Column By: BRETT HORLACHER / RPW – CONCORD, NC – Thursday night’s DIRTcar Northeast Sportsman event at the Dirt Track at Charlotte belonged to Nelson Mason.
Although, Kevin Ridley made it interesting throughout the entire 15-lap affair.
The #35 of Mason took the lead from the drop of Dave Farney’s green flag. on the start. However, the caution came out on the first lap for a crash involving Jessica Power and Cedrick Gavreau.
The field would re-rack and with Mason again assuming the lead as the top three of Mason, Kevin Ridley and Dave Rogers tussled for a three-way battle for the lead. In the early stages of the event, Mason ran the low side with Ridley taking the high line. Rogers was holding close during the first several circuits.
The three broke away from the rest of the field but ultimately the top two, Mason and Ridley, started to separate themselves from the rest.
That battle was close for all 15 laps. Ridley’s front body panels even came loose and began to flap in the wind but he never let up. Several times, the 20x was close enough to Nelson to tap on his rear bumper to let he leader know he was there.
At one point, Ridley found his way to the inside of Mason to challenge for the lead but had to lift to avoid contact with the lead car.
Over the next few laps, Ridley would make that time back up, pulling to the rear side of Mason once again with only a few laps remaining.
However, despite Ridley’s best efforts, including one final shot in the last two corners, it was all for naught as Mason won the drag race off turn 4 to capture the checkered flag.
This was his eighth win of the 2023 season but first Short Track World Championship triumph at Charlotte. He nhas now cemented a good starting position in Saturday’s main event.
Ridley would have to settle for second with Rogers, Michael Wright and Derrick McGrew Jr. completing the top five.
Championship Feature (15 Laps): 1. 35-Nelson Mason[1]; 2. 20X-Kevin Ridley[4]; 3. 44-David Rogers[6]; 4. 0-Michael Wright[3]; 5. 49M-Derrick McGrew[2]; 6. 22C-Cedric Gauvreau[15]; 7. 318-Dave Richer[7]; 8. 92-Andrew Buff[14]; 9. 35T-Cameron Tuttle[12]; 10. 23-David Dickey[5]; 11. 10-Chelsie Kriegisch[8]; 12. 51-Kreg Crooker[17]; 13. 32C-Carter Crooker[18]; 14. 03-Joshua Jock[10]; 15. 52-Jessica Power[13]; 16. 44S-Gordon Smith[9]; 17. 49-Chris Jakubiak[19]; 18. 5C-Ayden Cipriano[20]; 19. 72-Ray Hall Jr[11]; 20. 813-Jason Quenneville[16]
Qualifying Group A (2 Laps): 1. 22C-Cedric Gauvreau, 00:17.935[9]; 2. 0-Michael Wright, 00:18.022[7]; 3. 318-Dave Richer, 00:18.102[15]; 4. 32C-Carter Crooker, 00:18.121[2]; 5. 03-Joshua Jock, 00:18.142[10]; 6. 5C-Ayden Cipriano, 00:18.177[3]; 7. 52-Jessica Power, 00:18.192[11]; 8. 813-Jason Quenneville, 00:18.197[6]; 9. 49-Chris Jakubiak, 00:18.199[14]; 10. 35T-Cameron Tuttle, 00:18.208[1]; 11. 44S-Gordon Smith, 00:18.240[16]; 12. 23-David Dickey, 00:18.356[12]; 13. 22S-Dane Hedlund, 00:18.392[13]; 14. 16X-Savannah Laflair, 00:18.398[8]; 15. 7X-Chuck Miller, 00:18.445[5]; 16. 6W-Kyle Whitney, 00:19.164[4]
Qualifying Group B (2 Laps): 1. 20X-Kevin Ridley, 00:17.888[8]; 2. 44-David Rogers, 00:17.938[10]; 3. 51-Kreg Crooker, 00:18.038[15]; 4. 92-Andrew Buff, 00:18.074[14]; 5. 35-Nelson Mason, 00:18.114[7]; 6. 49M-Derrick McGrew, 00:18.161[2]; 7. 10-Chelsie Kriegisch, 00:18.178[4]; 8. 72-Ray Hall Jr, 00:18.281[13]; 9. 284-Jamie Kamrowski, 00:18.375[16]; 10. 60X-Kinser Hill, 00:18.509[1]; 11. 28J-Jacob Jordan, 00:18.600[5]; 12. 32-Tom Princiotta, 00:18.741[6]; 13. 73G-Gordon Hermanson Jr, 00:18.759[12]; 14. 73J-Troy Arnold, 00:18.763[3]; 15. 58-Logen Lockhart, 00:18.881[11]; 16. 29-Tanner Forbes, 00:18.881[9]
Hot Laps (2 Laps): 1. 22C-Cedric Gauvreau, 00:17.773[9]; 2. 49-Chris Jakubiak, 00:17.955[14]; 3. 44-David Rogers, 00:18.012[26]; 4. 35T-Cameron Tuttle, 00:18.028[1]; 5. 49M-Derrick McGrew, 00:18.051[18]; 6. 318-Dave Richer, 00:18.088[15]; 7. 29-Tanner Forbes, 00:18.108[25]; 8. 44S-Gordon Smith, 00:18.146[16]; 9. 51-Kreg Crooker, 00:18.161[31]; 10. 10-Chelsie Kriegisch, 00:18.197[20]; 11. 35-Nelson Mason, 00:18.209[23]; 12. 813-Jason Quenneville, 00:18.237[6]; 13. 03-Joshua Jock, 00:18.254[10]; 14. 23-David Dickey, 00:18.256[12]; 15. 0-Michael Wright, 00:18.257[7]; 16. 32C-Carter Crooker, 00:18.258[2]; 17. 16X-Savannah Laflair, 00:18.350[8]; 18. 72-Ray Hall Jr, 00:18.378[29]; 19. 52-Jessica Power, 00:18.390[11]; 20. 92-Andrew Buff, 00:18.479[30]; 21. 73J-Troy Arnold, 00:18.481[19]; 22. 60X-Kinser Hill, 00:18.488[17]; 23. 7X-Chuck Miller, 00:18.498[5]; 24. 22S-Dane Hedlund, 00:18.568[13]; 25. 28J-Jacob Jordan, 00:18.571[21]; 26. 32-Tom Princiotta, 00:18.595[22]; 27. 58-Logen Lockhart, 00:18.940[27]; 28. 73G-Gordon Hermanson Jr, 00:19.084[28]; 29. 6W-Kyle Whitney, 00:19.821[4]; 30. 5C-Ayden Cipriano, 00:19.821[3]; 31. 284-Jamie Kamrowski, 00:19.821[32]; 32. 20X-Kevin Ridley, 00:19.821[24]