ANDERSON, S.C. — Neil Meredith pulled away from the field on a late-race restart to win Saturday’s IHRA Stock Car Series feature at Anderson Motor Speedway.
Meredith, a hometown racer and three-time champion at the three-eighths-mile oval track, first took the lead in his No. 36 Chevrolet from Kade Brown with 53 laps to go. He quickly got away from Brown and others on a restart with three laps to go to win the 125-lap Late Model Sportsman race and capture the $10,000 winner’s purse.
“When they came out with the schedule and Anderson on it, we decided to run the IHRA deal,” Meredith said. “We put a lot of effort into this. The car was amazing. The late-race caution was getting into my head, but I knew if I could cool the tires down enough, we could make a run. I’m glad it all worked out.”
Lane Woods, a 15-year-old from Virginia in the No. 92 Chevrolet, finished .654 seconds behind Meredith to claim the runner-up spot. North Carolina driver Dylan Newsome placed third in the No. 44 Chevrolet, ahead of Tyler Worley who came back from earlier damage to finish fourth. Chander Gallman rounded out the top five.
“We started ninth and drove our way up. Everybody else was starting to fall off,” Woods said. “We had enough rubber on the rears (tires) to get up to P2. I’m glad that late caution came out because I don’t think we were going to pass Kade.”
Brown, the IHRA Stock Car Series points leader entering the night, certainly didn’t like the late caution. He got shuffled up the track on the final restart and ended up 13th.
Jimmy Renfrew Jr. captured the 100-lap Pro Late Model victory by a half-car length in a fierce battle with Nick Loden. The two bumped past each other four times on the final three laps to see Renfrow win by a scant .005 second in the No. 22 Toyota.
Renfrew first took the lead from Loden with 25 laps to go and the two battled side-by-side until the next caution period. Loden then used the bumper to move Renfrew and take the lead with three circuits to go, only to see Renfrew return the favor in the next turn.
They did it again in the final couple of laps as Renfrew made a crossover move on the final turn to edge Loden at the finish line. With encouragement from his team, Renfrew had charged all the way from a 20th starting spot to get the $8,000 win.
“I wrote ourselves off where we had to start 20th, but they kept my hopes high and told me I could get there one way or another,” Renfrew said. “I’m glad I could win in my first trip to Anderson. Obviously, they were pretty rough and we had to be rough back. This is like living a dream.”
Loden, who led the first 75 laps, finished second in the No. 43 Chevrolet for a third straight race and strengthened his points lead. He wasn’t happy with how the winner got by him.
“It was good for points, but to finish second was disappointing,” Loden said. “He (Renfrew) dumped the 82 car (Taylor Hull) and they gave him a warning. The first thing after his warning, he jacks me sideways down the whole straightaway to get the lead. Then every restart, we were faster but he goes in the middle of the corner.”
Casey Roderick, winner of the most recent race at Cordele, Ga., finished third in the bright yellow No. 62 Toyota right behind the lead duo. Mark Day and Jeremy Williams rounded out the top five.
