JACKSONVILLE, NC – Another thrilling night of racing saw Brody Rhodes and Brady Price return to victory lane in Saturday night’s Summer Freedom 150 at New River All American Speedway.
Rhodes was mired in battle with Three Sixteen Motorsports teammate Aiden McConnaughey throughout much of the 25 lap race. The two drivers swapped the lead multiple times before Rhodes finally got past with with just four laps remaining. McConnaughey mounted one last change on the last lap, drawing even with Rhodes, but Rhodes prevailed by 0.019 seconds, a photofinish.
“I knew it was going to be freaking close right there at the line,” Rhodes said. “It was a great race the entire race, back and forth battling. Probably the best race I’ve ever had in Legend Cars. Congratulations to Aiden. That was a phenomenal, great race with him. Man, I have a loss of words.”
McConnaughey, who won the championship, was equally as excited about the thrilling finish despite coming up just a few inches short.
“It was an incredible race,” McConnaughey remarked. “That was probably the most fun I’ve ever had behind the wheel of a car. When we crossed the line, I had no idea who had it. I was absolutely clueless. I didn’t know until dad came over the radio and told me the interval. I wish we could have been on the other side of it but congratulations to my teammate Brody Rhodes.”
The Bomber division once again came down to the wire with the race being decided on a chaotic last lap.
Robert Drum dominated much of the race pulling out to a huge lead. As the laps ticked down, Brady Price began closing in and got within a car-length coming to the white flag. Drum and Price both had to contend with lapped traffic – which would ultimately decide the outcome.
As Drum went to overtake Summer Sullivan, he would be forced up the track allowing room for Price to get to the inside. The two drivers traded paint before splitting the lapped cars of Sullivan and Michael Withrow. Heading into turn three, Price drove in deep, pushing Withrow up the track and forcing Drum high again. The maneuver allowed Price to hold on to the win while Drum spun off the front bumper of Sullivan, being relegated to a sixth-place finish.
“I was catching him, barely,” Price stated. “Every lap, I would inch away after he had such a big gap. I knew, once we hit those lapped cars, I just had to go to the bottom. I made a bunch of contact on that last lap. I mean, I doored some people. It wasn’t intentional, I try to keep off of people, but it happens. It’s part of racing. That was fun as crap.”
James Barbour and T.J. Medeiros emerged from the chaos to finish second and third respectively. After the race, Drum politely declined to comment.
Jay Hemmenway went to victory lane in the Bandolero division for the second race in a row while Tyler Horne was victorious in the Moore’s Old Tyme Barbeque Charger division.
New River All American Speedway returns to action on Saturday, June 29 and again on Thursday, July 4.
New River All-American Speedway is Jacksonville’s Action Attraction featuring racing and other events. For more information about New River All-American Speedway, check out the speedway’s website, like/follow “New River Speedway” on Facebook and/or follow @newriverswy on X (formerly known as Twitter).
Results for 6/15/2024 at New River All-American Speedway – Jacksonville, NC
Bomber | 25 Laps | 00:09:00.316
1.) #32 – Brady Price; 2.) #75 – James Barbour; 3.) #91 – Timothy Medeiros; 4.) #88 – Mike Ridenour; 5.) #79 – Dominic Baez; 6.) #83 – Robert Drum; 7.) #07 – Jonathan Thompson; 8.) #34 – Michael Withrow; 9.) #58 – Summer Sullivan; 10.) #34N – Matthew Newman; 11.) #77 – Richard Smith; 12.) # 33 – Nathan Hall (DNS)
Legend | 25 Laps | 00:07:50.620
1.) #9 – Brody Rhodes; 2.) #71 – Aiden McConnaughey; 3.) #99G – Tyler Garretson; 4.) #32 – Brady Price; 5.) #28 – Oliver Missner; 6.) #6 – Austin Eckert; 7.) #14 – Mike Ridenour; 8.) #2B – Chase Drill; 9.) #41 – Robert Drum; 10.) #99 – Carsyn Gillikin
Bandolero | 15 Laps | 00:05:46.980
1.) #12 – Jay Hemenway; 2.) #45 – Rylan Speight; 3.) #84 – Delaney Gray; 4.) #3 – Landon Burbage; 5.) #88 – AC Waller; 6.) #1 – KrisAnna Sandy; 7.) #15 – Benleigh Sandy (DNS)
Moore’s Barbeque Charger | 40 Laps | 00:11:41.809
1.) #28 – Tyler Horne; 2.) #21 – David Barnes; 3.) #71 – Gator Williams; 4.) #5 – Lynn Waller
