FUEL525SERIES
07-14-2014, 01:30 PM
In dominating fashion, Brett Hamm piloted his #18 late model to the $3000 victory at Gaffney, South Carolina's Cherokee Speedway this past Saturday night. It was the 2nd FUEL Racing Series win of the season for the Newberry, SC racer with his previous win also coming at Cherokee Speedway came in the inaugural FUEL Racing Series event back in April. "This feels real good", said Hamm in victory lane. "We've been searching around and things hadn't been working the way we wanted but tonight we got the car back where we needed it." Hamm would have to hold off hard charges from points leader Ross Bailes and eventual race runner up Ricky Weeks. Thanks to a series of cautions in the 40 lap main event, Hamm was forced to choose on multiple restarts which line he would go with as the race leader. "The first few starts we had something to lean on in turn 1. Then after awhile, everyone went to the bottom and threw all of the marbles up top so I just got down to the bottom." While Hamm would start the night off atop the speed charts after hot laps, in Klotz Synthetic Lubricants Time Trials it would be Steve Banal who would top the charts with a lap of 16.248. Bailes, Hamm, Mitchell Coble and Ryan Atkins would round out the top 5 in time trials. In R.E. Suspension Heat Race #1, pole sitter Steve Banal led the field to the green but was quickly overtaken by Brett Hamm on the outside as Hamm would go on to win. In KRC Power Steering Heat Race #2, it would be a dominating win for Ross Bailes while Donald Bradsher would overtake Mitchell Coble just past halfway to earn a runner up finish in the heat race. After the top 4 redraw, Bradsher would draw the #1 starting position out of the hat with Hamm joining him on the front row. Bailes and Banal drew the 3rd and 4th positions respectively. To start the feature, the high side was the place to be as Hamm would use the top groove on the speedway to put himself out in front of the field on the opening lap of the main event. Early disaster would strike down in turns 3 & 4 as Furman Parton and Kenny Van Derveer would get collected in a wreck that immediately ended Parton's night and eventually ended Van Derveer's race as well. As the race wore on, 9th starting Ricky Weeks methodically worked his way towards the front. Hamm would face several close challenges, initially from Bailes and later from Weeks, but no one could pull alongside and wrestle away the lead. Hamm widened his margin and cruised to the checkered flag followed by the hard charging Weeks, Ross Bailes, Ryan Atkins and Donald Bradsher. Up next is a doubleheader on Friday, July 25th at Carolina Speedway in Gastonia, NC followed by a Saturday night show on July 26th at Fayetteville Motor Speedway in Fayetteville, NC. CITY CHEVROLET PERFORMANCE PARTS Main Event Results: Brett Hamm, Ricky Weeks, Ross Bailes, Ryan Atkins, Donald Bradsher, Matthew Turner, Greg Knight, Casey Traxler, Steve Banal, Mitchell Coble, Kenny Van Derveer, Furman Parton, Gib Gibbons (DNS) R.E. SUSPENSION HEAT RACE #1 Results: Brett Hamm, Steve Banal, Ryan Atkins, Gib Gibbons, Ricky Weeks, Greg Knight, Casey Traxler. KRC POWER STEERING HEAT RACE #2 Results: Ross Bailes, Donald Bradsher, Mitchell Coble, Matthew Turner, Kenny Van Derveer, Furman Parton. KLOTZ SYNTHETIC LUBRICANTS Time Trials: Steve Banal 16.248, Ross Bailes 16.275, Brett Hamm 16.315, Mitchell Coble 16.402, Ryan Atkins 16.499, Donald Bradsher 16.510, Gib Gibbons 16.518, Matthew Turner 16.527, Ricky Weeks 16.687, Furman Parton 16.708, Greg Knight 16.871, Kenny Van Derveer 16.992, Casey Traxler 17.743. For more information about FUEL Racing Series, visit the website (fuelracingseries.com), find us on Facebook (FUEL Racing Series), and follow us on Twitter (FUEL525SERIES). Partners of the FUEL Racing Series include Chevrolet Performance, City Chevrolet Performance Parts, Hoosier Racing Tire, State Water Heaters, Klotz Synthetics, RE Suspension, KRC, Mega Plumbing of the Carolinas, B&B Motorsports, Flag To Flag, Kenny Lamb Racing Engines, Heintz Brothers Performance, Performance Tees, D&E Marine, WP Racing Shocks, Renegade Race Fuels, JRi Shocks, Beyea Headers, Eibach Springs, The Joie of Seating, To The Point, Gale Force Suspensions, Roush Yates Performance Products, AR Bodies, Insane Racing Graphics, Velocita, Superior Trailers, Local Race Chat, and Thomas Clarke Performance.