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VanDyke makes it two straight Late Model wins at Kingsport

KINGSPORT, Tenn. (Sept. 28) – Kres VanDyke inherited the lead in the 50-lap "Shoney’s" NASCAR Late Model Stock Car feature under unusual circumstances Friday night en route to capturing his second straight victory at Galaxy Kingsport Speedway on a chilly evening in East Tennessee. Once out front, VanDyke, of Abingdon, Va., cruised to the win over Wade Lopez and Jeff Berry.

With the caution flag out on lap 24, contact between the lapped car of Bill Garrett and race leader Dave Burks, ended Burks’ hopes of capturing his first-ever Late Model victory when a flat right front tire sent him into the pits and the attention of his crew. Garrett spun his mount on the backstretch and limped around to the pits also with a flat tire, where he parked and called it a night.

Burks and Lopez led the 15-car field to the green flag from row one and, back around at the start/finish line to complete the first lap Lopez was riding on the point with Burks in second. The event’s first caution quickly waved on lap 2 when Butch Jarvis spun in turn two.

The top five on the restart were Lopez, Burks, Reece Milton, VanDyke and Donnie Henry. Burks was shadowing Lopez waiting for an opening to slip by for the lead, while VanDyke was pressuring Milton for the third spot. VanDyke moved around Milton and into third on lap 10 at the stripe.

Burks dropped to the inside of Lopez on lap 11 racing into (turn) three, and getting a good run off the fourth turn he grabbed the lead. VanDyke quickly closed on Lopez to challenge for the runner-up spot, and on lap 14 between turns one and two he dropped Lopez back into third place.

While racing for position, Milton got into the back of Lopez in turn four on lap 16 to cause both cars to get loose. While Lopez, Milton and the fifth-running Adam Dean all got out of the gas, Berry nailed the throttle and passed both Dean and Lopez to move into fourth place. One lap later he worked under Milton to take over the third spot.

With Burks holding a comfortable lead over VanDyke just prior to halfway of the 50-lapper, and with the field already slowed down and the caution waving, Garrett and Burks tangled to send both cars into the pits with flat tires. Burks tagged on at the rear of the field, while Garrett parked his mount.

VanDyke, driving the Modern Chevrolet/Matney’s Construction/Woodmen of the World Insurance/Lone Pine Exterminators/Vansant Happy Mart & Taco Bell/Matthew Rogers CPA/WMJD Radio/Townsend Race Cars/J & J Race Engines/No. 15 Monte Carlo, was followed by Berry, Milton, Lopez and Dean going back green.

Lopez worked Milton over to grab third place on lap 31 in turn four, opening the door for Dean to challenge Milton for the fourth spot. After running three laps side-by-side, Dean seized the position on lap 34. The final caution waved on lap 38 for another spin in turn two by Jarvis.

Heading to the finish the top three were VanDyke, Berry and Lopez. VanDyke quickly settled the issue of who would visit victory lane by pulling out to a half-straightaway advantage with five laps to go. Berry was holding down second place crossing the stripe to receive the white flag, but getting loose in turn two allowed Lopez to pull alongside and challenge for the spot. Running door-to-door off (turn) four with the checkered flag waving, Lopez beat Berry by a couple of feet for the position. Dean and Milton finished in fourth and fifth, respectively.

Completing the top 10 finishers were Burks, Stacy Vicars, Henry, Wayne Hale and Allen Hawkins.

"This is just awesome, coming back and winning for the second straight week," said VanDyke with a smile on his face after climbing from his car. "The car was great tonight. It seems like it took us forever to finally get our first-ever win, but really, we’ve been pretty strong every week we’ve unloaded. Our six second-place runs show we’ve been real competitive. This (win) feels good, because I really feel like we made a statement tonight by backing up our win from last week and showed everyone it wasn’t a fluke.

"We had some engine problems after the first practice session with an oil leak, but thankfully, Jeff and Joy from J & J Race Engines were here tonight with us to fix it. I want to thank my Mom and Dad for providing me the opportunity to race, along with all of our sponsors. I also want to thank my pit crew, headed by Kirby Gobble (crew chief), Danny Burks, Todd Estep and Ken Gollohon."

Abingdon’s Caleb Holman captured his sixth "Allied Mortgage" Sportsman feature win of the season, but more importantly, the victory coupled with Paul Shull’s disqualification for conduct detrimental (rough driving) to the sport catapulted Holman into the Sportsman division point lead. After the checkered flag had waved, the 60-year-old veteran Shull rammed the right rear quarter panel of Tommy Spangler’s car, spinning Spangler wildly on the backstretch amidst other competitors who had slowed headed towards the scale area.

Holman had grabbed the lead on lap four of the 30-lap event and led until lap 28. With two laps remaining, the second-running Shull made contact with Holman between turns one and two to take over the lead, and with Holman sliding high up the groove Spangler moved into the runner-up spot. Racing into (turn) three, Spangler dropped to the inside of Shull to challenge for the lead. Contact was made and both drivers spun in turn four to set up a two-lap dash to the checkers. Holman sprinted to the win over Roger Neece, Rod Collins, Jeff Collingsworth and Spangler.