Deal takes topless series win at Tri County Racetrack
By Travis Dockery
389 Country Editor
The Topless Outlaw Series made its annual visit to Tri County Racetrack in Brasstown on Friday, June 10. Along with the $2,500 to win main event, five other divisions were in action on the quarter-mile clay oval.
In qualifying, Brian Kinnersley's new Limited Late Model track record lap of 12.904 earned him quick time in Group A which put him on the inside of the front row. Group B's fastest time belonged to defending track champion Jason Deal, which put the No. 7 on the outside pole.
Fans rose to their feet as the pair led the field off of turn four to start the 40-lap main event. In the middle of turns one and two, Deal made contact with series regular Chase King which caused a spin. "I thought Brian was going to come up into the high line and I was going to try a crossover move, but I didn't know the No. 44 was that close to me and I clipped his front bumper with my rear fender," Deal said after the race.
Luckily for Deal and King, neither car suffered major damage and were able to return to their starting positions. The second attempt at a start went better, with Deal using the momentum from the outside line to clear Kinnersley and lead lap one.
While Deal pulled out to a comfortable, King made his way around Kinnersley and into second place. Things got interesting as Deal began to catch the tail of the field. A pack of four cars, all racing for position, created a wall for Deal. That allowed King and Kinnersley to close in on the leader.
As Deal's lead shrunk, King found himself playing defense as Kinnersley launched an attack for the runner-up spot. That took the pressure off of Deal and the leader was able to focus on hitting his marks.
The racing was furious as cars could seemingly run in any line. After slicing and dicing through lap traffic, Deal saw the checkered flag for the win. King was maintain his runner-up spot and Kinnersley had to settle for third.
"I didn't think that race was ever going to end," Deal said. When asked about working through lap traffic, Deal answered, "They were racing each other hard and they had speed. All of them have good cars and I knew it was going to be a job to get through there without wrecking or losing the lead." Deal grinned and said, "Thankfully they finally threw the checkered."
Following the race, Deal immediately exited his car and went to congratulate King and Kinnersley on a good race.
While Kinnersley was happy with his podium finish, he couldn't help but think about what might have been. "Man I wish I would have had that outside starting lane," he said. "The car was good and I wasn't too bad rusty. It's just hard to beat that outside line on a start." As for the racing surface, Kinnersley was impressed. "The track is super smooth. Ray really has it in good shape. It just wasn't our night"
Other notes:
After a few weeks of mid-pack finishes, defending track champion Bobby Elkins returned to victory lane in the Interstate Welding 602 Late Model division.
Noah Wright picked up his first win at Tri County in the 602 Late Model non-qualifiers feature.
Charles Devine Jr. made it for Street Stock feature wins in a row after squeezing by Lynn Burchfield.
Cy Strickland parked his No. C12 ride in victory lane after winning the Open Wheeled Modified main event.
In the Pony feature, Julius Cross's blue Mustang was too much for the field and took the win.
John Fulford continued his winning ways with yet another Front Wheel Drive victory.