JACKSONVILLE, NC – David Barnes looked destined to clinch the championship and score his first win at New River All American Speedway, but when the checkered flag flew, it was Gator Williams celebrating a championship.
Barnes led 49 of the race’s 50 laps after scoring the pole. After taking the white flag, it looked like Barnes would cruise to victory. However, entering turn three, a problem with the rear end would put an end to Barnes’ valiant performance. As his car fell off the pace, Hunter Brown surged past him to score the victory and Gator Williams was also able to get past him to clinch the Moore’s Barbeque Charger division championship.
“I honestly thought David had it wrapped up,” Williams said after the race. “He had a hell of a car. I hate to see that it broke like that. Still in disbelief. We inherited the points lead. Me and David’s had it the last few races. I really don’t know what to say. I’m speechless at the moment.”
Barnes ended up finishing in the fourth position but was disappointed with the outcome after a dominant performance.
“Rear end broke again,” Barnes stated. “It broke last time I was there for twins and had three races on it since it was freshly rebuilt. I was sick to my stomach after Saturday night. I guess it just wasn’t meant to be.”
Hunter Brown won the race over Gator Williams and Michael O’Brien.
Late race issues for Robert Drum allowed Brady Price to clinch the Bomber division championship in his rookie season.
Drum started on the pole position, led early, and stayed inside the top three for much of the race as he looked to cut into Price’s nearly insurmountable points advantage. Still, a late race spin derailed his efforts and ultimately relegated him to a sixth-place finish. In front of him, Price drove away from James Barbour and Mitchell Kerstetter to win the race and the championship.
“We entered this year just trying to get some seat time,” Price explained. “I just wanted to live my dream a little bit and get some seat time before going into a higher-class car and enjoy it. Then we started winning, so I decided to ride this momentum when I can. “
For Price, the race was not without adversity.
Early in the race, Price nearly spun off the front bumper of Charlie Mercer. Race control reviewed the incident and deemed Price not at fault and allowed him to maintain track position.
“I got turned around in one,” Price continued. “I don’t know what happened there. All I know is I got spun around. Honestly, I thought I was going to get thrown to the back but thankfully they saw it wasn’t my fault.”
Travis Miller added another Mini Stock division championship to his list of accolades at New River with a second place finish to Curtis Lanier.
“It’s a tremendous honor to represent the Mini Stock crowd,” Miller said. “Curtis is a die-hard racer. I took him under my wing and he’s flying on his own. Congratulations to him and his championship at Wake County Speedway is pretty awesome. I’ve got to thank the good Lord, he’s so good to me and I don’t deserve any of his blessings. I want to dedicate this championship to my wife. This is my 24th season. My goal this season was to win one race and everything after that was gravy.”
Jay Hemenway also clinched a championship in Saturday’s racing program with his Bandolero division win – his first career championship of any kind. In the Legends division, Brody Rhodes scored the victory but Aiden McConnaughey was able to put himself in a position to clinch the division championship on October 5 by just starting the race. Ethan Elder picked up the win in the Allison Legacy Series, and Herbert Keaton was victorious in Champ Kart competition.
New River All American Speedway roars back into action on Saturday, October 5, with the Gary Rochelle Memorial where the remainder of the track championships will be decided.
Results for 9/21/2024 at New River All American Speedway – Jacksonville, NC
Bomber | 25 Laps | 00:09:06.815
1.) #32 – Brady Price; 2.) #75 – James Barbour; 3.) #13 – Mitchell Kerstetter; 4.) #34N – Matthew Newman; 5.) #14 – Joey Vereen; 6.) #83 – Robert Drum; 7.) #91 – Timothy Medeiros; 8.) #79 – Dominic Baez; 9.) #34 – Michael Withrow; 10.) #9 – Deanna Stancill; 11.01 – Charlie Mercer; 12.07 – Jonathan Thompson; 13.) #17 – Duane Walker
Legend Car | 25 Laps | 00:07:52.016
1.) #9 – Brody Rhodes; 2.) #71 – Aiden McConnaughey; 3.) #B1 – Brenton Irving; 4.) #99 – Tyler Garretson; 5.) #2B – Luigi Maselli; 6.) #6 – Austin Eckert; 7.) #32 – Brady Price; 8.) #3X – Shane Irving; 9.) #28M – Oliver Missner; 10.) #97 – Michael Bivens; 11.) #63 – Dustin Mitchell; 12.) #25 – Frank Pass; 13.) #2 – Greg Farley
Bandolero | 15 Laps | 00:04:42.145
1.) #12 – Jay Hemenway; 2.) #88 – AC Waller; 3.) #5 – Corbin Cannon; 4.) #15 – Benleigh Sandy; 5.45 – Rylan Speight; 6.1 – KrisAnna Sandy
Champ Kart | 15 Laps | 00:05:22.653
1.) #20 – Herbert Keaton; 2.) #10 – Jeremy Sims; 3.) #75 – Dustin Phillips; 4.) #13 – Miles Rochelle; 5.) #175 – Hunter Faulk; 6.72 – Harry Artemisio
Mini Stock | 25 Laps | 00:03:18.198
1.) #2 – Curtis Lanier; 2.) #99 – Travis Miller; 3.) #9 – Trace Raynor; 4.) #33 – Jesse Duke; 5.) #D6 – Rick Mitchell; 6.) #5 – Lynn Waller
Moore’s Barbeque Charger | 50 Laps | 00:14:39.274
1.) #11 – Timothy Brown; 2.) #71 – Gator Williams; 3.) #21B – Michael O’Brien; 4.) #21 – David Barnes; 5.) #13 – Clifton Black; 6.) #5 – Lynn Waller
Allison Legacy Series | 25 Laps | 00:08:10.852
1.) #03 – Ethan Elder; 2.) #02 – Killian McMann; 3.) #10 – Matthew Davey; 4.) #01 – Bobby Mares; 5.) #60 – Chris Torrence; 6.) #47 – Luke Fisher; 7.) #4 – Cohen Harris; 8.) #28 – Caleb Harris
