ELLISVILLE, Fla. (May 27) — Gaffney, S.C. driver Dillon Brown became the first two-time winner of the season on the Newsome Raceway Parts Crate Racin’ USA Dirt Late Model Series and rolled around All-Tech Raceway as the leader for the entire distance Saturday night in the 50-lap Harvey Jones Memorial to pocket a victory worth $10,000 in the third edition of the prestigious race at the half-mile oval.
The event honors the memory of a very successful driver who raced well into his 70s, and was a beloved figure in the sport he participated in for most of his life. The late Jones’ wife Hazel is adored by local fans, and she continues to be a popular figure herself in the sport that she and her late husband shared together for so many years. She still attends races to this day.
Brown’s victory was his second of the season on the Adam Stewart-managed touring series, and also his second score of the year on the Crate Racin’ USA $100,000+ Challenge, which is a collection of “series within a series” races that each pay (at least) $10,000 to the winner, and carries a separate points fund from the regular touring series.
Brown was trailed across the stripe by Clay Harris, Mark Whitener, Hunter Peacock and Trey Mills as a 27-car starting field competed in the event, culled from a 45-car entry list that turned out for the third edition of the race. Earlier this season, Brown also claimed a victory on the Crate Racin’ USA $100,000+ Challenge circuit in the Thunder on the Mountain event that was held April 15 at Rome (Ga.) International Speedway.
Whitener, who led the regular series points standings entering the weekend, extended his advantage to 24 markers [442-418] over reigning series champion Jason Welshan in the chase for the championship. Welshan finished 14th in the 27-car field.
Whitener also took over the points lead on the $100,000+ Challenge circuit by a 30-point margin [272-242] ahead of Cody Overton, who led by two markers heading into the weekend, but placed 19th in the lucrative event. The regular touring series pays $10,000 to its champion, and the $100,000+ Challenge pays $5,000 to its overall titlist.
A Cruise Turns Difficult
Brown took the lead from fellow front-row starter Whitener on the opening circuit and held the advantage the entire distance on a track surface that appeared to acquire rubber in patches across most of its surface, a distinct difference from the slick-as-ice conditions often faced at the half-mile facility. While the narrowing maneuverability kept passing to a relative minimum compared to the multi-grooved competition for which the track is known, nobody walked away disappointed after the final 10 circuits.
Give thanks to Mark Whitener for that effort, because his stiff challenge on the top side with less than 10 laps remaining turned an average race into a memorable, above-average finish, and put lots of doubt into Brown’s mind before a caution flag with five laps remaining interrupted what was setting up to be yet another scintillating finish at the Wendell Durrance-promoted track.
The previous two versions of this event have been down-to-the-wire conclusions, and another one was shaping up as Whitener took to high side in an effort to steal the winner’s share from Brown. Whitener was able to get door to door with the race leader, and subsequently the top competitors, including 14th-place starter Clay Harris, who moved into third past Peacock with 22 circuits to go, shared multiple lanes in their outside-lane approach to make bids for the top slot.
The about-to-be-entertaining battle was interrupted with five laps to go when Jeremy Steele rolled to a stop, producing the second and final caution flag of the race.
“It got pretty hectic when I could look and see two cars on the outside of me,” Brown said. “That caution with five laps to go…I sure said, ‘Thank the Lord’ when that one came out. It was hard to get off that bottom with the track conditions, and I was committed to it. When we were all racing for the lead, I could see Mark’s nose [Whitener] float out in the corners, and I could see him briefly in the center of turns one and two. It’s just so hard to leave that bottom when the track is like it was tonight.”
It’s also harder to lead than to follow, and suddenly it was Brown’s race to lose. Whitener, who has many laps and plenty of experience at the facility, posed a serious threat.
“I didn’t know where to go because there was rubber going in and rubber leaving the turns, but I knew I had the preferred lane and that’s where I hung my hopes,” Brown said. “I could see them out there, but if I’d seen them a little longer, I was going to have to move out a little bit. I felt like I was leaving him [Whitener] up off the corner, but we were running so slow behind those lapped cars. If that last caution doesn’t come out, it was sure fixin’ to get pretty interesting.”
Whitener, throwing forward a late-race effort that Brown said he knew was coming, nearly pulled off the win until a brush with the retaining wall damaged his machine.
“We knocked the rear end out of the car, broke the shock, damaged a lower control arm and possibly the J-bar,” the second-starting Whitener said. “That’s just what I can see, and there’s probably more. No excuses, though. We gave it a shot. I just couldn’t run the top with the track conditions. There were too many crumbs out there, and you couldn’t gain any traction from the center of the corner off. Track conditions were such that it was hard to pass, and all you could do the whole race was be patient and make your moves when it was possible."
Whitener’s efforts cost him, and also dropped him one position when a fast-closing Harris, who started from the outside of the seventh row and managed to advance despite difficult track conditions, stole second place in the closing stages. That dropped Whitener to third.
“You hate giving up a spot that late, but I still had to try,” Whitener said. “I didn’t want to go out there on the high side and lose second place like we did, but I’m not really worried about the points too much. I’m just trying to win races, and if you can do that early in the season, the points will take care of themselves. You don’t want to damage your race car like we did, but you also can’t sit there and wait. You’ve got to take a chance when you have the opportunity.”
Harris Heads to the Front
After the caution appeared, Harris wound his machine tight on the restart and took second place from Whitener on the 47th circuit, capping a solid performance from 14th on the grid. Harris is a top contender whenever he appears at the facility, but his hopes for a passing performance from the seventh row were minimal at best before the green flag waved.
He was behind after a lackluster qualifying performance, and needed a come-from-nowhere effort. He got one, and was in contention to win until the final caution.
“During qualifying I guess there was rubber up top, and we had our car too stuck to the racetrack,” Harris said. “We had to start 14th, but we had the car way better for the feature. There was rubber on entry in turn one and you could rock and hammer down through there, but our car was best in turns three and four.
“When the race started I wasn’t really expecting to pass anybody, but it all turned out better for us than the weekend started. I’m usually pretty good here, but that caution with five laps to go killed the race for us. I wish we’d had a couple more laps.”
His second-place finish matched last year’s effort in the race for the Jupiter, Fla., driver. He made a last-ditch effort to win on the final circuit in 2022, but watched Hunter Peacock cross the stripe less than a car length ahead.
“I think I’ve finished second about a million times in these CRUSA races, or it sure feels like it,” Harris said. “We were second here last year in this race, and actually leading on the final straightaway with the checkered flag waving, but Hunter [Peacock] passed us back in the last few hundred feet to win it. Without that late yellow tonight, we might have had a better shot this year.”
Sponsors and Schedules
Sponsors who rode on Brown’s potent machine included Cherokee Landscaping, Performance Automotive, Cruise Thru Grab ’N Go, Renegade Fuels, PRO Fabrication, RK Designs, Trailer Queen, Wray’s Wraps, Hardison Suspension Technologies, Penske Shocks and Moorhead Brothers Inc. Power was provided by Hendren Racing Engines.
The touring series’ next events will be a doubleheader weekend featuring stops at two different tracks with a $5,000-to-win show slated June 2 at I-75 Raceway in Niota, Tenn., and a $10,000-to-win June 3 at Talladega Short Track in Eastaboga, Ala. The latter event is also part of the Crate Racin’ USA $100,000+ Challenge, and will be the fourth race of the season for that “series within a series” program.
A two-week break after the doubleheader will give competitors a chance to breathe after a busy stretch of activity, but all eyes will be focused on the prestigious J.T. Kerr Memorial scheduled June 23-24 at Mitch and Tanya McCarter’s 411 Motor Speedway in Seymour, Tenn. It will be the eighth race of the season for the regular touring series, and the fifth event of the year on the Crate Racin’ USA $100,000+ Challenge.
Last year’s version of the prestigious event was claimed by Jason Welshan of Maryville, Tenn., who claimed a $10,000 victory for the first time in his career. The win came not long after the death of his fellow driver Clyde Stanton, who raced regionally and was a longtime friend of Welshan’s, which made for an emotion-packed evening that was capped with perhaps Welshan’s most significant victory of a year in which he made four trips to victory lane, and secured the series championship for the first time in his career.
Harvey Jones Memorial: 1. Dillon Brown, 50; 2. Clay Harris, 50; 3. Mark Whitener, 50; 4. Hunter Peacock, 50; 5. Trey Mills, 50; 6. Ashton Winger, 50; 7. Blake Craft, 50; 8. Matt Henderson, 50; 9. Trent Ivey, 50; 10. Mario Gresham, 50; 11. Colton Trouille, 50; 12. Joshua Bishop, 50; 13. John Ruggiero Jr., 50; 14. Jason Welshan, 50; 15. Garrett Mosley, 50; 16. Trynt Lloyd, 50; 17. Jake Knowles, 49; 18. Jeremy Steele, 45; 19. Cody Overton, 44; 20. Kam Boyd, 39; 21. Jason Garver, 39; 22. Jackson Hise, 36; 23. Nevin Gainey, 28; 24. Bubba Roling, 24; 25. Jason Markewitz, 16; 26. Cole Exum, 15; 27. Jimmy Thomas, 12.
Entries: 45
Fast qualifier: Nevin Gainey, 19.549 seconds.
Lead changes: None.
Lap leaders: Dillon Brown 1-50.
Margin of victory: 1.414 seconds
Cautions: 2
Heat winners: Blake Craft, Dillon Brown, Mark Whitener, Jeremy Steele,
B-main winners: Cody Overton, Jackson Hise.
Dash winner: Dillon Brown
Nonqualifiers feature: Devin Walker
Crate Racin’ USA Dirt Late Model Series (current points): 1. Mark Whitener, 442; 2. Jason Welshan, 418; 3. Hunter Peacock, 410; 4. Blake Craft, 398; 5. Jake Knowles, 396; 6. Trynt Lloyd, 376; 7. Mario Gresham, 372; 8. Jimmy Thomas, 350; 9. Cody Overton, 308; 10. Jason Markewitz, 254; 11. Joshua Bishop, 248; 12. Jeremy Steele, 210; 13. Dillon Brown, 200; 14. Ashton Winger, 178; 15. Ty Giles, 176; 16. Clay Harris, 174; 17. Colton Trouille, 164; 18. Dalton Dowdy, 150; 19. Joseph Joiner, 140; 20. Mark Underwood Jr., 138.
Crate Racin’ USA $100,000+ Challenge (current points): 1. Mark Whitener, 272; 2. Cody Overton, 242; 3. Blake Craft, 236; 4. Jason Welshan, 230; 5. (Tie) Hunter Peacock and Mario Gresham, 228; 7. Trynt Lloyd, 226; 8. (Tie) Jeremy Steele and Jake Knowles, 210; 10. Dillon Brown, 200; 11. Jimmy Thomas, 196; 12. Ashton Winger, 178; 13. Clay Harris, 174; 14. Joshua Bishop, 152; 15. Jason Markewitz, 136; 16. Colton Trouille, 134; 17. Cody Haskins, 132; 18. Matthew Brocato, 122; 19. Hayden Cardwell, 120; 20. Jimmy Sharpe Jr., 110.