Hale races repaired car to Kingsport victory — Canter, Dockey, Barcker and Barnes also visit victory lane

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Over the course of a week, Wayne Hale went from fuming about his wrecked race car to being “King of the Concrete Jungle.”

The Piney Flats driver won Friday night’s Late Model Stock feature for the NASCAR Advance Auto Weekly Series at Kingsport Speedway in a complete turnaround from the previous Friday.

The previous week, Hale watched helplessly as his No. 19 Toyota was towed to the pits after getting wrecked on the opening lap of the race. This time, Hale used the bumper to get by leader Nik Williams on lap 41 and stayed out front the rest of the 60-lap feature.

“It’s a shame what happened last week because I thought we could have given them a run for their money,” said Hale, who started the race seventh. “We went back to the shop, got everything repaired and we were still a little off, but it was a good night.”

He pointed out it was the first NASCAR points race of 2020 after the track had sanctioned the first two nights of racing due to the COVID-19 restrictions.

“This is what we’re after,” Hale said. “We’ve won championships at Lonesome Pine (Raceway) and other places, but we’ve never won one at Kingsport. We’ve been second and third about 15 times. This is our 30th year racing and we’re going to try to win this thing this year.”

Greeneville driver Bryson Dennis finished second in his white No. 15 Chevrolet. It was significant as he was the driver who hit Hale from behind the previous week. This time, Dennis was patient throughout the race and was rewarded with the runner-up finish.

“We’ve worked hard on our car and got it within a tenth (of a second) of where it needs to be,” Dennis said. “Man, that was a fun race. If I had to run second, I’m glad it was to Wayne. He deserved that. I hate I took him out last week. It wasn’t intentional as I don’t race like that, so congrats to him on getting the win.”

Defending track champion Williams passed early leader Chase Dixon for the top spot on lap 28. His No. 32 Chevrolet pulled out front on a lap 40 restart, but the Chuckey driver fell back to fourth after the bump-and-run was executed by Hale. He finished third.

“I got moved out of the way,” Williams said. “That’s alright. It’s short-track racing and I will be on the opposite end of it next time.”

Kres VanDyke, the previous Friday’s winner, set fast time in qualifying, powering around the 3/8-mile concrete oval in 15.042 seconds at 89.749 mph.

He was running second to Williams when he spun to avoid Dixon’s car which had spun out between turns 3 and 4. VanDyke was put back to sixth on the restart, but was battling Dennis for second just four laps later when the motor let go in his red No. 15 Chevrolet.

“It was pretty good at the beginning, but the motor kept going down on his all night,” VanDyke said after finishing last in the nine-car field. “It wouldn’t get up to speed after we had charged up to second.

“I couldn’t understand why we were put back in sixth anyway. The rules state if you’re involved in a wreck, you go to the back of the field. If you try to avoid getting in the wreck, you blend in and get your spot back.”

Dixon recovered from his spin to finish fourth, one spot ahead of Keith Helton, who started the race from the pole after an inversion of the top-five qualifiers.

SPORTSMAN

Outside pole sitter Kyle Barnes took the lead over Derek Lane on the opening lap and led flag-to-flag to win the Sportsman feature.

His No. 00 Chevrolet wasn’t seriously challenged out front. Kirby Gobble passed Lane for second halfway through the race and they maintained the second and third positions.

Fast qualifier Alex Miller finished fourth and Rusty Clendenin was fifth.

MOD 4

Kevin Canter improved to 3-for-3 for the season in his No. 3 Dale Earnhardt-tribute paint scheme Ford.

The defending class champion passed Kirby Gobble for the lead on lap 8 and led the rest of the 30-lap feature.

Gobble emerged from a back-and-forth battle with Dennis Arnold to finish second. Arnold finished third, followed by Brad Ball and Chris Amburgey as the race ended under caution for Tristen Barnes’ spin on the final lap.

PURE 4

Ben Barker grabbed the lead at the start of the Pure 4 race and led all 30 laps to record his second straight victory.

Bucky Smith pressured Barker throughout and finished second in the 21-driver field. Billy Byington was third ahead of defending class champion Keith Helton in fourth and Kenny Absher in fifth.

PURE STREET

Tony Dockery made a daring three-wide pass for the lead on lap 3 of the Pure Street feature.

Once out front, his No. 05 Camaro set sail for his third win of the season in as many races. Rob Austin raced to a second-place finish in his Camaro.

Billy Walters, Jamie Meadows and Ricky Payne rounded out the top five.

For more information on Kingsport Speedway, visit our website at –www.kingsportspeedway.com

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