Connect with us

ROBERSONVILLE, N.C. :: Louis White claimed the season-ending Ronnie Barnette Memorial at East Carolina Motor Speedway Saturday night, while a runner-up finish for Brenden Queen secured a track championship for the Chesapeake, Virginia native.

White dominated the 100-lap Late Model Stock feature, but it was not by design. The veteran racer originally intended to run a restrained pace during the opening stages in anticipation of late cautions.

“I figured that was going to happen,” White said about the late cautions. “Actually, I wasn’t even mashing it all the way down the straightaway. We said we were going to drop back and not try to control the race. Just sit back and ride, let somebody else do it.”

“Then [Thomas] Burbage was leading, and I was going to follow him, but I felt like I was using too much up just to stay with him so I went ahead and passed him. Another reason, I didn’t want to get caught on the outside if we did have a caution. I’d rather be leading, start on the inside. Starting on the outside, on this track, it’s not real good.”

Meanwhile, Brenden Queen settled into fourth. Queen started on the pole, but found himself in physical battles with White and Burbage before falling into line.

“We took our chances on the pole, knowing we’d be in a sandwich there,” said Queen. “We got beat around, but that’s because I didn’t want to pick up the pace yet. I wanted to save my right-rear. I found a hole around fourth and tried to ride it out. Got up to third, ran third most of the race.”

“We really had a good car,” Queen said. “I could have went up there and contended, but we were just trying to save it, because of the cautions.”

As White and Queen expected, the cautions came, starting with a Ryan Haddock spin on lap 71. During the cautions, several teams elected to pit, as the event’s rules provided each team with five tires during the race. While White and Queen remained on the track, several of their competitors utilized the caution to put on the extra tire.

“I could see in my mirror, guys were getting sideways,” White said. “Then when they all came in and started getting right-rears, I really started getting worried. Then we had four or five cautions there at the end, and we were just trying to keep the car straight and mash the throttle easy. It all worked out.”

“We didn’t plan on pitting for a tire, like everybody else,” said Queen about the strategy. “The cautions fell, of course, when I didn’t want them to. We were just able to hold on there at the end and just time the restarts, find us a hole, and ride behind Louis.”

White understood going into the race his chances at a track championship were slim. After a spin last week dropped him to a seventh-place finish in one of the track’s twin features, Queen entered the race with an eight-point advantage.

“I knew tonight, coming into the race last week, we went in two points apart,” White said about the championship hunt. “Then with the way the race unfolded last week, it was eight points between me and him. The car count tonight wasn’t what it has been. So I knew as long as he kept me in sight, he pretty much had it won. I was just hoping we could win the race, and he could win the championship.”

Similarly, Queen felt no need to excessively challenge White for the victory, knowing the track championship was within grasp.

“I didn’t want to try to really do anything with him,” said Queen. “I knew I could ride behind him and get the championship.”

Despite several intense battles throughout the season, White offered nothing but respect for the 18-year-old champion. After the race, they both took Polish victory laps around the 0.375-mile oval together.

“We’ve been battling it out all year long,” said White. “I don’t have any ill will towards that boy. I’m just a hard racer. I won’t wreck him on purpose. I guess I’m like Earnhardt, I just want to rattle his cage a little bit. So to win the race, him win the championship, and for us to go around together, I’m good with it.”

For Queen, it’s a dream finish to a breakthrough season. While Queen had started finishing near the front in Late Model fields to close out 2015, he made the next step this season with several trips to victory lane.

“It’s been huge for me, obviously,” said Queen about the championship. “Last season, I got in contention late in the year at Langley [Speedway], but really didn’t have anything for the Edwards brothers. We set out to win one race this year. We won four, and found ourselves looking at two championships and won one of them. The Lord worked good, I can’t thank Him enough.”

“To win a championship at 18 is amazing,” Queen continued. “Especially a Late Model Stock Car championship. You dream of it as a kid. Hopefully, this will open some doors for some future stuff for me. We’re working really hard.”

“It hasn’t hit me yet, but I know when it hits me, it’s going to be an unreal feeling. I mean, you can’t describe it. It’s a NASCAR championship.”

UNOFFICIAL RESULTS

1. #7 Louis White
2. #03 Brenden Queen
3. #63 Tyler Matthews
4. #12S Dean Shiflett
5. #12J Wesley Johnson
6. #33 Ryan Haddock
7. #01 Jeff Shiflett
8. #5 Paul Williamson
9. #25 Kenneth Mercer
10. #9 Thomas Burbage
11. #29 Melvin Langley

Zach Evans is in his second season covering short track racing, A 2012 graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Evans is a proud alumnus of The Daily Tar Heel, the school's award-winning independent student newspaper.

Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

More in Late Model Stock Cars