Photo Credit: Mike Holtsclaw/OnPitRoad.com
Saturday September 19 the Southeast Super Truck Series invaded Kingsport Speedway in Kingsport, TN. This was the series eleventh stop of the season. As the points battle were getting tighter, and the competition getting tougher, its coming down to the final two races. When all the teams unloaded at Kingsport, it was young 15 year old Cole Glasson from Rockwell, TX who stayed on top of the speed charts during all the practice sessions. Glasson entered the race sitting third in points.
The final minutes were counting down and all the teams were making final adjustments to the trucks for qualifying. Series veteran Lee Tissot, who calls Kingsport Speedway his home track, turned in the fastest lap. Tissot was followed by Matt Leicht, Luke Sorrow, Kevin Leicht and Glasson rounded out the top five starting positions for the race. Tissot rolled the number “4” on the die so the top four inverted for the start of the race, giving Kevin Leicht the controls for the race.
When the green flag fell on the sixteen truck field, Leicht quickly set sail and paced the field. It didnt take long before the first caution came out, as Glasson spun in turn two on lap two. When the green came back out, Tissot slowly picked off the top three trucks and by lap ten was out front. Matt Leicht was also quickly coming to the front, he worked his way up to second when the caution came back out on lap 13, due to Glasson spinning out of turn two again.
The field ran six more laps when the caution came out for the third time, Glasson and Ed Surrett made contact coming down the back stretch resulting in Surrett spinning out up against the turn three inside wall. It was another brief green flag run until lap 21, when Tony Black and Jeff Caldwell made contact in turn two resulting in Caldwell spinning. Tissot led the field back to the green, and the competition started to heat up. Ricky Bowers was picking off trucks one by one until he found himself in the top five. They ran the last fifty laps under green with Tissot coming across the line first earning his fifth win of the season. Tissot was followed by Matt Leicht, Luke Sorrow, Ricky Bowers and Kevin Leicht. “The driveshaft was coming out of this truck, I just had to baby it the last 25 laps so I didnt tear the transmission up, I got a good group of guys who work hard to put this truck up front every week. We’re going to Tri County next which is a good track to me, I have won several races there so I’m ready to get there and lock up the championship.” stated Tissot
Matt Leicht had this to say after the race, “This was the best race car I have ever sat in, but he (Tissot) just drove off and into the sunset, I don’t know what he had but were just going to have to go home and do our homework and figure out a way to beat him. Tri-County is my hometrack so hopefully I can lay it to him there” Third place finisher Luke Sorrow spoke to OPR and said “I had a really strong truck today, had the fastest truck in practice all day, and during the race I was coming back up front. I will just try harder at Tri-County and hopefully be able to win that race”
The Southeast Super Stock race was a action packed event. Alan Rich led the field to the green. Alan was starting to get some fierce competition from Jason Leatherword for the lead when the caution came out for the first time on lap eight, Steve Carver cut a tire down. They raced hard until a few laps later when the leader spun in turn three and ended his night. It was Scott Franklin who ended up on top when the checkered flag fell on the field.
Joining the trucks and super stocks were the Carolina Vintage series with Chuck Thorne capturing the victory , the Front Wheel Drive division with Keith Helton taking the top spot, and the Winston Minis with Lee Gibson crossing the finish line first.
The next stop on the map and the final points race for the series is Tri County Motor Speedway in Hudson, NC on October 3. Its going to be a barn burner of a race.
Official Results:
Southeast Super Trucks: 1. 27 Lee Tissot, 2. 23 Matt Leicht, 3. 9 Luke Sorrow, 4. 61 Ricky Bowers, 5. 25 Kevin Leicht, 6. 50 Tim Lollis, 7. 05 Tony Black, 8. 77 Tal Davidson, 9. 12 Cole Glasson, 10. 8 Ed Surrett, 11. 13 Dakota Slagle, 12. 18 Chandler Sherman, 13. 51 Houston Sullivan, 14. 1 Junior Franks, 15. 88 Jeff Caldwell, 16. 66 Bennie Davis
Southeast Super Stocks: 1. 7 Scott Franklin, 2. 99 Sawyer Frady, 3. 91 Clint Watkins, 4. 39 Steve Carver, 5. 48 Royce Peters, 6. 29 Jason Leatherwood, 7. 11 Sam Hurd, 8. 03 Alan Rich
Carolina Vintage Series: 1. 98 Chuck Thorne, 2. 5 Phil Terry, 3. $ Hutch Holiday, 4. 17 Ed Ritchey, 5. 77 Roger Sims, 6. 44 Duffie Sims, 7. 98 Red & White Howard Scruggs
Front Wheel Drive: 1. 9 Keith Helton, 2. 26 Billy Ketron, 3. 28 Jason Ketron, 4. 21 Dennis Stanley, 5. 8 Dean Slagle, 6. 2 Mike Anderson, 7. 10 James Powell, 8. 1 Gary Willard
Winston Minis: 1. 3 Lee Gibson, 2. 6 Anthony Price, 3. 55 Hannah Seal, 4. 88 Tre Franklin, 5. 26 Michael Lupe, 6. 25 Jacob York, 7. 48 BC Wright
About the Author
Correction : Luke Sorrow (not Sorrows). Great report otherwise. :-)
Thanks for catching the typo and thanks for reading!