By: Gerald Harris
WILLIAMSTON, S.C. - The Southeast Super Truck Series Presented by City Chevrolet & Textron Off-Road visited Anderson Motor Speedway on September 21st for the final time of the 2018 season. It was set for a Friday night event under the lights at the famed 3/8ths mile facility. The super truck races the fans have seen earlier this year have left them on the edge of their seats. So with this being the final race being held at AMS the fans packed the track. The points battle is in the closing stages, Kenneth Headen who had a little over 30 points of a lead over Rookie of the Year Contender Ashon Higgins going into the event.
The drivers and teams trickled into the track through out the afternoon and got set up for the first round of practice. The veteran drivers of Headen, Randy Porter, Ralph Carnes, and Lee Tissot have logged a ton of laps around the speedway, however the rookies and upcoming talented drivers of Higgins and Hollifield were not going to back down. . Headen found himself atop the charts for the first round of practice. He was followed by Randy Porter, Higgins, Toby Hollifield, and Ralph Carnes.
The second and final round of practice was up next, and this time it was the other local hometown hero of Porter who climbed his way to the top of the charts. He was followed by Higgins, Carnes, Clint King, and Tissot. They all went back into the infield to the attention of their pit crew's for final adjustments and tech inspection before coming back out on the track for Qualifying. The drivers made their five lap scuff session behind the pace truck and back down pit road they went. Where they could set the sway bars, air pressures, and tape up the grills. It was none other than Lee Tissot who claimed the Renegade Race Fuels Pole Award with a blistering lap time of 16.028. The competition from first to last was extremely close however, the difference was only a mere 7/10ths of a second.
Tissot rolled a five on the famous invert dice at the series trailer, which now allowed Higgins to capture the top spot with Greg Nix starting on his outside. As Higgins paced the field behind the pace truck for the warm up laps, you could tell his experience in his short driving span was higher than expected. He took off like a bolt of lightening when the flagman Timmy Hutson waved the green. The first caution flew on lap five, as the #20 of Jimmy Roberts who was making his return to the series since earlier in the year, came to a stop in turn four. Higgins once again prepared to keep the top spot on the restart, holding off Carnes starting on his outside now. However on the restart, another truck made contact with the #18 of Headen sending him for a spin cycle, Bennie Davis spun as well trying to avoid the #18 machine.
Once again Higgins was your leader on the restart, however this time he had Tissot starting on his outside. Higgins was able to pull away on the restart and Tissot ducked in line behind the youngster. The veteran driver was pushing the Rookie leader to his limits, until the caution flew again for the third time of the night as the #21 machine of Jamie Barbrey spun in turn 1 and two. Higgins prepped himself for another restart trying his best to hold off hard charging veteran drivers through out the field. As the field crossed the half-way mark of the race, Tissot was beginning to turn up his afterburners and applying heavy pressure to the rookies back bumper. Tissot took several looks under the #9 truck until he was finally able to take over the top spot.
The battle for third and fourth was heating up as Carnes was having his hands full holding off Headen, Porter and Nix. The fourth caution flew, as #66 of Davis went for a wild spin on the front stretch. Davis managed to keep the Chevrolet Silverado off the wall, he quickly spun it back around and re-joined the field. Tissot led the field back to the green flag, however it was only for five more laps before the caution flew again as Nix and Porter were battling hard for the fourth position and Nix spun around in turn two.
Tissot once again led the field of talented drivers back to the green flag. The battle for second began to heat up again as Higgins was holding off Carnes, Porter, and Headen. Meanwhile this gave Tissot a chance to open up his lead. As they got inside the final 15 laps of the race, the final caution flew on lap 70. Tissot was now facing a five lap shoot out, anything can happen. He was challenged by Carnes who had just made the pass for second before the caution came out. Tissot went on to capture his fourth win in a row (Caraway, Both Twin 50 Lap races at Tri-County and now Anderson) for Ted Caldwell Racing and truck owner Jeff Caldwell. He was followed by Carnes, Higgins, Porter, and Headen rounding out the top five.
The series will make their way north into the Tri-Cities of Tennessee, making their annual visit to Kingsport Speedway otherwise known as the "Concrete Jungle" on October 6th. This will be the next to last stop of the season. Higgins made a little ground on the current points leader, as he knocked off 10 points on Headen. Anything can happen in the last two races of the series, so make plans now to come on out to KPS.
For more information please visit the series website www.southeastsupertrucks.com or our Facebook page www.facebook.com/sestseries for all the latest news and information.
Official Results
1. 88 Lee Tissot
2. 44 Ralph Carnes
3. 9 Ashton Higgins
4. 32 Randy Porter
5. 18 Kenneth Headen
6. 21 Jamie Barbrey
7. 66 Bennie Davis
8. 07 Clint King
9. 5 Toby Hollifield
10. 3 Greg Nix
11. 20 Jimmy Roberts
12. 8 Ed Surrett
WILLIAMSTON, S.C. - The Southeast Super Truck Series Presented by City Chevrolet & Textron Off-Road visited Anderson Motor Speedway on September 21st for the final time of the 2018 season. It was set for a Friday night event under the lights at the famed 3/8ths mile facility. The super truck races the fans have seen earlier this year have left them on the edge of their seats. So with this being the final race being held at AMS the fans packed the track. The points battle is in the closing stages, Kenneth Headen who had a little over 30 points of a lead over Rookie of the Year Contender Ashon Higgins going into the event.
The drivers and teams trickled into the track through out the afternoon and got set up for the first round of practice. The veteran drivers of Headen, Randy Porter, Ralph Carnes, and Lee Tissot have logged a ton of laps around the speedway, however the rookies and upcoming talented drivers of Higgins and Hollifield were not going to back down. . Headen found himself atop the charts for the first round of practice. He was followed by Randy Porter, Higgins, Toby Hollifield, and Ralph Carnes.
The second and final round of practice was up next, and this time it was the other local hometown hero of Porter who climbed his way to the top of the charts. He was followed by Higgins, Carnes, Clint King, and Tissot. They all went back into the infield to the attention of their pit crew's for final adjustments and tech inspection before coming back out on the track for Qualifying. The drivers made their five lap scuff session behind the pace truck and back down pit road they went. Where they could set the sway bars, air pressures, and tape up the grills. It was none other than Lee Tissot who claimed the Renegade Race Fuels Pole Award with a blistering lap time of 16.028. The competition from first to last was extremely close however, the difference was only a mere 7/10ths of a second.
Tissot rolled a five on the famous invert dice at the series trailer, which now allowed Higgins to capture the top spot with Greg Nix starting on his outside. As Higgins paced the field behind the pace truck for the warm up laps, you could tell his experience in his short driving span was higher than expected. He took off like a bolt of lightening when the flagman Timmy Hutson waved the green. The first caution flew on lap five, as the #20 of Jimmy Roberts who was making his return to the series since earlier in the year, came to a stop in turn four. Higgins once again prepared to keep the top spot on the restart, holding off Carnes starting on his outside now. However on the restart, another truck made contact with the #18 of Headen sending him for a spin cycle, Bennie Davis spun as well trying to avoid the #18 machine.
Once again Higgins was your leader on the restart, however this time he had Tissot starting on his outside. Higgins was able to pull away on the restart and Tissot ducked in line behind the youngster. The veteran driver was pushing the Rookie leader to his limits, until the caution flew again for the third time of the night as the #21 machine of Jamie Barbrey spun in turn 1 and two. Higgins prepped himself for another restart trying his best to hold off hard charging veteran drivers through out the field. As the field crossed the half-way mark of the race, Tissot was beginning to turn up his afterburners and applying heavy pressure to the rookies back bumper. Tissot took several looks under the #9 truck until he was finally able to take over the top spot.
The battle for third and fourth was heating up as Carnes was having his hands full holding off Headen, Porter and Nix. The fourth caution flew, as #66 of Davis went for a wild spin on the front stretch. Davis managed to keep the Chevrolet Silverado off the wall, he quickly spun it back around and re-joined the field. Tissot led the field back to the green flag, however it was only for five more laps before the caution flew again as Nix and Porter were battling hard for the fourth position and Nix spun around in turn two.
Tissot once again led the field of talented drivers back to the green flag. The battle for second began to heat up again as Higgins was holding off Carnes, Porter, and Headen. Meanwhile this gave Tissot a chance to open up his lead. As they got inside the final 15 laps of the race, the final caution flew on lap 70. Tissot was now facing a five lap shoot out, anything can happen. He was challenged by Carnes who had just made the pass for second before the caution came out. Tissot went on to capture his fourth win in a row (Caraway, Both Twin 50 Lap races at Tri-County and now Anderson) for Ted Caldwell Racing and truck owner Jeff Caldwell. He was followed by Carnes, Higgins, Porter, and Headen rounding out the top five.
The series will make their way north into the Tri-Cities of Tennessee, making their annual visit to Kingsport Speedway otherwise known as the "Concrete Jungle" on October 6th. This will be the next to last stop of the season. Higgins made a little ground on the current points leader, as he knocked off 10 points on Headen. Anything can happen in the last two races of the series, so make plans now to come on out to KPS.
For more information please visit the series website www.southeastsupertrucks.com or our Facebook page www.facebook.com/sestseries for all the latest news and information.
Official Results
1. 88 Lee Tissot
2. 44 Ralph Carnes
3. 9 Ashton Higgins
4. 32 Randy Porter
5. 18 Kenneth Headen
6. 21 Jamie Barbrey
7. 66 Bennie Davis
8. 07 Clint King
9. 5 Toby Hollifield
10. 3 Greg Nix
11. 20 Jimmy Roberts
12. 8 Ed Surrett