CONCORD, NC (Nov. 2, 2024) – The second night of the ninth annual World Short Track Championship saw five Features and 46 Heat Races on Friday night.

Nine divisions ran Heat Races to set their line-ups for Saturday’s Last Chance Showdowns and Features, while the DIRTVision Hornets ran five Features between the SEHA and SCDRA groups.

Full Friday Night Coverage:

Presnell, Kelly Take Friday DIRTVision SCDRA Hornet Victories at World Short Track Championship

By Spence Smithback

Newman Presnell and Joey Kelly have both become familiar with Victory Lane at The Dirt Track at Charlotte over the years, and they made their latest visits Friday night at the World Short Track Championship following their triumphs in a pair of Features for the Sport Compact Dirt Racing Association (SCDRA) DIRTVision Hornet division.

Feature 1
Kevin Brazell drew the pole for the 15-lap event to start on the inside of Kenneth Colf in second, but third-place starter CJ LaVair immediately blasted past both of them and into the early lead.

The star of the show early was the No. 48 of Presnell, who made his way from the last row all the way up to second in just two laps. He didn’t stop there though, as he powered around the outside of LaVair on Lap 5.

There was no stopping Presnell once he found clean air, as he rocketed away to the checkered flag to stay undefeated at The Dirt Track at Charlotte, winning his fifth Feature at the World Short Track Championship in his fifth start. However, he did face a late race scare.

“I think I broke an axle,” Presnell said. “I didn’t know how close second place was. I was going to keep on riding it out and see what happened. Luckily we had enough distance on them there that we pulled the win off.”

Feature 2
The front row was occupied by Jacob Bright and Larry Lamb, but calamity broke out soon after those two led the field to green. A stack-up near the back of the field on the start sent Chris Martin head on into the frontstretch wall, bringing his night to an untimely end.

On the ensuing restart, Bright jumped out to the top spot while Gage McManus, Shannon Barnhill and Joey Kelly raced three-abreast behind him for second. McManus was able to take the long way around Turns 1 and 2 to briefly grab second, but his competition wasn’t keen on letting him slip away.

Barnhill worked the inside lane back around McManus and into second on Lap 4, and Kelly sent McManus back to fourth one lap later with the same move.

A caution for a loose wheel reset the field with nine laps to go, and Kelly seized the opportunity from third. The No. 88 sent it through the middle of Barnhill and Bright through Turns 1 and 2, hit the backstretch in second, and went to work on hunting down Barnhill.

After looking to Barnhill’s inside a handful of times, Kelly made the winning move stick in Turn 3 with seven to go and never looked back for his fourth World Short Track Championship victory and first since 2020.

“I feel at home here,” Kelly said regarding his fondness towards The Dirt Track at Charlotte. “I really don’t know. I just get lucky, really.”

Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 48-Newman Presnell[15]; 2. C4-CJ LaVair[3]; 3. 3B-Brad McManus[5]; 4. 777J-Jeffrey Erb[6]; 5. 91-Allen Griffith[16]; 6. 66W-Michael Wallace[7]; 7. H2-Alex Brooks[13]; 8. 15-Kenneth Colf[2]; 9. 58-Ronnie Hall[14]; 10. 68J-Jessie Joyner[12]; 11. 328-Zachary Slone[10]; 12. 21-Ricky Weaver[9]; 13. 14-Wayne Taylor[11]; 14. 41JR-Kolten Saam[4]; 15. 96-Kevin Brazell[1]; 16. 21A-Adam Asbill[8]

Feature 2 (15 Laps): 1. 88-Joey Kelly[5]; 2. X-Shannon Barnhill[3]; 3. 25-Gage McManus[4]; 4. 95-Jacob Bright[1]; 5. 0-Shawn Peche[7]; 6. 66-Mike Crickmore[13]; 7. 17E-Glenn Engstrom[9]; 8. 359-Michael Lambert[11]; 9. 08-Dallas Griggs[15]; 10. 5-Reggie Twing[10]; 11. 55-Larry Lamb[2]; 12. 24-Chris Martin[12]; 13. (DNS) 94-Payne Pickles; 14. (DNS) 59-Ron Scully; 15. (DNS) 77NY-Kris Clark

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Douglas, Presnell Become First-Time Winners, Kelly Makes History With DIRTVision SEHA Hornets
By Nick Graziano

The DIRTVision SEHA Hornets made their World Short Track Championship debut Friday night at The Dirt Track at Charlotte with three Features, each producing a compelling storyline.

FEATURE 1
Dylan Douglas started on the pole of the first 15-lap Feature and never looked back. While he took off from the field at the start of the race, the rest of the field was battling two-, three- and four-wide for position behind him.

Willie Fowler fought his way out of the “hornet’s nest” of cars to slot into second with Douglas in sight.

While he tried to run down the leader, Carson Venable was on the move from fifth, using the top lane to build moment and run down the cars in front of him. Beating on Eddie Segars’ bumper for third, he got the No. 58 car out of shape off of Turn 2 and used that to move up into the podium spot.

The complexity of the race changed with five laps to go when a PRO-FABrication Headers caution flag brought the field back together.

Douglas jumped ahead of the field, again, on the restart, but Fowler stayed close enough to try a dive bomb into Turn 3, putting his car side by side with Douglas. However, Douglas had the advantage up top and pulled back ahead down the front stretch. That felt Fowler having to fend off Venable and Scott Cloninger, who had charged his way from 12th to fourth before the caution.

Venable tried to make a move around Fowler in the closing laps, but that only slowed the two cars, allowing Cloninger to dart by them both and steal second.

Ahead of them, Douglas saw the checkered flag for the first time at The Dirt Track at Charlotte with a 2.3 second lead. And he became the first SEHA Hornet Feature winner at the World Short Track Championship.

“Man, I was about to puke. I ain’t even going to lie, I was about to throw up,” Douglas said about having to survive the late caution. “On the last restart I reached out for my clutch and there was no pedal at all. So, I was so sick I was about to puke, man. But we got it done. Just happy to be here.”

RESULTS
Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 2DD-Dylan Douglas[1]; 2. 3C-Scott Cloninger[12]; 3. 19-Willie Fowler[13]; 4. 26C-Carson Venable[5]; 5. 2D-Daniel Tate[20]; 6. 58-Eddie Segars[4]; 7. 03-Jamey J Bresette[9]; 8. A53-Austin Haskin[21]; 9. 41S-Kevin Saam[3]; 10. 19X-Josh Cody[15]; 11. 35-Ashley Parker[22]; 12. 22-Trent Blackwell[18]; 13. 78-Ethan Fowler[19]; 14. 81A-Avery White[17]; 15. 33S-TJ Slack[7]; 16. T2-Jose Hernandez[16]; 17. 77NY-Kris Clark[2]; 18. 4TJ-Mitchell Coggins[23]; 19. 96-Kevin Brazell[14]; 20. 18-Phillip Taylor[10]; 21. 33-Scott Isbell[6]; 22. (DNS) 8-Charles Johnson; 23. (DNS) C4-CJ LaVair; 24. (DNS) 08-Dallas Griggs

FEATURE 2
Like Dylan Douglas, Kayden Presnell was the only driver out front for all 15 laps in the second Feature of the night. However, he did have a bit of work to do on the initial start.

Presnell started fourth but when the green flag was shown, he had a better jump than the three cars ahead of him, pulling to their outside and charging ahead by Turn 3. From then on, he was in a league of his own.

The drama of the Feature revolved around the battle for second. Dean Riddle held it early, but Travis Jamieson took it by Lap 5. Riddle then fell to fourth after Justin Harris got by him a lap later.

With two laps to go, Jamieson’s engine expired, dumping oil from Turn 3 to Turn 4 and bringing out the PRO-FABrication caution flag.

When the race resumed, Harris tried to make a run at Presnell, diving under him in Turn 3, but like Douglas the race prior, the middle lane prevailed for Presnell. He pulled ahead off Turn 4 and drove away to a 0.7 second victory over Harris.

With the victory, he joined his father, Newman Presnell as a World Short Track Championship winner. They also won on the same night as Newman picked up his third win at Charlotte with the DIRTVision SCDRA Hornets.

“It’s definitely really cool,” Kayden Presnell said. “I had a really good starting spot and that helped a lot.”

RESULTS
Feature 2 (15 Laps): 1. 48-Kayden Presnell[4]; 2. 1H-Justin Harris[5]; 3. BAND1T-Dale Bennett[9]; 4. T3-TJ Hill[8]; 5. 07-Brayden McDonald[7]; 6. 511-Bentley Caudle[10]; 7. 27-Chris Jaret[16]; 8. 25J-Josh Whitfield[22]; 9. 21G-Brandon Greene[3]; 10. 41-Gage McFadden[17]; 11. 10-James Morrow[23]; 12. 15-Ken Colf[20]; 13. 3-Jaycob Johnson[6]; 14. 44-Jordan Webb[13]; 15. 23-Austin Burch[19]; 16. 09-Dean Riddle[1]; 17. 135-Travis Jamieson[15]; 18. 0-Corey Harper[2]; 19. 116-Gavin Bright[21]; 20. (DNS) T3JR-Riley Hill; 21. (DNS) 17E-Glenn Engstrom; 22. (DNS) D2-Danny Tate; 23. (DNS) 21-Nick White

FEATURE 3
Less than 30 minutes after picking up his fourth DIRTVision SCDRA Hornet Feature win at Charlotte, Joey Kelly found himself back in Victory Lane – with a different car – winning the final DIRTVision SEHA Hornet Feature of the night.

With that, he became the first driver in World Short Track Championship history to win two Features in one night and the first DIRTVision Hornet driver with a win with the SEHA group and SCDRA group.

“That’s awesome… it’s a pretty awesome feeling,” Kelly said.

Unlike Douglas and Presnell, who won before him, Kelly had a little of a further climb to the top. He started sixth and had to contend with drivers like Newman Presnell – who also won earlier in the night.

Travis Lankford held the lead early on, while the field behind him traded paint.

Kelly stayed out of the mayhem, charging around the high side of the track. He went from sixth to fourth on the first lap and then fourth to second on Lap 3. He then inched closer and closer to Lankford every lap.

While Kelly used the top lane to get into second, the bottom lane turned into his ally as he used it to sneak under Lankford in Turn 3 on Lap 7. The two raced side by side through the first corner and the advantage went to Kelly on the exit. He pulled ahead down the backstretch and switched back to the middle lane in Turn 3. That allowed Lankford to dive underneath him and try to keep the fight going.

However, he couldn’t match Kelly’s speed. The No. 88K car pulled away to a nearly two second lead by the end of the 15-lap race. Lankford also fell to third after Presnell stole second with two laps to go.

“I was just praying,” Kelly said about his battle with Lankford. “At that point, when you’re going that speed, you’re just praying it’s going to work out at the end of the day. Well, good lord looked down on me and pushed me right on through.”

RESULTS
Feature 3 (15 Laps): 1. 88K-Joey Kelly[6]; 2. 48K-Newman Presnell[10]; 3. F1-Travis Lankford[1]; 4. 11-Casey Towell[14]; 5. 78H-Steven Herring[5]; 6. 32-Christian Byers[3]; 7. 57-Jordan Mauney[8]; 8. A23-Andrew Rich[11]; 9. 58K-Kason Bright[13]; 10. 2L-Kylee Laws[21]; 11. 2-Tyler Capps[17]; 12. J6-Jimmy Price[2]; 13. 4-Daniel Wright[19]; 14. 57G-John Graybeal[9]; 15. 328-Christopher Gardner[15]; 16. 58H-Ronnie Hall[22]; 17. 27M-Keitha Martin[16]; 18. 25K-Jeremy Hudson[12]; 19. 214-Thomas Mcgahee[18]; 20. 212-Tanner Coggins[7]; 21. 28A-Tyler Langley[23]; 22. (DNS) 16-Barry Bennett; 23. (DNS) 5-Reggie Twing

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Pedulla, Killman, Holcombe, Robinson, Wilson, Favors Victorious in Hoosier Crate Modified Heat Races at World Short Track Championship
By Spence Smithback

Heat 1
Stephen Pedulla and Cambridge Gann led the field to green on the front row, but before they made it to the backstretch on Lap 1, Chase Cardwell and Tyler Love made contact and pounded the wall in Turn 1. Cardwell was able to continue with cosmetic damage, but Love was done for the night.

The yellow was thrown again immediately after the restart, this time for Sheldon Martin spinning in Turn 2.

Pedulla nailed the ensuing restart and led the next two laps until Michael Selig spun in Turn 3 to necessitate the third caution of the race.

Pedulla was unfazed by the rash of yellows, driving away from the field to take the checkers by 1.5 seconds. It was his second Heat Race victory of the event after he won Heat 4 in the Summit Racing Equipment DIRTcar UMP Modified division earlier in the night.

Heat 2
Garrett Killman started on the pole and took the lead through Turns 1 and 2 on the opening lap with second-place starter Jesse Rockett in tow.

Killman paced the field for the majority of the race until Ronnie Covey spun into the Turn 3 wall to bring out the caution on the final lap. Killman didn’t let that bother him though, as he won the one-lap dash to the finish to advance to Saturday’s Feature.

Heat 3
Austin Holcombe slid up in front of Oliver Gentry on the start and rode the top to an early advantage, while Jake Barneycastle pulled a slider on Gentry on Lap 1 to move up to second.

One lap later, Grayson Wells stopped at the top of Turn 3 to bring out the caution. The rest of the field was unable to capitalize on their chance at Holcombe though, as the No. 8A led the remainder of the race by a straightaway.

Heat 4
Jeff Robinson nailed the start from the pole while Grayson Keaton, Cole Wagoner and Brian Nickerson duked it out for the final two transfer spots on the opening lap.

Keaton and Wagoner settled into second and third respectively while Robinson was long gone. The top three spots would go unchanged the rest of the way, with Robinson taking the checkers by nearly three seconds.

Heat 5
A pair of North Carolinians shared the front row, with Fayetteville’s Ethan Wilson on the inside and Newton’s Ryan Ayers on the outside. Wilson took the early lead and went to work on building a gap over Ayers and the rest of the field.

He did just that in the caution-free affair, crossing the line more than two seconds ahead of Ayers.

Heat 6
The final Crate Modified Heat Race of the night began with Adam Favors on the pole and Robert Poole on his outside. Favors drove away in the opening set of corners, while Poole came under fire from Jeff Parsons for second.

After racing side-by-side for nearly a lap, Parsons managed to wrestle the spot away from Poole and set his sights on Favors. He was unable to catch the No. 21A though and trailed Favors at the checkers, while Poole held off Larry Martin late in the race to secure the third spot.

Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 31G-Stephen Pedulla[1]; 2. 45-Cambridge Gann[2]; 3. 121-Chase Cardwell[3]; 4. 29-Brandon Bentley[8]; 5. 00B-JP Blalock[5]; 6. 2K-Johnny Stovall[7]; 7. 42X-Michael Selig[6]; 8. 93-Sheldon Martin[9]; 9. (DNS) 92-Tyler Love

Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. 32K-Garrett Killman[1]; 2. 7-Jesse Rockett[2]; 3. 7G-Gary Jarrett[4]; 4. 73-Chris Nickerson[5]; 5. 32-Larry Blankenship[7]; 6. 50-Ronnie Covey[8]; 7. 30-Cole Hedrick[3]; 8. (DQ) T7-Parker Thompson[6]

Heat 3 (6 Laps): 1. 8A-Austin Holcombe[1]; 2. 88-Jay Seward[4]; 3. 2J-Jake Barneycastle[3]; 4. 03-Oliver Gentry[2]; 5. 50B-Justin Blevins[5]; 6. 95-Brandon Woodcock[7]; 7. B155-Andrew Albertson[6]; 8. 18D-Riley Dunford[8]; 9. (DNF) 59-Grayson Wells[9]

Heat 4 (6 Laps): 1. 14-Jeff Robinson[1]; 2. 1-Grayson Keaton[3]; 3. 04-Cole Wagoner[2]; 4. 44-Brian Nickerson[4]; 5. 41-Mike Lemley[6]; 6. 9-Blake Hedrick[8]; 7. 44T-Zachary Thompson[7]; 8. 4M-Tim Monroe[5]

Heat 5 (6 Laps): 1. 5-Ethan Wilson[1]; 2. 6-Ryan Ayers[2]; 3. 15-Morgan Widener[3]; 4. 2K2-Taylor Kuehl[4]; 5. 16W-Dustin Watkins[6]; 6. 7D-JR Davis[5]; 7. 56-Jaycob Johnson[8]; 8. 61-Cody DeMarmels[7]

Heat 6 (6 Laps): 1. 21A-Adam Favors[1]; 2. 44P-Jeff Parsons[3]; 3. 25-Robert Poole[2]; 4. 92M-Larry Martin[4]; 5. 4-Kevin Lively[5]; 6. 71P-George Proctor[8]; 7. 71K-Dennis Kirk[7]; 8. 05-Travis Covey[6]

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Hellams, McLaughlin, Durham, Tucker, Taylor, Weaver Take RaceQuip Mid-East Street Stock Heat Wins at World Short Track Championship
By Matt Skipper

From the 69 RaceQuip Mid-East Street Stocks that entered the ninth annual World Short Track Championship, 18 drivers have locked a position into Saturday’s Championship Feature.

Heat 1

Woodruff, SC driver Josh Hellams kicked off the Street Stock action with a green-to-checkered victory as he distanced himself from the field.

Rutherfordton, NC driver Jake Jackson followed suit behind Hellams to finish second, and Kade Langley, of Rock Hill, SC, had to charge his way up from an eighth-place starting spot to make the final transfer spot on the final lap of the Heat.

Heat 2

Cody Ussery led the field to the drop of the green flag, but his time at the front did not last long as a spin in Turn 2 shook up the lineup at the head of the pack.

The biggest beneficiary was Belmont, NC driver Calob McLaughlin, who took the lead on the only restart of the Heat to drive his way toward the Street Stock win.

Heat 3

Andrew Durham smoothly drove towards the Heat 3 win with no pressure affecting him. The Jonesville, NC driver led the field to the start, and never looked back once he was clear with the lead.

Joining Durham in Saturday night’s Feature includes second-place finisher Austin Brown of Union, SC, and Jeff Parsons of Union Grove, NC.

Heat 4

Rod Tucker knows how to get a win at The Dirt Track at Charlotte, and he is poised for another World Short Track Championship trophy after dominating in Heat 4.

The Greenville, SC driver took full control by leading every lap from starting in the pole position. Blake Bentley and Stephen Ford followed Tucker’s moves to grab the two remaining transfer spots.

Heat 5

Hank Taylor picked up a thrilling win in Heat 5 with a last-lap pass around Patrick Lyon.

Lyon, of Gastonia, NC, led every circuit until the final one, with Taylor, of Lancaster, SC, making a decisive pass around Lyon to better his odds at winning the Championship Feature.

Lyon finished second, and DuBois, PA driver Andrew Gordon finished in the third place transfer.

 Heat 6

Bradley Weaver picked up the final Street Stock Heat win with ease in a flag-to-flag triumph to better his chances for glory on Saturday night.

Bostic, NC driver Steve Greene finished second, and Iron Station, NC driver Garrett Killman sent a hail mary pass around Brian Sipe on the final corner to bag the final transfer spot up for grabs.

Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 101-Josh Hellams[1]; 2. JR1-Jake Jackson[2]; 3. 11-Kade Langley[8]; 4. 03-Matt Whitener[4]; 5. 81-Justin Barber[3]; 6. 9-Ronnie Mosley[6]; 7. 88-AJ Barker[5]; 8. 52-Andrew Register[7]; 9. 3-Tyler Meadows[9]; 10. 28Z-Zach Griggs[10]; 11. 66-Brandon Davis[11]; 12. 77-David Stone[12]

Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. 83M-Calob McLaughlin[3]; 2. 0-Johnny Westmoreland[4]; 3. H3-Harley Holden[5]; 4. B4-Brandon Satterfield[2]; 5. 11M-Robbie Mooneyham[9]; 6. D1-David Lucas[8]; 7. 51-Bryant Rayfield[6]; 8. 5N-Nick Evans[7]; 9. T11-Tim Kilby[11]; 10. 00-Cody Ussery[1]; 11. 32B-Kris Bobo[10]

Heat 3 (6 Laps): 1. 06-Andrew Durham[1]; 2. 04B-Austin Brown[2]; 3. 44-Jeff Parsons[3]; 4. 18-Ricky Greene[4]; 5. 23-Ronald Rhodes[5]; 6. 55-Mike Manes[10]; 7. 6-Randy Benfield[11]; 8. 4-Aiden Ragland[7]; 9. 1B-Brandon Blair[6]; 10. 83-Travis Caviness[9]; 11. (DNS) 1M-Gary Miller Jr

Heat 4 (6 Laps): 1. 12-Rod Tucker[1]; 2. 18B-Blake Bentley[2]; 3. 99-Stephen Ford[3]; 4. 92-Tanner Fortune[4]; 5. 5-Hunter Denny[5]; 6. 13-Kayden Outlaw[8]; 7. 34-Cameron Young[7]; 8. 417-Cameron Martin[10]; 9. 55W-Jason Winne[11]; 10. 148-Joseph Diekemper[9]; 11. (DNS) 16-Tanner Rodonis

Heat 5 (6 Laps): 1. 5H-Hank Taylor[2]; 2. 01L-Patrick Lyon[1]; 3. 25-Andrew Gordon[12]; 4. 59-Brandon White[6]; 5. 84-Kyle Cooper[7]; 6. H8-Jasper Hooker[5]; 7. 47-Justin Kidd[3]; 8. 41X-Kerry Foster[11]; 9. 76-Devan Jones[8]; 10. 53-Eric Grant[9]; 11. 20T-Tony Parsons[10]; 12. (DNS) 15-Donovan Long

Heat 6 (6 Laps): 1. 2-Bradley Weaver[1]; 2. 39-Steve Greene[2]; 3. 32-Garrett Killman[6]; 4. KB8-Brian Sipe[3]; 5. 007-John Harper Livingston[7]; 6. 17-Brian Carswell[5]; 7. 57-Michael Wells[4]; 8. 61-Austin Rodonis[10]; 9. 12P-Keaton Price[8]; 10. 41-Robbie Disher[9]; 11. (DNS) J1-Chris Jackson; 12. (DNS) 85-Johnnie Hamilton

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Ruggerio Jr, Peavy, Cooper, Malone, Smith, Stamper Capture Chevrolet Performance 602 Late Model Heat Victories
By Matt Skipper

The first nine rows of Saturday’s Chevrolet Performance Mid-East 602 Late Models Championship Feature have been cemented through six Heat races at the ninth annual World Short Track Championship.

Heat 1

Matching his run in the Pro Late Model Heat race, John Ruggerio Jr led every circuit of the opening 602 Late Model Heat race by a wide margin of over four seconds at the finish.

Within the top three, Morghan Johnson and Trent Ivey battled each other for second while Ruggerio made more distance from their position chasing. Johnson, of Fayetteville, NC, wound up second, and Ivey, of Union, SC, took the last transfer spot.

 Heat 2

Mooresboro, NC driver Dalton Peavy made the drive in Heat 2 look simple as he led all six laps for the victory.

Blue Ridge, GA driver Seth Wimpey used any possible lane to make a move around Peavy, but nothing stuck as he took the silver medal spot. Locust Grove, GA driver Koulten Herbert claimed the third-place transfer spot.

 Heat 3

Woodruff, SC driver Luke Cooper did not blink from any pressure in Heat 3 as he escaped the jostling of positions in the pack to take the win.

Talladega, AL native Brodie Thompson pushed his No.T9 Late Model to the limit as he went from starting seventh to second at the checkered flag. Kenny Peeples, of Rural Retreat, VA, grabbed the important transfer spot by finishing third.

 Heat 4

Beckham Malone began his World Short Track Championship defense with an important Heat 4 victory.

The 12-year-old driver from Rock Hill, SC lit the fuse from the drop of the green flag immediately to separate from the pack and extend his lead to over four seconds at the waving of the checkered.

Graham, NC driver Robbie Gibson drove to a second-place result, and Cherryville, NC driver Braden Jones rounded out the top three transfers.

 Heat 5

David Smith cruised around The Dirt Track at Charlotte aboard his No.11S Late Model by leading from the green flag to the finish of the six-lap Heat race.

Behind Smith, Grays Creek, NC driver Steven Thompkins had to get creative if he wanted a spot in Saturday’s Feature. On Lap 5, Thompkins went from fourth to second and clinch the elusive transfer position. Fox Factory CRUSA Pro Late Model Heat winner Trent Ivey finished in third.

 Heat 6

Trey Stamper began the final Heat race from the outside of the front row. Abnormal to previous starts from the top side of The Dirt Track at Charlotte, Stamper made it work as he held on to grab the lead.

While Stamper led, Maverick Davidson, Wyatt Coffey, and Carl Currin raced against each other for the two transfer spots that remained.

Stamper took the win, with Davidson finishing second, and Coffey bested Currin for the last transfer spot of the Heat.

Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 44-John Ruggiero Jr[1]; 2. 1J-Morghan Johnson[3]; 3. 28-Trent Ivey[2]; 4. 24B-AJ Belanger[5]; 5. 5O-Joey Johnson[6]; 6. 48-Blake Keen[7]; 7. 01-Cole Dockery[4]; 8. 9H-Bobby Hunter[8]; 9. 62-Jason Alexander[9]

Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. 9-Dalton Peavy[1]; 2. 24-Seth Wimpey[3]; 3. 611-Koulten Herbert[2]; 4. J12-Jason Dickerson[6]; 5. 27-Mike Davidson[5]; 6. 7H-Ronnie Long[7]; 7. 55-Giovanni Baker[8]; 8. 53-Brandon Yates[4]

Heat 3 (6 Laps): 1. 57-Luke Cooper[1]; 2. T9-Brodie Thompson[7]; 3. 22K-Kenny Peeples[2]; 4. 25V-Bryce Viar[3]; 5. 40-Dustin Watkins[6]; 6. 95-Alex Vance[4]; 7. 94-Holden Allen[8]; 8. 81-Keith Hart[9]; 9. (DNF) 18-Preston Blalock[5]

Heat 4 (6 Laps): 1. 23-Beckham Malone[1]; 2. 5-Robbie Gibson[3]; 3. 5J-Braden Jones[4]; 4. 0-Olivia Gentry[5]; 5. 66-Preston Dimsdale[6]; 6. 32-Shawn Walker[7]; 7. (DNF) 5S-Robbie Stevens[2]; 8. (DNF) 149-Seth Speed[8]

Heat 5 (6 Laps): 1. 11S-David Smith[1]; 2. 22T-Steven Thompkins[4]; 3. 515-Bubba Roling[2]; 4. 11B-Dalton Jacobs[3]; 5. 3-Jacob Leavell[5]; 6. 12-Justin Taylor[8]; 7. 14-Cody Newton[6]; 8. 7G-Harvey Gregory[7]

Heat 6 (6 Laps): 1. 20-Trey Stamper[2]; 2. 2-Wyatt Coffey[1]; 3. C10-Carl Currin[5]; 4. 007-Nickelos Stiles[7]; 5. 1W-Dylan Watson[6]; 6. (DNF) 10P-Tyler Payne[4]; 7. (DNS) 41-Brad Abercrombie; 8. (DQ) 1-Mavrick Davidson[3]

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Hamm, Richey, Gilbert, Keith, Coffey, Cooper Score Monster Mini-Stock Heat Wins at World Short Track Championship
By Matt Skipper

Friday’s ninth annual World Short Track Championship saw 18 MMSA COMP Cams Monster Mini-Stocks earn a starting place in Saturday’s 25-lap Championship Feature.

Brad Hamm, Logan Richey, Matt Gilbert, Cody Keith, Daniel Coffey, and Kevin Cooper won the six Heat races set for The Dirt Track at Charlotte.

Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 98-Brad Hamm[2]; 2. 121-JR Warren[4]; 3. 96X-Tyler Riddle[3]; 4. 56F-Nick Fulcher[1]; 5. 115P-Randy Pearce[6]; 6. 29-Cody Barber[5]; 7. 15L-Zach Lankford[8]; 8. 50M-Jojo Mattison[9]; 9. 101-Michael Simmons[7]

Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. 10-Logan Richey[1]; 2. 44-Nick Broome[2]; 3. M6-Jamie Massey[4]; 4. 96-Stacy Brock[3]; 5. 56-Ken Appleton[5]; 6. 03-Damien Bryant[6]; 7. 933-Michael Hill[9]; 8. 15-Tyler Abernathy[7]; 9. 31-Joey Dillard[8]

Heat 3 (6 Laps): 1. 117-Matt Gilbert[1]; 2. 9-Travis Mosley[8]; 3. 19-Justyn Jacobs[2]; 4. H3-Harley Holden[3]; 5. 12-Pete Brew[4]; 6. 28C-Brent Couch[7]; 7. D7-Dakota Whitley[5]; 8. (DNS) 68-Thomas Hooper

Heat 4 (6 Laps): 1. 51-Cody Keith[2]; 2. 118-Ronald Arch[3]; 3. 8-Dustin Bolin[1]; 4. 21-Jarrett Warren[4]; 5. 11H-James Harrelson[5]; 6. 95-Kevin Atwell[7]; 7. 00-Dennis Kirk[8]; 8. (DNS) 01-Cornbread Chinn

Heat 5 (6 Laps): 1. 99-Daniel Coffey[2]; 2. 50-Everette Dunlap[1]; 3. 1-Connor Keaton[3]; 4. 5-Jack Jordan[5]; 5. 61-Eric Hill[6]; 6. 12M-Randy Melton[7]; 7. 34-Dennis Crook[8]; 8. E82-Enzo Dillon[4]; 9. 32-Doc Burke[9]

Heat 6 (6 Laps): 1. X-Kevin Cooper[1]; 2. 69-Billy Cline[4]; 3. 2-Johnny Raines[5]; 4. 37-Ben Burnett[3]; 5. 8J-Tyler Johnson[7]; 6. 50B-Van Bryant[6]; 7. 00M-Michael Maltba[9]; 8. 888-Tyler Hopkins[8]; 9. 212-Greg Brew[2]

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Ruggerio, Roling, Yarbrough, Sullivan, Ivey, Quick Win Pro Late Model Heat Races At World Short Track Championship
By Matt Skipper

The first 18 Crate Racin’ USA Fox Factory Pro Late Models have clinched a position in Saturday’s World Short Track Championship Feature through six Heats of racing action.

Heat 1

John Ruggerio led the field to the green flag and outdrove John Steele into the first turn on the first lap. The 2020 World Short Track Championship winner claimed the Heat win as he made the distance between himself and the field.

The battle for the other two transfer spots spread as Steele, from Clover, SC, lost momentum and opened the door for Ethan Wilson and Hunter Kohn to battle him for a spot in Saturday’s Feature.

Wilson, of Fayetteville, NC, finished second as Kohn, of Mooresville, NC, took third place and the final transfer of the Heat.

Heat 2

Clay Hill, FL native Bubba Roling led the field to the green flag with Centerville, PA driver Max Blair to his outside.

Entering Turn 1, Roling and Blair made significant contact through the turn that resulted in Blair’s left rear tire going flat and ending his Heat race early.

Roling – who was clear in the lead with no issues – drove on to win the Heat race. Brooks, GA driver Matt Dooley finished second, and Mooresboro, NC driver Blake Pryor took third place.

Heat 3

Austin Yarbrough had to earn the Heat 3 win with experienced Charlotte winners on his tail.

Last year’s Invitational winner Dillon Brown had to move his way around traffic to chase the Little River, SC driver. Beckham Malone, the 2023 602 Late Models winner, had to battle Thursday’s podium finisher Brock Pinkerous for the final transfer position.

Yarbrough held on for the Heat win, with Brown, a native of Gaffney, SC, finished second. Malone, of Rock Hill, SC, got the third-place result.

Heat 4

A lights-out performance from Gaffney, SC native Layton Sullivan added confidence for Saturday’s Feature with a Heat 4 race victory.

York, SC driver Jeremy Steele had to battle his way into the transfer by moving to third on the fourth lap, then gained one final position to finish in second.

Benji Hicks, of Mount Airy, NC, had to claw his way into contention with four laps remaining by taking two positions in one lap to score the last transfer position.

Heat 5

Defending Pro Late Model champion Trent Ivey put on a clinic in the fifth Heat race of the program, leading all eight laps of the Heat with no issues.

Behind Ivey, Lenoir City, TN driver Matt Henderson and Mill Spring, NC driver John Price battled in the podium positions to better their starting positions for the Feature.

Henderson got the best of Price to take second place while Price took third place to lock a spot into Saturday’s Championship.

Heat 6

Colby Quick picked up the final Heat race win of the Pro Late Models to give himself an opportunity for a big night on Saturday.

While “The Quick Kid” quickly pulled out to a one-second lead over the field of cars, Tyrone, GA driver Jody Knowles and Georgetown, DE driver Joey Warren were left to chase each other within the top three.

The Salisbury, NC driver of Quick crossed the checkered flag first, with Knowles and Warren finishing second and third respectively to close the book on Heat racing from The Dirt Track at Charlotte.

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 00R-John Ruggiero Jr[1]; 2. 32W-Ethan Wilson[4]; 3. 48-Hunter Kohn[3]; 4. 4-Jason Knowles[8]; 5. 5S-Travis Steele[2]; 6. 8L-Joe Leavell[7]; 7. 7J-Dalton Jacobs[6]; 8. 6M-Freddy Mooney[9]; 9. 8-Matthew Larson[5]; 10. (DNS) 7W-Mike West

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 515-Bubba Roling[1]; 2. 98-Matt Dooley[4]; 3. 78-Blake Pryor[3]; 4. 18D-Chuckie Duncan[5]; 5. P14-Matt Pridgen[6]; 6. 21-Mario Gresham[8]; 7. 89-Timmie Harrelson[9]; 8. 2C-Mitchell Childress[7]; 9. 88D-Dalton Dowdy[10]; 10. 111-Max Blair[2]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 127-Austin Yarbrough[1]; 2. 6-Dillon Brown[3]; 3. 23-Beckham Malone[2]; 4. 555-Brock Pinkerous[6]; 5. 1B-Brent Trimble[4]; 6. 17J-John Winge[8]; 7. 99-Kyle Hardy[7]; 8. 28S-Cale Schwartzmiller[5]; 9. 4Z-Zack Loe[9]; 10. 302-Bill Tesh[10]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 2S-Layton Sullivan[1]; 2. 22-Jeremy Steele[3]; 3. 55H-Benji Hicks[7]; 4. 18G-Ricky Greene[2]; 5. 67-Gregory Carrico[5]; 6. T86-Jesse Rockett[6]; 7. 00-Kendal Tucker[4]; 8. C10-Carl Currin[9]; 9. 11K-Davin Kaiser[8]; 10. (DNS) 14A-Lucas Adams

Heat 5 (8 Laps): 1. G4-Trent Ivey[1]; 2. 22H-Matt Henderson[3]; 3. P4-John Price[2]; 4. 24-Jacob Brown[4]; 5. 20G-Chub Gunter[6]; 6. 914-Matt Adams[5]; 7. 45-Nathan Dallas[7]; 8. 37-Tommy Eastridge[10]; 9. 46-Andrew Lankford[9]; 10. 47-Gavin Cowan[8]

Heat 6 (8 Laps): 1. 5-Colby Quick[1]; 2. 66-Jody Knowles[3]; 3. 11W-Joey Warren[2]; 4. 22T-Jimmy Thomas[4]; 5. 43-Jarrett Edwards[5]; 6. 15JR-Ronnie Martin Jr[7]; 7. 74-Mike Franklin[6]; 8. 151KB-Brian McDonald[9]; 9. 12-Randy Pinnix[8]; 10. (DNS) 10E-Patrick Evatt

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Strickler, Krup, Pedulla, Troutman Claim DIRTcar UMP Modified Heat Races at World Short Track Championship
By Spence Smithback

Heat 1
Three-time event winner Kyle Strickler led the field to green and jumped out to an early advantage, leading the rest of the way to win by more than two seconds.

Carder Miller rode in second for all eight laps, while Jordan Koehler moved up from fifth to third on the start and held off Charlie Mefford, who settled for the fourth and final transfer spot.

Heat 2
Will Krup started on the outside of the front row and left the field in his dust, beating polesitter Evan Taylor to the checkered flag by nearly a second.

Behind them, the No. 12 of Ace Claborn and the No. 12R of Ty Rhoades battled hard throughout the race, with Claborn emerging on top in third ahead of Rhoades in fourth.

Heat 3
Stephen Pedulla started on the pole on the inside of two-time World Short Track Championship winner Taylor Cook, but contact between the leaders exiting Turn 2 on the opening lap caused Cook to lose several spots early. His night went from bad to worse a few laps later when contact with Ty Norder punctured his left-rear tire and brought an early end to his race.

That incident brought out the caution and eliminated the one-second lead that Pedulla had built at the front. He wasted no time rebuilding that margin though and led the rest of the race to punch his ticket into Saturday’s main event. Thursday night’s Championship Feature winner Kyle Hammer came home second, with Austin Holcombe in third and Cole Falloway claiming the final transfer spot.

Heat 4
Jonathan Taylor and Drake Troutman shared the front row, with Troutman ripping the top to the early lead.

Slade Parsons and Colby Paris got together in Turn 4 on the first lap to rerack the field, but Troutman once again used a strong jump to take control of the top spot.

Troutman and Taylor went unchallenged the rest of the way in the top two spots, but behind them, Dave Hess Jr. and Cole Hilton put on an entertaining battle for third. Hess held onto the spot with Hilton behind him at the checkers in fourth.

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 8-Kyle Strickler[1]; 2. 35-Carder Miller[3]; 3. 114-Jordan Koehler[5]; 4. 18-Charlie Mefford[2]; 5. 00-Michael Leach[4]; 6. 6-Ryan Ayers[9]; 7. 82-Gary Dillon[8]; 8. 23Z-Austin Self[6]; 9. 814-Samuel Lamborgini[10]; 10. (DNS) 12A-Austin Seets

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. K9-Will Krup[2]; 2. 7-Evan Taylor[1]; 3. 12-Ace Claborn[4]; 4. 12R-Ty Rhoades[3]; 5. 89-Corey Gordon[5]; 6. 84-Ryan Toole[6]; 7. 9T-Mason Canter[8]; 8. 16-Daniel Allen[7]; 9. F5-Richard Clew[9]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 31G-Stephen Pedulla[1]; 2. 45-Kyle Hammer[4]; 3. 8A-Austin Holcombe[3]; 4. 66-Cole Falloway[5]; 5. 25-Greg Belyea[8]; 6. 2N-Ty Norder[6]; 7. 07-Curtis King[9]; 8. 72-Patrick Field[10]; 9. 11D-Shawn Donahue[7]; 10. 21-Taylor Cook[2]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 5T-Drake Troutman[2]; 2. 5-Jonathan Taylor[1]; 3. 44-Dave Hess Jr[3]; 4. 99-Cole Hilton[7]; 5. 51P-Joey Polevoy[8]; 6. 11-Troy Loomis[5]; 7. 2-Colby Paris[9]; 8. 96S-Slade Parsons[4]; 9. (DNS) 88-Matt Crafton

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Hoots, Clements, Edmonds, Hinson, Todd, Doggett, Score Thunder Bomber Heat Race Wins at World Short Track Championship
By Mike Warren

After six SRI Performance Thunder Bomber Heat Races at The Dirt Track at Charlotte, 18 drivers are locked into Saturday’s championship Feature at the World Short Track Championship.

Mattison Hoots, Luke Clements, Jason Edmonds, Jonathan Hinson, and Stetson Todd all earned victories in Friday’s Heat Races, putting themselves in an excellent position for Saturday’s finale.

Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 41-Mattison Hoots[1]; 2. 47-Tyler Guice[2]; 3. P8-Christopher Patterson[3]; 4. 21-Hunter Digh[6]; 5. 08-Duce Miller[5]; 6. 3T15-Dustin Thompson[9]; 7. 14L-Blake Lyons[8]; 8. 13-Dallas Miller[7]; 9. 101-Justin Hamrick[10]; 10. 14-Keith Eaton[11]; 11. N2N-Bradley Whitesides[4]

Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. 51C-Luke Clements[1]; 2. 28G-Bryson Guice[4]; 3. 22W-Walt Waddell[7]; 4. 32-Brandon Greene[2]; 5. 20H-Bryson Harper[6]; 6. 36-Chase Carter[9]; 7. 8S-Brian Suttles[10]; 8. S2-Garrett Sweatt[3]; 9. 45-Jamie Decker[8]; 10. 16-Benny Peeler[5]

Heat 3 (6 Laps): 1. 119-Jason Edmonds[2]; 2. 97T-Mark Towell[4]; 3. S4-Tyler Smith[1]; 4. S1-Bryson Sweatt[5]; 5. 135J-Trenten Jamieson[7]; 6. 8A-Shane Gosnell[10]; 7. 14P-Tyler Parker[8]; 8. 03-Carson Taylor[9]; 9. 2L-Kylee Laws[11]; 10. (DNF) G41-Grant Burton[3]; 11. (DNF) 22-Michael Owensby[6]

Heat 4 (6 Laps): 1. 4H-Jonathan Hinson[1]; 2. 83-Ricky Bogan[6]; 3. 05-Cruz Mattison[4]; 4. 13S-Seth Outlaw[7]; 5. G1-Greg Carroll[5]; 6. 00-Jerry Mckeel Jr[8]; 7. 00V-Keith Vane[3]; 8. N2-Kris Norwood[9]; 9. 7X-Jessie Richardson Jr[10]; 10. 135-Travis Jamieson[2]

Heat 5 (6 Laps): 1. 19-Stetsen Todd[1]; 2. 21J-Nate Jackson[2]; 3. 4-Cory Skipper[4]; 4. 98-Isaiah Parker[5]; 5. 483-Hannah Wall[8]; 6. 8-Dwayne Ray[9]; 7. 07-Cole Hooper[10]; 8. 4N-Siler Norwood[7]; 9. 3-Eddie Ray[6]; 10. 46-Bailey Hipp[3]; 11. (DNS) 54-Jesse Wall

Heat 6 (6 Laps): 1. 97-Luke Doggett[2]; 2. 43-Jacob Funderburke[1]; 3. 28-Rod Tucker[6]; 4. 78-Hunter Funderburke[3]; 5. 5-Matt Coley[5]; 6. 40-David Whitaker[4]; 7. 34-Joey Powell[10]; 8. 5K-Kayden Outlaw[9]; 9. 316-Isaac Thomas[8]; 10. 5S-Tommy Suttles[7]; 11. (DNS) 28XL-Johnny Hipp

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Donovan Lussier, Jessica Power, Carter Crooker, Dave Rogers Win DIRTcar Sportsman Heat Races at Charlotte
By Mike Warren

 With one of largest VP Racing Sportsman car counts in World Short Track Championship History, 16 drivers are locked into Saturday’s Championship Feature.

Donovan Lussier, Jessica Power, Carter Crooker, and Dave Rogers earned Heat Race victories on Friday afternoon, gaining valuable momentum toward their quest for Victory Lane at The Dirt Track at Charlotte.

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 61L-Donovan Lussier[1]; 2. 26-Derrick McGrew[2]; 3. 14-Payton Talbot[4]; 4. 38JR-Jason Parkhurst Jr[3]; 5. 165K-Karston King[6]; 6. 78-Michael Wright[7]; 7. 01-Zachary Buff[5]; 8. 813-Jason Quenneville[8]; 9. 9H-Chris Huntington[10]; 10. 48-Kearra Backus[9]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 52-Jessica Power[1]; 2. 35T-Cameron Tuttle[2]; 3. 61-Derek Wagner[6]; 4. 57-Ray Hall Jr[4]; 5. 49-Chris Jakubiak[3]; 6. 916-Nick Brundige[7]; 7. 58-Logen Lockhart[8]; 8. 4-Tim Clemons[9]; 9. 6W-Kyle Whitney[5]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 32C-Carter Crooker[1]; 2. 20X-Kevin Ridley[3]; 3. 23-David Dickey[2]; 4. 21-Cameron Norris IV[5]; 5. 02-Cody Ochs[7]; 6. 88-Jeffrey Lapalme[4]; 7. 35-Greg Crooker[8]; 8. 28J-Jacob Jordan[9]; 9. 39-Ryan Larkin[6]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 44-David Rogers[1]; 2. 10-Darin Gallagher[2]; 3. 80-Joshua Jock[3]; 4. 12G-Matt Guererri[6]; 5. 16X-Savannah Laflair[4]; 6. 44S-Gordon Smith[5]; 7. 10X-Cory Castell[8]; 8. 41-Jeff Tiley[7]; 9. 26B-Maddy Broedel[9]

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Zach Sorrentino, Denis Gauvreau Win Pro Stock Heat Races at World Short Track Championship

The top full-fender drivers in the Northeast traveled to The Dirt Track at Charlotte, with two drivers earning momentum toward Saturday’s World Short Track Championship Feature.

Zach Sorrentino and Denis Gauvreau won their MSD Pro Stock Heat Races, getting the edge on their competitors for Saturday’s finale.

Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 54S-Zachary Sorrentino[2]; 2. 921-Eric Jean Louis[1]; 3. 8L-Marc Lalonde[3]; 4. 4M-Jordan Modiano[5]; 5. 17-Marc Peladeau[4]; 6. 9-Shane Henderson[6]; 7. 9B-Slater Baker[8]; 8. 76-Kyle Hoard[13]; 9. 6C-Brian Carter[10]; 10. 2Z-Hugh Page[11]; 11. (DNS) 28-Philip DeFiglio; 12. (DNS) 09J-Shawn Perez Jr; 13. (DNS) 58-Roxanne Roy

Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. 72G-Denis Gauvreau[1]; 2. 48-Jocelyn Roy[5]; 3. 2-Pete Stefanski[6]; 4. 75-Gary Silkey[8]; 5. 09-Shawn Perez Sr[10]; 6. 2H-Luke Horning[3]; 7. 177-Chris Stalker[2]; 8. 8C-Sean Corr[13]; 9. 93-Sheldon Martin[11]; 10. (DNS) 57W-Joe Wilson; 11. (DNS) 01-Braxton Mcdaniel; 12. (DNS) 771-Jim Duncan; 13. (DNS) 63-Ryan Crellin

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The World Short Track Championship at The Dirt Track at Charlotte continues on Saturday, Nov. 2, with Features for all 10 divisions. Tickets for the event are on sale at DIRTcar.com/WorldShortTrack and will be available at the track on race day. If you can’t be there to watch in person, stream every lap live on DIRTVision.