CONCORD, N.C. — Newman Presnell went on a run of six World Short Track Championship victories in his first seven starts at the event but had been shut out of victory lane in his last three starts.
He put himself in the position to end that streak Saturday night, starting on the pole of the 20-lap DIRTVision Hornet Feature at The Dirt Track at Charlotte.
A hornets’ nest of 4-Cylinder stars starting behind him were poised to spoil that plan, though.
When the feature commenced, Coby Lambert, who had yet to finish outside of victory lane at World Short Track, looked like Superman at the drop of the green, flying around the outside the first three rows, going from seventh to second in one turn.
While Presnell took the lead, Lambert used his video game run to pull even with the No. M34 car down the backstretch and then charge ahead to the lead off Turn 4.
Presnell wasn’t interested in letting Lambert gain any more distance, though. While the No. 33 could pull ahead down the straightaways, Presnell was able to charge into each corner, pulling side by side with his rival.
On Lap 7, Presnell threw his car deep enough into the corner in Turns 1 and 2 to clear Lambert and reclaim the lead. Once out front, he turned on the afterburners, putting yards between he and Lambert every lap.
By Lap 18, Presnell had a 3.5-second lead over Lambert, and had to watch it evaporate when the yellow flag came out of cars stopped on track.
When the race resumed, “all hell broke loose.”
Presnell didn’t fire off strong on the restart, allowing Lambert to charge to his outside with momentum. The No. 33 looked to have a charge set to pull ahead of Presnell, but Casey Towell in the No. 11C gave Presnell a push off Turn 2, helping the No. M34 stay even with Lambert entering Turn 3.
Presnell reclaimed the lead, but Towell followed him by Lambert and took his own shot at the leader on the final lap. The No. 11C darted underneath Presnell in Turn 1, allowing him to pull ahead down the backstretch.
When they entered Turn 3, Presnell kept his foot on the throttle, perfecting a slide job on Towell to reclaim the lead with the checkered flag ahead. Before Towell could try to counter his attack, Jeffrey Erb came charging into the corner, running into the side of Towell and getting him sideways.
With the calamity behind him, Presnell drove away with his first World Short Track Championship victory since 2024. Erb grabbed the runner-up spot, and Marc White snuck his way into third at the end.
“I didn’t want to see that caution; I know how the restarts here can be at Charlotte. They get a little wild,” Presnell said. “I felt like I had a pretty comfortable lead there. The car was handling great. Probably the best I’ve ever been here. Then the caution came out, and I didn’t want to see that. The outside got a good run on me there, and I couldn’t let them get in front of us. Then I had the push from behind and thought they’re all over me now. So, I just gotta settle in and see how this thing plays out; we don’t know what’s going to happen here.
“But dang. It was fun. I enjoyed it.
The finish:
Feature (20 Laps): 1. M34-Newman Presnell[1]; 2. 777-Jeffrey Erb[10]; 3. 81M-Marc White[4]; 4. 11C-Casey Towell[5]; 5. 88-Joey Kelly[11]; 6. 58-Kason Bright[17]; 7. 33-Coby Lambert[2]; 8. 1-Justin Harris[7]; 9. 48-Kayden Presnell[13]; 10. 3C-Scott Cloninger[14]; 11. 41H-Bryson Harper[18]; 12. F1-Travis Lankford[8]; 13. 8-Gavin Bright[19]; 14. 39-Brian Barfield[12]; 15. 513-Greyson Coley[21]; 16. 44-Jordan Webb[15]; 17. 13-Trent Blackwell[23]; 18. 2L-Kylee Laws[16]; 19. 95-Jacob Bright[22]; 20. 212-Mitchell Coggins[20]; 21. 33W-Scootdog Wilson[9]; 22. 511-Bentley Caudle[25]; 23. 417X-Shannon Barnhill[26]; 24. 22-Phillip Gee II[24]; 25. 23-Lane Crow[6]; 26. N2-Jamie Massey[3]
