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Ketron roars to Kingsport NASCAR Late Model Stock victory

KINGSPORT, Tenn. (May 11) – For the second straight week Mark Ketron of Kingsport crossed the finish line first to take the checkers in the Shoney’s NASCAR Late Model Stock 50-lap feature. But, unlike last week when his apparent victory was nullified due to a rules violation discovered in post race technical inspection, Ketron’s win on "McDonald’s/Speedo The Clown Kids Night at the Races" will go down in the record books as his first-ever win. And Ketron did it the "hard way"… starting from the rear of the field and roaring his way up to the front.

Jonesborough’s Robbie Ferguson set fast-time in qualifying over the 14-car LMS field with a quick lap of 15:490-seconds to earn the right to start outside Row 1 after a "two" was rolled on the inversion dice. Abingdon, Va.’s Wade Lopez started alongside Ferguson from the pole position, but as the duo raced off the second turn on lap 1, Ferguson powered into the lead over Lopez. At the stripe to complete the opening lap behind Ferguson and Lopez, Reece Milton was running in third, with Wayne Hale and Jeff Berry running side-by-side battling for the fourth spot.

The event’s first caution waved on lap 6 when Bill Lane looped his mount in turn two. The top five on the restart were Ferguson, Lopez, Milton, Hale and Berry. Back under green, Ferguson’s No. 32 Monte Carlo did not come back up to speed like it had at the beginning of the 50-lapper, which after the race his crew would find it was due to a spark plug wire falling off. Lopez was all over the rear bumper and sneaking peeks under Ferguson racing off each corner trying to grab the lead.

Meanwhile, Milton had his hands full in trying to hold off the advances from Hale for the third spot. On lap 10, racing off the second turn Hale made the pass, dropping Milton back to fourth place. Back up front, Lopez was pulling under Ferguson on each lap racing off the corners, but Ferguson’s momentum on the high side would allow him to hold Lopez at bay. Over the next five laps, cautions waved on lap 13 when Adam Dean spun in turn two and, on lap 18 when Buddy Talbot also spun in the second corner.

The top five going back green were Ferguson, Lopez, Hale, Milton and Berry. Not only was the focus on the battle up front for the lead between Ferguson and Lopez, but on Ketron, who had worked his way up to sixth place from the tail of the field. Lopez continued to pull under Ferguson racing off the corners, while on lap 20 Ketron passed Berry to take over fifth. Getting a good bite on the bottom racing off (turn) two on lap 21, Lopez passed Ferguson to take over the point.

While Lopez was passing Ferguson for the lead on the 21st circuit, Ketron was riding the high-line around turns one and two and picking off third place from Hale. With Ferguson in his sights, racing off turn four on lap 22 Ketron moved into the runner-up spot.

At the halfway point, Lopez had a rear view mirror full of Ketron’s McDonald’s-Chafin Enterprises/ IBEW Local 934/Ketron Electric/Smoky Mountain Rod & Custom/Joey Robinson Race Engines/Townsend Race Cars/No. 26 Monte Carlo, with Ferguson, Hale and Berry running third through fifth.

With Ferguson’s mount running on seven-cylinders, on lap 28 Hale worked under him entering the first turn for third place. Ketron was turning up the heat on Lopez in the battle up front for the lead and, on lap 33, Ketron pulled alongside Lopez racing off the fourth turn. With Lopez slipping off (turn) two on lap 36, the door was opened for Ketron to race into a lead he would hold to the finish.

With Ketron cruising out front, Ferguson lost another position on lap 38 when Berry worked the bottom of the track entering the third turn to take over the fourth spot. After the heartbreak of having last week’s win taken away, Ketron was determined to redeem himself tonight before his McDonald’s-Chafin Enterprises sponsored night at the races. And over the final 10 laps he would put six car-lengths between himself and Lopez. Finishing third through fifth were Hale, Berry and Ferguson. Completing the top-10 finishers were Milton, R.J. Stanley, Bill Garrett, Rick Pannell and Buddy Talbot.

"Man, this is just great to come back this week and prove to everyone we indeed can win races," said a very happy Ketron after climbing from his car in Victory Lane. "We had to do it the hard way tonight after we elected to make a chassis change on the car after qualifying. Sure, it was a gamble making the change on the car and having to start from the rear of the field, but I really don’t believe we would’ve won if we hadn’t of made the change. Thankfully everything worked out for us and, we passed post-race tech and this win will stand up.

"Besides thanking all of my sponsors who have helped make all of this possible, I really need to thank my mom and dad for all of their support since I began racing. Being this is Mother’s Day weekend, this win tonight is for my mom. Also, I’ve got a great pit crew headed up by crew chief Mike Lloyd, Lee Bowman, Kevin Street, Shane Reed, Jason Merritt, and my son, David Ketron."

Caleb Holman of Abingdon, Va., visited victory lane for the second straight week after winning the 30-lap "Allied Mortgage" Sportsman feature over Tommy Spangler, Paul Shull, R.J. Stanley and Roger Neece.

Kingsport’s Scott Robinson held off Stacey Castle, Chuck Crigger, Wayne Gibson and Don Davis in winning the 25-lap Street Stock feature, his first victory of the year.

Brad Housewright of Kingsport captured the 20-lap Pro Challenge feature victory for the second consecutive week, holding off Garland Worley, Claude Housewright, Chris Tunnel and Trevor Richardson for the win.

Kingsport’s Darrel Gillespie is the winningest driver in any division at GKS, winning his fifth 20-lap Legends feature of the season over Nancy Humble, Rusty Sarver, Rob Varney and Adam Sarver.

Elmar Nicely of Kingsport captured his first-ever victory in the 20-lap Charger feature, holding off "Iron" Will McKnight, Scott McMurray, Bill Coleman and Dan Williams.

Jonesborough’s Kelly Glass won the 20-lap Modified Lite feature over Gerald Smith, Randy English, K.D. Knoedler and Sam Couch.

Jeff Maupin of Greeneville made it six wins in seven events on the season in capturing the 15-lap UMP Modified feature victory over Alton Satterfield, Chap Satterfield and Randy Bethea.

Galaxy Kingsport Speedway will host another eight-division "Friday Night Thunder" racing program next Friday, May 18. For more information, contact the track office at (423) 288-5992.

"SHONEY’S" LATE MODEL STOCKS (50-laps)

   1.Mark Ketron #26-Kingsport, TN 
   2.Wade Lopez #83-Abingdon, VA 
   3.Wayne Hale #19-Piney Flats, TN 
   4.Jeff Berry #61-Kingsport, TN 
   5.Robbie Ferguson #32-Jonesborough, TN 
   6.Reece Milton #16-Kingsport, TN 
   7.R.J. Stanley #18-Bristol, TN 
   8.Bill Garrett #4-Johnson City, TN 
   9.Rick Pannell #33-Kingsport, TN 
  10.Buddy Talbott #00-Blountville, TN 
  11.Clyde Jones #7-Kingsport, TN 
  12.Bill Lane #14-Kingsport, TN 
  13.Adam Dean #81-Bristol, VA 
  14.Kres VanDyke #15-Abingdon, VA