VIVIAN, La. —Veteran short track ace Chris Henigan used a thrilling last-lap pass to secure a $2,000 payday, winning the 30-lap feature for the USRA American Racer Modified Series presented by DAY Motor Sports on Saturday at the Ark-La-Tex Speedway.
Henigan started on the pole in a talent-filled 24-car field. Chris Dawson got the early jump and led the first 10 laps before former USRA series champ Triston Dycus powered around the outside of him to take command at lap 11. Dycus set a blistering pace for the next 17 circuits.
As the snarling pack of high-powered mods were coming to the white flag, Henigan—who is a master at working the bottom—chose the outside coming off turn 4 and led lap 29 before bringing the crowd to its feet with another impressive victory with a $2,000 top prize.
Dycus settled for second while Joe Duvall came from 12th on the grid to finish third and earned an extra $250 as the hard charger of the race.
Manuel Williams II and Tommy Cannon completed the top five.
“I think they all knew I was going to be on the bottom,” Henigan said in victory lane. “They started blocking a bit, so it kind of opened up the top groove for me. You could race all over this place, and it was a blast.
“Those guys from the Dallas area, they are all good racers. I was just trying to get as low as I could down there in turn 1, hook it in and let it propel me off the top of turn 2. It wasn’t pretty, but I guess it got the job done. I want to thank my sponsors and everybody that helps make this possible.”
Five cautions slowed the pace—two before a single lap was completed. Henigan’s margin of victory was a comfortable 0.892 second.
In other Summit USRA Weekly Racing Series action, Justin Whitehead powered to victory in a hotly-contested Sunoco USRA Factory Stock feature while Stephen Guidry earned a win in an action-packed main event for the USRA Limited Mods.
The Finish:
Feature (30 laps): 1. (1) 16 Chris Henigan, 2. (4) 14T Triston Dycus, 3. (12) 91 Joe Duvall, 4. (7) 24M Manuel Williams II, 5. (3) 718 Tommy Cannon, 6. (6) 2G Kenny Gaddis, 7. (14) 46 Jade Luzenberg, 8. (15) 12T Tyler Townsend, 9. (8) 7 Sean Gaddis, 10. (17) F27 Lynnsee Provence, 11. (5) 13J James McCreery, 12. (2) 7X Chris Dawson, 13. (22) 9R Barron Prince, 14. (19) 511 Tanner Barnhart, 15. (20) 211 Richie Ginn, 16. (21) 6 Donnie Powers, 17. (13) 2S Steven Gaddis, 18. (24) 75 Kyle Taylor, 19. (23) 75J Jeremy LaCoe, 20. (10) 66X Mike Dillard, 21. (9) 12 Jason Ingalls, 22. (16) 24 Manuel Williams Sr., 23. (18) 55 Nathan Hagar, 24. (11) 18J Jake Huckaby