By DAVID MILLER
Special to The Dispatch
NeSmith Late Model drivers will be happy to see Spencer Hughes leave the class.
The 16-year-old won his ninth race of 2017 Saturday, leading from start to finish in the $1,000-to-win Highway 45 Throwdown at Magnolia Motor Speedway. The win is Hughes’ fourth of the season at Magnolia. He anticipates being behind the wheel of a Super Late Model car by next week.
“We’re glad to run with him,” said Scott Dedwylder, who finished second. “He’s winning at everything right now.”
Hughes began to hit lap-traffic by lap 8, and Dedwylder began to narrow the gap as Hughes tried to pick and choose his spots to pass slower cars.
“It’s definitely a challenge (navigating lap-traffic), and more so tonight because the track was one lane,” Hughes said. “Everybody was around the bottom. There really wasn’t anything up top or through the middle, so if they made a mistake, you have to capitalize on it.”
The lap-traffic was just a brief hurdle for Hughes, who later held off Dedwylder after the race’s only caution on lap 23.
“The plan was try to run him in there as hard as you can and maybe he’ll push,” Dedwylder said of the re-start. “That’s all you can do. After that, just sit there and ride.
“I just wish it wouldn’t have rubbered up down there. We were alright as long as long as we could catch (Hughes) in lap traffic where we were up top and he was at the bottom, but there wasn’t anybody that could try it. I believe it would have been a lot more interesting race at the end if the track wouldn’t have taken the rubber.”
Hughes said he’s eager to begin racing Super Late Models but that his preparation for race night won’t change.
“Just a little bit more work grooving tires,” Hughes said. “That’s about it.”
Hughes said he isn’t sure if he’ll make the Mississippi State Championship Challenge Series Super Late Model race Friday at Columbus.
Marcus Minga, Bryant Marsh and Evan Ellis rounded out the top 5.
Boland wins first SLM race
Many Crate and 602 drivers will test their abilities in Super Late Model races at Magnolia Motor Speedway, where the slick surface can often level the playing field between Crate engines and the more powerful Super motors.
Crate competitor Jamey Boland had competed in a handful of Super Late Model races this year and was still searching for his first win of 2017 – regardless of class – heading into Saturday’s race.
“We would be happy if we finished top 5,” Boland said.
But after setting the fastest time during hot laps, Boland knew he’d have a shot to win the feature, which would include Super Late Model regulars Shay Knight, Jamie Tollison and Shelby Sheedy.
Boland would open up a three-second lead over Knight by lap 5 of the feature and later held off Knight on a lap 10 restart to claim his first win of the year and first-ever Super Late Model race.
“I felt like Id’ be competitive, but you can never come here saying you’re going to win,” Boland said. “We just had a good car tonight, and I felt like, if everything went right, we’d have a chance.”
In other race action, Lee Ray won the NeSmith Street Stocks race, his second of the year at Magnolia and 13th this season. Ray entered the weekend second in NeSmith national points. Eddie Rickman, Johnny Stokes, Matt Byram and TK King rounded out the top 5.
Jamie Pickard won the Late Model Sportsman race, his fifth in seven races at Magnolia this season. Zack Shelton, Tony Shelton, Kyle Shaw and Eric Carr rounded out the top 5.
Bill Sudduth won the Factory Stocks feature, while John Beard, Scooter Ware, Mike Shaw and Seth McNeill 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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