BROWNSTOWN, IN – Second generation driver Tanner English of Benton, KY drove the Seay Motors Rocket to a clean sweep on Saturday night in the 2017 season opener for the ULTIMATE Battle of the Bluegrass Super Late Model Series at Brownstown Speedway. English was undefeated for the night.
English was the fast qualifier with a lap around Brownstown Speedway in 13.098 seconds, he won his ten-lap heat race to earn the outside front row starting spot, and then led all 30 laps of the main event. He did it all Saturday night, as he even carried the American Flag for the National Anthem to start the evening’s festivities.
Despite eight caution flags, English was able to open up as much as a full straightaway lead on the second-place car, and his margin of victory was 1.703 seconds. While English was in command at the point, positions second on back were hotly contested throughout the 30-lap race.
Jered Bailey of Bedford, IN finished second in the Bailey Racing Special after a race long battle for the second spot with the defending ULTIMATE Battle of the Bluegrass Champion Jeremy Hines of Seymour, IN. Jason Jameson of Lawrenceburg, IN took the third spot in the M.G.L. Auto Sales Club 29.
Adam Bowman of Seymour, IN was the Hard Charger of the Race after starting 13th and finishing fourth in the Bowman Motorsports Black Diamond. The fifth spot went to Chad Stapleton of Edinburgh, IN in the Sub Surface of Indiana Special, and Hines slipped off the race track with five laps to go and fell back to finish sixth in the Jason Ayers Trucking Longhorn.
Britan Godsey of Mitchell, IN took the seventh spot in the Kevin Walls TNT, and Matt Bex of Avoca, IN was eighth in the All-Star Performance Rocket. John Whitney of Clarksville, OH drove the Carthage Auto Revolution to a ninth-place finish, and John Baker Jr. of French Lick, IN rounded out the top ten in the Baker’s Hillham Garage Rocket.
Hines won the first ten-lap Heat Race to earn the pole position and he led the field down for the start. The first of eight caution flags came out on the first lap when Bowman and Alan Magner of North Vernon, IN in the Borgman Farms Barry Wright tangled in turn two. That created a complete restart.
On the next try, English from the outside front row starting hole took the lead from Hines coming off the second turn. Hines, Bailey, Stapleton and Jameson followed in second through fifth respectively. The second caution came out on lap two when Jeff Wilson of Butlerville, IN stalled the Jim Beeman Lumber Mastersbilt on the backstretch.
With the Delaware Double-File Restart, English, out front in the row all by himself took off from the point, but the battle for second was on, as Bailey worked inside Hines to take the second spot. Once Hines built up his momentum on the high side of Brownstown Speedway, he sailed around the outside of Bailey on lap five to retake the second position.
The yellow caution bulb was lit on lap seven when Stapleton stalled on the backstretch. English had Hines, Bailey, Jameson, Devin Gilpin of Columbus, IN in the Dasco Race Supply Sweet/Bloomquist, Bex, Magner, Levi Ashby of Cumberland Furnace, TN in The Wheel Shop Rocket, and Austyn Mills of Cincinnati, OH in the Carthage Auto Parts Swartz doubled up four rows deep behind him for the restart.
The racing was fast and furious behind the leader, who if you were just watching him, you missed some great racing behind English. The caution came out on lap eight when Bex sailed off the second turn, but there were wholesale position changes for the next restart. English was the leader followed by Hines, Bailey, Jameson, Gilpin, Magner, Mills, Bowman, Whitney and Ashby.
On the restart, Bailey dove underneath Hines to take the second spot, but once again, Hines was up to the challenge, as the champ sailed around the outside of Bailey on lap 11 to regain the second position. Whitney spun in turn four on lap 12 to make the yellow cloth wave over the field.
Hines changed strategy for this restart and he chose the inside in an effort to keep Bailey from diving underneath him. Bailey liked the outside too, as he passed Hines on the high side when the field went back to green. Hines then showed Bailey he was good on the bottom as well, and he drove under Bailey for second on lap 13.
English missed all of the good racing action because it was a full straightaway behind him at the halfway point of the race. Lap 15 also saw Bailey pass Hines on the outside for second. A lap 19 caution flag for debris set up a wild restart that saw Hines sail around the outside of Bailey for second, and after restarting in the fifth spot, Mills went to the inside of Bailey to make it a three-wide battle for second.
Mills drove under Bailey down the backstretch to take over the third spot. Bailey regrouped and got back by Mills for the third spot on lap 24. On lap 25, Hines slipped off the track and lost several spots, and Mills broke something and spun on lap 26 to bring out the final caution flag. The field lined up single-file for the five lap dash to the finish.
English led Bailey, Jameson, Bowman, Stapleton, Hines, Godsey, Whitney, Baker and Bex down for the restart. English once again showed the same strength he had displayed all night and pulled away unchallenged to a half straightaway lead to the checkered flag.