Cla Knight celebrates after winning the 2016 FASTRAK Pro Late Model Series Southeast National Championship with a second-place finish behind winner Trent Ivey on Sunday afternoon in the Georgia State Championship Race at Lavonia Speedway. Photo: Courtesy Cla Knight Racing
Trent Ivey took the lead with four laps to go and captured the win in Sunday’s Georgia State Championship Race for the FASTRAK Pro Late Model Series at Georgia’s Lavonia Speedway.
The win was worth $3,000 for the Union, South Carolina driver.
Ivey was able to dive underneath early race leader Jensen Ford, who pushed up the banking in turn 4 on lap 37, opening the door for Ivey. With the handling used up on Ford’s racer, Cla Knight dove under him for the second spot one lap later.
“I had to drive my butt off this afternoon just to stay in a position to win the race if the opening presented itself, and it did,” Ivey said. “I’ve always wanted to win a FASTRAK race, and to win the Georgia State Championship Race in my first visit to Lavonia Speedway is pretty special.”
Knight could not catch Ivey to challenge for the win, but his second place finish meant he was crowned the 2016 FASTRAK Southeast National Champion. Knight made series history in 2016, as he also won the FASTRAK Pro Late Model Series Mid-Ohio Valley Championship, becoming the first driver in the 14-year history of the series to win two championships in the same year.
“We’ll take second, as I could have tried to make something happen at the end of the race, but I had to look at the big picture,” Knight said. “We’ll take this championship back to North Augusta with us and put it on the mantel next to the FASTRAK MOV Championship Trophy.
“I’m proud to have become the first driver in Fastrak history to win two championships in the same year. Just to win one title with the competition in this series is pretty tough, let alone two.”
Ford hung on to finish in the third, followed by Chris Steele in fourth and Jimmy Mac in fifth.
Ron Parker, Will Beard of Hartwell, Georgia, Rusty Jordan of Bowman, Georgia, Parker Herring of Hartwell, Georgia and Zack Mitchell rounded out the top ten.
Knight topped the unofficial point standings with 329 points, and the FASTRAK Pro Late Model Series SE National Championship Runner-Up was David Smith 298 points. Steele finished third in the SE standings with 294 points.
In preliminary action held on Saturday afternoon, November 12, Ford was the Fast Qualifier among the 20 entrants with a lap around the 3/8-mile clay oval in 17.300 seconds. The two ten-lap Heat Races were won by Ivey and Ford.
After being postponed one-week by rain, Ford started the 40-lap feature with an anxious moment when he spun on the high side of turn two on the opening lap of the race while battling from his outside front row starting spot side-by-side with pole sitter Ivey. Ford’s race car was able to continue for the complete restart, but was showing damage on the right-rear spoiler and quarter panel.
Not as fortunate were Steve “Hot Rod” LaMance and Dale Timms. They were both caught up in the chain reaction of Ford’s spin and both were out of the race.
When the field took the green flag for the complete restart, Ford took the lead followed by Ivey, David McCoy, Dustin Morris and Knight.
Smith brought out the second caution flag of the race on lap six when he spun in turn two. Smith’s championship hopes were gone when he pulled his race car to the pit area and was out of the race. Two more left the race on the restart, not due to damage, but rather due to extracurricular activity under the caution flag.
McCoy spun in turn two on the restart, and took exception to the incident when he went after Morris with his race car. The two race cars stopped on the backstretch, where both drivers exchanged unpleasantries. Both McCoy and Morris, who were running third and fourth respectively, were parked by race officials.
That moved Knight up to third, Mitchell up to fourth, and Steele into fifth behind Ford and Ivey for the restart. Another top five driver ran into trouble on lap eight when fourth-place Mitchell stalled on the backstretch to bring out the fourth and final caution flag of the race.
With the race staying under green for the remainder of the race, Ford opened up a six car-length lead over Ivey, with Knight staying within striking distance. Ford, with the damage to his car from the opening lap skirmish, was forced to run a higher line around the track that his tires liked, while Ivey ran a lower groove.
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Ivey stayed with Ford for the next five laps. Ford’s car suddenly developed a bad push in turn four on lap 37, and slid up the banking. Ford kept the car off the wall, but Ivey dove for the inside and took the lead down the front straightaway. When Ford’s car pushed up to the high side in turn two on lap 38, Knight was able to drive underneath for the second spot.
Knight was content to ride the remaining two laps running in second behind Ivey to secure the FASTRAK Pro Late Model SE National Championship. Ivey took the checkered flag with a .606 second margin of victory over Knight.
For more information on the FASTRAK Racing Series, visit FASTRAKRacing.com.
For more info on Lavonia Speedway, visit LavoniaSpeedway.net.
FASTRAK Pro Late Model Series
Lavonia Speedway – Lavonia, GA
Georgia State Championship – Nov. 20, 2016
POS START CAR # DRIVER
1. 1 88 Trent Ivey Union, SC 40
2. 4 42 Cla Knight North Augusta, SC 40
3. 2 83 Jensen Ford Piney Flats, TN 40
4. 11 222 Chris Steele York, SC 40
5. 10 23 Jimmy Mac Mooresville, NC 40
6. 12 8 Ron Parker Belwood, NC 40
7. 17 2 Will Beard Hartwell, GA 39
8. 18 5 Rusty Jordan Bowman, GA 39
9. 20 17 Parker Herring Hartwell, GA 39
10. 6 57 Zack Mitchell Spartanburg, SC 6
11. 5 187 David McCoy Franklin, NC 5
12. 8 11m Dustin Morris Landrum, SC 5
13. 7 11 David Smith Inman, SC 5
14. 9 07 Dale Timms Hodges, SC 0
15. 16 85 Hot Rod Lamance Six-Mile, SC 0
DNS: 15 87 Adam Partain Hartwell, GA 0
DNS: 3 39 Henry Hornsby III Beckley, WV 0
DNS: 13 10 Ronnie Mayle Chesterhill, OH 0
DNS: 14 15 Cody Pritchett Barnesville, GA 0
DNS: 19 28 Taylor Puckett Greer, SC 0
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