6/26/2023
Tri-County Speedway
June 24, 2023 Bring a Friend to the Races Night
A full house of fans and cars greeted all at Tri County this past Saturday night. A newly paved
track was also highly anticipated by all. Everyone wanted to see how it affected the drivers and cars.
The first race of the night was the Renegade Division. Dalton Ledbedder (#32) led all qualifiers
with a fast lap of 19.300. The top five were inverted and this placed John Maph (#16B) on the inside
first row for the start of the race. Since this race was caution free, Ledbedder soon regained his grip on
the #1 position and sped to the first win on the new asphalt. Klint Townsend (#9) followed in second
and Mike Mote (#84) came home third.
Race #2 was the Outlaw Division. Martin Nesbitt (#92) had a fast time of 15.507. However, the
top five were inverted for this race as well. This meant Tim Dale (#5) was the first to see the green
wave. The race was originally scheduled for 40 laps but attrition reduced that to 30 laps. The first
caution waved on lap 1 when Dale spun in turn 2. The race was restarted and once again the caution
flew on lap 1. This time Shane Lisk (#13) spun in turn 3&4. On lap 5 Nesbitt lost control of his car while
making a pass for the lead on the backstretch. This ended Nesbitt’s night. On lap 18 Austin Simmons
(#1X) grenade an engine which necessitated a red flag for track clean up. The race ran without further
incident and saw Ruben Caceres (#77) roll to victory. Lisk came home second and JR Courage (#5C)
claimed the third spot.
Race 3 was the Vintage Division. Bob Hapeman (#0) claimed the pole with a lap of 16.087.
Hapeman never looked back and cruised to victory in the caution free race. Greg Porter (#80) was
second and Marty Ward (#41) followed in third.
Race 4 was the Front Wheel Drive Division. This race also ran caution free. Jason Garwood
(#46) was fastest in qualifying. His lap time was 19.126. A top 5 invert sent Rayna Holland (#2) to the P1
starting spot. As the race continued a familiar face sped to the checkered flag. James Powell (#27)
graced victory lane once more. Brandon Collins (#94) was second and Randy Hupp (#54) followed in
third.
Race 5 was the Pro 4 race. Tim Canipe (#10) qualified fastest earlier in the night. His speed was
17.581. However, a top 5 invert paced Jamison Whittington (#61) on the pole to start the race. Kevin
Jefferys (#21) brought out the race’s only caution. His car was towed in after an incident in turn 3 and
debris was cleaned up. Canipe overcame the invert and won the race. He was followed by Dennis
Trivette (#10) in second and Robbie Trivette (#11) in third.
Race 6 of the night was the Limited Late Model Division. Austin Harris (#59) with a lap of 15.858
snagged the pole. The top 6 were inverted for this race. This meant that Tyler Chapman (#51) would
lead the field to green. There were an unusually high number of cautions for this event. Caution 1 was
on lap 19 when Jonathan Philyaw (#22) hit the wall coming out of turn 4. Lap 41 saw Dustin Atkins
(#33A) slow to a stop on the speedway. Caution three occurred when Harris and Taylor Nesbitt (#92)
tangled going into turn 1 on lap 46. Nesbitt hit driver’s side first and her car had to be removed from
the track and fluids had to be cleaned up before racing could resume. On the restart another crash
occurred. Harris, Chapman, and Trey Canipe (#5) were all involved on a crash on the backstretch. Once
again the race was red flagged. Once racing resumed, it ran without further incident. Josh Goble (#65)
raced home for the win. William Aldred (#9) claimed second and Dennis Krantz, Jr (#1) placed third.
Race 7 was the Street Stock Division. Marlin Yoder (#08) ran a fast lap of 16.835, but had to
relinquish the pole to the invert. John Guker (#56) was the beneficiary of the invert and started first.
Once the green dropped, the field only made it to turn 1. Marvin Miller (#1) spun and brought out the
caution. Kayla Eby (#3) brought out the next caution. Her car appeared to have a broken ball joint in
turn 1. Once her car was removed, racing resumed. Davey Smart (#14) came home the winner. He was
followed by Yoder in second and Kevin Eby (#03) in third.
Race 8 was the Late Model Division. Mitch Walker (#15W) was fastest in qualifying with a lap
time of 15.369. This race also inverted the top 6. This placed Ryan Joyner in the P1 position. Joyner
also brought out the race’s only caution. He spun and hit the turn 4 wall on lap 39. The race ran
without further incident. Kade Brown (#23) came home the winner. Mitch Walker (#15W) placed
second and Thomas Beane (#28) was third.
The final event of the night was the Carolina Vintage Division. Jerry Bryant (#23) set the
standard in qualifying with a lap time of 17.271. Only 1 caution waved during the race. This happened
when Kristi Peacock’s (#24) car slowed to a stop on the track. The night’s last checkered flag waved for
the Marty Reid (#61) car. Bryant followed him home in second and Danny Toney (#51) was third.
Next week is the Pepsi Firecracker race which always proves exciting. As if the racing isn’t
enough, there will be fireworks at the end of the night’s events. Hope you are in attendance and enjoy
the show!!
Article Credit: Debbie Setzer
Submitted By: Rhonda Higgins
