EASTABOGA, Ala. (April 24) — Like a big-game outdoorsman chasing a trophy prize to hang on the wall, Senoia, Ga., driver Austin Horton hunted down pole position started and early race leader Christian Hanger for many laps before finally firing the shot that led him to victory lane in a 50-lap Newsome Raceway Parts-sponsored Crate Racin’ USA Dirt Late Model Series event Saturday night at Talladega Short Track.
It was the Whitesburg, Ga., driver’s first-ever victory on the touring series, and was worth $2,500. He led the final six circuits, and was trailed across the line by Jake Knowles, who dropped Hanger to third after pinning him behind a lapped car in the closing moments. Completing the top five in the 24-car field were Jimmy Thomas and Tanner Collins, who started on the front row next to Hanger.
Horton, who started third on the grid, moved to second during the early stages and perched on early race leader Hanger’s rear bumper, staying glued in the trailing wake of Hanger’s race-leading machine as the lead pair threaded their way through slower traffic in a race slowed four times by caution flags.
Horton rarely strayed far from Hanger’s back end, and was able to remain solidly in the hunt until making a maneuver amid lapped traffic with six laps remaining to steal the lead and the victory away from the Winchester, Tenn., driver after slipping his Rocket XR1 past Hanger’s car for good.
“I could stay with him, and I believe we had a little better car tonight,” Horton said. “We were able to stay on his bumper for a lot of laps, and that didn’t hurt our efforts when the time came to to make our move after we reached the lapped cars. We got that long green run, and I was able to get past him with a few laps to go, and at that point I felt we had the race in our hands unless a late yellow came out.”
It was the second event of the season for the touring series, and was only completed after series officials and race teams braved a rainstorm that rolled violently through the area, dumping large amounts of water and felling a large oak tree in the pit area that damaged several race haulers and vehicles, with no injuries resulting from the incident.
A muddy pit area might have brought back many memories of past Ice Bowl events held in early January each year at the facility, but it also resulted in a racy surface that allowed for side-by-side competition and close racing through the field in the second of two events on a weekend when NASCAR activities were taking place at Talladega Superspeedway, located just across the street from the third-mile oval.
“The pits are pretty nasty here tonight with all the mud, but the rainy weather probably helped the racetrack,” Horton said. “You could race pretty good, and I was able to get him [Hanger] moving around a little bit late in the race, and we were ready to make a move on him when we hit the slower traffic.”
Hanger sat in his car during postrace inspection, looking a bit disgruntled at the late-race turn of events. He not only lost a potential victory after leading a majority of the race, but slipped to third when Jake Knowles used lapped traffic to drop him another spot on the final circuit.
“We’ve been doing some Super Late Model racing this year, and we’re just getting back into the Crate Late Model stuff after a layoff,” said Hanger, who has received some sponsorship assistance in recent weeks from car owner/driver Joe Denby and reigning Southern All Stars Dirt Series champion Billy Franklin.“This is actually my Super car, and we dropped a crate motor in it for the weekend. We’re still getting back in the swing of things for the Crate Late Model stuff.”
Hanger admitted severe disappointment at leading 45 laps, and being unable to nail down the victory.
“It’s like this place is cursed for me or something,” he said. “It’s so hard to win here, and then you have a night where you think you have one in the bag, and you end up third. It pretty well rips your heart out. I mean…there’s gonna be another race tomorrow or next weekend and plenty more in the future, but I’ve won races here with a car that was worse than the one we had here tonight. I’ve never been driven away from like that on the straightaway. When you’re racing through traffic like we were and the leader gets through the traffic, can’t nobody usually keep up…but he [Horton] was glued to me like a magnet.”
Horton completed the distance in a car sponsored by Super K Express, Franklin Enterprises, Orr’s Towing, Wood Motorsports, Integra Shocks, Stealth Carburetors and Brian Green’s Top Knotch Kustom Koncepts. Placed under the hood was a motor from Bobby Thomas Racing Engines.
The touring series’ next event will be the second annual edition of the Gene Maine Memorial, a one-day show paying $10,000 to win slated May 8 at Needmore Speedway in Norman Park, Ga. That race is also part of the newly-established E-Z-GO $100,000+ Challenge, which carries a separate points fund for a 10-event schedule of races that all pay at least $10,000 to the winner.
Talladega (Night #2): 1. Austin Horton, 2. Jake Knowles, 3. Christian Hanger, 4. Jimmy Thomas, 5. Tanner Collins, 6. Jason Welshan, 7. Dylan Knowles, 8. Colton Leyendecker, 9. Mike Combs, 10. T.J. Brittain, 11. Chase Oliver, 12. Rodgerick Dykes, 13. Heath Carr, 14. Zach Shelton, 15. Joshua Cox, 16. David Culver, 17. Randy Holder, 18. Troy Dixon, 19. Jake Traylor, 20. Jake Rainey, 21. Brian Womack, 22. Sterling Freeman, 23. Cole Smartt, 24. Michael Isbell.
Crate Racin’ USA Dirt Late Model Series (current points): 1. Austin Horton, 190; Jake Knowles, 188; 3. Jason Welshan, 182; 4. Jimmy Thomas, 176; 5. Tanner Collins, 170; 6. T.J. Brittain, 168; 7. Colton Leyendecker, 162; 8. Heath Carr, 150; 9. Mike Combs, 144; 10. Jake Rainey, 142.
Total entries: 24
Boyd-Bilt Fast Qualifier: Hanger, 13.988 seconds
Lap leaders: Hanger 1-44, Horton 45-50.
Cautions: 4
Margin of victory: 0.619 seconds