Fastrak Racing Series News Release: Contact – STAN LESTER – (678) 935-7304

September 16, 2016


JAMAICA, VA – Ryan Montgomery of Fairmont, WV could only hope things would turn out the way they did Friday night in the 40-lap Fastrak Members-Only World Championship Challenge at Virginia Motor Speedway. Thinking he might have a chance to win the race, the 19-year-old driver did just that to pick up the winner’s share of $5,000.

After starting 15th, Montgomery methodically worked his way into contention, showed up in the top five by lap 23, and watched a three-wide battle for the lead among Jensen Ford of Piney Flats, TN, Jimmy Mac of Mooresville, NC, and Walker Arthur of Forest VA. The field was slowed for a caution flag on lap 24, and Montgomery made his presence known.

Montgomery restarted fourth, and took the lead on the inside. Ford would come back to retake the lead on lap 25. It took Montgomery ten laps to chase down Ford and challenge again for the lead, this time in lapped traffic. Montgomery made a move in lapped traffic to take the lead in turn one, and he began to pull away from the field.

Two early front runners, Mac and Ford brought out the caution flag with late race spins on lap 38 and 39 respectively. Montgomery was up for the challenge each time, and took a 1.011 second margin of victory under the checkered flag in the T&J Contracting Rocket.

“Who would have thought I could come from the 15th starting spot and even get to the top five with the competition in this race?” Montgomery said. “Then I thought, well maybe these guys in front of me will race too hard, and I can get to the top three. Then I thought well maybe I can catch Jensen Ford in lapped traffic and take the lead. The more I thought, the more the race came to me.”

Second went to 16-year-old Henry Hornsby III of Beckley, WV in the Henry’s Radiator Longhorn and third was 22-year-old Tyler Bare of Rockridge Baths, VA in the Bluegrass Farms MastersBilt, who started 18th. Youth was served in this race, as the combined age of the top three drivers was 56. Arthur took the fourth spot in the Cecil B. Arthur Beef Farms MastersBilt, and Kyle Lukon of Burgettstown, PA was fifth in the Lukon’s Refab/Ingram Engines Rocket.

Cody Dawson of Westover, MD started 23rd and finished sixth driving the Dawson & Bedworth Electrical Rocket. Logan Robertson of Waynesboro, VA drove the Mike’s Tire and Auto Mastersbilt to a seventh-place finish and Mark Parks of Forest Virginia was eighth in the Hatcher Logging Rocket. Ron Parker of Belwood, NC took the ninth spot in the Schaffer Oil Rocket, and Brent Hilton of Rural Retreat, VA rounded out the top ten in the Cedar Springs Fish Farms Barry Wright.

In preliminary action, Justin Williams of Concord, VA in the Mike Parks Racing Longhorn was the Fast Qualifier among the 34 entrants with a lap around Virginia Motor Speedway in 18.371 seconds.

The three eight-lap heat races were won by Hornsby, Corey Almond of Appomattox, VA in the Ditch Witch Longhorn, and Cla Knight of North Augusta, SC in the Augusta Aquatics Longhorn. The two ten-lap B-Main races were won by Parks and Parker.

The first half of the races was wide open with wholesale position changes throughout the field and three-wide battles for the lead. Almond took the lead at the drop of the green flag followed by polesitter Hornsby, Mac in the Lake Norman Motors Barry Wright, Knight, and Ford in the Tim Byrd Motorsports TNT. Knight got by Mac for the third spot on lap two, and Ford got by Mac for fourth on lap three.

Knight dove to the inside to pass Hornsby for second on lap five, and then set his sights on Almond at the front of the pack. Lap 12 saw Ford get by Hornsby for third in turn two, and in turn three, it was Knight diving under Almond to take the lead. Knight was quick to catch lapped traffic on lap 15, and Ford passed Almond for second on lap 17.

Roberson spun in turn four on lap 18 to bring out the first caution flag of the race. The double-file restart was led by Knight, who picked the outside for the restart after using the inside to his advantage before the yellow flag came out. Following Knight to the green flag were Ford, Almond, Hornsby, Mac and Arthur. After the restart, Almond began to fade.

A spin by David Smith of Inman, SC in the High-Bridge Automotive TNT in turn three lit up the caution bulb for a second time on lap 19. The restart order was Knight, Ford, Hornsby, Mac and Arthur, with Almond dropping back to the sixth spot. After the field went back to green flag racing, Mac and Arthur moved up to third and fourth respectively, dropping Hornsby to fifth.

Arthur was on a mission, as he stepped to the outside in turn three and passed Mac for the third spot on lap 20. Another driver on the move was Ford, who passed Knight for the lead on lap 22 going down the front straightaway. Knight got loose and spun in turn four on lap 23 to bring out the caution flag.

The restart saw Ford as the leader, with Arthur in second, Mac in third, Hornsby fourth and Montgomery had worked his way up to the fifth spot. On the restart, Almond executed a series of barrel-roll flips down the front straightaway before landing in turn one tangled up with several other cars. The red flag came out and Almond and all of the other drivers involved walked away uninjured.

When the green light was refired, Ford, Arthur and Mac busted out three-wide in their battle for the lead. Benji Hicks of Mt. Airy, NC spun the T&K Enterprises Rocket in turn two on lap 24 to bring out the caution flag. Ford led Mac, Arthur, Montgomery and Hornsby down for the restart. Montgomery got on the bottom of the track and dove under the lead trio to take the lead.

That was short lived, as Ford got his Mojo working on the outside and retook the lead on lap 25. Arthur banged the steel guardrail in turn two, and Hornsby got by to take the third spot on lap 28. Montgomery kept Ford in his sites for the next several laps before making a move in heavy lapped traffic to make a pass for the lead on lap 35.

A pair of late-race cautions for a lap 38 spin in turn four by Mac, and a spin in turn four by Ford on lap 39 kept the field bunched up for the finish, but it was Montgomery holding off Hornsby and Bare to take the win.

OFFICIAL RESULTS:

POS STRT CAR # DRIVER HOMETOWN LAPS
1. 15 12m Ryan Montgomery Fairmont, WV 40
2. 1 39 Henry Hornsby III Beckley, WV 40
3. 18 30 Tyler Bare Rockridge Baths, VA 40
4. 9 87 Walker Arthur Forest, VA 40
5. 17 184 Kyle Lukon Burgettstown, PA 40
6. 23 36 Cody Dawson Westover, MD 40
7. 14 17 Logan Roberson Waynesboro, VA 40
8. 19 47p Mark Parks Forest, VA 40
9. 20 8 Ron Parker Belwood, NC 40
10, 13 33 Brent Hilton Rural Retreat, VA 40
11. 6 83 Jensen Ford Piney Flats, TN 40
12. 4 23 Jimmy Mac Mooresville, NC 40
13. 24 33g Shane Greco Midway, WV 39
14. 12 24n Matthew Nance Ronda, NC 39
15. 22 03 Stephen Childress St. Stephens Church, VA 39
16. 5 71d David Lipscombe Mechanicsville, MD 30
17. 10 21 Billy Beachler Franklin, WV 27
18. 8 55 Benji Hicks Mt. Airy, NC 23
19. 3 42 Cla Knight North Augusta, SC 22
20. 7 222 Chris Steele York, SC 22
21. 2 7a Cory Almond Appomattox, VA 22
22. 11 11 David Smith Inman, SC 20
23. 16 18 T.J. Salango Beckley, WV 17
24. 21 47 Matt Quade Mechanicsville, MD 11

ENTRIES: 34
FAST QUALIFIER: Justin Williams, 18.371 Seconds
LEAD CHANGES: 5
LAP LEADERS: Almond, 1-11; Knight, 12-21; Ford, 22-23; Montgomery, 24; Ford, 25-34; Montgomery, 35-40
LAPS LED: Ford, 12; Almond, 11; Knight, 10; Montgomery, 7
CAUTIONS: 7 with 1 Red
MARGIN OF VICTORY: 1.011 Seconds
TIME OF THE RACE: 1 Hour, 6 Minutes, and 8.655 Seconds


GROUP 1:
POS CAR # DRIVER HOMETOWN CHASSIS TIME
1 2w Justin Williams Concord, VA Longhorn 18.371
2 39 Henry Hornsby Beckley, WV Longhorn 18.728
3 23 Jimmy Mac Mooresville, NC Barry Wright 18.794
4 47 Matt Quade Mechanicsville, MD Rocket 18.881
5 222 Chris Steele York, SC Rocket 18.906
6 33 Brent Hilton Rural Retreat, VA Barry Wright 19.064
7 21 Billy Beachler Franklin, WV Mastersbilt 19.276
8 18 T.J. Salango Beckley, WV Rocket 19.290
9 27 Ashley Brewster Princeton, WV Rocket 19.577
10 33g Shane Greco Midway, WV Rocket 19.830
11 77 Joel Prosser New Martinsville, WV Rocket NT

GROUP 2:
POS CAR # DRIVER HOMETOWN CHASSIS TIME
1 55 Benji Hicks Mt. Airy, NC Rocket 18.493
2 7a Corey Almond Appomattox, VA Longhorn 18.598
3 11 David Smith Inman, SC TNT 18.684
4 71 David Lipscombe Mechanicsville, MD Mastersbilt 18.725
5 8 Ron Parker Belwood, NC Rocket 18.769
6 K22 Kenny Peeples Rural Retreat, VA TNT 18.798
7 99 Teddy Tate Rural Retreat, VA CVR 18.834
8 17 Logan Roberson Waynesboro, VA Mastersbilt 18.993
9 184 Kyle Lukon Burgettstown, PA Rocket 19.023
10 88 Vic Chandler Weaverville, NC TNT 19.362
11 1 Terry Cregger Crockett, VA Barry Wright 19.365


GROUP 3:
POS CAR # DRIVER HOMETOWN CHASSIS TIME
1 83 Jensen Ford Piney Flats, TN TNT 18.517
2 42 Cla Knight North Augusta, SC Longhorn 18.559
3 24n Matthew Nance Ronda, NC Barry Wright 18.698
4 87 Walker Arthur Forest, VA Mastersbilt 18.715
5 47p Mark Parks Forest, VA Rocket 18.731
6 30 Tyler Bare Rockridge Baths, VA Mastersbilt 18.811
7 36 Cody Dawson Westover, MD Rocket 18.875
8 12m Ryan Montgomery Fairmont, WV Rocket 18.939
9 03 Stephen Childress St. Stephens Church, VA Rocket 19.070
10 5j Darrell Dow Chesapeake, VA Warrior 19.445
11 0 Troy Frazier Montclair, WV Rocket 19.594
12 40 Brent Bordeaux Fredericksburg, VA Pierce 19.718



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