7/10/2025
Tri-County Speedway
Pepsi FIRECRACKER 400
July 5th was most certainly a Holiday weekend! Some of us might even have thought it was a full moon on this Saturday night! Tri County had a full house of race fans and fireworks were scheduled to close out the full night of racing.
Klint Townsend captured the pole earlier in the evening for the Renegades. He turned a lap of 18.957, 75.961 mph. However, the pill draw required an invert of the top 4 qualifiers. This placed Gary Willard, #54, on the pole. Willard was involved in the first caution. Willard and Shawn Thompson, #1.5, got together in turn 2 on lap 4. Willard also brought about caution #2 on lap 21. This happened when he slowed to a stop with a smoking car. Townsend claimed the win of the night. He was followed by Scottie Brewer, #28, in second. Mike Shelton, #24, rounded out the top 3.
Race #2 of the night was the Carolina Mini Stocks. Allison Houston, #29, was fastest in qualifying with a lap time of 17.709, 81.314 mph. Again, the top 4 were inverted which allowed Jamison Whittington, #61, to lead the field to green. Car #67, Drew Mason, brought out the first caution on the very first lap. He slowed to a stop on the front stretch. Caution #2, was because of an engine expiring in Whittington’s car. This turned into a red flag because of an incident in the pits. The time limit had expired before the race could be restarted. The checkered flag waved for Isaac Harris, #59. Dennis Trivette, #28, followed in second and Robert Trivette, #11, placed third.
The Outlaw Division rolled onto the track for race 3. Brandon Lopez, #7L claimed the pole with a speed of 15.503, 92.885 mph. One caution waved. This was because of Dakota Seagle, #13, slowing to a stop on the backstretch. Racing resumed without any further incident. Tyler Church, #1X, brought home the checkers. A hard charging Martin Nesbitt, #92, was second. David Messer, #25D, was third.
The Front Wheel Drive was race #4. Jason Garwood, #46, turned a fast lap of 19.030, 75.669 mph. However, the top 4 were inverted. This placed Jeff Linkous, #54VA, P1 for the start of the race. Lap 22 saw the first caution. This was caused by Dana Maxwell, #1, spinning in turn 1. On the restart, again on lap 22, there was another spin. Skylar Brown, #2, prevailed and took home the trophy. Garwood placed second and Jackie Stone, #17, finished third.
The Late model race was next for their 125 lap feature. Ryan Millington, #11, drove the Doug Howser entry to the pole. 15.330, 93.933 mph, was what it took to claim the top spot. Jonathan Philyaw, #22, slowed on the track on lap 22 to bring out yellow #1. A competition caution waved on lap 45 and 5 laps ran under caution. If you chose to pit, you had to go to the rear. There were few takers. Competition caution #2 was on lap 90. All cars came to pit road and were allowed to work on their cars during a 10 minute break. At this point, they inverted the top 5 positions. Kade Brown, #16, spun in turn 4 on lap 116. The race ran without further incident. Millington appeared to be the winner. However, a post race tear down was refused. This passed the win the Landon Huffman, #75. Thomas Beane, #01, followed in second. Austin McDaniel, #12, was third.
The Limited Late Model race was race #6. Austin Harris, #59, set the bar in qualifying with a lap time of 15.854, 90.828 mph. Derike Weldon, #5, brought about the first and only caution on lap 2. This occurred when he spun in turn 2. Harris held on to his #1 starting spot and won the race. William Aldred, #9, followed in second and Zack Franks, #1, rounded out the top 3.
The Street Stock race was next on the agenda. Mike Hatton, #12, won the pole with a lap time of 17.159, 83.920 mph. The top 4 were inverted. This allowed Davey Smart, #14, to lead the field to green. The race ran caution free. Gary Ledbetter, #8, claimed the victory. Hatton finished second and Terrence Tucker, #42, was third.
The final event on the night was the Crown Vic series. Kyle Dubeau led the field in qualifying. However, he had to start in 4th place due to the invert. His lap time was 20.719, 69.501 mph. Shane Lisk, #13, took over the #1 spot, via the invert. Before lap 1 was complete, Lisk along with Davey Smart,#5, had an encounter in turn 4. Caution #2, was on lap 1 again when Dubeau and Hunter Hatton, #4, spun on the backstretch. Yellow #3 waved on lap 8 when Hatton spun once again in turn 4. The last caution was on lap 14. Nic Waldrop, #22, spun in turns 1&2. Waldrop took exception to the contact from Morlando, that resulted in the spin. Waldrop took aim at Morlando on the restart and was black flagged. He was forced to the pits. Morlando won the event. Dubeau was second and Jacob Hickman, #22H, came home third.
After the last race, Tri County provided race fans with a spectacular fireworks display. It was beautiful!
Article Credit: Debbie Setzer
Submitted By: Chris Lesondak
