Speedway recognized mothers both young and old and presented them with special gifts Saturday night in celebration of Mother's Day.
Super Late Model driver Mark Vineyard of Powell also celebrated - with his first trip to victory lane.
Vineyard has run many laps over the years at Volunteer Speedway and in the process recorded many top-five runs, including an astounding 22 second-place finishes. With victory seemingly in his grasp only to be snagged away on many occasions, Vineyard reversed the trend by grabbing the lead from race-long leader Kerry Jones on the white flag lap to capture that ever-elusive first Super Late Model feature win at "The Gap."
"Man, it's sure taken a long time to get this first win … and it's great to finally be able to say I've won a Super Late Model feature here at Volunteer Speedway," said a smiling Vineyard after climbing from his car in victory lane. "You know, I've lost races just the same way as I was able to win tonight … thinking you were going to win and then having something break on the car or getting tangled up with a lapped car. I guess you could say getting this win tonight was a little bit of 'payback' for races I've lost here at 'The Gap' over the years."
Jones toured the high banks at 12.805-seconds to claim the pole position for the 30-lap main event, and launched into the lead at the start over Travis Greer, Rodney Kiker, Vineyard and John Tweed. Kiker got around Greer on the second lap to move into the runner-up spot, with Vineyard getting around Greer to take over third in the running order on lap 4. Greer dropped back to fifth when Jeff Maupin got around him racing off turn four on lap 8.
Vineyard got under Kiker racing off the fourth turn on lap 10 to move into second, and he quickly closed the distance between his Smithbuilt Homes/Norman Sheetmetal/Fastlane Signs & Graphics/American Race Tires/White's Total Performance/DWB Race Cars/American Billet/Larry Wallace Race Engines/No. 4 Ford Fusion and race leader Jones, closing to within five car lengths as the raced reached halfway.
With 10 laps remaining Vineyard had narrowed the gap to three car lengths back of Jones, while behind the lead duo the battle for third place was heated as Kiker had a battle on his hands trying to hold off Maupin. Getting the five-to-go signal from the flagman, Vineyard was riding on Jones' rear bumper.
Racing down the backstretch into the third turn on lap 28, Vineyard drove in hard on the outside of Jones. Vineyard pulled alongside Jones on the outside as they raced off the fourth turn headed to take the white flag. At the flagstand they were side-by-side, and directly in front of Jones racing into the first turn on the bottom of the track was the lapped car of Mark Sturgill.
Jones made contact with Sturgill between turns one and two, with both Jones and Sturgill spinning. With Jones' altercation with Sturgill knocking him from the lead, it opened the door for Vineyard to record his first-ever Super Late Model feature win at the track. Finishing behind Vineyard at the checkered flag were Kiker, Maupin, Greer and Tweed.
"I was looking ahead and saw that black 4-car (Mark Sturgill) just ahead of Kerry (Jones) and I as we raced off into the third turn," Vineyard said. "I knew Kerry was going to protect the bottom groove, so I made the quick decision to drive on off hard into the corner to his outside. The car stuck good between (turns) three and four and I got alongside of him as we raced off the fourth turn. We were side-by-side at the flagstand and at that point it was an all-out battle for the victory. With the black 4-car down low, I knew if I drove on off hard into the first turn and held my ground on the outside, Kerry was going to be trapped behind that lapped car.
"Out of the corner of my eye I caught a glimpse as Kerry and that car started wrecking. I just stayed hard in the gas and drove around them on the high-side and we were fortunate enough to get the win. Finally winning a race here is very special, it really means a lot to not only myself but to all my family who have supported me over the years in my racing. My father, Leon, is here tonight along with my sister and also my cousin Buster, whose dad H.E. Vineyard has won many races here over the years and also won four track championships."
Jensen Ford of Piney Flats made his first start of the 2010 racing season in a brand-new car a memorable one. The 22-year-old chauffeur set fast-time at 13.208-seconds in qualifying over the 16 competitors present to earn the pole position for the 25-lap Fastrak Racing Series-sanctioned Pro (Crate) Late Model feature. Ford narrowly missed breaking the Pro Late Model track record of 13.205-seconds (109.054 mph), which was established by Shanon Buckingham back on April 10 at the weekly season-opener.
Grabbing the lead at the drop of the green flag, Ford set sail and never looked back … leading flag-to-flag en route to comfortably cruising to the feature win over Greg Martin, Shane Roberts, Dale Ball and Jake Teague.
Jamie Whitt of Wise, Va., led green-to-checkers in winning the first Hobby Stock feature, an event which saw the red flag wave when Josh Odom flipped between turns three and four. With emergency responders and track personnel quickly on the scene, Odom climbed from his car uninjured. Whitt held off Chuck Johnson, Dustin Shaver, Blake Kelley and Tracy Wolfe for his second-straight victory.
Curt Taylor of Mount Carmel made a charge from deep in the field to overtake Bud Kelly and record his first-ever victory in the second Hobby Stock feature. Finishing third through fifth, respectively, were Daniel Reece, Terry Dean and Eddie Adams.
SUPER LATE MODEL (30 laps)
1) Mark Vineyard #4; 2) Rodney Kiker #25; 3) Jeff Maupin #0; 4) Travis Greer #11g; 5) John Tweed #1; 6) Ray Jarnigan #73; 7) Kerry Jones #6; 8) Mark Sturgill #4s; 9) Don Scalf #B4 - Did Not Start: Dempsey Harold Jr. #9
PRO LATE MODEL (25 laps)
1) Jensen Ford #83; 2) Greg Martin #24m; 3) Shane Roberts #17; 4) Dale Ball #2; 5) Jake Teague #117; 6) Tim Byrd #24; 7) Todd Brooks #T1; 8) Pierce McCarter #71; 9) Keith Helton #5; 10) Chris Chandler #8; 11) Jackie Hughes #27; 12) Eddie Morris #m14; 13) Logan Hickey #16; 14) Mark Sant #79w; 15) Richard Adkins #73 - Did Not Start: Ricky Moore #75
HOBBY STOCK #1 (20 laps)
1) Jamie Whitt #1; 2) Chuck Johnson #17; 3) Dustin Shaver #7; 4) Blake Kelley #K5; 5) Tracy Wolfe #11; 6) Mike Kelly #8; 7) Dennis Metcalf #55; 8) Dale Reed #52; 9) Charlie Bates #27; 10) Chuck Killian #96; 11) Bobby Reed #54; 12) Chris Long #75; 13) Josh Odom #14; 14) Patrick Flannery #38 - Did Not Start: Devin Helton #17H
HOBBY STOCK #2 (15 laps)
1) Curt Taylor #50; 2) Bud Kelly #B21; 3) Daniel Reece #66; 4) Terry Dean #47; 5) Eddie Adams #9; 6) David Shelton #4; 7) Bobby Shelton #5; 8) Shannon Davidson #88; 9) Tim Brewer #77; 10) Jesse Wilder #79; 11) Roger Hunter #7-11; 12) Dustin Heintz #57
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