Annabeth Crashes Huffman Under Yellow, Houston Wins at Hickory

Clark Houston won at Hickory for the first time in Late Model Stock competition at Hickory Motor Speedway on Saturday but the triumph was overshadowed by the dramatics that happened just before the finish.

Racing for third, Landon Huffman was involved in a sequence of events with Annabeth Barnes-Crum, the continuation of what appears to be a simmering feud at the Birthplace of the NASCAR Stars.

With three laps to go in the second of a Twin 40 feature, Barnes-Crum and Huffman came together on the backstretch, contact squeezing the defending track champion into the wall. Huffman came back in the next corner and pushed Barnes-Crum up the track in response.

She visibly attempted to correct the car into a crash with Huffman but spun herself onto the frontstretch instead. Under caution, Barnes-Crum drove around the track until she came across Huffman and collided into his right rear, effectively destroying both cars.

It took almost a half hour for the race to resume due to a confrontation in the spotter’s stand between their respective spotters — veteran racers Robert Huffman and Jake Crum.

The video below shot by Dan Collins shows Crum stomping a downed Huffman.

P3 in first twin

Won the limited race

Full throttled by a psycho maniac under caution in twin #2 running 3rd

Put into fence on backstretch, so laid bumper in 3-4. She lost it trying to right rear us, then destroyed our car

Dad got blindsided by her husband in spotters stand. pic.twitter.com/mzcnifwILW

— Landon Huffman (@LandonHuffman) May 21, 2023

Got squeezed into fence on back stretch, so used the bumper.

I raced her as clean as possible last week for 30 laps for the damn lead. That’s what i get in return.

They spend more money than anyone.

Test more than anyone.

Tonight is not racing. It’s dangerous.

— Landon Huffman (@LandonHuffman) May 21, 2023

Once the race resumed, Houston drove away to his first feature at Hickory, special given that grandfather Tommy and father Andy both enjoyed success here behind the wheel as well.

“Man, it’s awesome,” Houston said. “We’ve had such a rotten year. I have made mistakes. We’ve gotten caught up in wrecks. It’s finally started to come together.

“This is a family tradition for sure, hearing stories from my dad about the racing here.”

Kade Brown was victorious in the first Twin 40 on the night.

TWIN 40 1

1. Kade Brown
2. Tyler Matthews
3. Landon Huffman
4. Clark Houston
5. Vicente Salas
6. Michael Bumgarner
7. Akinori Ogata
8. Annabeth Barnes-Crum
9. Bryson Ruff
10. Ryan Joyner
11. Skyler Chaney
12. Justin Campbell
13. Sean Abell
14. Paige Rogers
15. Samantha Rohrbaugh
16. Amber Balcaen
17. Gracie Trotter

TWIN 40 2

1. Clark Houston
2. Tyler Matthews
3. Kade Brown
4. Michael Bumgarner
5. Vicente Salas
6. Ryan Joyner
7. Justin Campbell
8. Sean Abell
9. Landon Huffman
10. Amber Balcaen
11. Samantha Rohrbaugh
12. Annabeth Barnes-Crum
13. Akinori Ogata
14. Paige Rogers
15. Gracie Trotter
16. Bryson Ruff
17. Skyler Chaney

This story will be updated on Sunday with comments from the participants should any of them comment further.

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