JACKSONVILLE, NC – Hunter Brown’s dream of one day being a NASCAR winner came true on Saturday.
Brown scored his first career victory in the Swansboro Liquidations Bomber feature in Saturday night’s Furniture4Less SpringFest 225 at New River All-American Speedway – holding off Eddie Humphrey and playoff point leader Nathan Hall in a thriller.
Brown, who had two runner-up finishes heading into Saturday, led 24 of the race’s 25 laps after flashing by defending Swansboro Liquidations Bomber champion Eddie Humphrey on the second lap of the race. From there, he held off multiple challenges from both Humphrey and Hall en route to victory lane.
“Thank you for all the fans out here,” Brown said in victory lane. “We’ve had a good car and I knew our time was coming. I’ve got to thank my sponsors and my family. I’m going to do everything I can to be in the playoffs in September.”
With his victory, Brown will likely clinch a spot in the Race for the Championship.
A playoff spot is all but guaranteed for T.J. Barron, who will assume the lead in the playoff standings in the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series Late Model division at the Jacksonville, North Carolina track.
Barron returned to victory lane for the first time since August 28, 2021, with a sweep in the Late Model doubleheader. Barron drove past Adam Resnick early in the first of the two races and pulled away from eventual runner-up Rusty Daniels for the win. After an invert in the second 40-lap feature, Barron charged to the front, passing Michael O’Brien to take the lead, and the win, on the race’s 24th lap.
“That’s pretty cool man,” Barron said about his playoff berth. “We had a really strong car tonight. Probably the best I’ve ever had here and I’ve had a lot of good cars here. This particular car, my uncle, who passed away a few years ago, named it Fatback and that’s what everybody we know refers to. This [car] is Fatback. Statement win against Michael and Rusty, they’re both good. The competition is unreal. Just like to get a few more cars out here, it would be great.”
Carson Haislip, who competed in both 40-lap Late Model races on Saturday, his first time driving in the division, scored the victory in the INEX Legends division over Chris Burns and Aiden McConnaughey while Delaney Gray continued her domination of the INEX Bandolero class. John Ottaway held off older brother Lee in a photo finish. Reigning champions Curtis Lanier took the win in the U-CAR division while Travis Miller was victorious over Zac Reimer in a Mini Stock thriller.
New River All-American Speedway, located in Jacksonville, will roar to life once again on Saturday, May 13 with more racing in the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series. Late Models will headline the event along with Bombers, Champ Karts, Chargers, and Mini Cups.
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, follow @newriverswy on Twitter, or follow the track on Instagram.
Unofficial Results for 4/29/2023 at New River All-American Speedway – Jacksonville, NC
Late Model Race #1 | 40 Laps | 00:14:09.000
1. 44-TJ Barron[4]; 2. 16-Rusty Daniels[2]; 3. 4-Adam Resnick[1]; 4. 40-Brian Thomas[6]; 5. 29-Paul Williamson[3]; 6. 61-Michael O’Brien[5]; 7. 21B-Gerald Benton[7]; 8. 08-Carson Haislip[8]; 9. 21-David Barnes[9]
Late Model Race #2 | 40 Laps | 00:14:30.006
1. 44-TJ Barron[8]; 2. 61-Michael O’Brien[3]; 3. 16-Rusty Daniels[7]; 4. 40-Brian Thomas[5]; 5. 4-Adam Resnick[6]; 6. 21B-Gerald Benton[2]; 7. 08-Carson Haislip[1]; 8. 29-Paul Williamson[4]; 9. 21-David Barnes[9]
Swansboro Liquidations Bombers | 25 Laps | 00:11:22.183
1. 11-Hunter Brown[3]; 2. 14-Eddie Humphrey[1]; 3. 33-Nathan Hall[5]; 4. 41-Kevin Wrenn[7]; 5. 83-Robert Drum[2]; 6. 5-Haley Brown[6]; 7. 3-Johnny Floyd[4]; 8. 4-Chad Cunningham[10]; 9. 95-David Fulk[14]; 10. 77-Richard Smith[9]; 11. 87-Justin Rountree[12]; 12. 97-Justin Brooks[11]; 13. 79-Dominic Baez[13]; 14. 17-Brian Gooden[8]
Legends | 25 Laps | 00:23:49.089
1. 08-Carson Haislip[1]; 2. 71-Aiden McConnaughey[2]; 3. 9-Christopher Burns[3]; 4. 88-Phoenyx Kimball[4]; 5. 8-Edward Radley[7]; 6. 13-Dj Murphy[5]; 7. 51-Raven Kimball[6]; 8. 78-Atley Wiese[8]; 9. 14-Mike Ridenour[10]; 10. 99-Carsyn Gillikin[9]
Bandolero | 15 Laps | 00:07:14.813
1. 84-Delaney Gray[1]; 2. 3-Landon Burbage[3]; 3. 12-Jay Hemenway[4]; 4. 38-Aidan Zschiedrich[2]
Champ Kart | 20 Laps | 00:19:23.991
1. 44-John Ottaway[15]; 2. 2-Lee Ottaway[4]; 3. 28-Josh Eubanks[3]; 4. 1-Daniel Baker[5]; 5. 28L-Corey Lucas[2]; 6. 5-Aaron Layden[1]; 7. 20-Herbert Keaton[7]; 8. 28G-Martin Grasso[11]; 9. 8-Hunter Gonia[10]; 10. 18S-carlton Sullivan[13]; 11. 13-Miles Rochelle[14]; 12. 127-Jimmie Whitehurst[9]; 13. 18-Keith Webb[8]; 14. 211-Jacob Tingen[6]; 15. 7X-Tripp Dail[12]
Mini Stocks | 30 Laps | 00:11:03.362
1. 99-Travis Miller[1]; 2. 23-Zac Reimer[5]; 3. 55-Randy Hewett[2]; 4. 54-Tom Hudson[3]; 5. 38-Joseph Bryant[4]
U-Car | 30 Laps | 00:11:30.940
1. 2-Curtis Lanier[4]; 2. 03-Cornell Williams[1]; 3. 11-Abby Jolly[3]; 4. 22-Haiden Masterson Thomas[2]
