Finchum Captures First All-American Win At Kingsport

Chad Finchum scored his first ever Whelen All-American Series Late Model victory Saturday at Kingsport Speedway with a pass on lap 55 of the 60 lap feature. Photo by Randall Perry Photos.net / Courtesy Kingsport Speedway

Chad Finchum of Knoxville, TN chauffeured his Chevrolet SS to his first-ever NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Late Model Stock victory after getting to the inside of Hayden Woods with five laps remaining in the 60-lap feature to take the lead, and then withstood a couple of challenges from Woods over the closing laps for the win at Kingsport Speedway in Kingsport, TN Saturday.

“I was digging as hard I could,” Finchum said. “Hayden and I were running hard, and I spun the tire coming off (turn) two. He gave me a shot going into (turn) three, but I wouldn’t expect anything less from him. That’s just good short-track racing and I loved every minute of it. Once I saw that white flag come out, it was like I’m going to get this one”

The 18-year-old Finchum led a parade of teenagers across the finish line. Woods, a 17-year-old who attends Providence Academy in Johnson City, came home in the runner-up position and 16-year-old Blake Jones of Sevierville finished third.

Woods passed Jones for the lead on lap 31, and was closing in on a first Late Model victory until Finchum made the winning pass.

“We had the lead up to the mid-50’s, but Finchum had a great car,” Woods said. “I was following him and he could just turn down at the center of the corner. He just turned below me. We had a strong car too. If we had two more laps, we might have had him back. When I hit him, it actually unsettled my car and I couldn’t get below him. It didn’t work like I thought it would.”

It was rough-and-tumble action throughout the race, slowed by seven cautions over the first 23 laps. Jones’ No. 80 Chevrolet Camaro SS looked worse for wear, with sheet metal damage to both the front and back of his car. Emergency crews gave him oxygen after the race as the damage led to overheating in the cockpit and being overcome due to high levels of carbon monoxide.

“It definitely wasn’t the race we were looking for,” Jones said. “We were looking to win without even tire marks on our race car. But, we didn’t get the qualifying run we were used to, and I was stuck without rear brakes for most of the race. We charged up there and led, and I was proud of that. We’ll be back next week looking for a checkered flag.”

Zeke Shell, a 25-year-old from Johnson City, appeared to have the only car to outrun the wild band of teenagers. His No. 97 Ford led the first 23 circuits until his right front tie-rod came loose as the cars were ready to take the green flag on a restart.

“We knew we had something in practice, but we didn’t want to show how fast we were,” said Shell after a 17th-place finish.

“When the race began, we let the big dog eat. I feel real bad for my team. They deserve a lot better than this, but we know what we’ve got and what we can come back with.”

Paul Nogradi Jr. paced qualifying with a track-record lap of 15.060 seconds in his Dodge. He was involved in a wreck on lap 23 with Adam Long on the backstretch while battling for position and finished 18th in the 20-car field.

For his part, Finchum was glad to avoid most of the contact.

“Everybody was moving around and skating,” Finchum said. “That first corner, they went three-wide and the No. 02 spun up. Everything was happening so fast here. It really was ‘The Concrete Jungle’ today.”

Finchum was chased to the checkers by Woods, Jones, followed by Lee Tissot and Anthony Anders to round out the top five. Completing the top 10 finishers were Long, Daniel Pope II, Kres VanDyke, Austin Peters and Tyler Goodwin.

Allen Rich jumped into the lead over Rob Austin at start of the 30-lap Street Stock feature. Austin got around Rich for the lead on lap nine and remained there until John Harrell of Surgoinsville powered past him on lap 21. Once out front, Harrell then set the cruise control to easily win over Austin, Rich, Tony Vance and Marvin Green, Jr.

Johnson City driver Amber Abram, making her Pure 4 debut at the track, made contact with leader Keith Helton on lap 16 in an accident which sent her pink No. 97 Ford in a barrel roll down the backstretch at “The Concrete Jungle.” Emergency personnel were quickly on the scene and while the 20-year-old Abram was momentarily shaken following her wild ride, after catching her breath she was able to climb from her badly damaged machine to cheers from the crowd.

Back under green Helton remained in the lead until lap 21, when he was teamed up on by the father-son duo of Jason and John Ketron. Jason Ketron, defending divisional champion, pulled into the lead with his father in tow. They finished that way ahead of Helton in a 1-2-3 finish of Kingsport drivers. Dan Hall and Kenny Absher finished fourth and fifth, respectively.

Zack Walton of Blountville, a Sullivan Central High School student, made his way to the front on lap five and never looked back en route to winning the Legends race over Drew Shortridge, Jacob Owens, Derek Lane and Hubert Whitehead.

Chris Steadman of Kingsport won in Rookie Pure 4 action over Billy Byington and Brandon Sutherland.

Action returns to Kingsport Speedway on March 15. Visit newkingsportspeedway.com for more info.

Kingsport Speedway – Kingsport, TN
Race Results – March 9, 2013

Late Models
1. Chad Finchum
2. Hayden Woods
3. Blake Jones
4. Lee Tissot
5. Anthony Anders
6. Adam Long
7. Daniel Pope II
8. Kres VanDyke
9. Austin Peters
10. Tyler Goodwin
11. Royce Peters
12. Ryan Stiltner
13. Rick Pannell
14. Dean Barrett
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16. Taylor Coffman
17. Zeke Shell
18. Paul Nogradi Jr.
19. Bruce Blessing
20. Joey Trent

Street Stocks
1. John Harrell
2. Rob Austin
3. Allen Rich
4. Tony Vance
5. Marvin Green Jr.
6. Nick Cole
7. Sam Hurd
8. Rick Smith
9. Tony Ward
10. Alonzo Henderson
11. Dan Smith
12. Jared Broadbent
13. Jeff Counts
14. Roger Neece
15. Chris Tunnell
16. Paul Shull

Pure 4
1. Jason Ketron
2. John Ketron
3. Keith Helton
4. Dan Hall
5. Kenny Absher
6. Chris Neeley
7. Dylan Bates
8. Jay Holland
9. David Trent
10. Danny Pless
11. Bill Coleman
12. Kevin Hubbard
13. Todd Cross
14. Travis Light
15. Darrell Whitehead
16. Glen Hughes
17. Amber Abram
18. Tim Abelseth