GREENVILLE, Texas — On an August-ending Thursday night, Hunt County Raceway hosted the first of four nights for the American Racer USRA Modified Series powered by Day Motor Sports.
The fans in attendance at the former Superbowl Speedway were witness to a thrilling program that finished up with a spectacular caution-free 30-lap main event.
In the end, four-time USMTS national champ Rodney Sanders scored his third ARMS triumph of the season, but the leader and eventual winner were in doubt with every passing lap.
Polesitter Manuel Williams II was unable to fend off Jack Sartain for the first pair of laps as they raced side by side for the top spot.
Running the high side of the reborn bullring, Williams eventually inched in front of Sartain to lead a trio of laps before Mitchell Clement flexed his muscles and powered to the front to lead the sixth lap.
Meanwhile, sixth-starting “Big Daddy” Joe Duvall and Rodney Sanders, who rolled off from the ninth spot on the grid, were working their way forward but failing to make up ground on Clement.
With back-markers slowing Clement’s momentum, Duvall closed in on the leaders and passed Williams for second on lap 13 before powered ahead of Clement with six laps to go.
Never crossing the start-finish line in second place, Sanders instead used the shortest route around the racetrack to make it a three-wide battle for first place with Clement in the middle and Duvall up top.
Sanders was the first to cross beneath the flag stand to complete lap 27, and he pulled away over the final three laps to beat Duvall to the checkers by about two car-lengths (1.044 seconds) for the $2,000 winner’s share of the prize money.
“I was really tight there, and once I could kind of open my entry up and figure out what I needed to do I was better. We were really tight in traffic,” Sanders said. “Hats off to (Hunt County Raceway officials). I don’t know how this thing could race much better. It was definitely a good race track tonight.
“In the feature I just couldn’t believe there wasn’t a yellow so I was trying to bide my time and have something for (Clement) at the end, but luckily lapped traffic played out and we were able to get the job done.”
Duvall, Clement and Williams held strong to the next three positions while Chris Dawson completed the top five finishers.
The finish:
Rodney Sanders, Joe Duvall, Mitchell Clement, Manuel Williams II, Chris Dawson, Tanner Mullens, Jack Sartain, Clyde Dunn Jr., D.J. Shannon, Lance Mari, James McCreery, Gary Christian, Kenny Gaddis, Sean Gaddis, Casey Fowler, Chase Wascom, Kevin Rowland, Nathan Smith, Dennie Gieber, David Tanner, Billy Brierton, Tanner Barnhart, Kale Westover, Max Eddie Thomas.