Seven divisions took to the 3/8 mile clay oval at East Lincoln Speedway this past Saturday night. For the second time this season, Late Models returned for a 25 lap feature event. Crimestoppers of Lincolnton � Lincoln County Night at the Races presented by Steele Rubber Products proved to be one of the most exciting nights of racing this season.

The Stock Four division got the night under way. Claude Spicer started on the pole as he was seeking to claim back to back victories. While leading, Spicer suffered a flat right front tire which would end his chances at winning for the second week in a row. Due to Spicer’s misfortune, Hank Kiefer, who had been racing Spicer for the race lead earlier, inherited the first position. Kiefer took the lead and never looked back as he would go on to take the checkered flag. Mount Holly’s Calen Holden came home second. Points leader Lee Oiler finished third. Barney Fuller and Colton Robinson finished fourth and fifth respectively.

Brian Roseman took an early lead in the Micro Sprint race. Justin Lineman took the low line to pass Terry Peters for third on lap three, but Peters would do the same to Lineman and take the position back on the next lap. Coby Adams was closing in on Roseman for the race lead and Darren Hasty and Justin Lineman were battling for the fourth position when a caution came out as Amanda Quinones made contact with the wall coming out of turn two. Terry Peters had one last chance to take the lead on a restart after a yellow for Shawn McElroy. Peters looked to the inside of Roseman, but Roseman held on to take the victory with Peters coming home second. Points leader Darren Hasty finished third. Justin Lineman and Nicholas Witt rounded out the top five in that order.

Perhaps the biggest story of the weekend in the Legends division was that points leader Josh Morrow was not present at Saturday’s race. Morrow had previously started every race this season. However, the show went on without him and that show was one the fans loved. Chandler Levan, Lee Jordan, and Brock Balwdin raced three wide for the lead in turn one. Light contact caused Baldwin to lose ground on Jordan and Levan, who were swapping the race lead. However, contact between the two allowed Baldwin to move underneath both cars and take the race lead. Baldwin slipped up high in the next corner and Robert Poole joined in the mix as there was now a four car battle for the race lead. Lee Jordan pulled off a textbook slide job on Levan and took the lead. Contact from Baldwin caused Levan to spin in turn four. New leader Lee Jordan suffered a flat tire and the lead changed hands once again as Baldwin inherited the first position. That would be the final lead change of the night as Baldwin went on to win the race. Robert Poole took over the points lead as he finished second. Chandler Levan, Lee Jordan, and Hutchins Ronald rounded out the top five in that order.

Jennings Herman had a six point lead over Randy Powell in the Super Stock Four championship standings heading into the night’s race. Dylan O’Daniel and Josh Cook raced hard for the third position early on. Mechanical problems for the 1H car of Herman would send his car to the pits for the duration of the night. The race was winding down as Wayne Curtis led over a hard charging Randy Powell. Powell put a bumper to Curtis with two to go as he passed him for the race lead and went on to take the win. Curtis suffered a flat tire and went on to finish seventh. Josh Cook edged out Arnold Propst for the second position. Darryl Roark and Tony Palladino finished fourth and fifth respectively.

After spending several weeks making repairs to his car, Brandon White was back in action as the Limited Sportsman division took to the track Saturday evening. White and Lynn Mercer both showed the strength of their cars early on as the two battled for the lead, the rest of the field a straightaway behind. Mercer and White raced door to door for the lead. After clearing White, it looked like Mercer would be the favorite to take his second win in a row. However, Mercer hit the wall hard off of turn four and would be forced to pit. This allowed Brandon White to take the lead. A Blane Huffman spin in turn three resulted in a six car incident involving Trace Childers, Chris Smith, Tom Salony, Mike Benfield and Jeff Mundwiler. Brandon White once again established the lead after the restart. However, White would spin and make hard contact with the inside wall in between turns three and four while leading. A frustrated White stormed off the track. The misfortune of the two best cars in the race left the door open for several other cars to take the win. Tim Sigmon inherited the lead, but Scott Freeman took it out of turn two. Freeman did not look back as he went on to claim his first ever win at East Lincoln Speedway. In a three car battle for second, Tim Sigmon, Jeff Graves and Blane Huffman crossed the finish line in that order as Trace Childers edged out Keith Bowman for the final spot in the top five.

Eleven cars took to the track for the 25 lap late model feature race. The starting lineup was set by the finish of two heat races. The starting lineup for the heat races was set earlier by qualifying. It was a family affair on the starting row as Doug Sanders and his nephew Anthony Sanders led the field to the green. Doug Sanders jumped out to an early lead on the high side as Anthony Sanders was pinched to the bottom of the track. Chris Allison did a great job avoiding contact with Eddie Massey, who spun in turn four. Danny Bohn made his way around Pat Lindsey for the third position. A caution came out for a spin by “Bad” Brad Smith, host of the TV Show Madhouse. Billy Thompson, who had lost a lot of track position due to an early pitstop was on the move as he slid under Pat Lindsay for the fourth position. Doug Sanders went on to take the win. In victory lane he commented that it “was good to outrun my nephew [Anthony Sanders]” who went on to finish second. Danny Bohn, Billy Thompson and Pat Lindsay rounded out the top five of this exciting race in that order.

The final event of the night was the Renegade division feature race. Jamie Major was on the outside pole as he was looking for his third win in a row. Polesitter Justin Mauney got loose in turn one but the race stayed green as Major went on to take the lead. Later in the race, Luther Bishop was racing hard with Major for the lead when the two made contact causing Bishop to spin. After the restart Billy Bishop and Major were racing for the race lead. Bishop would pull a nose in front of Major coming out of the corner, but Major carried the momentum of the high side to retain the lead on the straightaway. Things got interesting when Danny Garcia, who was several laps down made contact with both leaders. However, everything was able to work itself out and the race stayed green.  Billy Bishop came back from his early spin and briefly made the battle for the lead three wide before thinking better of it. Major went on to win his third race in a row. Due to his third consecutive win and the rules at East Lincoln Speedway, Major will have to start next week’s race from the rear of the field. Luther Bishop finished second. Billy Bishop finished third. Points leader Steve Newsome and Tyler Hyatt finished fourth and fifth respectively.

There are only four races to go in the season. Next week is the sixth annual running of the prestigious Dave Watts Memorial Race. Perhaps one of the greatest things about racing is that absolutely anything can happen. This week fans saw Randy Powell turn his six point deficit into a 35 point lead over Jennings Herman. This past Saturday was one of the most exciting races of the year. As the season continues to wind down, there are a lot of drivers with unfinished business looking to end their year on a good note. The season has had no shortage of action thus far and there is no reason to anticipate the excitement letting up at this point in the year.