LAVONIA, GA – Matthew Nance won his first career FASTRAK Pro Late Model Series South East Region Tour race by being hotter than a firecracker on the July 4th Weekend. Nance drove the Diversified Finishers Longhorn to Fast Time honors, won his eight-lap Heat Race, and then led all 40 laps of the feature to sweep the 6th Annual Charlie Mize Memorial at Lavonia Speedway.
While the Ronda, NC driver looked like he had the dominant race car, lapped traffic made things interesting on the last lap. For most of the race, Nance was able to maintain a 2.5 second lead over Brent Dixon of Elberton, GA.
In the last two laps of the race, Dixon was able to cut that deficient in half, and close to within a couple of car lengths as the lead duo took the white flag. Nance hung on for the win, with Dixon finishing second in the Jacky Jones Club 29.
“I was trying to be as patient as I could be with the lapped cars on the final lap of the race because I knew if I wasn’t, I could have thrown it all away,” Nance said. “I kept waiting to see someone alongside of me, but there was no one there. I’ve ran this series for two years, and FASTRAK has the best Pro Late Model drivers in the country. This is really special to win one of these races.”
Former FASTRAK Champion Ron Parker of Belwood, NC finished third in the Schaeffer Oil Rocket, and Danny Sanders of Athens, GA took the fourth spot in the Coors Light Longhorn. Frankie Beard of Hartwell, GA was fifth in the Jessica Cornett Racing/CMP Automotive Mastersbilt, and Benji Hicks of Mt. Airy, NC drove the T&K Enterprises Longhorn to a sixth-place finish.
Will Beard of Hartwell, GA finished seventh in the Old 29 Golf Carts Rocket, and Jensen Ford of Piney Flats, TN was the Hard Charger of the Race after starting 14th in the Tim Byrd Motorsports TNT and finished eighth. Peyton Freeman of Commerce, GA was ninth in the Freeman Plumbing Longhorn, and Phillip Thompson of Knoxville, TN rounded out the top ten in the Milmax Filtration Warrior and was the Rookie of the Race.
Ford came into the Charlie Mize Memorial Race with a two point lead over Hicks in what has become one of the closest championship point battles in motorsports this season. It couldn’t get any closer, right? Don’t take that bet! Ford and Hicks left Lavonia Speedway on Monday night sharing the FASTRAK SE point lead.
After the first six races of the 2017 FASTRAK SE season, the championship point lead has either changed or been shared after every race. In preliminary action on Monday night at Lavonia Speedway, Nance out-timed the 22-car field with a lap in 16.780 seconds. Along with Nance, the other two eight-lap heat races were won by Dixon and Parker.
Nance took control of the race from the drop of the green flag, as he charged from his outside front row starting spot to take the lead from polesitter Dixon, with Parker, defending FASTRAK SE Champion Cla Knight of North Augusta, SC in the Augusta Aquatics Longhorn, and Beard trailing in the top five.
The race leader set a fast pace in the opening laps, has he jumped out to a 12 car-length lead by lap four, and stretched that out to a half-straightaway lead over Dixon by lap six. Nance began to encounter the cars on the tail end of the lead lap on the tenth circuit, but Dixon could not close the gap.
The two second lead Nance built up on Dixon at the halfway point of the race went away on lap 23 when the first of three caution flags came out for Will Harris of Maysville, GA, who stalled his AFCO Rocket in turn two. When the field doubled up for the restart, Nance chose the inside, while Dixon took the outside to the right of the leader.
Parker chose the inside from the third spot to restart behind Nance. Traditionally, Knight would have went to the outside of Parker, but since FASTRAK rules state a driver has the option to go to the inside or the outside, Knight decided to try a different strategy and he chose the inside to restart behind Parker. Beard, from the fifth spot, filled the position outside of Parker.
The green light for the restart quickly gave way to the yellow caution bulb, as Knight ended up against the outside guardrail in turn one. Knight retired for the evening with damage on the right-front corner of his race car. Sam Hicks of Hartwell, GA slowed the field down for the final time on lap 24 when he spun the Old 29 Golf Carts Barry Wright in turn four.
Nance led Dixon, Parker, Sanders, Frankie Beard, Will Beard, Adam Partain of Hartwell, GA in the Partain Farms Barry Wright, Benji Hicks, Thompson and Ford down for the double-file restart. Hicks got up on the wheel when the green flag came out, as he advanced from eighth to sixth, a move that would end up putting him at the top of the points list with Ford at the end of the race.
With ten laps to go, Nance had a 1.855 second lead over Dixon, and it at first appeared lapped cars would not play a role in the race outcome. That all changed with two laps to go, as three lapped cars were racing each other for position as Nance closed in. Nance took the white flag behind them with no place to go. That also meant that Dixon, who closed fast, also had no place to go.
The next race for the FASTRAK Pro Late Model Series South East Region Tour will take place on Saturday night, July 22 at Screven Motorsports Complex in Sylvania, GA with the $2,000-to-win, $250-to-start Rebel Yell 40.
Check out the official website for the FASTRAK Racing Series at www.fastrakracing.com and continue to follow our social media networks for the FASTRAK Racing Series. Like and Follow our Fan Page on Facebook plus follow @FASTRAK_SE and/or @FASTRAK_MOV on Twitter to get up to the minute news and details as they become available.
OFFICIAL RESULTS OF ROUND 6 AT LAVONIA SPEEDWAY IN LAVONIA, GA ON 7/3/17:
POS STRT CAR # DRIVER HOMETOWN LAPS $ WON
1. 2 24n Matthew Nance Ronda, NC 40 $2,000
2. 1 1 Brent Dixon Elberton, GA 40 $1,000
3. 3 8 Ron Parker Belwood, NC 40 $700
4. 6 4 Danny Sanders Athens, GA 40 $600
5. 4 2 Frankie Beard Hartwell, GA 40 $500
6. 9 55 Benji Hicks Mt. Airy, NC 40 $450
7. 8 29 Will Beard Hartwell, GA 40 $400
8. 14 83 Jensen Ford Piney Flats, TN 40 $375
9. 13 F1 Peyton Freeman Commerce, GA 40 $350
10. 12 24T Phillip Thompson Knoxville, TN 40 $325
11. 11 11 David Smith Inman, SC 40 $315
12. 15 11h Derrek Harvey Toccoa, GA 40 $300
13. 16 44 Dylan Lewis Oakland, MD 39 $275
14. 18 371 Drew Benfield Toccoa, GA 39 $265
15. 17 9 Sam Hicks Hartwell, GA 38 $250
16. 21 66w Larry Waters Cumming, GA 36 $250
17. 7 87 Adam Partain Hartwell, GA 25 $250
18. 5 42 Cla Knight North Augusta, SC 22 $250
19. 22 21 Will Harris Maysville, GA 20 $250
20. 19 3a Eric Veal Royston, GA 16 $250
21. 10 14 Adam Smith Carnesville, GA 5 $250
22. 20 30 Cole Hardy Jefferson, GA 3 $250
ENTRIES: 22
FAST QUALIFIER: Nance, 16.780 Seconds
PROVISIONALS: None
LEAD CHANGES: None
LAP LEADER: Nance, 1-40
ROOKIE OF THE RACE: Thompson
HARD CHARGER OF THE RACE: Ford (started 14th and finished 8th)
CAUTIONS: 3
MARGIN OF VICTORY: .638 Seconds
TIME OF THE RACE: 34 Minutes and 46.611 Seconds
NEXT EVENT: July 22, Screven Motorsports Complex, Sylvania, GA, $2,000-to-win, $250-to start Rebel Yell 40
GROUP QUALIFYING:
| GROUP 1: | |||||||
| POS | CAR # | DRIVER | HOMETOWN | CHASSIS | 1ST LAP | 2ND LAP | TIME |
| 1 | 1 | Brent Dixon | Elberton, GA | Club 29 | 17.013 | 17.031 | 17.016 |
| 2 | 87 | Adam Partain | Hartwell, GA | Barry Wright | 17.131 | 17.293 | 17.131 |
| 3 | 2 | Frankie Beard | Hartwell, GA | Mastersbilt | 17.490 | 17.221 | 17.221 |
| 4 | F1 | :Peyton Freeman | Commerce, GA | Longhorn | 17.290 | 17.229 | 17.229 |
| 5 | 14 | Adam Smith | Carnesville, GA | Rocket | NT | 17.317 | 17.317 |
| 6 | 3a | Eric Veal | Royston, GA | Rocket | 17.399 | 17.359 | 17.359 |
| 7 | 44 | Dylan Lewis | Oakland, MD | Mastersbilt | NT | NT | NT |
| GROUP 2: | |||||||
| POS | CAR # | DRIVER | HOMETOWN | CHASSIS | 1ST LAP | 2ND LAP | TIME |
| 1 | 24n | Matthew Nance | Ronda, NC | Longhorn | 16.886 | 16.780 | 16.780 |
| 2 | 42 | Cla Knight | North Augusta, SC | Longhorn | 17.052 | 16.865 | 16.865 |
| 3 | 11 | David Smith | Inman, SC | TNT | 17.397 | 16.872 | 16.872 |
| 4 | 29 | Will Beard | Hartwell, GA | Rocket | 17.141 | 17.046 | 17.046 |
| 5 | 83 | Jensen Ford | Piney Flats, TN | TNT | 17.058 | 17.308 | 17.058 |
| 6 | 30 | Cole Hardy | Jefferson, GA | Longhorn | 17.348 | 17.169 | 17.169 |
| 7 | 9 | Sam Hicks | Hartwell, GA | Barry Wright | 17.847 | 18.046 | 17.847 |
| GROUP 3: | |||||||
| POS | CAR # | DRIVER | HOMETOWN | CHASSIS | 1ST LAP | 2ND LAP | TIME |
| 1 | 24T | Phillip Thompson | Knoxville, TN | Warrior | 17.659 | 16.866 | 16.866 |
| 2 | 8 | Ron Parker | Belwood, NC | Rocket | 17.126 | 16.976 | 16.976 |
| 3 | 55 | Benji Hicks | Mt. Airy, NC | Longhorn | 17.159 | 17.091 | 17.091 |
| 4 | 4 | Danny Sanders | Athens, GA | Longhorn | 17.204 | 17.228 | 17.204 |
| 5 | 371 | Drew Benfield | Toccoa, GA | Longhorn | 17.453 | 17.347 | 17.347 |
| 6 | 11h | Derrick Harvey | Toccoa, GA | Walter Newman | 17.380 | 17.423 | 17.380 |
| 7 | 66w | Larry Waters | Cumming, GA | Rocket | 17.436 | 17.831 | 17.436 |
| 8 | 21 | Will Harris | Maysville, GA | Rocket | 18.080 | 17.987 | 17.987 |
HEAT RACES ( Laps):
1ST HEAT: 1. Dixon; 2. F. Beard; 3. Partain; 4. A. Smith; 5. Freeman; 6. Lewis; 7. Veal.
2ND HEAT: 1. Nance; 2. Knight; 3. W. Beard; 4. D. Smith; 5. Ford; 6. S. Hicks; 7. Hardy.
3RD HEAT: 1. Parker; 2. Sanders; 3. B. Hicks; 4. Thompson; 5. Harvey; 6. Benfield; 7. Waters; 8. Harris.
FASTRAK PRO LATE MODEL SERIES SOUTH EAST REGION POINT STANDINGS THROUGH 7/3/17:
1. 83 Jensen Ford – 183
1. 55 Benji Hicks – 183
3. 24n Matthew Nance – 175
4. 8 Ron Parker – 172
5. 42 Cla Knight – 162
6. 24T Phillip Thompson (R) – 140
7. 44 Dylan Lewis (R) – 133
8. 2 Frankie Beard – 111
9. 30 Tyler Bare – 98
10. 11 David Smith – 96
11. F1 Peyton Freeman – 73
12. 7a Corey Almond – 66
13. 2w Justin Williams – 59
14. 99 Teddy Tate (R) – 56
15. 14 Adam Smith – 52
THE 2017 MARKETING PARTNERS FOR THE FASTRAK RACING SERIES ARE CHEVROLET PERFORMANCE, HOOSIER RACING TIRE, VP RACING FUEL, BEYEA HEADERS, ROCKET CHASSIS, TNT RACE CARS, ARIZONA SPORT SHIRTS, SIMPSON SAFETY EQUIPMENT, SAFECRAFT FIRE SUPPRESSION SYSTEMS, ROCK AUTO.COM, AND THOMAS CLARKE PERFORMANCE.