CALLAWAY, VA – Mack Little picked up the victory after prevailing in a hard fought battle with Boo Boo Dalton in Sunday’s Late Model feature race at the 3/8-mile Franklin County Speedway bullring in the mountains of Virginia.
The 41-year-old veteran started on the pole in the race but surrendered the lead to Alex Yontz on lap 12. Eight laps later, he reclaimed possession of the top spot from Yontz. When Dalton moved past Yontz for second, he set chase after Little and challenged for the lead. Little fended off the challenges from Dalton and managed to hold off numerous challenges to score the win.
“He was pretty good,” Little said in victory lane after the race. “I could change my line up a little bit and get away from him. He would run in on me a little bit and I was able to pull away off the corner. Got a little break there and that helped me with the lapped cars and I was able to get away from him at the end. That was 60 laps of fun, just awesome.”
Franklin County Speedway runs their Late Model class on four scuff tires instead of sticker tires, which presents a challenge to racers who are accustomed to running on either two or four sticker tires. Little enjoyed the challenge of the race.
“I didn’t think I drew the best tire in the world at the beginning but I think it was just me and the times,” Little remarked. “I wasn’t quite sure. I hit my marks on the track and picked up pretty quick. It had to be a show for the fans because we ran nose-to-tail there for a lone time.”
Dalton was frustrated with his runner-up finish.
“Finishing second sucks,” Dalton exclaimed. “That’s the way it goes. You can’t win them all. Had a good racecar, ran out of time there. Had a good charge right there at the end. It is what it is, we’ll go back and do a little homework. We didn’t get outrun by handling or driving, we got outrun by motor today. That’s how it normally goes when I get behind Mack Little though.”
Dalton closed in on Little on the last lap but could not make the move to score the win. He says he would have had no hesitations about using the front bumper if he could have got to Little.
“If I could have got to him, I would have wrecked his ass,” Dalton stated candidly.
30-year-old Late Model Stock Car veteran Alex Yontz, who scored his first career Late Model victory at Franklin County Speedway, finished the race in the third position. Yontz competed in the race as a teammate to Thad Moffitt, Richard Petty’s grandson, at Empire Racing.
“We were really good there in the beginning,” Yontz stated. “I think maybe I just went a little too hard on the tires. Had a really good piece. It came home in one piece. That’s pretty good because it’s the first race of the year. I can’t thank Empire Racing enough for letting me have the opportunity to do it.”
Kyle Dudley, who had won the last three races at Franklin County Speedway prior to Sunday’s race, finished in fourth while Amber Lynn finished in fifth.
Unofficial Results:
- Mack Little
- Boo Boo Dalton
- Alex Yontz
- Kyle Dudley
- Amber Lynn
- Thad Moffitt
- Josh Leedy
- Rusty Gaspard
- Jonathan Hall
- Ricky Gillespie
- Wesley Thomason
