SEST Honey Hush Boutique Limited Late Models
Newport Speedway
November 9, 2024
Press Release by Gerald E Harris
Photos by Keith Anderson
After missing the previous scheduled race date at Newport Speedway due to Hurricane Helene, the series returned to action for one final showdown. The teams and drivers made the trip up to East Tennessee to help reopen the speedway and bring back the first short track race held there since 2017. The competition in the Honey Hush Boutique Limited Late Models was stiff, as we had a lot of familiar faces rejoin the tour, long time competitor of the series and the track Mart Nesbitt returned to action in his daughter’s car. Third generation driver Kaleb Pressley also made his appearance, as well as former Southeast Super Mini Cup driver who has now progressed to Limited and Late Models, Jacob York.
The only practice round was up and it was no surprise that Kaleb Pressley topped the charts, laying down a fast time of 13.339. Series points leader and hometown standout Lance Gatlin was second fastest; Nesbitt, Tyler Worley, and Chandler Gallman rounded out the top five. Tyler Worley would go on to capture the Renegade Race Fuel Pole Award, he would go on to roll a four on the invert dice which now set York to start the feature in the top spot, with Gatlin on his outside. The Double Aught Injury Lawyers pace car driven by Bryan Ramey pulled down onto pit road, the green flag waved high above the field to get things started for the evening. Gatlin had the advantage on the high side as they soared off into turn one, Worley quickly pulled up to the outside door of York as the pair raced side by side for the lead, meanwhile Pressley and Nesbitt were door to door fighting for fourth. With three laps down in the 75 lap feature, Gatlin was now facing some heat for the lead as Worley drove up to the inside of the #52 Cotton Eye Joe Chevrolet.
After a five or six lap battle for the lead, Worley was able to power to the front of the field leaving Gatlin to settle back in for second. Now with thirty laps down, Worley had opened up the lead over the field by a straight away. Fourth place driver Jacob York was now having his hands full as Terry Smith and Eugene Norton were trying to take over that position. York sailed off into turn one, with Norton behind him, the white #25 of Smith powered into the left rear of York. The first caution flew on lap 41, as the #05 of Lexi Arnold went around on the back stretch. Worley led the field back to the KRC Power Steering Restart Zone with Gatlin restarting on his outside. The second caution flew on lap 46 as Worley was slowly fading through the field and came to a rest on the exit of turn four.
Gatlin led the field back to the KRC Power Steering Restart Zone, however the field was not quite ready and jumbled up further in the back, Chandler Gallman suffered some right front damage, and the #38 of Brayden Goddard with a lot of front end damage came to rest in the bottom of turn one to bring the caution back out for the third caution of the day. Gatlin led the field back to the KRC Power Steering Restart Zone with Pressley on his inside. Austin Peters and Eugene Norton were racing door to door battling for third. The fourth caution flew just a few laps later on lap 58 as Norton looped it around on the back straight away. Gatlin once again led the field back to the restart zone for the final 17 laps with Nesbitt on his inside. With just eleven laps remaining the roof of Jacob Yorks #25 machine finally flew off, this was a result of the earlier contact of Smith and York. York came down pit road where just about every team in the pit area jumped in and helped reattach the roof to the race car with duct tape, bungie cords, and ratchet straps. This would be the most insane thing anyone has ever seen. Gatlin led the field back to the green flag once more. The sixth caution flew with just four laps remaining, as Norton spun around coming out of turn two. Gatlin would hit his marks in the KRC Power Steering Restart Zone for the final time and go on to pick up his second win of the season, and captured the 2024 Honey Hush Boutique Limited Late Model Championship in front of his hometown, family and friends.
“That was a lot closer than I wanted it to be, those restats were hairy, I have been under the weather today, its tough enough to do double duty, I was fighting for my life there. The car was great, Dicky Torbett, like all year this car has been on rails. The Cotton Eye Joe Chevrolet has been fast, what I wanted to do more than anything here at Newport Speedway the first time back in front of my fans and family was win the Championship and win the race, so we did that. That’s awesome, I want to thank Chuck Ward, he is the man, he is the reason we are all here today and some help with Rick Watson and Ed Surrett.” Exclaimed Gatlin in Rick Hendrick City Chevrolet Victory Lane.
Special Thanks to Chuck and his staff for their hard work and dedication to opening back up a wonderful facility that everyone loves. That will do it for the 2024 season, stay tuned during the off season for all of the latest news and information by visiting us on out website as well as our social media sites. Congratulations goes out once again to Lance Gatlin and his crew on picking up the championship and a special thanks to all of our drivers and competitors for your support.
Results
1. 52 Lance Gatlin
2. 92M Mart Nesbitt
3. 01 Roger Powell
4. 81 Chandler Gallman
5. 16 Tyler Worley
6. 54 Kaleb Pressley
7. 38 Brayden Goddard
8. 9 Darrick Coomer
9. 66 Austin Peters
10. 27 Eugene Norton
11. 25 Jacob York
12. 05 Lexi Arnold
13. 25S Terry Smith
14. 87 Dylan Buckner – DNS
15. 92 Jamie Sutton - DNS
Newport Speedway
November 9, 2024
Press Release by Gerald E Harris
Photos by Keith Anderson
After missing the previous scheduled race date at Newport Speedway due to Hurricane Helene, the series returned to action for one final showdown. The teams and drivers made the trip up to East Tennessee to help reopen the speedway and bring back the first short track race held there since 2017. The competition in the Honey Hush Boutique Limited Late Models was stiff, as we had a lot of familiar faces rejoin the tour, long time competitor of the series and the track Mart Nesbitt returned to action in his daughter’s car. Third generation driver Kaleb Pressley also made his appearance, as well as former Southeast Super Mini Cup driver who has now progressed to Limited and Late Models, Jacob York.
The only practice round was up and it was no surprise that Kaleb Pressley topped the charts, laying down a fast time of 13.339. Series points leader and hometown standout Lance Gatlin was second fastest; Nesbitt, Tyler Worley, and Chandler Gallman rounded out the top five. Tyler Worley would go on to capture the Renegade Race Fuel Pole Award, he would go on to roll a four on the invert dice which now set York to start the feature in the top spot, with Gatlin on his outside. The Double Aught Injury Lawyers pace car driven by Bryan Ramey pulled down onto pit road, the green flag waved high above the field to get things started for the evening. Gatlin had the advantage on the high side as they soared off into turn one, Worley quickly pulled up to the outside door of York as the pair raced side by side for the lead, meanwhile Pressley and Nesbitt were door to door fighting for fourth. With three laps down in the 75 lap feature, Gatlin was now facing some heat for the lead as Worley drove up to the inside of the #52 Cotton Eye Joe Chevrolet.
After a five or six lap battle for the lead, Worley was able to power to the front of the field leaving Gatlin to settle back in for second. Now with thirty laps down, Worley had opened up the lead over the field by a straight away. Fourth place driver Jacob York was now having his hands full as Terry Smith and Eugene Norton were trying to take over that position. York sailed off into turn one, with Norton behind him, the white #25 of Smith powered into the left rear of York. The first caution flew on lap 41, as the #05 of Lexi Arnold went around on the back stretch. Worley led the field back to the KRC Power Steering Restart Zone with Gatlin restarting on his outside. The second caution flew on lap 46 as Worley was slowly fading through the field and came to a rest on the exit of turn four.
Gatlin led the field back to the KRC Power Steering Restart Zone, however the field was not quite ready and jumbled up further in the back, Chandler Gallman suffered some right front damage, and the #38 of Brayden Goddard with a lot of front end damage came to rest in the bottom of turn one to bring the caution back out for the third caution of the day. Gatlin led the field back to the KRC Power Steering Restart Zone with Pressley on his inside. Austin Peters and Eugene Norton were racing door to door battling for third. The fourth caution flew just a few laps later on lap 58 as Norton looped it around on the back straight away. Gatlin once again led the field back to the restart zone for the final 17 laps with Nesbitt on his inside. With just eleven laps remaining the roof of Jacob Yorks #25 machine finally flew off, this was a result of the earlier contact of Smith and York. York came down pit road where just about every team in the pit area jumped in and helped reattach the roof to the race car with duct tape, bungie cords, and ratchet straps. This would be the most insane thing anyone has ever seen. Gatlin led the field back to the green flag once more. The sixth caution flew with just four laps remaining, as Norton spun around coming out of turn two. Gatlin would hit his marks in the KRC Power Steering Restart Zone for the final time and go on to pick up his second win of the season, and captured the 2024 Honey Hush Boutique Limited Late Model Championship in front of his hometown, family and friends.
“That was a lot closer than I wanted it to be, those restats were hairy, I have been under the weather today, its tough enough to do double duty, I was fighting for my life there. The car was great, Dicky Torbett, like all year this car has been on rails. The Cotton Eye Joe Chevrolet has been fast, what I wanted to do more than anything here at Newport Speedway the first time back in front of my fans and family was win the Championship and win the race, so we did that. That’s awesome, I want to thank Chuck Ward, he is the man, he is the reason we are all here today and some help with Rick Watson and Ed Surrett.” Exclaimed Gatlin in Rick Hendrick City Chevrolet Victory Lane.
Special Thanks to Chuck and his staff for their hard work and dedication to opening back up a wonderful facility that everyone loves. That will do it for the 2024 season, stay tuned during the off season for all of the latest news and information by visiting us on out website as well as our social media sites. Congratulations goes out once again to Lance Gatlin and his crew on picking up the championship and a special thanks to all of our drivers and competitors for your support.
Results
1. 52 Lance Gatlin
2. 92M Mart Nesbitt
3. 01 Roger Powell
4. 81 Chandler Gallman
5. 16 Tyler Worley
6. 54 Kaleb Pressley
7. 38 Brayden Goddard
8. 9 Darrick Coomer
9. 66 Austin Peters
10. 27 Eugene Norton
11. 25 Jacob York
12. 05 Lexi Arnold
13. 25S Terry Smith
14. 87 Dylan Buckner – DNS
15. 92 Jamie Sutton - DNS