CONCORD, N.C. — The final day of the ninth annual World Short Track Championship at The Dirt Track at Charlotte continued to provide stellar racing and even better storylines with the DIRTVision SEHA Hornets Saturday night.
Two more first-time winners were crowned, and a father-and-son duo continued to sweep the weekend.
The field of 72 SEHA Hornets were split into three 10-lap Features, which concluded Saturday night’s Feature action.
Feature 1
The DIRTVision SEHA Hornets kicked off Feature #1 with opening laps fit for an action film.
Cars battled five-wide for second and the leader slid into the Turn 2 wall the next lap, creating a frenzy for the top spot. Cars shifted from two- to four-wide in the first corner, but TJ Slack had the better run of them all and pulled away down the backstretch.
His time out front was cut short after the PRO-FABrication Headers caution flag came out on Lap 2. Dale Bennett, who restated third, timed his restart well, darting into second by the first turn and stayed glued to Slack’s bumper by Turn 2.
Bennett pulled ahead down the backstretch, but Slack fought back, throwing his car low in Turn 3. The two raced side by side for nearly a whole lap before another caution came out.
To Bennett’s fortune, he was ahead at the line before the caution was thrown. That gave him the preferred line for the restart and the ability to hold off another attack from Slack.
In the lead with clean air, Bennett looked to be on his way to Victory Lane. However, he was a lone swimmer in an ocean already conquered by the approaching predator. Kayden Presnell, who won his first World Short Track Championship Feature Friday night, was already up to third – from 16th – at the halfway point of the race.
On Lap 7, Presnell was up to second. And in the final three laps, he devoured Bennett’s lead and powered past him on the final lap to win the Feature.
“We definitely got pretty lucky on all of them starts,” Presnell said. “It all worked out perfectly… It’s definitely been a really good weekend.”
Presnell and his father, Newman Presnell, both won their Features Friday night and then both won them again on Saturday night.
The finish:
Feature 1 (10 Laps): 1. 48-Kayden Presnell[16]; 2. BAND1T-Dale Bennett[10]; 3. F1-Travis Lankford[12]; 4. 57-Jordan Mauney[17]; 5. 25J-Josh Whitfield[13]; 6. 09-Dean Riddle[6]; 7. 212-Tanner Coggins[11]; 8. 58H-Ronnie Hall; 9. 41S-Kevin Saam[14]; 10. 27M-Keitha Martin[20]; 11. 21G-Brandon Greene; 12. 78-Ethan Fowler[15]; 13. 2L-Kylee Laws[19]; 14. 57G-John Graybeal[22]; 15. 32-Christian Byers[4]; 16. D2-Danny Tate[21]; 17. 214-Thomas Mcgahee[2]; 18. 8-Charles Johnson[1]; 19. 16-Barry Bennett[3]; 20. 17E-Glenn Engstrom[5]; 21. 0-Corey Harper[7]; 22. 135-Travis Jamieson[8]; 23. 3-Jaycob Johnson[9]; 24. 2DD-Dylan Douglas[23]; 25. 21-Nick White[24]; 26. (DQ) 33S-TJ Slack[18]
Feature 2
Justin Harris made the second Feature all about him. He was quick to the throttle on the initial start, going from fourth to first on the first lap and then never looked back.
A caution slowed his momentum early, but once the race resumed, he returned to his groove by the first corner, pulling ahead by a few car lengths.
He had few scares throughout the 10-lap Feature, but Casey Towell aimed to give him one. He moved into second with three laps to go and tried to cut into Harris’ lead every lap. However, time wasn’t on his side.
Harris saw the checkered flag for the first in his career at The Dirt Track at Charlotte. He had tied his career best finish of second the night prior.
“Finally, a fat guy won this thing… I’m out of breath,” Harris said in a comedic tone.
The finish:
Feature 2 (10 Laps): 1. 1H-Justin Harris[4]; 2. 11-Casey Towell[6]; 3. 4TJ-Mitchell Coggins[2]; 4. 48K-Newman Presnell[21]; 5. 78H-Steven Herring[15]; 6. 58-Eddie Segars[18]; 7. 26C-Carson Venable[13]; 8. 3C-Scott Cloninger[24]; 9. 58K-Kason Bright[8]; 10. J6-Jimmy Price[3]; 11. 4-Daniel Wright[12]; 12. 77NY-Kris Clark[7]; 13. 15-Ken Colf[10]; 14. 44-Jordan Webb[19]; 15. 28A-Tyler Langley[1]; 16. 2-Tyler Capps[17]; 17. 81A-Avery White[20]; 18. 328-Christopher Gardner[9]; 19. T2-Jose Hernandez[22]; 20. 03-Jamey J Bresette[5]; 21. 41-Gage McFadden[11]; 22. 25K-Jeremy Hudson[16]; 23. 35-Ashley Parker[14]; 24. 58H-Ronnie Hall[23]
Feature 3
The theme of first-time winners continued in the third, and final, Hornet Feature of the night. And not only a first-time winner at World Short Track Championship and The Dirt Track at Charlotte, a first-ever winner.
Willie Fowler took the lead into the first corner on the initial start, but Austin Haskin had a launch like a rocket ship, soaring from fifth to second through the first turn. He carried his momentum to the outside of Fowler and drove past him before the lap was complete.
He took the lead just in time before a caution on the first lap too, helping to place him in the top spot for the restart. When the race resumed, Haskin, again, had a strong launch and pulled ahead of the field by multiple car lengths.
Cars battled three-wide for third behind him allowing a heavy hitter to make up time. Joey Kelly, who became the first Hornet driver to win two Features on the same day on Friday, was picking up and laying down cars.
Kelly started 13th and got up to fourth by the halfway point. He ran down the top three in the closing laps, passing third-place Trent Blackwell with two laps to go. But that was as far as he could make it.
Haskin saw the checkered flag for the first time in his career – ever.
“I don’t know what to say…” Haskin said, trying to find the words that would best describe winning his first race. “It feels good doing it right here at Charlotte. It’s awesome.
“There are a bunch of good guys that we race with. I’ve tried to outrun them all year. I had car troubles last night. I pulled the motor out and put it back together and she was on the rail.”
The finish:
Feature 3 (10 Laps): 1. A53-Austin Haskin[5]; 2. A23-Andrew Rich[2]; 3. 88K-Joey Kelly[13]; 4. 22-Trent Blackwell[21]; 5. 511-Bentley Caudle[4]; 6. T3-TJ Hill[14]; 7. 2D-Daniel Tate[7]; 8. 19-Willie Fowler[3]; 9. 5-Reggie Twing[17]; 10. 14-Wayne Taylor[18]; 11. 10-James Morrow[8]; 12. 33-Scott Isbell[12]; 13. 21G-Brandon Greene[1]; 14. 96-Kevin Brazell[20]; 15. 07-Brayden McDonald[19]; 16. 27-Chris Jaret[15]; 17. 23-Austin Burch[16]; 18. 115-Kylon Tate[10]; 19. 116-Gavin Bright[23]; 20. T3JR-Riley Hill[6]; 21. C4-CJ LaVair[9]; 22. 08-Dallas Griggs[11]; 23. 18-Phillip Taylor[22]; 24. 19X-Chris Harvell[24]