Landon S Huffman, Tyler Matthews Split Hickory Twins

Landon Shane Huffman and Tyler Matthews split the second Twin 40s of the NASCAR Weekly Racing Series season at Hickory Motor Speedway on Saturday night.

The victories were their first, respectively, at the Birthplace of the NASCAR Stars.

For Matthews, especially, the win was gratifying after a strong showing on Opening Night with a third-place finish having lost a close CARS Tour finish there in 2021.

“We haven’t been down here many times, came down here for a Tour race once and lost by this much so to come back here and win was big,” Matthews said. “We struggled here last week to get our car dialed in on the short run, but this thing was really good on a long run on in the second race on old tires.

“I thought we had them covered but (I) made a driver mistake taking that restart in second gear and fought that down the straight. Charlie (Watson) raced me really hard but respectful and I’m grateful for everyone’s work.”

The win came from the sixth starting position after a 10-car invert from the results of the first race earlier in the night. Matthews took the lead by halfway and only his missed shift threatened to cost him the win.

Meanwhile, Huffman, the son of NASCAR and ARCA veteran racer and crew chief Shane Huffman, won in the opener. The race immediately produced fireworks on the third lap with opening night winner (both races) Doug Barnes getting spun into the backstretch wall by and alongside Kade Brown, who started alongside him on the front row.

Huffman took the lead on the ensuing restart and led the rest of the way.

“I can’t thank everyone enough,” Huffman said. “Mark, my dad. Aaron. Cowboy. Too Tall. Mom. Grandma, both of them. I really appreciate everyone and can’t thank them enough.”

Of note, defending track champion Landon Huffman was involved in the third lap crash with Barnes and Brown. It broke the track bar mount and an upper and lower ball joint. Huffman Racing made repairs to the car and was on the grid when engines were fired when track management said he could not start the race because he did not complete at least 20 laps in the first feature.

Huffman and track operator Kevin Piercy debated the ruling for several minutes before the race with Huffman ultimately not starting the race. Huffman claims Piercy said such a rule did not exist on paper. Short Track Scene reached out to Piercy for clarification and the track operator said a statement would come out around lunch time on Monday.

In the interest of fairness, Short Track Scene will hold off on reporting over the topic until more information is available.

The results from the second night of weekly Late Model Stock racing at Hickory can be found below.

TWIN 40 NO. 1

1. Landon S. Huffman
2. Charlie Watson
3. Michael Bumgarner
4. Bryson Ruff
5. Tyler Matthews
6. Bryce Applegate
7. Clark Houston
8. Akinori Ogata
9. Jeff Sparks
10. Samantha Rohrbaugh
11. Annabeth Barnes-Crum
12. Pat Rachels
13. Charlie Neill
14. Doug Barnes Jr
15. Kade Brown
16. Landon Huffman

TWIN 40 NO. 2

1. Tyler Matthews
2. Charlie Watson
3. Bryson Ruff
4. Michael Bumgarner
5. Clark Houston
6. Annabeth Barnes
7. Pat Rachels
8. Akinori Ogata
9. Landon S Huffman
10. Jeff Sparks
11. Bryce Applegate
12. Charlie Neill
13. Samantha Rohrbaugh
14. Kade Brown

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