After last season’s Fall Brawl was cancelled due to cold and rainy weather Mother Nature made it up with perfect weather for the season finale at Tazewell Speedway. As a result the cooler temps produced a super fast racing surface and the crowd on hand witnessed some of the wildest racing of the year plus three new track qualifying records.
Sixteen Limited Late Models signed in to compete for the $2,000 to win feature. Jason Trammell of Knoxville turned in the fastest time in qualifying with a blistering lap of 11.397 seconds. Josh Collins of Powell would turn in the second fastest time with Vic Hill of Mosheim qualifying third. The top five qualifiers were inverted for a six lap dash to determine the starting spots for the feature. Chicky Barton of Middlesboro, KY would win the dash over Hill and Collins to earn the pole for the 35 lap event.
Hill would use the outside line to take the lead in turn as Barton, Trammell and Collins jockeyed for position. The caution flag would fly on lap three for a pileup in turn one as Jody Horton of Sneedville got sideways collecting the cars of Brian Shockley of Thorn Hill and Michael Rutherford of Duff. Horton would suffer front end damage and retire from the race.
During the ensuing restart Trammell’s car would slow on the back stretch with engine woes taking him out of contention. Collins would move into second with Barton taking over third. By lap ten Dakotah Knuckles of Ewing, VA had worked his way from the tail of the field up to the fifth spot. Knuckles missed qualifying due to changing a busted radiator.
On lap thirteen, disaster would strike race leader Hill as he tried to move past the cars of Mike Kelley and David Clark going into turn three. After making contact with Kelley the nose piece of Hill’s car folded under causing him to dive pit side and give up the lead. Collins would take over the point with Barton lurking close behind in second. On lap sixteen Knuckles muscled his way into third and started closing the gap between him and the leaders. With only a handful of circuits left Barton began reeling in Collins with Knuckles in tow. On lap twenty-eight Knuckles pulled alongside Barton on the back stretch and took over second on the next lap, bringing the crowd to its feet. Knowing that the laps were winding down Knuckles went elbows up and inched closer to Collins. Fortune would shine on Collins as he held off Knuckles for his second win in a row and his third Fall Brawl win piloting the S&R Farms, Permanent Cosmetics by Brandi, P&P Cole, Stealth Racing Carbs sponsored Warrior Race Car with power from a Phantom Race Engine.
Limited Late Model
1. 63 Josh Collins
2. 21K Dakotah Knuckles
3. 8 Chris Chandler
4. 144 Chicky Barton
5. 97 Keith Chapman
6. 18 Michael Rutherford
7. 22 Lynn Leach
8. 15 Donovan Long
9. 5 Vic Hill
10. 1 David Clark
11. 8K Mike Kelley
12. 54 Mitchell Burke
13. 90J Jason Trammell
14. 56J Jody Horton
15. 17 Brian Shockley
16. 2 Jordan Davis
In Sportsman action, Matt Tharp of Luttrell established a new track qualifying record with a lap of 11.745 seconds. Four other drivers would also turn laps quicker than the previous record. Former Classic Car track champion Philip Thompson of Knoxville would win the six lap dash and start on the pole for the $1,500 to win feature with Andy Ogle of Sevierville sharing the front row. Ogle would shove his way into the early lead followed by Thompson, Tharp, Clyde Overholt and Anthony Burchett. Thompson was able to stay close to Ogle throughout the early laps. Midway through the feature the duo would race door to door with Ogle able to retain the lead. Even with a late race challenge of working past lap traffic Ogle was able to pace every lap and take the checkered flag.
The Victory Lane celebration was short lived as Ogle’s car was found to have illegal parts during a postrace inspection. Philip Thompson was awarded his first Tazewell Speedway Sportsman win behind the wheel of the Skyline Transportation, Filmax Filtration, Farner’s Auto Parts, CDE Electrical Contracting, Hooker Harness, Akita Express Japanese Restaurant, Coldwell Banker/Wallace & Wallace sponsored Warrior Race Car.
Sportsman
1. 24 Philip Thompson
2. 35 Matt Tharp
3. 4 Clyde Overholt
4. 18 Anthony Burchett
5. 97 Aaron Guinn
6. 50M Jonathan Miracle
7. T0 Travis Fultz
8. 10M Dustin McAnally
9. 11 Cody Smith
10. 50 Rick Welch
11. 28 Randy Davis
12. 99 Jeff Day
13. 21 Bryan Howerton
14. 28 Jesse Helton
15. Richard Bailey
DNS G7 Billy Gordon
DQ’d 68 Andy Ogle
Shannon Emery of Morristown would lower the Super Stock qualifying record with a new time of 12.710 seconds. The six lap dash was won by Tazewell’s Brad Davis with Austin Neely finishing second. As the field stormed out of turn four to take the green flag Neely used the high line to take the lead with. Chris Rickett would slam the outside wall in turn two ending his bid for the big money. On lap four Davis would move to the inside of Emery to battle for the second spot. The next lap Davis would move past Emery. The caution would fly on lap seven for the spinning cars of Robbie Buchanan and Tony Horton. During the caution Neely would give up the lead as he went to the pits with a flat left rear tire. His crew quickly changed the tire and he would tag on to the tail of the field.
During the restart Davis and Emery would make contact on the back stretch with Davis crashing into the outside wall and ending his night with heavy front end damage. Emery would inherit the lead with Cody Thompson taking over second. On lap seventeen Thompson would spin on his own in turn two allowing the field to be reset. During the ensuing restart Neely worked his way into fourth and on the next lap slipped past Horton for third. With only three laps remaining Neely moved to the inside of Buchanan and into second and setting his sights on Emery for the lead. Emery would hold off Neely for the win and the $1,500 top prize in the S&S Millwright sponsored Monte Carlo.
Super Stock
1. M2 Shannon Emery
2. 3 Austin Neely
3. P21 Robbie Buchanan
4. 06 Wesley Lester
5. 83 Cody Thompson
6. 155 Eric Griffith
7. 56 Tony Horton
8. 42 Robbie Comer
9. 88 Brad Davis
10. 36 Chris Rickett
11. C4 Logan Cobb
Joey Kramer of Hanover, IN, making his first visit to Tazewell Speedway since 2012, turned the fastest lap in Open Wheel Modified qualifying with a lap of 12.084 seconds. Don Adams of Lnodon, KY would win the six lap dash over Knoxville’s Brad Hall. With the drop of the green Adams would take the lead with Hall spinning on his own yet keeping the car under control after losing a few spots. Kramer would move up to challenge Adams for the lead. The pair would race door to door several times with Kramer taking the lead on lap six. As the laps clicked off Kramer extended his lead and was seemingly on his way to an easy victory. Bad luck would strike Kramer with just a handful of laps left as he shredded a right rear tire going down the back stretch. Adams would take over the lead and record his seventh win of the season and take home the $1,500 in the Rayburn Performance sponsored Lightning Chassis House Car.
Open Wheel Modified
1. 90 Don Adams
2. 36 Billy Palmer
3. 00 Jeffrey Akard
4. 77 Joey Kramer
5. 47 Brad Hall
Chuck McMahan collected his sixth 4 Cylinder feature of the year and the $350 for his efforts.
4 Cylinder
1. 99 Chuck McMahan
2. B7 Bubby Braden
3. 1 Mark Wallace
4. 72 Hayston Collett
5. 72 Walter Walsh
