By DAVID MILLER
Special to The Dispatch
Andy McElhannon didn’t make it more than four laps at Columbus Speedway before getting knocked out of the USCS race in 2012.
The Hernando native would enter the “Battle at The Bullring” Friday still looking for his first career USCS, and he’d have to avoid a maze of catastrophe to do it.
McElhannon started on the pole and led all but one lap, nearly losing it off turn 2 won he rubbed tires with a lap-car. McElhannon swerved a bit but maintained control, crossing the finish line two laps later for his first USCS win.
“We started out with a good car all night, and I knew if I hit my marks we’d have a chance to win it,” McElhannon said. “We had to beat a couple of lap-cars out of the way – they kind of use up the whole track, so you got to do what you can to get around them.”
Derek Hagar started second and won the speed dash earlier in the night. Both Hagar and McElhannon had started to separate themselves from the pack when, on lap 3, Hagar got around McElhannon off turn 4. But Wade Woolsey spun in turn 3 before Hagar’s pass could count.
Hagar would reach McElhannon’s bumper on two more occasions but finished second.
“I knew we had a better car, but we couldn’t get things to work in our favor,” Hagar said. “Lap-cars were terrible – 60 miles an hour slower than we were, all in the way. We all had the same stuff to deal with – [McElhannon] got the breaks and we didn’t. We chased him back down at the end and made it a real close finish. I wish there was another lap. If for nothing else, it was exciting for the fans. It was certainly exciting in the driver’s seat.”
McElhannon said he had to race mistake-free to beat Hagar, whom he said “always has a car to beat you.” He said he had to keep wide entries into turns to maintain momentum along the bottom, particularly in turns 1 and 2.
“There was still plenty down there, but you couldn’t go in too low and miss your apex,” Mcelhannon said. “So you had to keep your entries wide to get to the bottom to get off and keep your car straight. I kind of widened my entries, and for five or six laps, I ran the top in 3 and 4. And then the red happened, I saw my dad on the fence and he told me to get back to the bottom. I moved back down and rode out and did what we had to do to get through lap-cars.”
Morgan Turpen, who has won eight USCS races this year, finished third. She started fifth and challenged Hagar for second midway through the race, but like Hagar and McElhannon, she lamented the lap traffic.
“Yeah, they didn’t know which way there were going and pretty much killed the rest of us from having a good race,” Turpen said. “I feel like we had a car that could win, for sure. We were all over both [McElhannon and Hagar].”
Hagar said he tested the bottom early before the race was red-flagged after a wing blew off a car. To keep his momentum through the corners, he had to abandon it and start using the middle of the track.
“We’ve been here and it’s had a two-foot tall curve around the fence and nothing on the bottom, and we’ve been here when it’s been rubbered down and one lane, so I didn’t know what to expect,” Hagar said. “The track was great. I’m glad to see they got things going here because this place is always fun. They don’t call it ‘The Bullring’ for nothing … you gotta cowboy up and go after it.”
In other race action:
Jeremy Shaw won the NeSmith Late Model feature. Steven Jones, Jeff Wells, Steve Russell and Joey Mullenix rounded out the top 5.
Lee Ray won the Street Stocks feature. Bryan Fortner, Johnny Stokes, Heath Minor and Brent Mitchell rounded out the top 5.
Tony Shelton won the 602 Sportsman feature. Kyle Shaw, Jamie Pickard, Chance Duckworth and Allen Simmons rounded out the top 5.
Tyler Castle won the Factory Stocks feature. Brandon Whitely, Jeff Collum and Bill Sudduth rounded out the top 4.
Bo Minor won the Mini Stocks feature. Matt Meadows, Brandon Barnette, Ronnie Guin and Danielle Barnette rounded out the top 5.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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