Herrington Ends Championship Season With A $10K Deep South 100 Win

LOXLEY, AL – Wil Herrington of Hawkinsville, GA put the icing on his 2020 Newsome Raceway Parts Crate Racin’ USA Dirt Late Model Series National Championship cake with a $10,000 victory in the Deep South 100 on Saturday night at Deep South Speedway. Herrington led 92 laps of the race in the 5m Construction Rocket.

“We were fortunate that we guessed right with our tire choices, and we might have also had a lot of luck the way those tires were going down for others late in the race,” Herrington said. “We’ve really been blessed with a great season, and we’re going to race close to home next week, so maybe we can keep our momentum going for one more race.”

The Deep South 100 brought the 2020 Newsome Raceway Parts Crate Racin’ USA Dirt Late Model Series season to a close with a 17-race shortened schedule due to the COVID 19 pandemic. The season finale was definitely a tire management game, as only the top five cars finished the race on the same Hoosier Racing Tires they started the race with.

Joseph Joiner of Milton, FL took the second spot in the Hunt The Front Special after leading the first eight laps of the race, and Johnny Collins of Jacksonville, FL finished third in the United Land Clearing Special.

Marcus Minga of Shannon, MS was fourth in the B&M Salvage Rocket. Chase Cooper of Perkinston, MS started the PTE, Inc. Special 15th and finished fifth to earn the Knowles Race Parts and Bodies Hard Charger of the Race Award.

Bo Slay of Milton, FL finished sixth in the Slay’s Mobile Home Service Rocket and made a move on lap 64 that would play out to his advantage. Slay started fourth, but at the start of the race dropped back in the pack like a boat anchor. Slay went to the pits during a lap 64 caution to change a tire. With a fresh Hoosier, Slay just got out in front of the leaders after the restart and was the fastest car on the track.

As tires fell victim to the track in the second half of the race for many of the front runners, Slay methodically worked his way through the pack and into the top ten. This earned Slay the VP Racing Lubricants Slick Move of the Race Award. Jimmy Thomas of Phenix City, AL took the seventh spot in the Scorpion Race Cars Special to earn the Fullmoon Graphics “Lucky 7” Award.

Jake Rainey of Hiram, GA was eighth in the Harrod Logging Special and Jody Knowles of Tyrone, GA finished ninth in the Clayton Signs/Gentry’s Used Auto Parts Special. Ryan Crane of Panama City, FL rounded out the top ten in the Panama City Cycles Rocket. Corey Dunn of Milledgeville, GA finished 17th in the Georgia Timber CVR and was the Cruise With The Champions Rookie of the Race.

In Friday night preliminary action, Rainey, a 16-year-old VP Racing Fuels Young Guns Challenge Series driver, set a new track record in Boyd Built Fabricators Group Qualifying with a lap in 16.123 seconds. The three KRC Power Steering ten-lap Heat Races were won by Rainey, Joiner, and Herrington.

The 12-lap KRC Power Steering B-Main Race on Saturday night was won by the 2020 and two-time Newsome Raceway Parts Crate Racin’ USA Dirt Late Model Series Weekly Racing Series Late Model National Champion Shannon Lee of Lumberton, MS in the Big Level Cast Iron Restorations Special.

Rainey started the century grind from the pole position, but it was Joiner jumping out to the lead from his outside front row starting spot and Herrington rushed up from his third starting spot to take second. Rainey settled into the third spot followed by Collins and D.G. Hawkins of Chunchula, AL in the United States Marine Corps Special.

Crane got by Hawkins on lap four to move up to the fifth spot. Joiner reached the cars on the tail of the lead lap by the eighth tour. Joiner got caught behind a lapped car coming off the fourth turn on lap nine, and Herrington drove around the outside of Joiner to take the lead.

Herrington began to set a fast race pace on the Deep South Speedway sandy surface, and one could her the Hoosiers crying for mercy as the field sailed around the sweeping turns of the 3/8-mile dirt oval. Rainey got to the inside of Joiner coming off the fourth turn on lap 25 to take the second spot.

The first quarter of the race went clean and green, but that came to a halt on lap 26 when Dunn stalled in turn two on lap 26 to bring out the first of 13 caution flags. Herrington led Rainey, Joiner, Crane, Collins, Monte Skinner of Saraland, AL in the Capital Race Cars Special, Kyle Bronson of Brandon, FL in the Brandon Ford Rocket, Knowles, Hawkins, and Joey Moxley of Foley, AL in the Lee’s Racing Special down for the Dixie-Style Double-File Restart.

Crane passed Joiner on the restart to take over the third spot, but the yellow flag was waived on lap 28 when Mike Lane of Milton, FL stalled the Lane Racing Special on the backstretch. Joiner passed Crane to reclaim the third spot on the restart and brought Bronson with him into fourth. Bronson, looking for his seventh series $10,000 win, passed Joiner for third on lap 35.

The field was stopped on lap 50 for a five-minute fuel stop with Herrington leading Rainey, Bronson, Joiner, Crane, Skinner, Collins, Knowles, Hawkins, and Moxley. The field stayed set for the next 28 laps, as tire management was the name of the game. The drivers seemed to baby their Hoosiers to make their choices of compounds and positions on the four corners of the cars bring them home.

Rainey was the first to feel the air escape from his right rear on lap 79 and he gave up the second spot. Thomas gave up the eighth spot on lap 86 with a cut tire. The next ten laps proved to show who made the right tire choices and who did not. Knowles lost a tire on lap 89 while running sixth. Hawkins gave up the eighth spot on lap 90 with a cut tire.

The Deep South surface dug into tires and shredded the hopes of several the top five runners with less than ten laps to go. Crane lost a right-rear on lap 92, and T.J. Brittain of Centre, AL, who came from 21st to seventh lost his right-rear on lap 93.

On each restart, Bronson looked like he was ready to challenge Herrington for the point. Bronson was done on lap 95 when he cut down a right-rear while running second. On the next restart, Skinner gave up the third spot with a sliced tire. Herrington had the right tire combination and held on for the last five laps to take a 1.330 second margin of victory over Joiner.

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For more information and rules about the Newsome Raceway Parts Crate Racin’ USA Dirt Late Model Series, visit the series web site at www.crateracinusa.com, or visit the series on Facebook at www.facebook.com/CrateRacinUSA/. You can follow us on Twitter @CrateRacinUSALM, and at Instagram at crateracinusa.

OFFICIAL RESULTS OF ROUND 17 AT DEEP SOUTH SPEEDWAY IN LOXLEY, AL ON 11/21/2020:

POS STRT CAR # DRIVER HOMETOWN LAPS $ WON
1. 3 14 Wil Herrington Hawkinsville, GA 100 $10,000
2. 2 10 Joseph Joiner Milton, FL 100 $5,000
3. 5 5 Johnny Collins Jacksonville, FL 100 $3,000
4. 8 19 Marcus Minga Shannon, MS 100 $2,000
5. 15 27c Chase Cooper Perkinston, MS 100 $1,750
6. 4 2 Bo Slay Milton, FL 100 $1,500
7. 16 22 Jimmy Thomas Phenix City, AL 100 $1,300
8. 1 87 Jake Rainey (YG) Hiram, GA 100 $1,200
9. 12 66 Jody Knowles Tyrone, GA 100 $1,100
10. 7 10c Ryan Crane Panama City, FL 100 $1,000
11. 21 05 T.J. Brittain Centre, AL 100 $800
12. 6 96 D.G. Hawkins Chunchula, AL 100 $700
13. 11 40 Kyle Bronson Brandon, FL 100 $600
14. 10 00 Monte Skinner Saraland, AL 100 $500
15. 18 C4 Chris Reid Wiggins, MS 99 $450
16. 9 21m Joey Moxley Foley, AL 68 $440
17. 23 21 Corey Dunn (R) Milledgeville, GA 55 $430
18. 14 99 Tim Anderson Pensacola, FL 50 $420
19. 19 47 Shannon Lee Lumberton, MS 39 $400
20. 24 39 Troy Dixon (R) Dallas, GA 39 $400
21. 20 24 Steven Jernigan Milton, FL 32 $400
22. 13 18 Michael Lloyd Jacksonville, FL 23 $400
23. 17 8 Mike Lane Milton, FL 32 $0/DQ
24. 22 47g James Gilmore Milton, FL 31 $0/DQ

ENTRIES: 29
BOYD BULT FABRICATORS FAST QUALIFIER: Rainey, 16,123 Seconds (New Track Record)
PROVISIONALS: Dunn and Dixon
LEAD CHANGES: 1
LAP LEADERS: Joiner, 1-8; Herrington, 9-100
LAPS LED: Herrington, 92, Joiner, 8
KNOWLES RACE PARTS HARD CHARGER: Cooper (started 15th and finished 5th)
VP RACING LUBRICANTS SLICK MOVE OF THE RACE AWARD: Slay
FULLMOON GRAPHICS LUCKY 7 AWARD: Thomas
CRUISE WITH THE CHAMPIONS ROOKIE OF THE RACE: Dunn
KRC HEAT RACE WINNERS: Rainey, Joiner, Herrington
KRC B-MAIN RACE WINNER: Lee
CAUTIONS: 13
MARGIN OF VICTORY: 1.330 Seconds
TIME OF THE RACE: 1 Hour, 43 Minutes and .093 Seconds
NEXT RACE: End of 2020 Season