Zeke Shell celebrated his first Late Model Stock win of 2015 at Kingsport Speedway in victory lane on Friday night. Photo courtesy Kingsport Speedway Media
It had been almost one year to the day since Zeke Shell of Johnson City visited victory lane at Kingsport Speedway in Kingsport TN, with his last win coming last April 25.
The 27-year-old Shell made a bold statement Friday night with a strong performance en route to capturing his first NASCAR Whelen All-American Series First Kingsport Credit Union Late Model Stock win of the season at “The Concrete Jungle.”
Ronnie McCarty, already with one victory to his credit this season, entered the night leading Late Model Stock points and earned the pole position for the 60-lap main event.
McCarty and Shell brought the 16-car field to the green flag from the front row, with McCarty quickly taking the lead. The event’s first caution waved just three laps in when Bruce Blessing slowed in turn two with a flat left-front tire.
Off the double-file restart, McCarty once again moved back out ahead of Shell, while Kres VanDyke and Kyle Barnes battled for third. Barnes took the position from VanDyke on the sixth circuit racing off the fourth turn.
With the race running clean-and-green following the lap 3 caution period, McCarty and Shell were setting a blistering pace around the .375-mile banked concrete oval to hold almost a half-straightaway advantage over Barnes and VanDyke as the raced reached the halfway point.
Shell moved McCarty up the track on lap 40 between turns three and four to assume the lead. But McCarty was not about to go down without a fight, as he roared back strong to get up under Shell on opposite end of the track between turns one and two. But Shell slammed the door racing off the second corner to hold onto the top spot.
With Shell showing the way out front, the last thing he wanted to see was the caution flag wave. Jerry Lane, making his first Late Model Stock start, brought the caution out on lap 46 when he had a little assist from behind to send his car spinning.
Shell and McCarty were lined up door-to-door on the front row for the restart, with Barnes and VanDyke behind in the second row. With the green flag waving, Shell rocketed back out ahead while the trio of McCarty, Barnes and VanDyke were battling hard for real estate.
Close quarters racing action on lap 49 between turns one and two produced contact between VanDyke and McCarty, with both McCarty and Barnes getting out of shape exiting turn two onto the backstretch. While McCarty and Barnes had to reel their mounts back in, VanDyke took over second in the running order followed by Lee Tissot and Justin Fontaine.
But out front, Shell was in control, to victory over VanDyke in second, Tissot in third, Fontaine in fourth and McCarty in fifth.
Completing the top 10 finishers were Barnes, Wayne Hale, Joey Trent, Allen Hawkins and Rick Pannell.
“Man, hopefully we’ve got all of our bad luck behind us,” said a smiling Shell after climbing from his car in victory lane. “Sitting parked in victory lane – this right here is what it’s all about. It makes all the hours you work back at the race shop worthwhile. To say that our season up until tonight has been frustrating, well, that would be a major understatement. We’ve had a fast race car at each event. But we’ve either gotten collected in somebody else’s wreck while running inside the top five, or the electrical issue we struggled to determine the cause of on our race engine has hurt us.
“Hopefully this win will be the first of several others we’ll get this season. We had a really good car tonight and I believe we showed that during the race.
John Harrell of Surgoinsville is approaching the half-century mark, but judging from his on-track racing exploits so far this season, age isn’t slowing the veteran racer down. The 49-year-old, who will turn 50 on July 5, drove to his fourth straight Street Stock win to remain a perfect four-for-four on the season. Harrell easily won over Jared Broadbent in second, Paul Shull in third, Chris Tunnell in fourth and Mark Christian in fifth.
John Ketron grabbed the lead at start of the 25-lap Pure 4 feature, while his son Billy Ketron and Keith Helton raced side-by-side the opening five circuits before Helton moved into second place. Helton began pressuring the elder Ketron for the lead. The event’s first caution waved on lap 7, when Bruce Crumbley and Dylan Bates wrecked between turns one and two.
John Ketron and Helton battled for the lead back under green, with Helton, driving into the lead on lap 11. While Helton would go on to capture his third victory on the season, behind him the Ketrons raced hard for family bragging rights.
Helton recorded the win over Billy Ketron in second, John Ketron in third, Chris Neeley in fourth and last week’s winner, Kenny Absher, in fifth.
Nasty Jones earned his second consecutive Pure Street victory over Hershell Robinette, Jake Phipps, Robbie Allison and Gary Crumbley.
Dennis Stanley recorded his first-ever victory at Kingsport Speedway. The 49-year-old Stanley got the Rookie Pure 4 win over Dwayne Banks, Chris Wilhelm, William Hale and Craig Phelps.
Kingsport Speedway returns to action on Friday, May 1. For more info, visit NewKingsportSpeedway.com.
Kingsport Speedway – Kingsport, TN
Race Results – April 24, 2015
Late Model Stocks
1. (2) Zeke Shell #97-Johnson City, TN
2. (3) Kres VanDyke #15-Abingdon, VA
3. (5) Lee Tissot #7-Asheville, NC
4. (6) Justin Fontaine #60-Fletcher, NC
5. (1) Ronnie McCarty #5-Kingsport, TN
6. (4) Kyle Barnes #0-Draper, VA
7. (7) Wayne Hale #19-Bluff City, TN
8. (8) Joey Trent #26-Gray, TN
9. (9) Allen Hawkins #14-Kingsport, TN
10. (13) Rick Pannell #33-Kingsport, TN
11. (12) Derek Lane #67-Kingsport, TN
12. (14) Jerry Lane #28-Kingsport, TN
13. (15) Jamie Harrison #76-Church Hill, TN
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15. (10) Bruce Blessing #55-Gate City, VA
16. (16) Tyler Goodwin #64-Kingsport, TN
Street Stocks
1. John Harrell #19
2. Jared Broadbent #74
3. Paul Shull #48
4. Chris Tunnell #6
5. Mark Christian #43
6. Steve Carver #93
7. Sam P. Hurd #11
8. Dennis Deese #24
9. Royce Peters #48
10. Todd Duff #16
11. Danny Casteel #41
Pure 4
1. Keith Helton #9
2. Billy Ketron #26
3. John Ketron #27
4. Chris Neeley #94
5. Kenny Absher #11
6. Jason Ketron #28
7. Billy Byington #01
8. Tim Abelseth #66
9. Brandon Sutherland #5
10. Brandon Crumbley #7
11. David Trent #57
12. Todd Cross #41
13. Richard Quillen #15
14. Kevin Darnell #4
15. Bruce Crumbley #33
16. Dylan Bates #6
Pure Street
1. Nasty Jones #13
2. Hershell Robinette #9
3. Jake Phipps #1
4. Robbie Allison #52
5. Gary Crumbley #59
6. Marty Tunnell #99
Rookie Pure 4
1. Dennis Stanley #21
2. Dwayne Banks #66
3. Chris Wilhelm #99
4. William Hale #47
5. Craig Phelps #00
6. Larry Stapleton #15
7. Robert Young #59
8. Scott Palmer #1
9. Daniel McMurray #0
10. Jon Cordell #55
11. Tammy Cross #41
12. Jerry Miller #13
13. Larry Bowens #18
14. Frank Dice #44
15. Andrew Hill #69
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