- By Gerald Harris
The Southeast Super Truck Series concluded the end of the 2019 season by visiting the famed Hickory Motor Speedway on October 26th. It has been a challenging season to say the least, weather wise. The prior week before was washed out, and the first year since the series began that the staff was unable to get all the races in. However the points battle was still close, matter of fact extremely close going into the final night.
With young superstar Ashton Higgins coming off the last two races on top he was trying his best to narrow the points battle down from Clint King. Three time Super Truck Champion was riding in second in the points battle. King who suffered a broken hand at Kingsport Speedway last lap coming to the checkers, never gave up and was giving it his all. The teams unloaded and prepared to make some laps around the 3/10ths historic speedway.
One of the best and biggest fields of trucks of the season, it was shaping up to be a great night of racing. Seventeen drivers made their way onto the track to dial in their machines. King found himself on top of the first round of practice with a time of 15.509. Madison, Florida's Taylor Hosford was nipping right at the heels of King in second. Ashton Higgins, Charlie Watson and Kenneth Headen rounded out the top five. They had one more shot at getting the trucks faster before qualifying. Headen picked up the pace and worked his way to the top of the speed charts for the final practice round. However Hosford and Bennie Davis both suffered engine issues and eliminated themselve's from the rest of the days activities.
Qualifying was up next, third generation driver whose last name was no surprise to the famed speedway, Clark Houston claimed the Renegade Race Fuels Pole Award with a blistering lap of 15.352. Sheflon Clay who was a two time Super Truck Track Champion at Hickory was second fastest. Headen, Watson and Higgins rounded out the top five for the nights features. Weather was once again going to be a factor for the night, so the staff shuffled the nights races up so the divisions who were racing for points could get their race in.
Clark rolled a five on the invert dice, which now set Higgins on top of the field to start the race and Watson starting on his outside. The field rolled through their warm up laps behind the City Chevrolet Silverado Pace Truck and the green flag was in the air, Higgins quickly tried to put his #9 Big Ivy Guns Silverado out front. Jacob Owens had his #95 Silverado dialed in and he worked his way past the #6 of Houston to take over the fifth position. As the field worked their way past the ten lap marker of the race, King seen a opening on Owens and took over the fifth spot. King knew every point mattered to capture the 2019 Championship.
The first caution flew as mechanical issues woed the #8 Chevrolet Silverado driven by Ed Surrett. Ed came down to pitroad to the aide of his crew, so they could figure out what the maylay was on the machine. Watson who had just inherited the lead prior to the caution, paced the field back to the green flag with Higgins starting on his outside. On the restart, Clay was able to take advantage and worked his way past the #9 truck driven by Higgins. The second caution flew as Headen, Toby Hollifield and Brett Suggs were all racing hard in a pack. Headen and Hollifield made contact send Hollifield sideways in turn one, he was able to hold onto his #5 Big Ivy Guns Silverado and keep it going in the right direction.
As Watson led the field back to the green flag, Clay hit his marks and took over the top spot going into turn one and two. As he came down the back straight away, Watson had a run going on Clay and made contact on the left rear quarter panel of Clays truck. Clay washed up the track one groove, allowing Watson to dive under him. The pair raced side by side back to the starting line. However the caution flew shortly after, as the #20 of Jimmy Roberts spun coming out of turn four. The field lined back up behind Watson and prepared for another shoot out to the finish. As they came out of turn four again, the drivers followed Watson around the speedway. The field came out of turn four, and some of the drivers got crossed up, causing contact to be made on the #95 machine of Owens sending him spinning into the tire barrier in turn one.
After a lengthy red flag to clean up the tires, and placed back into position. The drivers were set to get the rest of the race in. On the restart, it was King who took advantage and found himself out front of Watson. With just fifteen laps to go in the feature, Mother Nature had worked her way into the Newton area and ending the rest of the nights features. King would go on to capture his second victory of the season and his first Southeast Super Truck Series Championship. Jacob Owens was able to rebound from the crash and remain on top of the Rookie points battle and claim the Rookie Of The Year Championship.
The Series will take the next few months off, preparing for the ninth season in 2020. With hope of some new speedway's, possibly adjusting some rules, and the addition of the new TV package program it is shaping up
to be one of the best and bigger season to date. So Stay tuned. We will see everyone in January at the
Awards Banquet.
Official Results
1. 07 Clint King
2. 6W Charlie Watson
3. 9 Ashton Higgins
4. 6 Clark Houston
5. 33 Brett Suggs
6. 00 Tanner Carter
7. 99 Kenneth Headen
8. 21 Jamie Barbrey
9. 95 Jacob Owens
10. 5 Toby Hollifield
11. 11 Jack Galunke
12. 20 Jimmy Roberts
13. 8 Ed Surrett
14. 15 Sheflon Clay
15. 71 Jason Smith
16. 13 Taylor Hosford - DNS
17. 66 Bennie Davis - DNS
2019 SEST Point Standings as of 11/2/19
1 #07 Clint King 304
2 #99 Kenneth Headen 283
3 #9 Ashton Higgins 278
4 #21 Jamie Barbrey 269
5 #95 Jacob Owens - R 248
6 #33 Brett Suggs - R 246
7 #8 Ed Surrett 223
8 #00 Tanner Carter - R 221
9 #5 Toby Hollifield 217
10 #20 Jimmy Roberts 216
11 #49 Ralph Carnes 208
12 #66 Bennie Davis 196
13 #11 Jack Galunke - R 188
14 #6 Clark Houston - R 139
15 #3 Greg Nix 118
16 #13 Taylor Hosford 91
17 #15 Sheflon Clay 86
18 #44 Kyle Plott 41
19 #2 Troy Burgess 34
20 #6W Charlie Watson 29
21 #4S Jimmy Simmons 20
22 #33 Kyle Whisner 19
23 #8J Hunter Jarrett 17
24 #71 Jason Smith 16
R - Rookie Contenders
The Southeast Super Truck Series concluded the end of the 2019 season by visiting the famed Hickory Motor Speedway on October 26th. It has been a challenging season to say the least, weather wise. The prior week before was washed out, and the first year since the series began that the staff was unable to get all the races in. However the points battle was still close, matter of fact extremely close going into the final night.
With young superstar Ashton Higgins coming off the last two races on top he was trying his best to narrow the points battle down from Clint King. Three time Super Truck Champion was riding in second in the points battle. King who suffered a broken hand at Kingsport Speedway last lap coming to the checkers, never gave up and was giving it his all. The teams unloaded and prepared to make some laps around the 3/10ths historic speedway.
One of the best and biggest fields of trucks of the season, it was shaping up to be a great night of racing. Seventeen drivers made their way onto the track to dial in their machines. King found himself on top of the first round of practice with a time of 15.509. Madison, Florida's Taylor Hosford was nipping right at the heels of King in second. Ashton Higgins, Charlie Watson and Kenneth Headen rounded out the top five. They had one more shot at getting the trucks faster before qualifying. Headen picked up the pace and worked his way to the top of the speed charts for the final practice round. However Hosford and Bennie Davis both suffered engine issues and eliminated themselve's from the rest of the days activities.
Qualifying was up next, third generation driver whose last name was no surprise to the famed speedway, Clark Houston claimed the Renegade Race Fuels Pole Award with a blistering lap of 15.352. Sheflon Clay who was a two time Super Truck Track Champion at Hickory was second fastest. Headen, Watson and Higgins rounded out the top five for the nights features. Weather was once again going to be a factor for the night, so the staff shuffled the nights races up so the divisions who were racing for points could get their race in.
Clark rolled a five on the invert dice, which now set Higgins on top of the field to start the race and Watson starting on his outside. The field rolled through their warm up laps behind the City Chevrolet Silverado Pace Truck and the green flag was in the air, Higgins quickly tried to put his #9 Big Ivy Guns Silverado out front. Jacob Owens had his #95 Silverado dialed in and he worked his way past the #6 of Houston to take over the fifth position. As the field worked their way past the ten lap marker of the race, King seen a opening on Owens and took over the fifth spot. King knew every point mattered to capture the 2019 Championship.
The first caution flew as mechanical issues woed the #8 Chevrolet Silverado driven by Ed Surrett. Ed came down to pitroad to the aide of his crew, so they could figure out what the maylay was on the machine. Watson who had just inherited the lead prior to the caution, paced the field back to the green flag with Higgins starting on his outside. On the restart, Clay was able to take advantage and worked his way past the #9 truck driven by Higgins. The second caution flew as Headen, Toby Hollifield and Brett Suggs were all racing hard in a pack. Headen and Hollifield made contact send Hollifield sideways in turn one, he was able to hold onto his #5 Big Ivy Guns Silverado and keep it going in the right direction.
As Watson led the field back to the green flag, Clay hit his marks and took over the top spot going into turn one and two. As he came down the back straight away, Watson had a run going on Clay and made contact on the left rear quarter panel of Clays truck. Clay washed up the track one groove, allowing Watson to dive under him. The pair raced side by side back to the starting line. However the caution flew shortly after, as the #20 of Jimmy Roberts spun coming out of turn four. The field lined back up behind Watson and prepared for another shoot out to the finish. As they came out of turn four again, the drivers followed Watson around the speedway. The field came out of turn four, and some of the drivers got crossed up, causing contact to be made on the #95 machine of Owens sending him spinning into the tire barrier in turn one.
After a lengthy red flag to clean up the tires, and placed back into position. The drivers were set to get the rest of the race in. On the restart, it was King who took advantage and found himself out front of Watson. With just fifteen laps to go in the feature, Mother Nature had worked her way into the Newton area and ending the rest of the nights features. King would go on to capture his second victory of the season and his first Southeast Super Truck Series Championship. Jacob Owens was able to rebound from the crash and remain on top of the Rookie points battle and claim the Rookie Of The Year Championship.
The Series will take the next few months off, preparing for the ninth season in 2020. With hope of some new speedway's, possibly adjusting some rules, and the addition of the new TV package program it is shaping up
to be one of the best and bigger season to date. So Stay tuned. We will see everyone in January at the
Awards Banquet.
Official Results
1. 07 Clint King
2. 6W Charlie Watson
3. 9 Ashton Higgins
4. 6 Clark Houston
5. 33 Brett Suggs
6. 00 Tanner Carter
7. 99 Kenneth Headen
8. 21 Jamie Barbrey
9. 95 Jacob Owens
10. 5 Toby Hollifield
11. 11 Jack Galunke
12. 20 Jimmy Roberts
13. 8 Ed Surrett
14. 15 Sheflon Clay
15. 71 Jason Smith
16. 13 Taylor Hosford - DNS
17. 66 Bennie Davis - DNS
2019 SEST Point Standings as of 11/2/19
1 #07 Clint King 304
2 #99 Kenneth Headen 283
3 #9 Ashton Higgins 278
4 #21 Jamie Barbrey 269
5 #95 Jacob Owens - R 248
6 #33 Brett Suggs - R 246
7 #8 Ed Surrett 223
8 #00 Tanner Carter - R 221
9 #5 Toby Hollifield 217
10 #20 Jimmy Roberts 216
11 #49 Ralph Carnes 208
12 #66 Bennie Davis 196
13 #11 Jack Galunke - R 188
14 #6 Clark Houston - R 139
15 #3 Greg Nix 118
16 #13 Taylor Hosford 91
17 #15 Sheflon Clay 86
18 #44 Kyle Plott 41
19 #2 Troy Burgess 34
20 #6W Charlie Watson 29
21 #4S Jimmy Simmons 20
22 #33 Kyle Whisner 19
23 #8J Hunter Jarrett 17
24 #71 Jason Smith 16
R - Rookie Contenders