GIBSONTON, Fla. — A field of 57 360 sprint cars gathered on a Thursday night for the opening action of the final series for the 46th annual Winternationals with Pennsylvania’s Mark Smith claiming victory on the opening night of the King of the 360s.
Danny Martin Jr. grabbed the early lead in the 25-lap feature as polesitter Sam Hafertepe Jr. slid back outside the top five. Ryan Smith grabbed second, slipping by Martin on lap three.
A.J. Maddox was the man on the move, taking second from Martin on lap five before grabbing the lead on lap six. Maddox caught lapped traffic two laps later but managed to push through and keep a backmarker between himself and his challengers including Mark Smith who had taken over second.
The first flag caution waved on lap 14 for a Johnny Gilbertson spin. Just before the caution flag, Hafertepe found new life, sweeping from fifth to third in one corner. On the next restart, Smith sought the lead and was ready to make a move before the caution waved.
It took a lap-17 restart to spring Smith from second as he swept to the top to rocket by Maddox, bringing Hafertepe along. McCarl had used the highlight to put himself in the mix, but Smith could not be caught.
Ryan Smith finished third, with Dylan Westbrook and Eric Riggins Jr. rounding out the top five.
Codey Benoit won the Mod Lites feature.
The finish:
Mark Smith (43), Sam Hafertepe Jr. (15H), Terry McCarl (24), Ryan Smith (10x), Dylan Westbrook (47x), Eric Riggins Jr. (47R), A.J. Maddox (3A), Aaron Reutzel (8), Danny Martin Jr. (24), Danny Smith (66), Christopher Thram (24T), Carson McCarl (27), Tony Bruce Jr. (12H), Ryan Harrison (197), Dale Howard (47), Dustin Gates (6), Johnny Gilbertson (22), Garrett Green (82), Greg Wilson (97W), Ricky Peterson Jr. (2P), Davie Franek (28F), Paul Colagiovanni Jr. (10), Shane Evans (87X), Tim Shaffer (28)