MILTON, Fla. — Honoring a handshake agreement from the night before, 19-year-old Christopher Townsend gave up the pole to take the Hunt The Front Challenge and start 16th.
He charged to the lead on lap 22 to win the 30-lap Hoosier Racing Tire United Sprint Car Series Presented By XC Gear 30th Anniversary Outlaw Thunder Tour 30-lap feature on Saturday night at Hunt The Front Southern Raceway before a capacity crowd.
“I gave the track promoter my word with hand shake last night that if I won the dash tonight, I would take the Hunt The Front Challenge, start in the back, and try for the $1,000 bonus,” Townsend said. “During the last 10 laps of the race, my engine wasn’t running perfect, but that may have helped me with the track conditions. We chose to hunt the front and we took the bonus home.”
Dr. Kyle Amerson led the first 21 laps of the race, and kept it close in the end, but had to settle for second.
The 16-time USCS National Champion and National Sprint Car Hall of Fame Inductee Terry Gray finished third for the second straight night.
Brandon Blenden and Dustin Burtron completed the top five.
The finish:
Feature (30 laps): 1. 71 Christopher Townsend, Tarkington, TX (16); 2. 29 Kyle Amerson, Montgomery, AL (2); 3. 10 Terry Gray, Bartlett, TN (1); 4. 88 Brandon Blenden, Gulfport, MS (7); 5. 51 Dustin Burtron, Seminole, FL (8); 6. 43 Terry Witherspoon, Jacksonville, FL (6); 7. 28 Jeff Willingham, Ripley, MS (4); 8. 28s Rusty Sanford, Seminary, MS (5); 9. 01 Shane Morgan, Gulfport, MS (3); 10. 29s Arron Smith, Gulfport, MS (14); 11. 55 Jay Dotson, Pensacola, FL (13); 12. 77 David Mabry, Cottondale, FL (11); 13. 47 David Gray, Hanover, PA (15); 14. 01h Hadley Morgan, Beaumont, TX (9); 15. 15k Kyle Mabry, Cottondale, FL (10); 16. 61 Sean Wimpee, Mobile, AL (12).
