SWANSBORO, NC – Clay Jones picked up his second consecutive Labor Day Classic victory at Carteret County Speedway, leading the final 34 laps of the race.
Jones, who now has a 2-0 record at Carteret County Speedway, inherited the lead with 34 laps to go after pole sitter Tyler Matthews broke a tie-rod, causing him to make contact with a lapped car before hitting the wall in turn one. He went on to hold off Chris Burns and Joshua Yeoman to score the win.
“All these guys put their heart out for this,” Jones said. “We hadn’t run most of this year. Took some time off just to get everybody back together. Means a lot to win this race. It’s always fun to have friends and family with you. Everything ain’t so serious.
“To get a win, it’s for all these work. They do a lot of work and it shows off.”
Jones joins Chris Burns as the only repeat Late Model winners at Carteret County Speedway. Burns went on to finish second in the race in his American flag themed racecar.
“We were riding the first half of the race,” Burns said. “We definitely didn’t have anything for Clay. As good as Tyler was last time he was here and today, it would’ve been tough. We didn’t hit the setup right, snug in the center, free off. You can’t get it perfect every time so we’ll come back better next time.”
Joshua Yeoman, who is a regular competitor and often a contender for the win, finished third after another classic battle between he and Burns.
“The tires in the front went away,” Yeoman said. “We got really tight in the middle and loose off like Chris said. We missed it on the setup but we’ll get it back together.”
Jim Kelley finished fourth and Tim Allensworth finished fifth. Tyler Matthews rebounded for a sixth place finish.
After winning at Carteret, Clay Jones will now turn his attention to another beach destination racetrack, the CARS Super Late Model Tour race at Myrtle Beach Speedway on September 17th.
Official Results
- Clay Jones
- Chris Burns
- Joshua Yeoman
- Jim Kelley
- Tim Allensworth
- Tyler Matthews
- Zach Henshaw
- Gerald Benton
- Maddy Ryan Mulligan
- Tyler Horne
- Lynn Waller
- Kenneth Mercer – DNS
