Story By: ROBERT HOLMAN / CRATE RACIN’ USA – TAMPA, FL – Kyle Hardy, Ashton Winger, Tucker Anderson and Drew Kennedy each picked up 25-lap preliminary feature victories Thursday on the opening night of the Rogers-Dabbs Performance Parts-sponsored Crate Racin’ USA Winter Shootout Series at East Bay Raceway Park.
The qualifying feature events for Chevrolet Performance-powered 604 Late Models drew a whopping 91-driver entry list to kick off what is slated to be the final edition of the venerable track’s Florida Winternationals history. The facility’s acreage has been previously sold to nearby Mosaic Company, and is scheduled to close for good at the end of its current racing season.
Hardy of Stephens City, Va., led flag to flag from the pole to claim the honors in the weekend’s first $1,000-to-win preliminary feature, finishing 1.573 seconds ahead of fifth-starting Phillip Cobb of Dover, Fla. Thanks in part to a pair of cautions, 17 of 23 starters finished on the lead lap, largely keeping Hardy out of traffic until late in race.
Derrick Shaw of Buckhannon, W.Va., who started second, lost one spot, but still managed a podium finish. Baily Cardwell of Knoxville, Tenn., started third and finished fourth, while sixth-starting Daniel Woody of Plant City, Fla., completed the top five.
Will Roland of Jasper, Ga., who entered the weekend second in the miniseries points chase, improved two spots to finish sixth, while Braden Mitchell of Russellville, Ala., was the big mover, improving six positions to finish 10th.
Hardy was the night’s overall fastest qualifier during hot lap-qualifying, stopping the clock at 16.314 seconds to earn the pole position for the first race.
Thursday’s second 25-lapper was a marathon. Continuing his East Bay prowess in the shadows of car owner Jeff Mathews’ Riverview, Fla., home that is located just seven miles away, Ashton Winger of Hampton, Ga., picked up a flag-to-flag victory in a race slowed by seven cautions, including five yellows from laps six through 11. Only 13 cars finished the attrition-filled affair.
Not to be deterred, Winger rolled to a 2.621-second win over series points leader Matt Henderson of Loudon, Tenn., who improved nine spots. Tyler Millwood of Kingston, Ga., rallied from 18th to finish third, while Daniel Dial Lawrenceburg, Ky., finished fourth over Brent Trimble Morgantown, W.Va. Steve Mathis Jr. of Plant City, Fla., improved 16 spots, moving from 22nd to finish sixth.
Taking the lead on a lap-14 restart, Anderson of Blairsville, Ga., led the final 11 laps to win the third qualifying feature. Anderson and Jeremy Wonderling of Wellsville, N.Y., swept by race-long leader Zack Carley as they raced into turn one, ending Carley’s 14-lap reign at the front. Carley had been passed twice earlier— once by Anderson and once by Wonderling—but was saved when cautions slowed the action and restored him to the front.
Once out front, the pole-starting Anderson cruised to a two-second win over sixth-starting Wonderling, with Rome, Ga.’s Mario Gresham finishing third after starting fifth. Carley of Freedom, N.Y., held on to finish fourth, while Nevin Gainey of Ft. White, Fla., finished fifth. Zane Powell of Junction City, Ky., rallied from 23rd to eighth in a semi slowed by five cautions.
With only three cautions, the final event of the night was much calmer. The worst of the three yellows came on the opening lap when eight cars were caught up in a turn-two wreck. Once underway, Kennedy of Sunbright, Tenn., dominated the first 21 laps of the final preliminary feature from his pole position, then survived a pair of late-race cautions to add his name to the list of Thursday’s $1,000 winners.
Kennedy finished four car lengths ahead of third-starting Nick Davis of Millsboro, Del., who took the runner-up spot away from Freddie Carpenter of Parkersburg, W.Va., with just three laps remaining. Carpenter, who started fourth, appeared to be closing on Kennedy before the cautions, but settled for third, while Jason Welshan of Maryville, Tenn., was fourth. Corey Neil Jr. of Bridge City, Texas, completed the top five after starting seventh.
The second night of preliminary action for the Rogers Dabbs Crate Racin’ USA Winter Shootout Series continues Fri., Jan. 26, with another round of hot lap qualifying and four more $1,000-to-win, 25-lap preliminary features. The Adam Stewart-directed tour wraps up its Winternationals stint at the famed Clay by the Bay on Sat., Jan. 27, with a $5,000-to-win main event.
CRUSA Dirt Late Models
Winter Nationals A Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. 99-Kyle Hardy[1]; 2. 11C-Phillip Cobb[5]; 3. 27-Derrick Shaw[2]; 4. 07B-Baily Cardwell[3]; 5. 29-Daniel Woody[6]; 6. 22BO-Will Roland[8]; 7. 95V-Travis Varnadore[9]; 8. 31G-Stephen Pedulla[11]; 9. 87C-Jarrod Carey[7]; 10. 21M-Braden Mitchell[16]; 11. 22B-Jonah Bozeman[4]; 12. 01-Ronnie Graham[13]; 13. 7J-Dalton Jacobs[12]; 14. 21H-Bryton Horner[15]; 15. 05-TJ Brittain[18]; 16. 21J-Josh Amacher[22]; 17. 21P-Josh Peacock[19]; 18. 29T-JJ Templeton[10]; 19. 20-Glen Hounshell[21]; 20. 30-Steven Stratton JR[23]; 21. 4-Kyle Beck[17]; 22. 32-Jesse Brown[20]; 23. (DNS) 17-Rob Pitcher
Winter Nationals A Feature 2 (25 Laps): 1. 12-Ashton Winger[1]; 2. 22H-Matt Henderson[11]; 3. 31-Tyler Millwood[18]; 4. 11-Daniel Dial[13]; 5. 1T-Brent Trimble[4]; 6. 95-Steven Mathis Jr[22]; 7. 7S-Jimmy Smith[9]; 8. 2S-Bo Slay[12]; 9. 4C-Cole Crawford[7]; 10. 01S-Robert Smith[15]; 11. 96-Josh Vinyard[21]; 12. 729-Mike Winn[19]; 13. 47-Jeffrey Abbey[3]; 14. 18-Matt Dooley[16]; 15. 14A-Lucas Adams[17]; 16. 71M-Pierce McCarter[6]; 17. 00-Richie Stephens[10]; 18. 119-Jade Luzenberg[5]; 19. 6-Hunter Boyd[20]; 20. 7W-Scotty Williams[23]; 21. 42-Steven Stratton Sr[2]; 22. 7BS-Brian Smith[8]; 23. 71-Davey Cline[14]
Winter Nationals A Feature 3 (25 Laps): 1. 22-Tucker Anderson[1]; 2. 3J-Jeremy Wonderling[6]; 3. 21-Mario Gresham[5]; 4. 2-Zack Carley[2]; 5. 17G-Nevin Gainey[8]; 6. 89-Brandon Miller[3]; 7. 7-Andy Nezworski[13]; 8. 28P-Zane Powell[23]; 9. 131-Matt Herlong[20]; 10. 33L-Colton Leyendecker[14]; 11. 77-Doug Stevens[16]; 12. 17J-John Winge[4]; 13. 3-Mike Collins[22]; 14. 52-John Wayne Haynes[17]; 15. 89H-Timmie Harrelson[12]; 16. 49-Ray Ciccarelli[11]; 17. 73-Larry Fitzsimmons[21]; 18. 33-Jeff Mathews[10]; 19. 17X-Andy Michael[9]; 20. 72-Trevor Collins[15]; 21. 47S-David Smith[7]; 22. 39-Jake Rainey[19]; 23. (DNS) 111-Demetrios Drellos
Winter Nationals A Feature 4 (25 Laps): 1. K37-Drew Kennedy[1]; 2. 92-Nick Davis[3]; 3. C4-Freddie Carpenter[4]; 4. 01W-Jason Welshan[5]; 5. 7N-Corey Neil Jr[7]; 6. 46M-Bryson Mitchell[9]; 7. 24-Anthony White Jr[2]; 8. 24X-Anthony White[11]; 9. 26-Kurt Stebbins[20]; 10. 49R-Kyle Lear[17]; 11. 9A-Matt Adams[21]; 12. 12L-Dave Loudin[6]; 13. 92J-Brian Coe Jr[13]; 14. 127-Austin Yarbrough[8]; 15. 46-Doug Horton[19]; 16. 14AJ-AJ Miller[15]; 17. 1-Daniel Shelton[22]; 18. 21X-Ryan French[10]; 19. 02-Keith Nosbisch[12]; 20. 47E-Tom Earl III[14]; 21. 46L-Andrew Lankford[16]; 22. 78-Wyatt Wilkerson[18]
Winter Nationals Qualifying 1: 1. 99-Kyle Hardy, 00:16.314[2]; 2. 27-Derrick Shaw, 00:16.317[13]; 3. 07B-Baily Cardwell, 00:16.482[12]; 4. 22B-Jonah Bozeman, 00:16.589[21]; 5. 11C-Phillip Cobb, 00:16.652[10]; 6. 29-Daniel Woody, 00:16.676[8]; 7. 87C-Jarrod Carey, 00:16.694[18]; 8. 22BO-Will Roland, 00:16.715[7]; 9. 95V-Travis Varnadore, 00:16.730[22]; 10. 29T-JJ Templeton, 00:16.754[5]; 11. 31G-Stephen Pedulla, 00:16.760[17]; 12. 7J-Dalton Jacobs, 00:16.775[23]; 13. 01-Ronnie Graham, 00:16.776[11]; 14. 17-Rob Pitcher, 00:16.798[1]; 15. 21H-Bryton Horner, 00:16.799[6]; 16. 21M-Braden Mitchell, 00:16.802[14]; 17. 4-Kyle Beck, 00:16.894[19]; 18. 05-TJ Brittain, 00:16.972[9]; 19. 21P-Josh Peacock, 00:16.982[4]; 20. 32-Jesse Brown, 00:17.064[3]; 21. 20-Glen Hounshell, 00:17.285[20]; 22. 21J-Josh Amacher, 00:17.405[16]; 23. 30-Steven Stratton JR, 00:17.553[15]
Winter Nationals Qualifying 2: 1. 12-Ashton Winger, 00:16.356[7]; 2. 42-Steven Stratton Sr, 00:16.442[23]; 3. 47-Jeffrey Abbey, 00:16.462[18]; 4. 1T-Brent Trimble, 00:16.482[14]; 5. 119-Jade Luzenberg, 00:16.492[9]; 6. 71M-Pierce McCarter, 00:16.494[4]; 7. 4C-Cole Crawford, 00:16.499[20]; 8. 7BS-Brian Smith, 00:16.506[3]; 9. 7S-Jimmy Smith, 00:16.519[1]; 10. 00-Richie Stephens, 00:16.543[2]; 11. 22H-Matt Henderson, 00:16.697[8]; 12. 2S-Bo Slay, 00:16.713[12]; 13. 11-Daniel Dial, 00:16.773[22]; 14. 71-Davey Cline, 00:16.991[15]; 15. 01S-Robert Smith, 00:17.000[10]; 16. 18-Matt Dooley, 00:17.042[11]; 17. 14A-Lucas Adams, 00:17.093[6]; 18. 31-Tyler Millwood, 00:17.161[17]; 19. 729-Mike Winn, 00:17.438[13]; 20. 6-Hunter Boyd, 00:17.463[5]; 21. 96-Josh Vinyard, 00:17.585[16]; 22. 95-Steven Mathis Jr, 00:17.671[21]; 23. 7W-Scotty Williams, 00:17.706[19]
Winter Nationals Qualifying 3: 1. 22-Tucker Anderson, 00:16.302[2]; 2. 2-Zack Carley, 00:16.324[13]; 3. 89-Brandon Miller, 00:16.335[8]; 4. 17J-John Winge, 00:16.408[22]; 5. 21-Mario Gresham, 00:16.490[10]; 6. 3J-Jeremy Wonderling, 00:16.493[16]; 7. 47S-David Smith, 00:16.524[5]; 8. 17G-Nevin Gainey, 00:16.587[17]; 9. 17X-Andy Michael, 00:16.596[1]; 10. 33-Jeff Mathews, 00:16.705[15]; 11. 49-Ray Ciccarelli, 00:16.726[23]; 12. 89H-Timmie Harrelson, 00:16.737[7]; 13. 7-Andy Nezworski, 00:16.740[4]; 14. 33L-Colton Leyendecker, 00:16.809[21]; 15. 72-Trevor Collins, 00:16.820[11]; 16. 77-Doug Stevens, 00:16.871[19]; 17. 52-John Wayne Haynes, 00:16.891[20]; 18. 111-Demetrios Drellos, 00:16.929[14]; 19. 39-Jake Rainey, 00:17.011[9]; 20. 131-Matt Herlong, 00:17.146[6]; 21. 73-Larry Fitzsimmons, 00:17.205[3]; 22. 3-Mike Collins, 00:17.339[12]; 23. (DQ) 28P-Zane Powell, 00:16.351[18]
Winter Nationals Qualifying 4: 1. K37-Drew Kennedy, 00:16.029[9]; 2. 24-Anthony White Jr, 00:16.259[6]; 3. 92-Nick Davis, 00:16.333[8]; 4. C4-Freddie Carpenter, 00:16.486[4]; 5. 01W-Jason Welshan, 00:16.549[22]; 6. 12L-Dave Loudin, 00:16.598[20]; 7. 7N-Corey Neil Jr, 00:16.620[17]; 8. 127-Austin Yarbrough, 00:16.641[11]; 9. 46M-Bryson Mitchell, 00:16.693[21]; 10. 21X-Ryan French, 00:16.711[5]; 11. 24X-Anthony White, 00:16.733[7]; 12. 02-Keith Nosbisch, 00:16.740[13]; 13. 92J-Brian Coe Jr, 00:16.742[18]; 14. 47E-Tom Earl III, 00:16.827[16]; 15. 14AJ-AJ Miller, 00:16.864[3]; 16. 46L-Andrew Lankford, 00:16.884[1]; 17. 49R-Kyle Lear, 00:16.945[10]; 18. 78-Wyatt Wilkerson, 00:16.994[2]; 19. 46-Doug Horton, 00:17.065[19]; 20. 26-Kurt Stebbins, 00:17.094[15]; 21. 9A-Matt Adams, 00:17.147[14]; 22. 1-Daniel Shelton, 00:18.980[12]
CRUSA Street Stocks
Winter Nationals A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 77-Michael Santangelo[1]; 2. 68-Cody Allen[7]; 3. 2S-Andrew Stone[4]; 4. 1-Mickey Trosclair[6]; 5. 10D-Paul Davis[11]; 6. 20-Race McMahon[21]; 7. 81-Kyle Livingood[12]; 8. 26-David McCormack[10]; 9. 13R-Ricky Roberts[13]; 10. 7-Caleb Knight[20]; 11. 1H-Tommy Hill[22]; 12. 311-Robo Hutchinson[15]; 13. 54-Ryan Baker[19]; 14. 22-Thomas Pratt[8]; 15. 45-Hayden Moran[2]; 16. 73-Steven Deinhardt[9]; 17. 9M-Brian Morgan[5]; 18. 71-Richard Livernois[17]; 19. 3-Jarrett Cornell[18]; 20. 7H-Nick Hebrank[14]; 21. 95-Justin Rodgers[16]; 22. 111-Chris Walker[3]; 23. 10H-John Herron[23]
Winter Nationals A Feature 2 (20 Laps): 1. 9-Dalton Peavy[2]; 2. 90G-Tim Gay[1]; 3. 44-Tim Powers[6]; 4. 32-Stephen Ford[3]; 5. 47-Jeff Conyers[8]; 6. 411-Charlie Walker[9]; 7. 75-Stephen Hohlbaugh[20]; 8. 13K-Kayden Outlaw[7]; 9. 44CC-Cameron Powers[13]; 10. 13-Thomas Burnside[16]; 11. 14-Hunter Rich[17]; 12. 46K-Kyle Bowman[14]; 13. 5B-Brian Barse[12]; 14. 05-Josh Jones[19]; 15. 5-Seth Outlaw[10]; 16. 99-Michael Hart Sr[24]; 17. 79-Garret Stephen[15]; 18. 105-Sheldon Oberle[23]; 19. 24-Justin Scarberry[21]; 20. 90-Lee Joseph Hall[5]; 21. 31-Jonathan Crain[11]; 22. 1M-Gary Miller Jr[4]; 23. SOSX-Doug Nastassi[22]; 24. (DNS) 73R-Raymond Rogers
Winter Nationals Qualifying 1: 1. 77-Michael Santangelo, 00:18.568[14]; 2. 45-Hayden Moran, 00:18.793[20]; 3. 111-Chris Walker, 00:18.817[21]; 4. 2S-Andrew Stone, 00:18.861[4]; 5. 9M-Brian Morgan, 00:18.927[15]; 6. 1-Mickey Trosclair, 00:18.965[6]; 7. 68-Cody Allen, 00:18.970[8]; 8. 22-Thomas Pratt, 00:19.090[5]; 9. 73-Steven Deinhardt, 00:19.105[3]; 10. 26-David McCormack, 00:19.177[18]; 11. 10D-Paul Davis, 00:19.278[19]; 12. 81-Kyle Livingood, 00:19.286[7]; 13. 13R-Ricky Roberts, 00:19.320[1]; 14. 7H-Nick Hebrank, 00:19.333[22]; 15. 311-Robo Hutchinson, 00:19.430[17]; 16. 95-Justin Rodgers, 00:19.439[23]; 17. 71-Richard Livernois, 00:19.553[10]; 18. 3-Jarrett Cornell, 00:19.627[2]; 19. 54-Ryan Baker, 00:19.778[11]; 20. 20-Race McMahon, 00:19.783[9]; 21. 7-Caleb Knight, 00:19.783[13]; 22. 1H-Tommy Hill, 00:20.117[16]; 23. 10H-John Herron, 00:20.151[12]
Winter Nationals Qualifying 2: 1. 90G-Tim Gay, 00:18.956[17]; 2. 9-Dalton Peavy, 00:18.969[6]; 3. 32-Stephen Ford, 00:19.061[1]; 4. 1M-Gary Miller Jr, 00:19.095[3]; 5. 90-Lee Joseph Hall, 00:19.233[8]; 6. 44-Tim Powers, 00:19.323[18]; 7. 13K-Kayden Outlaw, 00:19.339[11]; 8. 47-Jeff Conyers, 00:19.370[20]; 9. 411-Charlie Walker, 00:19.466[19]; 10. 5-Seth Outlaw, 00:19.471[12]; 11. 31-Jonathan Crain, 00:19.486[21]; 12. 5B-Brian Barse, 00:19.508[9]; 13. 44CC-Cameron Powers, 00:19.568[7]; 14. 46K-Kyle Bowman, 00:19.589[5]; 15. 79-Garret Stephen, 00:19.631[16]; 16. 13-Thomas Burnside, 00:19.634[4]; 17. 14-Hunter Rich, 00:19.668[2]; 18. 73R-Raymond Rogers, 00:19.682[23]; 19. 05-Josh Jones, 00:19.714[15]; 20. 75-Stephen Hohlbaugh, 00:20.103[14]; 21. 24-Justin Scarberry, 00:20.161[10]; 22. SOSX-Doug Nastassi, 00:20.162[22]; 23. 105-Sheldon Oberle, 00:20.699[13]; 24. (DNS) 99-Michael Hart Sr